Recognizing the Power of God (Isaiah 40:27-31)

https://www.teamagee.com/sermons/20120701AM.mp3

 

“Recognizing the Power of God” (Isaiah 40:27-31) – Audio recording of my Sunday morning sermon at Maple Hill Church of Christ in Lebanon, TN on July 1, 2012.

Looking at Isaiah’s prophetic instructions regarding the power of God and how we can tap into that power for dealing with day to day life.

Isaiah 40:27–31 (ESV)

27 Why do you say, O Jacob,

and speak, O Israel,

My way is hidden from the Lord,

and my right is disregarded by my God?

28 Have you not known? Have you not heard?

The Lord is the everlasting God,

the Creator of the ends of the earth.

He does not faint or grow weary;

his understanding is unsearchable.

29 He gives power to the faint,

and to him who has no might he increases strength.

30 Even youths shall faint and be weary,

and young men shall fall exhausted;

31 but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;

they shall mount up with wings like eagles;

they shall run and not be weary;

they shall walk and not faint.

Tomorrow Morning at Maple Hill Church of Christ

This Sunday I will be preaching the morning service at Maple Hill Church of Christ in Lebanon, TN. As I’ve said before, being at Maple Hill is always a thrill, because it is my home congregation, and my parents still attend there. Here is a brief overview of my planned lesson…

  • Sunday Morning (9:00am) – Recognizing the Power of God (Isaiah 40:27-31) – Looking at Isaiah’s prophetic instructions regarding the power of God and how we can tap into that power for dealing with day to day life.

If you are in the Middle Tennessee area, we would love to have you join us this Sunday for worship!

Quest for Boston – First Half Bad / Second Half Good

When John gave me my schedule for this week he told me to feel free to move the days around as needed to accommodate my vacation. This morning I swapped out the scheduled 14 to 16 mile run for the 30 to 40 minute run which was down for Sunday. Our family planned to go out for breakfast today instead of eating in the condo, so I didn’t want to have to either get up super early or make everyone else wait on me to get back. Also, Olivia’s schedule called for a 40-minute run, so it worked out perfect for us to go together again.

We planned to both do a 20-minute out-and-back route along the ocean on Front Beach Road. While it wasn’t as hot in Panama City today as it was back home (new record high of 109 degrees in Nashville!), it again felt pretty toasty with no shade and little breeze. I also think that all this running in concrete sidewalks this week has started to take its toll. I felt terrible on the way out for the first 20 minutes. My legs felt tired and achey, and I just couldn’t find a rhythm.

Once I turned back for the second half my legs started to loosen up and I finally found a good running rhythm. Because of this I ended up getting back to the start a full two minutes before I had completed my planned 40 minutes. Olivia had finished just ahead of me at the condo, so as she waited I ran another minute down Front Beach and then headed back. After 40 minutes I had completed just over 4.7-miles with an average pace of 8:30 per mile.

Even though we technically haven’t been running together I have very much enjoyed starting and finishing with Olivia a couple of times this week. I think that is one of the things that helped with the second half of my run this morning….knowing that if I stopped and took a break she would have to wait on me at the end.

Tomorrow morning we pack up and head home to Tennessee fairly early, so no run on the docket for me. I do still have to get in my 14 to 16 miler sometime either late Saturday or early Sunday before worship. Either way it has to get done.

Beast Mode…ON!

Quest for Boston – Slept In and Felt The Heat

This morning I slept in a bit later than I had the first few days on vacation, and ended up paying for it on my morning run. The schedule called for 45 minutes at easy pace with 6 x 100m stride outs at the end. By the time I started the temps were already well over 80 and there was no breeze to speak of and absolutely no shade.

This made for a very warm run, but my legs still felt pretty good throughout. Also this is the best my right shin has felt in the past two weeks. I didn’t even feel a twinge until I started my stride outs at the end.

In total I finished just over 5.7-miles with strides at an 8:18 average pace per mile.

Beast Mode…ON!

Quest for Boston – Training Run with Olivia (Sort of)

This morning Olivia and I did something that we rarely get to do…..we did our training run together. Well, I guess it would be more accurate to say that we did them at the same time, in the same general location. Both of our schedules called for 60-minute runs, so we each decided to do an out and back route on Front Beach Road along the ocean. This meant that we got to start together and finish together. Since my parents are with us on vacation they were able to watch the kids while we were running.

Now that we are completely clear of the tropical storm, the climate has returned to normal for this time of the year. The temps were around 80 when we started with very high humidity and a steady breeze throughout. The breeze felt pretty good since there is absolutely no shade, but it does make it harder to find a rhythm and maintain good running form.

As has been the case every day this week, my “easy paced” effort turned into somewhat of a progression run with every mile, except for one, faster than the previous. Here’s a rundown of my splits:

I also progressively felt better throughout the run which is always encouraging. I knew that my pace was progressively increasing, so I decided to make the outward half 31 minutes before turning around, thinking that it was more likely to take me 29 minutes to get back than the full 30. With about 5 minutes to go I passed Olivia heading back toward the condo, and I knew that I was still going to have time left when I finished the route. It actually only took me 28 minutes to get back after taking 31 minutes on the way out.

To make up this extra time, I turned around and ran back to Olivia and then we walked together back to the condo. She commented about how hot it had been, but was encouraged that her shins had not bothered her after having some pain earlier this week. All-in-all we both had successful runs this morning.

In total I finished 7.29 miles with an average pace of 8:15 per mile.

Beast Mode….ON!

@losingitall

losingitall replied to your post: Quest for Boston – A Change in the Weather

I need to find out what stride outs are!

Stride Outs are generally 100m repeats used as a final warmup before a full track or interval workout. The idea is to accelerate for the first 80m up to 85 or 90% effort, and then taper your speed to the finish. We usually do 6 sets of these before every track workout. I know that many times I may not feel great during my regular warmup, but then once we get through strides everything feels ready to go.

Also, my coach has me doing these at the END of at least two of my easy-paced runs each week, so that I get some extra speed work in on tired legs. Since my goal in running a marathon will be to maintain my pace even when my legs are toast, adding these to the end of normal training runs helps to simulate that type of effort.

Quest for Boston – A Change in the Weather

Now that we are mostly clear from Tropical Storm Debby, this morning’s run was WAY different than yesterday. While it was still windy (though not as bad), about all I got today was full sun, full heat, and lots of humidity. In other words, about what you’d expect from a morning run on the gulf in late June.

My schedule today called for 45-minutes at easy pace with 6 x 100m stride outs at the end. Other than sweating like a dog, I again felt pretty good throughout the run, and my splits got a bit faster with every mile (9:16, 8:27, 8:20, 8:12, 7:55).

I did my stride outs across from the condo in what used to be the parking lot of the old Miracle Strip Amusement Park. I went there a bunch as a kid, but there is absolutely nothing there now. The pace for my strides was right at 6:00min pace. In total I finished 5.74-miles with an 8:14 average pace per mile.

Beast Mode…ON

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