A Heritage Set on Hope

INTRO

I WASN’T SUPPOSED TO BE HERE TODAY…

MY FAMILY HERITAGE WAS THE MILITARY

MY GRANDFATHER, UNCLE, DAD, AND MY COUSIN

I FELT THE PRESSURE AND PRIDE TO FOLLOW THEIR PATH UNTIL GOD HAD OTHER PLANS

MY GRANDFATHER AND FATHER ARE PASTORS. THE MILITARY WASN’T THE ONLY HERITAGE I HAD.

I DIDN’T SEE MYSELF IN THAT PATH, BUT AS IT TURNS OUT GOD DID.

HERITAGE

AN OCCASSION LIKE HOMECOMING REMINDS US OF OUR HERITAGE.

I’M THE NEW GUY, STILL. I’M STILL LEARNING ABOUT OUR HERITAGE.

STANDING HERE WITH YOU TODAY, I KNOW I STAND ON THE SHOULDERS OF MANY

I’M REMINDED OF A QUOTE FROM MEDIEVAL PHILOSOPHER JOHN OF SALISBURY:

“We are like dwarfs sitting on the shoulders of giants. We see more, and things that are more distant, than they did, not because our sight is superior or because we are taller than they, but because they raise us up, and by their great stature add to ours.”

― John of Salisbury, Metalogicon of John Salisbury

I DON’T KNOW ALL THE HISTORY, BUT I DO KNOW THIS

IN THE MIDST OF HONORING OUR HERITAGE AND THOSE WHOSE SHOULDERS WE STAND, GOD INVITES US TO LOOK FORWARD IN HOPE.

SLIDE: A HERITAGE SET ON HOPE.

READ: 2 CORINTHIANS 3:12 ESV

GOD HAS GIVEN US MORE THAN MEMORIES, HE HAS GIVEN US HOPE.

PAUL HAD ALREADY WRITTEN TO THE CHURCH IN CORINTH IN HIS FIRST LETTER SAYING:

1 Corinthians 13:13 ESV

So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

HOPE IN THE CHURCH IS NOT SEASONAL OR GENERATIONAL, IT IS ETERNAL BECAUSE IT COMES FROM GOD!

HOPE ABIDES

WE READ EARLIER IN THE SCRIPTURES THAT THE LORD IS OUR SHEPHERD

THERE IS A CONSTANT EXPECTATION WITHIN THE CHURCH THAT GOD IS GOING TO LEAD TO WHAT WE NEED AND THROUGH THOSE MOMENTS WE DIDN’T ASK FOR.

THAT’S HOPE

SLIDE: OUR CHURCH ISN’T HELD TOGETHER BY HISTORY, IT IS HELD BY HOPE.

LONG BEFORE TIM CALLED ME, I WAS ALREADY A RECIPIENT OF THE MINISTRY OF HOPE FROM BALES

GOD DOESN’T PLACE HIS HOPE INSIDE OF BUILDINGS, HE PUTS IT IN PEOPLE.

WHAT I INTEND TO DO FOR THE TIME REMAINING IS GIVE AN ACCOUNT FOR THE HOPE GOD HAS GIVEN ME FOR YOU AND THE FUTURE OF BALES WESLEYAN CHURCH.

READ: 2 CORINTHIANS 3:2-3 ESV

SLIDE: YOU ARE THE LETTER

IT WOULD BE GREAT IF ALL THE FAMILIES WHO HAVE BEEN A PART OF THIS CHURCH WERE STILL HERE.

BUT I CAN TELL YOU FOR THE PAST 26 YEARS OF MY LIFE, THE COMMENDATION OF THIS CHURCH, DID NOT COME TO ME IN TROPHIES OR ANUAL REPORTS, IT CAME TO ME THROUGH PEOPLE.

THOSE WHO LABORED HERE AND ENDURED SO MANY CHALLENGES, HAVE SENT OUT PEOPLE WHO HAVE REACHED FAR MORE PEOPLE THAN CAN FIT INSIDE THIS BUILDING!

BEFORE I KNEW I WOULD BE THE PASTOR OF THIS CHURCH I KNEW MANY OF YOU AS FRIENDS.

I DON’T LOOK OUT AND SEE VISITORS, I SEE MEN AND WOMEN THAT WERE RAISED UP TO GO OUT DO WHAT JESUS COMMISSIONED US TO DO.

THE POINT OF THIS WAS NEVER ABOUT COMMENDATION, IT’S ALWAS BEEN ABOUT THE COMMISSION.

IT WOULD BE EASY TO LOOK AT BALES RIGHT NOW AND COMPARE IT TO WHAT BALES WAS THEN AND WONDER HOW TO GET BACK.

BUT I WANT TO SAY AGAIN WHAT PAUL REMINDED THE CHURCH IN CORINTH: SINCE WE HAVE SUCH HOPE, WE ARE VERY BOLD.

BECAUSE OF THE WORK GOD HAS DONE THROUGH THIS CHURCH, WE CAN HAVE HOPE, AS WE FIX OUR EYES ON JESUS, THAT GOD IS NOT FINISHED WITH HIS WORK HERE.

SLIDE: GOD ISN’T CALLING US TO GO BACK, HE’S CALLING US TO BE BOLD.

THE CHALLENGE

IT’S HOMECOMING AND I KNOW A LOT OF HARD WORK HAS GONE INTO CALLING AND INVITING FOR THIS TO HAPPEN TODAY. I’M VERY GRATEFUL FOR THIS.

MAYBE YOU’RE HERE TODAY TO REMEMBER HOW GOD HAS MOVED IN YOUR LIFE IN THIS CHURCH AND TO SEE WHAT GOD IS DOING RIGHT NOW.

I WANT TO GIVE YOU A PRAYER FOCUS AND INVITATION FOR THE DAYS AHEAD:

ABOUT A MONTH AGO I WAS HAVING A CONVERSATION WITH A FRIEND AND MENTOR AND A CHALLENGE GRIPPED MY HEART.

THIS SUMMER I WILL CROSS THE ONE YEAR MARK AS THE PASTOR

SUMMER IS NOT THE ADVISED TIME TO START SOMETHING NEW

WE ARE NOT TAKING THE SUMMER “OFF”

I AM ASKING OUR CONGREGATION AND UNASHAMEDLY, I’M ASKING THE LORD, TO SEE 100 PEOPLE IN THIS SERVICE (NOT COUNTING RIGHT NOW) IN 100 DAYS.

THAT’S AUGUST 4, 2026.

RIGHT NOW, IF EVERYONE IN JAMESTOWN DECIDED TO GO TO A CHURCH IN TOWN NEXT SUNDAY THERE WOULDN’T BE ENOUGH SEATS.

THERE ARE STILL PEOPLE WHO FEEL FAR FROM GOD THAT NEED THE HOPE WE HAVE

THERE IS STILL BROKENNESS THAT JESUS CAN HEAL AND HE HAS COMMISSIONED US TO GO AND BRING HIS GOOD NEWS TO THEM.

JUST AS MANY OF YOU WERE RAISED UP IN THIS CHURCH, WE ARE ASKING GOD FOR THE NEXT GENERATION TO RAISE UP AND SEND OUT.

JESUS TOLD HIS DISCIPLES IN MATTHEW 9:38

Matthew 9:38 ESV

therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”

I’M BELIEVING FOR GOD TO BRING NEW FAMILIES INTO FAITH, AND CONTINUE SENDING FAMILIES FROM HERE OUT INTO THE MISSION FIELD.

WILL YOU PRAY WITH US AND PARTNER WITH US?

WE SAW 1 SALVATION AND 5 BAPTISMS LAST YEAR, WE ARE PRAYING FOR MORE THIS YEAR!

100 ISN’T THE END, IT’S THE BEGINNING.

I’M NOT JUST ASKING YOU TO PRAY FOR US, I WANT TO PRAY FOR YOU

IF YOU’RE HERE, BUT YOU’RE GOING BACK TO YOUR HOME CHURCH ELSEWHERE, WOULD YOU STAND? I WANT TO PRAY FOR YOU, THAT BECAUSE OF THE HOPE WE SHARE, GOD WOULD MAKE YOU BOLD WHERE YOU ARE GOING.

PRAY