Reaching the Summit of Life

Leadership Equipping

This leadership equipping tool has been prepared for the purpose of helping church leaders to encourage, empower then engage Christian sportsmen in developing a viable men’s outreach to sportsmen. Relevant men’s ministry events and projects provide the basis for fellowship where growth occurs around common passions which then lead to long term friendships. Used as a personal or group devotional, many have found the F.I.R.E. Publication to be very helpful in understanding the sportsman’s central role in fulfilling the Great Commission. As sportsmen, we can unashamedly utilize our passions for hunting, fishing and target shooting to bring men, women, boys and girls into God’s Kingdom.
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Reaching the Summit of Life

As the Christian sportsman climbs Legacy Mountain to reach the next camp in attaining yet another milestone in his personal walk with God, our Creator, the Summit of Life comes more clearly into view. God’s ultimate objective is for each individual to discover his true identity in Christ and become complete in Him.

What does the summit represent in your life? Only you and God can answer that question. The Christian faith is unlike any of the world’s religions for God reveals Himself directly to his followers through a personal relationship possible only through the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

While focused on his life long purpose of reaching the summit, the Apostle Paul was determined to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings, to be conformed to His death. Such bold identity in Christ brings spiritual formation and a determined purpose to … press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Phil. 3:13-14

In contrast to walking in God’s grace, many churchmen follow the traditions of men in an attempt to please God through a performance based faith, observing rules and regulations rather than being led by the Spirit. The enemy is very subtle in luring men into attempting to use a works-based approach in pursuit of a religious experience. Man is helpless in accomplishing “good works” for Christ but will always produce an abundance of fruit when Christ is allowed to work in and through an opened vessel. What a wonderful rich Christian heritage has been passed on to those of us who believe!
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Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary very clearly draws a distinction between the old and new covenants:

The law made known sin, and the wrath and curse of God; it showed us a God above us, and a God against us; but the gospel makes known grace, and Emmanuel, God with us. Therein the righteousness of God by faith is revealed; and this shows us that the just shall live by his faith; this makes known the grace and mercy of God through Jesus Christ, for obtaining the forgiveness of sins and eternal life. The gospel so much exceeds the law in glory, that it eclipses the glory of the legal dispensation. But even the New Testament will be a killing letter, if shown as a mere system or form, and without dependence on God the Holy Spirit, to give it a quickening power.
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We walk by grace through faith while trusting in the one who has brought honor, dignity and wholeness back to our lives through an amazing reconciliation process. We too can walk in the newness of life in bold confidence of our identity as “True Sons of the Living God”.

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set us free from the law of sin and death Rom 8:1-2

Until the summit is at hand the Christian sportsman must walk in grace through faith which allows much freedom to climb Legacy Mountain in pursuit of the high calling found in Christ Jesus!

For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I shall know fully just as I also have been fully known. 1 Cor. 13:12

Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as the Lord, the Spirit. 2 Cor. 3:17-18
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Discussion Questions:

1. Do you know in your own life the “One Thing” (Life’s summit) that the Apostle Paul referenced in Phil. 3:13 Can you describe it in one sentence?
2. In your own pursuit of the summit are you currently getting closer or further away? Please describe your most recent experiences.
3. Have you ever attempted to climb Legacy Mountain to reach the summit through your own strength rather than relying on the Lord? If so, what were the results?
4. Describe what you believe to be the difference between a performance-based approach to living the Christian life contrasted with a desire to walk in grace. What are some specific struggles that men encounter when trying to live the Christian life without relying on Christ to do the work in and through their efforts?