Your Timothy

Hey everyone like Brie said, my name is Cody Morgeson have you guys had a good time so far? You got your stomachs full so i may not be able to keep some of you awake. Expand more on conference Before we dive in I want to introduce myself, like i said my name is

eryone like Brie said, my name is Cody Morgeson have you guys had a good time so far? You got your stomachs full so i may not be able to keep some of you awake. Expand more on conference Before we dive in I want to introduce myself, like i said my name is

Name

Where am i from

Tell that this conference (sermon) is not only for young leaders but also for our older leaders and for them to understand their importance and why they are still very important

Tell the story of I 75

End with “i got it done but i wished i had someone more experienced than me in the car with me

I wished i’d had someone who had done it before who had traveled that road before me who could tell me “watch it, it gets rocky right here” i needed a coach a seasoned traveler, anyone

But many times as young leaders we want to be trail blazers, we don't need those old people holding us back, their time has come, their race is finished they cant relate to me and there really isn't anything they can teach me,

Proverbs 22:6 “ Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it”

But someone who has walked that path is someone who can train in that path

EXPLAIN importance of timothy to me

Timothy at a young age he was put in charge of one of the first churches, he was capable but he had Paul as a mentor to raise him up and guide him because he's walked the path he’s been there,he can guide

but the downfall of a young leader can be what makes them attractive: passion, the passion of a young leader is attractive because it shows they have a heart for what they are working on or doing that no one can deny,

but all of the heart in the world doesn't matter if you are over passionate and work yourself into the ground and are so hard-headed on getting what you want that you push everyone away and drive the truck over the cliff

But we do this Because if we don't we might not be taken seriously. Listen I believe in you, I’m proud of you, and no matter what I’ll always love you.

These are the words that we leaders long for, because the truth is, on the outside we have to be tough

Stand up straight

Don't cry what are you doing crying

Pull yourself back up

Get back to work

These are the words we hear day after day:

we are prideful,… we take pride in what we do because if we don't then maybe no one else will. Maybe they will write us off because we are just “kids” that we don't know anything, we don't have life experience and the truth is we are insecure, many times we feel unneeded, unwanted.

But don't feel written off because of your age, in a book of the Old Testament God the Father says to Jeremiah (Jeremiah 1:6-7)

“Ah, Lord God! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth.” 7 But the Lord said to me,

“Do not say, ‘I am only a youth’;

for to all to whom I send you, you shall go,

and whatever I command you, you shall speak.

(Jeremiah 1:6-7)

Don't say that you are a youth, Don't be written off because of your age because if what you say and how you lead are not an overflow of what God is doing in you then it doesn’t matter

Your wisdom and leadership are an overflow of what God has done and is doing in you

And if it’s not then it doesn’t matter because your leadership will crumble, you will get burned out because you're not drawing from the only one that gives you any authority and gives you rest and peace because he is rest and he is peace

It doesn't matter if you 18, 26, 45, or 72

But we see time after time in the Bible that every successful person has a mentor or a guide in their life

So take that outline and use it

We were never meant to do ministry alone,

Actually, it was the opposite of the way things were supposed to be done

If we look at the Old Testament and we look at when Satan was given permission to tempt Job what did he do he attempted to isolate him

And when did Satan try to tempt Jesus?

He tempted Jesus when he had just come off of one of the high points of his ministry, he had just been baptized

He was on the mountaintop, and then he went to the desert to be alone with his Father and that’s when the enemy attacked, not when he was surrounded by his friends

He attacked when he was alone, when did Peter deny, not while he was with his support group, with his friends, it was while he was alone. And I can go on and on with these examples but here is the bottom line

The enemy will do everything within it’s power to get you isolated.

Because the fact is, if he can get you isolated he can make you think that the only person you have……is him

But if we look at what Jesus told us he sent the disciples out 2 by 2

So go and find someone who has traveled that road before, who has been down I-75 on a Friday at 4 o’clock

Don't go ask uncle Timmy who is on marriage #5 for advice if you are going through a rough patch in your marriage

And if you are in a slump in your (friendships)leadership don’t go ask Karen who has the highest turnover rate of (friends)because she always wants to talk to (someone) the manager

Go find that couple who has been married for 40 or 50 years and have kept Christ at the center because they've been through those hard times they've been in those dark places

Go talk to the friend who is close with many people and ask them how they love and care for people

(SKIP) Talk to the leader whose volunteers love them and run a productive ministry

Who better to help you out of a rut or a ditch than someone who has been there and gotten out of

it

And the older generation, you have to understand that in this season you need to find your few, train them, guide them,

Invite them into your homes and show them what a good marriage looks like, show them that a good marriage gets messy and there are arguments and disagreements that's okay just be vulnerable

And show them, show us what a good ministry looks like, show that caring for people is hard, that you get down in the mud and are helping these broken people, and its hard and you will fail

If you don’t teach the younger generation that it is okay to fail you are setting them up for an even bigger failure

Because if you aren't and don't warn them for what's ahead you are setting them up to fail

Tell them to watch it, it gets rocky right here, watch how you go into that situation, handle it with care, maybe say that a little differently, this is a better way to communicate that vision

Younger generation, trust them, believe them, those few know how to navigate those hard times with Christ and BY Christ

And none of this matters if we aren't going and reaching the next gen., the lost, the next generation of the church and of the kingdom of God

And we are living in a post-Christian world where there are kids growing up without knowing who Jesus is and growing up without Christian values

Because used to even if you didn’t go to church every week you were raised up with respect and some values that resembled Christian values

And this is why our kids’ environments are so important because our goal needs to be that we can be a place where kids never know a day without knowing Jesus

So here’s what I really want everyone to take away from here today:

To the younger generation, don't be afraid to blaze your own trail, but realize and respect that there is wisdom in the some of the ways things used to be done and go and find someone trustworthy and let them take you under their wing

BE A TIMOTHY

To the older generation, understand that its okay to let go of the way some things used to be done and that there are differences between the generations, but don't let them divide us, but rather let’s embrace those and understand that we can learn from each other, but you must find someone and take them under your wing

But that’s not happening anymore and this is the last story I’m going to tell then we’ll close