Graduation Message 2022

SLIDE 1 “GRADUATION CAP AND BIBLE”

Today is a day of celebration. We are celebrating our graduates and their achievements. They have toiled, studied, and completed coursework to arrive at this time of recognition of their efforts and achievements. We pause to celebrate their preparation and beginning a new phase of life. Graduation is not an endpoint. It is a beginning. As much as we look to graduation as the completion of a series of levels and stages, it is a launching pad-commencement into the new stage of life beyond the one just completed.

As you have been marching on through this life and having arrived to this day

This verse has probably been prayed over your life and believed for over your life

This verse is more recognizable by the parents but today you carry it forward as a promise from God over you.

SLIDE 2

Proverbs 22:6 NASB95

6 Train up a child in the way he should go, Even when he is old he will not depart from it.

SLIDE 3

Matthew 24:35 NASB95

35 “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.

The world out there will throw everything it can at you about God’s truth over your life and your life ahead

King Solomon - had it all, king of Israel, wisest man to ever live and still wrote the book of Ecclesiastes describing life’s answers, finding happiness

Here are the main points he learned

SLIDE 4

SOLOMON’S DEAD ENDS

A. He Tried Learning B. He Tried Lust C. He Tried Liquor D. He Tried Labor E. He Tried Luxury

SLIDE 5

SOLOMON’S PATHS TO JOY

A. Get To Know God B. Trust God When Life Is Disappointing C. Expect God To Meet Your Needs D. Follow God's Instructions

SLIDE 6

SOLOMON’S PATHS TO JOY (cont’d)

E. Cultivate A Forgiving Heart F. Maintain A Clear Conscience G. Build Healthy Relationships H. Live With Eternal Perspective

A very popular bible verse everyone has heard is out of Jeremiah 29

SLIDE 7

Jeremiah 29:11 NASB95

11 ‘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.

There is so much more to this verse in God’s word / so much missed and not truly understood or even in context

This was a time in Israel’s history that they were going out to exile in Babylon

God is speaking here to the prophet Jeremiah as the exile is beginning / verses prior to 29:11

This is what I still want the people to do as they go out to the world

Build houses / plant gardens / be productive

Take wives, have son’s and daughters and increase. do not decrease

Do not be deceived by false prophets and diviners

I will visit you and fulfill My good word to you

SLIDE 8

Jeremiah 29:12–13 NASB95

12 ‘Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13 ‘You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.

SLIDE 9

FAMOUS GRADUATION QUOTES

“Before you act, listen. Before you react, think. Before you spend, earn. Before you criticize, wait. Before you quit, try.”

SLIDE 10

FAMOUS GRADUATION QUOTES

“Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal.”

SLIDE 11

FAMOUS GRADUATION QUOTES

“Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm”

SLIDE 12

FAMOUS GRADUATION QUOTES

“There are no regrets in life, just lessons.”

This has been a long journey, a milestone point, crossed the river so to speak

As I close with this encouragement form Joshua 4

SLIDE 13

Joshua 4:6 NASB95

6 “Let this be a sign among you, so that when your children ask later, saying, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’

SLIDE 14

Joshua 4:7 NASB95

7 then you shall say to them, ‘Because the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord; when it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off.’ So these stones shall become a memorial to the sons of Israel forever.”

WORSHIP TEAM COME

They carried the ark across before all the people

Let God always go before you

What was inside the ark? The tablets / jar of manna / Aaron’s rod that budded

Finally the mercy seat on top

SLIDE 15 “GRADUATION HAT / FOR I KNOW THE PLANS”

CLOSE / PRAYER