Upward Week One – Past, Present, and Future – May 8, 2024

Pastor Jim Bryant

Acts 1:9-11 (NKJV)

9 Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.

10 And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel,

11 who also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.”

 “An object either remains at rest or continues to move at a constant velocity, unless it is acted upon by an external force.”  Sir Issac Newton

Philippians 3:12-14 (NLT)

12 I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me.

13 No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead,

14 I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us. 

1.Forget the past.

How do we keep from being tethered to past?

• Process it
• Deal with it
• Let it go

2 Corinthians 5:17 (NKJV)

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

Isaiah 43:15-17 (NLT)

15 I am the Lord, your Holy One, Israel’s Creator and King.

16 I am the Lord, who opened a way through the waters, making a dry path through the sea.

17 I called forth the mighty army of Egypt with all its chariots and horses.  I drew them beneath the waves, and they drowned, their lives snuffed out like a smoldering candlewick.

Isaiah 43:18-19 (NLT)

18 “But forget all that—it is nothing compared to what I am going to do.

19 For I am about to do something new.  See, I have already begun! Do you not see it?  I will make a pathway through the wilderness.”

2.Look forward to what lies ahead.

Proverbs 3:5-6 (NLT)

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.

6 Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.

3.Press on.

 Acts 1:8 (NLT)

8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you…

 Philippians 1:6 (NLT)

6 And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.

If you said YES to Jesus, click HERE.