Zach’s Sermon

Baccalaureate Address:

Good Afternoon, I wanna thank Miss Stacey Rose for inviting me to speak for this incredible moment.

Today is a celebration! A celebration of your hard work, your achievements, your perseverance—and your growth. You’ve made it across the finish line and are ready for whatever may lie ahead!

Today also signifies the first of many BIG changes in your life. You are not just graduating High School you are going from childhood into adulthood. It is time for the training wheels to come off and for you to RIDE on your own!

INTRO:

As you get ready to embark on this new journey I want to challenge you to embrace CHANGE.

Jesus ends the greatest sermon ever spoken with this important warning…

Matthew 7:24-27

24 “Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. 25 Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock. 26 But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. 27 When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.”

In this life, change is inevitable. Some changes you will see coming, but many you won’t. Change can often be scary, even now you may be wondering WHATS NEXT?

Change can bring out our worst fears and highlight our greatest insecurities. But let me tell you, every change is an invitation to grow. An invitation to grow in your faith. An invitation to grow in your trust in God. An invitation to grow into who God is shaping you to be.

James 1:2-4

2 Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. 3 For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. 4 So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.

Key phase: SO LET IT GROW… EMBRACE CHANGE. Many avoid it, run from it, or find ways to get out of it but my challenge to you is to EMBRACE CHANGE!

Because Change is THE tool God uses to change us!

You will experiences exciting changes like GRADUATING HS, getting married, taking on a new exciting Job, AND you WILL experience HARD changes like loss, drifting away from old friends, or receiving a phone call that changes everything. No matter the circumstance I CHALLENGE you to embrace every season of change.

Don’t run from it, don’t try and pray it away, but rather allow God to gently and lovingly guide you through it… because I promise you no season of your life will be wasted when you allow Jesus to guide you. He will use the GOOD, the BAD and the UGLY to SHAPE you into the person he created you to be.

List changes that have shaped me?

When the winds of change begin to blow, here are 4 truths to remember…

You cannot control your circumstances, only your response to them…

In life you cannot guarantee what happens to you, but you can control what you do NEXT…

John Wooden - “Things turn out best for those who make the best of the way things turn out.”

Graduates, When things begin to change, how you respond MATTERS…

I urge you to respond with PRAYER…

Jeremiah 29:13 If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me.

You don’t choose your situation, but you do choose your response:

Will you trust God?

Will you grow through it?

God has a plan for your life, and it is better than yours!

God’s plan is personal, intentional, and rooted in His love for you.

Jeremiah 29:11 – “For I know the plans I have for you…”

Even disappointments can become divine direction.

God’s plan is bigger, better, and wiser than your own.

Proverbs 3:5-6

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.

Live with your hands wide open!

Don’t cling tightly to:

Your plans

Your preferences

Your expectations

Live open-handed with God.

Matthew 16:25 – If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it.

Surrender = Freedom.

Letting go lets God shape your story.

CLOSING… God doesn’t change.

So today, as you prepare to step out into a new chapter, I want to ask you:

Will you chase control, or will you choose trust?

Will you grip tightly to your plans, or will you live open-handed with God?

Will you fear change, or will you embrace it as God’s classroom?

Don’t be afraid of the unknown. The God who made you walks with you into every unknown space.

AND Though life will constantly change around you, God never will. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. That is why HE is the rock we can build our life on. To know that no matter what comes ahead, he will always be with you…

Graduates, My prayer for you:

I pray that the word of God would be a lamp unto your feet and a light unto your path…

I pray that when you seek God with all your heart you will find him!

I pray that you would trust him with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind!

I pray that when the storm comes, you will NOT be shaken because your house was built on the firm foundation.

I pray that the lord will bless you and keep you, may his face shine upon you and be gracious to you, may the lord turn his face toward you and give you peace!

Congratulations, Class of 2025. Go forward boldly—God’s got this, and He’s got you.