Leaving a Legacy

Today we are celebrating God’s work in and thru this body of believers here at New Life Baptist church. 25 years ago God planted this church here in Cook County. This church belongs to him and he has proven his faithfulness in many wonderful ways over the last 25 years. Some of you who are here this morning have been here since the beginning. We thank God for his work of grace in your life and the faith that he has given you to continue and to serve for all these years. Now God is not through with us. There is still a future ahead of us and ministry to be done. Sometimes the tendency in our lives is to get stuck. To find ourselves in a place of doubt or despondency about the future. Fear can creep in and replace faith. What do we do when these feelings emerge? We respond by reflecting on the past wonders and mercies of God and re-affirming our complete and total trust in him. The past can re-assure our present and guide us concerning the future.

In there is a plea issued for the hearer of this song to preserve the teaching of the faith from one generation to the next. This involves a faithful affirmation and commitment to the law of God and the testimony God has established by demonstrating faithful covenant love to his people.

By way of introduction let me also say that we know from the teachings of scripture that God’s people had a way of forgetting very easily. Thus the need for constant encouragements to remember. What were they to remember? What are we to remember today as God’s church - his covenant people thru the New Covenant established by and thru Jesus Christ?

I. Remember: The Marvelous Works of God

We are implored to listen to the word of God in verse 1, to listen to “wise sayings” and “mysteries from the past” other translations use the phrase “dark sayings” literally mysteries or things that are hard to fully understand because of their marvelous nature.

This psalm encourages God’s people to recall what God has done in the past - “He established a testimony in Jacob”

‘His strength and His wonderful works He has done”

When you read the rest of this psalm, you discover an accounting of God’s miracles and wonders. Verse 13, “He divided the sea and caused them to pass through.” Over and over in the scripture God’s people are commanded to remember what God has done for them. In spite of their rebellion and sinfulness God had preserved them and rescued them - His covenant love remained.

God has blessed us. Do we take these things for granted? Today is homecoming and it is a special day in that way - yet the reality is that every Sunday that we gather is important because we are reminding ourselves in worship of all that God has done for us.

, “1 I waited patiently for the Lord, and he turned to me and heard my cry for help. 2 He brought me up from a desolate pit, out of the muddy clay, and set my feet on a rock, making my steps secure. 3 He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and they will trust in the Lord.

1 I waited patiently for the Lord,

and he turned to me and heard my cry for help.

2 He brought me up from a desolate pit,

out of the muddy clay,

and set my feet on a rock,

The Psalmist has bee lifted from the mire to the choir - that is he has been moved from a place of pity and despair to a place of praise and delight. In spite of his sin, God had rescued him because of his cry of faith.

making my steps secure.

Illustration of salvation - God has delivered us from the miry, muddy shifting clay of sin and placed us on the solid rock of Jesus Christ.

3 He put a new song in my mouth,

II. Remember: A Responsibility That Cannot Be Delegated

a hymn of praise to our God.

A good leader knows how to delegate responsibilities. This is a healthy thing to do in an organization and in a church. One person cannot do all the work and do it effectively when it comes to the ministry of the local church or in a large organization. However, when it comes to the spiritual education of the next generation - we cannot delegate or farm this task out. The people of Israel needed this reminder - to pass on the teaching of God to their children.

Many will see and fear,

This Responsibility Cannot Be Delegated to the Church

God never intended for the church to be the primary place of spiritual instruction or discipleship. And Just so we are clear, I am not trying to talk down to you this morning for I have room for improvement in my own home. I am telling you what the word of God is saying this morning.

Verse 3 mentions, “our fathers have passed down to us..” Verse 5, “which he commanded our fathers to teach to their children.” Verse 6, “so that a future generation, children yet to be born-might know.”

How many fathers in the room this morning raise your hand. You have been commanded and commissioned by God to teach your children. Verse 5

This is not the pastor’s job or the youth pastor’s job. It is your responsibility as the spiritual leader of your home. Far too many fathers are absentees - they may be in the home physically but they are not spiritually involved in their children’s lives. Church we cannot be lured into the trap of thinking that if we just hired the right youth pastor or pastor to teach these kids and visit them in the school that we can see a turnaround. Hearing something once per week or every other week will never be sufficient to disciple - it must be emulated and practiced in the home.

The fact is we should have thousands of missionaries located in the schools every day...elementary school, middle school and high school boys and girls witnessing for Christ. Yet the reason our young people do not share their faith is partly because they have never seen this discipline or desire in their parents lives. One reason many young people drop out of church today is because they never saw the commitment to the church in mom and dad. You can only re-produce what you are.

Not only do we need to remember the wondrous works of God and remember our responsibility, but we also need to:

III. Repent of An Apathy That is Unacceptable

Verse 7, “so that they might put their confidence in God and not forget God’s works, but keep His commands. They they would not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation whose heart was not loyal and whose spirit was not faithful to God.”

Throughout the history of the nation of Israel we can read about periods of great apathy and rebellion seen in idolatry and disobedience to God. The prophets of God were sent and called the people to repent - that is to return to the Lord - to cease their rebellion and idolatry. This call for repentance was often met with resistance and prophets were normally persecuted heavily and even murdered.

We have the same problems today. Apathy and idolatry are rampant in our lives. God has been so good to us, yet we seemingly are unmoved by what he has done. I am reminded of Jesus’ teaching in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus when the rich man begged for Abraham to send someone to warn his family about hell...

and they will trust in the Lord.

, “But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; they should listen to them.’ 30 “ ‘No, father Abraham,’ he said. ‘But if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’ 31 “But he told him, ‘If they don’t listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be persuaded if someone rises from the dead.’ ”

30 “ ‘No, father Abraham,’ he said. ‘But if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’

31 “But he told him, ‘If they don’t listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be persuaded if someone rises from the dead.’ ”

I cannot make you repent. I cannot make you Love God and Love others. I cannot make you faithful to be in a Sunday School class or church attendance. I cannot make you worship or have warm fuzzy feelings. If the gospel, the birth, perfect life, sacrificial death on the cross for you, glorious resurrection from the dead and the promise of an eternal kingdom in heaven that Jesus has secured for you is not enough to motivate you and to lead you to repentance then there are no programs, newsletters, events, or sermons that will ever spur you for very long. How can we be so slothful and filled with apathy when Jesus has done so much for us? This is the difference between duty and delight. I delight in worship and studying the bible with other believers because of Christ and his great love for me. I don’t preach, pray, give, go and serve out of obligation but out of thanksgiving to God for all that he has done for me. Do our children see this in us? What are they learning by watching us and listening to us?

IV. Commit to a Priority That Cannot Delay

, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.”

, “I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore, I have continued to extend faithful love to you.”

New Life Baptist Church has been blessed by God. This church has been preserved by God for 25 years. We rejoice today and reflect on all that God has done for his church. Despite difficulties, change and struggles, he is God and he is perfect and all sufficient. Remember this church.

We rejoice today and reflect on all that God has done for his church. Despite difficulties, change and struggles, he is God and he is perfect and all sufficient. Remember this church.

1. The Past Should not be the Object of Our Faith - God Is the Hero and Our Focus must Remain on HIm

We do not neglect the past, but we do not focus primarily on the past alone. But when the past becomes the hero, or the focus of our lives, we are setting ourselves up for spiritual disaster. If we are only looking at the past and failing to plan for the future we are not being good stewards of God’s blessings and we actually do not honor those who came before us. Plus, if we live in the world of “if only” or “remember when” we are bound to live in constant disappointment.

New Life has been blessed with faithful pastors, but pastors come and go…we thank God for them and their service, but God has placed and planted you here to serve Him and to be a light to this community. Bloom where he has planted you and stop looking for the greener grass. We play the favorites game with pastors or other people in our lives and when they are no longer with us we lose sight of our mission and

We play the favorites game with pastors or other people in our lives and when they are no longer with us we lose sight of our mission and

The memory of God’s faithfulness in the past strengthens us for the present task and extends us toward the future. A healthy community of faith never leans backward but forward by reflecting on the goodness of God in the past and reaching toward the future with faith and hope.

“ Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead, I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus.”

2. We Must Together as a Church Pursue God with all of Our Heart

, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.,d 38 This is the greatest and most important command. 39 The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.,e 40 All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commands.”

A few points of emphasis as we consider the future:

Groups (Sunday School) are essential to a healthy and growing church. I cannot make you be faithful to Sunday School or to desire to be in a group. But if we are going to catch fish (evangelism - seeing the lost come to faith in Christ), we have to deploy healthy and focused groups.

Faithfulness - In today’s world we are bombarded with activity. We have more freedom to travel and to be involved in all kinds of recreation than we ever have. Our families seem to be running to every activity under the sun. Certainly these things in and of themselves are not sinful, but I cannot help but wonder what this has done in terms of teaching our children and others the importance of corporately gathering together to worship God. When you make church optional as a parent, don’t be surprised when your children will grow up to do the same.

Illustration of King Jehoshaphat and the great armies that had amassed to war against Judah in . He assembled the people together and they sought the Lord. , “Jehoshaphat was afraid, and he resolved to seek the Lord. Then he proclaimed a fast for all Judah, 4 who gathered to seek the Lord. They even came from all the cities of Judah to seek Him.”

, “For we are powerless before this vast number that comes to fight against us. We do not know what to do, but we look to You.”

The Holy Bible: Holman Christian Standard Version. (Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers, 2009), .

“ , “For we are powerless before this vast number that comes to fight against us. We do not know what to do, but we look to You.”

On this homecoming Sunday I am going to ask you this morning to join me in seeking the Lord. We can’t do it without him. Our vision and strategy has been given to us in God’s word. God doesn’t operate thru strategies, programs or fancy vision statements - he works thru the right people, in the right place with the right attitude - humbly seeking him with all their heart.

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