Loritts: ‘Starting is easy; finishing well the challenge’

LITTLE ROCK – Bryan Loritts, lead pastor of Fellowship Memphis, Memphis, Tenn., spoke on what it takes to “finish well,” using text from 1 Corinthians 9, where Paul speaks of running the race of faith.

“If you get nothing else I say this evening, get this one truth: Starting well is easy. Finishing well – that’s the challenge.”

He continued to say that some people have had “shaky” times in their lives, “but the fact that He (God) woke you up this morning, as my grandmama used to say - started you on your way - is God’s message of mercy and grace to you and I right now, saying, ‘Stop staring at the rearview mirror of your life, and finish well.’”

Loritts explained that Paul’s example of a runner in the 1 Corinthians passage shows three attributes that those who finish well possess - a radical excellence, a radical endurance and a radical integrity. These are related to the words “race,” “compete” and “preach” in the chapter.

Loritts ended by speaking on his legacy of finishing well, passed down through his family for generations.

To those who don’t have that legacy, he said, “Start one.”

“Start a legacy of finishing well so that 150-plus years from now, your great-great-grandson is preaching at some convention, and he can (say), ‘Let me tell you how it started. It began with my great-great-grandmama, my great-great-grandfather, saying, ... “We’re going to follow Jesus. We’re going to finish well.’”