2025 Graduation Baccalaureate
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I am honored that you invited me to come and speak and I thank you for the privilege of sharing a few thoughts with you this evening.
First of all, congratulations Class of 2025.
You have all worked hard, some maybe harder than others, but here you are sitting on this stage getting ready to end this season of your life.
But this graduation is not the end, rather the beginning.
It’s the beginning of what lies ahead.
Some of you are excited about your future.
Some of you may have fears about your future.
Many of you may be worried or anxious...uncertain about what’s to come.
Well, I want to give you a word of encouragement and a challenge this evening.
I was pleasantly surprised to see that your class motto was from I Corinthians 15.10
But by the grace of God I am what I am
But do you know the context of that verse?
Let me read that verse in its entirety.
But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me.
You see, after meeting the resurrected Jesus on the road to Damascus, and putting his faith in Jesus, Paul committed himself to preaching the Gospel and worked harder than even the 12 disciples did.
Yet, he felt unworthy, like he shouldn’t even be mentioned in the same sentence as the 12 disciples, because he persecuted and had killed some of the very group he was now a part of, the followers of Jesus Christ.
And in this verse, Paul is lamenting that fact.
So he writes: But BY the grace of God, I am what I am.
In other words, unless God had stepped in and given Paul a second chance and a new life, he wouldn’t be in the good place that he was in.
In fact, if God hadn’t intervened, he still would have been killing Christians.
And so, here’s my encouragement to you:
The beauty of this verse is that: It doesn’t matter what you have done in the past.
It only matters what you are becoming.
That’s why this is not the end, but the beginning, the beginning of what you will be.
And just like God had a special plan for Paul, and it wasn’t killing Christians, God has a special plan for your life.
‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. ‘Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. ‘You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.
God told the nation of Israel that he had a special plan for them.
That plan was for wholeness and to have a good future.
That plan was not for brokenness.
The problem is, due to sin, we live in a broken world.
And there are times in life when we feel like the brokenness is too much for us to handle.
In those times we wonder: “How could this be God’s plan for wholeness? Because things sure don’t feel whole and good right now.”
You guys may already have experienced some of the brokenness of life.
And, unfortunately there will be more brokenness down the road, but by God’s grace, when we put our faith in Him, He takes that brokenness and brings beauty from those ashes.
That’s why Paul could say, “By God’s grace, I am what I am.”
He not only was feeling broken, don’t miss this, he realized that he had caused the brokenness in other people’s lives and families.
Again, when God intervenes, it doesn’t matter what you have done or what your past was like.
It only matters what God wants you to become and if you’ll embrace His plans for your life, He wants to make your life whole.
It’s also why God said in that verse in Jeremiah that His plans are for a future AND a hope.
The Hebrew word for hope, here means: anticipation with expectation that God is going to do something amazing.
He is GOING to intervene.
But, this kind of hope takes patience.
This kind of hope looks beyond the struggle and the brokenness of the present.
This kind of hope trusts that God will sort it all out in the end and will do so perfectly.
It’s this kind of hope that helps us endure the uncertainties of life.
Because the opposite is true.
When we don’t pursue God’s plan, there is no guarantee that things will end up in a good place.
There is no guarantee that your brokenness will be made whole.
But by pursuing God and His perfect plans for your life, you are trusting the only one that has a solution for the brokenness of life.
And the ultimate solution is forgiveness of sins through Jesus Christ.
That’s the grace that Paul found.
But by the grace of God I am what I am.
The last part of Jeremiah 29.11-13 says that you will find God when you seek Him with all your heart.
The question is, when God intervenes, will you follow?
And will you seek Him for His good plan for you with all of your heart?
You see, God has already gone before you preparing the way for you to follow Him into the good future.
Class of 2025, you have been born at this time, in this place, for a purpose.
It is not an accident that you are here.
It is not an accident that you have gone through the things you have gone through.
Whether we can see it or not, God is at work weaving all this together for His greater purpose.
It is by the grace of God that Paul was who he was even after his poor beginning.
And it is the grace of God that will lead you and help you become who He wants you to be.
That’s why Paul said in 1 Cor 15:10, “And God’s grace TOWARD me was not in vain.”
God’s grace accomplished what God intended for it to accomplish.
For some, that may be farming. For others it will be in the medical field. Maybe it’s teaching or preaching, being a mom, construction or business.
It doesn’t matter what the occupation. God wants to prepare you for it. If you’ll let Him.
And remember, He doesn't call you and then leave you to be on your own.
He's not sending you on the journey all by yourself.
He wants to guide you, help you, grow you, and mature you so that you can be all that He intends for you to be and do all that He intends for you to do.
That’s why Paul also said at the end of 1 Cor 15.10, “...yet not I, but the grace of God WITH me.”
There is a space that God has carved out and is carving out just for you.
Will you choose to occupy it?
Because we can choose not to.
We can go our own way and do our own thing.
And so, here’s my challenge, now:
Class of 2025, will you choose to occupy the path that God has carved out for you?
Will you pursue God’s good plan for your life?
And I hope you’ll respond in the positive.
In conclusion, I’ll close with one more Scripture that ties all this together:
My life verse that has served me well my entire life is Proverbs 3:5-6. It was either 8th or 9th grade when I made this my life verse.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.
Here’s 3 quick hits from that verse to summarize and wrap this message up:
Stay humble. It’s by God’s grace that you who you are.
Thank God for the life He is carving out for you. This is God’s grace toward you.
Trust Him, He won’t lead you astray. This is God’s grace with you.
Class of 2025. Step into your calling boldly, trust the Lord to lead you and guide you.
Remember, It doesn’t matter what you have done in the past.
It only matters what you are becoming, for by the grace of God you can be what He wants you to be.
Thank-you again for allowing me to speak to you this evening, and may God bless your journey as you choose to follow Him.
