SPEAKER_00: Hello and welcome to the FBC El Doredo Sermon Podcast.
SPEAKER_00: My name is Taylor Guerrera and I have the privilege of being the pastor here at First Baptist.
SPEAKER_00: And I want to thank you for listening into our sermon this week.
SPEAKER_00: And I want to tell you this if you're in our area and you don't have a church home, we would love to see you any Sunday morning at First Baptist El Doredo.
SPEAKER_00: Will you join me now in listening to our sermon from this week?
SPEAKER_01: All right, man.
SPEAKER_01: Hey, I am so excited to be with y'all this morning.
SPEAKER_01: Uh it has been an honor and a privilege to be able to bring the word uh to these students.
SPEAKER_01: Uh man, Pastor Colby, man, y'all got a great student pastor.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know if y'all know that you probably do, but if you don't, I want you to know that he's a great student pastor who cares deeply about the next generation and cares deeply about them coming to know Jesus and being discipled and raised up.
SPEAKER_01: So thank you for for extending the invitation uh to me and just letting me step in and link arms with you in ministry uh this weekend with these students and in this moment.
SPEAKER_01: And then uh you'll have a great lead pastor, senior pastor, Pastor Taylor.
SPEAKER_01: Man, I uh I've done ministry in Arkansas, and the reputation of this man of God on the front row up here uh it is one that is great, one that is God honoring.
SPEAKER_01: And so, man, the leadership of this church is incredible.
SPEAKER_01: And so thank you for letting me take this moment with with this congregation.
SPEAKER_01: So thank you so much.
SPEAKER_01: Uh man, my name is Slayton Teague.
SPEAKER_01: Uh I am a student pastor in San Antonio, Texas.
SPEAKER_01: Uh I grew up uh in Longview, Texas, uh, which is East Texas.
SPEAKER_01: If if you know where it is, uh, that's great.
SPEAKER_01: If you don't, it's about an hour 45 east of Dallas.
SPEAKER_01: And so uh I grew up in Longview, uh, and then from there I felt a call to ministry around the age of 16, and I went to school at Washtaw Baptist University.
SPEAKER_01: Anyone from Washington, just please, anyone?
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01: Come on.
SPEAKER_01: I'm at home.
SPEAKER_01: This is great.
SPEAKER_01: And so I went I went to school at Washtau Baptist University, got a Christian studies degree uh with a triple emphasis in biblical studies, Christian ministry, and theology.
SPEAKER_01: And then from there, uh I started pastoring a student ministry uh in Little Rock, Arkansas at First Baptist Church there.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, and then I started my master's at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in uh North Carolina.
SPEAKER_01: I did it online because I was in ministry.
SPEAKER_01: My wife is in PA school at UAMS.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, and then from there, the Lord called us to go to Jacksonville, Florida, uh, where I was a student pastor, was a part of the teaching team, uh, and did a lot of things, wore a lot of hats at this church.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, and uh, and just being able to be there, the Lord used that moment in that church so greatly to mold me to the man I am uh today.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, and it was at Jacksonville, Florida, where my wife and I would have our first kid.
SPEAKER_01: Her name is Elaine Ruth.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, she's named after her grandma, uh, her, her, her great-grandma.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, and so we love Elainey, but from there, uh, the Lord called us to go to San Antonio, Texas, where we are now, uh, which is home.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, I remember growing up, I don't know if you've ever been to San Antonio, but I remember growing up and we would go to the Austin area for state basketball championship tournaments.
SPEAKER_01: My mom was a basketball coach, and so we'd go down there uh for that, and we'd always go to San Antonio, and I just remember as a kid thinking San Antonio is the greatest city in in all the world.
SPEAKER_01: I understand the Alamo is a little underwhelming if you've ever been, you ever seen it?
SPEAKER_01: Like everyone in San Antonio thinks the same exact thing.
SPEAKER_01: Uh and so, but man, it's super, it's a it's a great city, and we love it.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, but uh it was in San Antonio where we had our second son, uh, uh our second child.
SPEAKER_01: Uh his name is Nolan Michael.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, and I have the pictures of my family uh up on the screen.
SPEAKER_01: Uh this this is my this is my world.
SPEAKER_01: Uh there's nothing I'm more proud of than the people that are on this screen.
SPEAKER_01: Uh this is my wife Allison.
SPEAKER_01: We've been married seven years, uh, and those are our our two kids.
SPEAKER_01: Laney, uh my daughter is about two and a half years old, and in about 10 days, uh my son will turn one.
SPEAKER_01: So uh if you have any time on your schedule, we'll just ask you to pray for me and my family.
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
SPEAKER_01: It's two, it's two under two.
SPEAKER_01: They're now that's whatever, but that's the age range.
SPEAKER_01: They're 18 months apart.
SPEAKER_01: Um, and so we're busy and being a student pastor and all the things.
SPEAKER_01: So if you if you don't mind, uh would love for you to pray for me.
SPEAKER_01: Uh and I love them.
SPEAKER_01: And so uh that's enough about me.
SPEAKER_01: Uh actually that's not because I've had the next the next slide, don't put it up yet.
SPEAKER_01: That's actually about me as well.
SPEAKER_01: Sorry, so sorry, so sorry.
SPEAKER_01: Um but uh to this morning's message is titled, if you're taking notes, it's titled Leaving Kingdom Legacy.
SPEAKER_01: It's Leaving Kingdom Legacy.
SPEAKER_01: Uh a big part of my story is that I hated the word legacy.
SPEAKER_01: Uh I am a very stubborn, prideful man.
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
SPEAKER_01: Uh my entire life, if you told me what to do, if the tone was slightly off, what would end up happening is I, knowing that what you're telling me to do is right, I would do the exact opposite of it.
SPEAKER_01: I'm a fighter through and through.
SPEAKER_01: All right.
SPEAKER_01: I don't, in my opinion, is the right opinion.
SPEAKER_01: It's actually truth sometimes.
SPEAKER_01: And so that that's who I am.
SPEAKER_01: And so my entire life, I would hear this statement, oh, you're gonna be just like your dad.
SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, no, I'm not.
SPEAKER_01: Like, I'm not gonna be like my dad.
SPEAKER_01: He's like, oh, you're gonna be just like your grandpa.
SPEAKER_01: It's like, love my grandpa, but that's him, not me.
SPEAKER_01: Oh man, you're gonna be just like your great-grandpa.
SPEAKER_01: Absolutely not.
SPEAKER_01: And the reason I most people aren't compared to their great-grandpa or their grandpa, but for me, what you need to know is that I grew up in a very Christian home.
SPEAKER_01: And when I say very Christian, like I know you're probably thinking, oh, you went to church, uh, your dad may have been a pastor if you're trying to connect the dots and and all these things, and that you're raised uh in in the church, all the things you're always there.
SPEAKER_01: Anytime the doors are open, you were there, which is all true.
SPEAKER_01: But my family was a family that when we would travel on vacation, Sunday was still the day for us to go to church.
SPEAKER_01: And so I would still be in church.
SPEAKER_01: But what was even more interesting about me going to church, even on vacation, was that most of the time it was at my grandpa's church because my grandpa was a pastor.
SPEAKER_01: And then whenever my great-grandpa was still alive, we'd go to his church.
SPEAKER_01: You say, I'm a fourth generation pastor, and I don't say that in a boastful way.
SPEAKER_01: I actually say it is this is the thing that I fought against my entire life was to do the very thing that I'm currently doing.
SPEAKER_01: Being a fourth generation pastor, absolutely not, because that's not me being me.
SPEAKER_01: That's me conforming to what my family did.
SPEAKER_01: You see, in my life, the Lord began to soften my heart and break and break me down to the point where I would begin to surrender to call ministry whenever I was 16 years old.
SPEAKER_01: And man, that that was a struggle.
SPEAKER_01: I remember there was tears.
SPEAKER_01: Man, I was saying things to the Lord that I can't say from the pulpit because I just did not want to do what my dad did.
SPEAKER_01: I did not want to be looked at as Mike's son.
SPEAKER_01: I didn't want to be looked at as Harold's grandson.
SPEAKER_01: I didn't want to, I didn't want that title.
SPEAKER_01: I wanted to be Slatan.
SPEAKER_01: You see, there is this moment in my life now that I look back on my life.
SPEAKER_01: I look back on the legacy, my heritage.
SPEAKER_01: And what I see is blessing, and what I see is honor, and what I see is a privilege to be able to be raised up by the next the first generation, the generation before me to become the man that I am today.
SPEAKER_01: You see on the screen there's a there's a picture uh of me, uh, and that's I'm the baby crying, in case anyone was confused.
SPEAKER_01: All right.
SPEAKER_01: So I'm the baby that's crying.
SPEAKER_01: I probably missed nap time.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, and that's my dad who's holding me.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, and to the right, that's my grandpa, and to the left, that's my great-grandpa.
SPEAKER_01: Uh and and and you may notice that there's a Dallas Cowboys helmet signed by Tom Landry.
SPEAKER_01: Come on, the America's team.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, you may have noticed the Longhorn baseball, okay.
SPEAKER_01: Please don't judge me.
SPEAKER_01: I'm from Texas, okay?
SPEAKER_01: I'm a Longhorn fan.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, we don't need to go back to the Southwest Conference.
SPEAKER_01: But in between those are four Bibles.
SPEAKER_01: The the blue or gray Bible is actually my great-grandpa's Bible.
SPEAKER_01: And one of the things that he did is he would, in his Bible, he would, he would write notes and highlight things and circle things, and he would write out prayers, and he would say, Man, this prayer was answered.
SPEAKER_01: And so one of the greatest joys of mine is to go back through my great-grandpa's Bible and I get to know my great-grandpa.
SPEAKER_01: You see, the the orange Bible is my grandpa's Bible.
SPEAKER_01: That I actually thought was lost.
SPEAKER_01: We couldn't find it.
SPEAKER_01: And what actually happened is that a family member somehow had his Bible.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, and he they actually sent it, mailed it back to me when they found out that I was in ministry.
SPEAKER_01: And so that's one of the greatest unanswered like prayers that I never prayed was to get that Bible back, and he would do the same thing.
SPEAKER_01: He'd write in this Bible.
SPEAKER_01: You see, prayers answered, people saved.
SPEAKER_01: The wrestle that he had with the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: And the Bible next to it was my dad's and and I, my dad passed away in 2016.
SPEAKER_01: So he passed away early.
SPEAKER_01: And so one of the greatest privileges of mine is to go back to that Bible and see the things that the Lord was doing in my dad's life.
SPEAKER_01: And the Bible next to it is one of my Bibles, it just happens to be the same size as those, so that's the one I use for this moment.
SPEAKER_01: So I go back and I look at these and I have actual sermon notes from my great-grandpa.
SPEAKER_01: And on the back of the bulletin that he would have handed out, he would write on the back of it, it'd say, Sally saved 1, 12, 43.
SPEAKER_01: I made that number up.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know if it was 43.
SPEAKER_01: But I'd go back and see, and I have I have cassette recordings of my grandpa's sermons.
SPEAKER_01: And I and I have sermons of of my dad's, and and it's these moments that I cherish dearly.
SPEAKER_01: It's the heritage of my life.
SPEAKER_01: And I'm so grateful that these men that are in this picture were men of God.
SPEAKER_01: I'm so grateful that the day that they were born to the day they passed away, one thing that they had on their mind was to be found faithful.
SPEAKER_01: That they would leave a kingdom legacy, that even though I wanted to run away from the Lord so much that they would be praying for me.
SPEAKER_01: Oh, what's not pictured as a grandma who would pray for me, what's not pictured as a mom who'd be praying for me and just asking the Lord to move in my life.
SPEAKER_01: I'm so grateful that that first date when they were born, to the very last date that they died, that they took their last breath, that they invested the word of the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: They invested the prayers of their hearts in me and in other people around me.
SPEAKER_01: See, that dash in between those two dates is so important.
SPEAKER_01: That dash between those two dates is what you do with your life.
SPEAKER_01: You see, this church, I was walking around with Pastor Colby.
SPEAKER_01: I have a friend who like wants a church plant one day and just loves loves churches with stained glasses, stained glass windows, and all the things.
SPEAKER_01: And and so I was just like, oh man, look at this church, and I was getting to know it.
SPEAKER_01: And one of the things about me is I love history.
SPEAKER_01: Obviously, I have my family history, but but I just love history in general, especially church history.
SPEAKER_01: And so being able to walk around this church, man, I'm just imagining all the stories that have happened in this place.
SPEAKER_01: How there's a building built right here, right at this little tree that they would worship in while they were building the rest of it to make space for more people to come to know Jesus in El Dorado.
SPEAKER_01: And then what was really cool is that I got to go downstairs.
SPEAKER_01: I went down this bridal tunnel.
SPEAKER_01: I didn't, that's incredible.
SPEAKER_01: I didn't even know that that was a thing.
SPEAKER_01: And so I he took me down this tunnel.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, and if you need to go to the bathroom, there's a bathroom back there.
SPEAKER_01: Um, but uh you go down this tunnel and and we get here, and I'm like, oh man, this is so cool.
SPEAKER_01: Like, like I'm just like geeking out uh about about this building, and we get to this moment where I'm like, what are these pictures on the wall?
SPEAKER_01: And Pastor Colby's like, hey, these are the the pastors of this church.
SPEAKER_01: I was like, man, how how old is this church?
SPEAKER_01: Oh, this church was founded in 1845, and on the other side are the founding leaders of the church, and then I got to see the heritage room and see all the history of this church and how God has moved, and then and then I get to be here and and get to be a small part of what God is doing in this church this weekend.
SPEAKER_01: I'm humbled and honored to be here.
SPEAKER_01: You see, God created you and me, he created us all with his image.
SPEAKER_01: His breath breathed life into our lungs.
SPEAKER_01: He gave us a start date, and there will be a day that we have an end date because sin and brokenness has messed everything up.
SPEAKER_01: But there's a God who loves us, there's a God who loves you that would send his one and only Son named Jesus to this earth, this broken earth, to go and die on a cross, be buried in a tomb, rising after three days, defeating the two things that you and I will never be able to defeat, which is sin and death.
SPEAKER_01: Because if we're all real this morning, you have sinned, and there's gonna be a day when we all die.
SPEAKER_01: You can't defeat those two things, and Jesus defeated both of them.
SPEAKER_01: By doing so, he demonstrates his love for us that while we're still sinners, that there's a way for us to be saved.
SPEAKER_01: And then Jesus would rise again from the grave, and the thing that he would do before he would ascend back to heaven and be seated at the right hand of God, preparing a place for us so that when he comes back, he can bring us there.
SPEAKER_01: This is what I need you to see.
SPEAKER_01: He instituted the plan A to reach lost people and disciple people and make them look more like Jesus, which was the church.
SPEAKER_01: This church start date 1845.
SPEAKER_01: Dash.
SPEAKER_01: We don't know what that other date is, but the Lord has every person in this room to make the dash count.
SPEAKER_01: What we do with our life, what you do with this church, you leave the kingdom legacy.
SPEAKER_01: So how do we make our life count?
SPEAKER_01: How do we make our life count in such a way that doesn't just grow my name, doesn't just grow your name, doesn't just grow this church's name, but grows the king's name.
SPEAKER_01: His name is Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: So this morning we're gonna be in Hebrews chapter 12, verse 1 and 2, and I'm gonna read it and then we're gonna jump in uh to the rest of the message.
SPEAKER_01: So as you're turning there, it says this, it says in Hebrews chapter 12, verse 1 through 2.
SPEAKER_01: This is great.
SPEAKER_01: Just hear all these pages turning.
SPEAKER_01: This is incredible.
SPEAKER_01: It says this, it says, Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
SPEAKER_01: Lord Jesus, we come to you this morning and we just ask, Lord, that we would meet with you.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, we believe that your word is inspired, Lord, that your word in Hebrews 4 12 says it's living and active, Lord.
SPEAKER_01: It is your word that actually spoke and all things were created.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, we believe that when we become people of this book, Lord, we get to see and encounter you.
SPEAKER_01: And so, Lord, this morning I pray, Lord, that your word would go forth, Lord.
SPEAKER_01: It would not come back void, but that we would be a humble servant, an empty vessel, ready to receive whatever you have for us today.
SPEAKER_01: And we ask you all this in your awesome and powerful name, the name of Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: All right, if you're taking notes, point one is this is that we need to remember the witnesses.
SPEAKER_01: Remember the witnesses.
SPEAKER_01: You see, if we want to make the dash of our life count, it starts with remembering the witnesses.
SPEAKER_01: You see, it in the text, it says therefore.
SPEAKER_01: And anytime you're reading scripture on your own and you see the word therefore, you need to ask the question, what is it there for?
SPEAKER_01: I'm just a little play on words, okay?
SPEAKER_01: I'm not an English teacher, but that sounds good.
SPEAKER_01: What is it there for?
SPEAKER_01: So then you look back.
SPEAKER_01: So so what is he saying, therefore?
SPEAKER_01: In Hebrews chapter 11, this is called the the the hall of faith.
SPEAKER_01: I'm a big sports guy, super competitive, I always want to win.
SPEAKER_01: And so I love seeing people that are in the hall of fame.
SPEAKER_01: I love history, so I love learning about all these people and seeing what they did and how they led their teams and all the things.
SPEAKER_01: But here in Hebrews chapter 11, we get the picture of Canton, Ohio, right?
SPEAKER_01: You're with me?
SPEAKER_01: We get the picture of the Hall of Faith.
SPEAKER_01: These are faithful men and women that have followed Jesus to the very end, that they have lived a life worthy of the call of Christ on their life, that they would be faithful to the very end, and they would hear the words, Well done, my good and faithful servant.
SPEAKER_01: So when the author of Hebrews transitions to this verse one where he says, Therefore, he's telling the reader, he's telling the audience to remember the people who have gone before you.
SPEAKER_01: To remember those who are faithful.
SPEAKER_01: Why?
SPEAKER_01: Because this life that we live, trying to be in this world but not of this world, trying to look like Jesus to a bunch of people who don't want to have anything to do with Jesus, we need to find encouragement in the fact that we can actually be successful because there have been men and women who were successful before us, and that means that if I've got the same Holy Spirit with me that they had, then guess what I can do?
SPEAKER_01: I can be found faithful.
SPEAKER_01: See, it says that there is a great cloud of witnesses.
SPEAKER_01: We're surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses.
SPEAKER_01: Great just means a lot.
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: There's a lot of people who have been found faithful.
SPEAKER_01: The cloud here is just a common way to group people together, but witnesses, what do witnesses do?
SPEAKER_01: They tell, they proclaim, they share truth, and they share the experience of their life.
SPEAKER_01: So when we seek to follow Jesus, we need to look at the people who've gone before us because they are testifying to the fact that no matter what comes in your life, no matter what comes your way, no matter what the enemy has planned against you, no matter what goes on at work, no matter what goes on at school, no matter what goes on in your home life, that there have been people who have been found faithful, and this is encouraging.
SPEAKER_01: Because I don't know about you, but there's times that life is hard.
SPEAKER_01: And the more that I'm living the life that I'm living, and I get married, and I have two kids, and I have a job, and we move across the country, all these things bring different weights and stressors, and all the things where I'm just trying to be found faithful in the midst of leading my family, in the midst of praying that my kids would know Jesus one day, in the midst of being a student pastor, looking at the next generation and calling them to be the generation of today that changes the world.
SPEAKER_01: It's this stress and this pressure that if I'm not careful will begin to actually discourage me instead of me finding encouragement in the fact that I'm loved by Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: So we, if we want to run this race, if we want to make the dash of our life count, you have to remember the witnesses, which is why I go back to the Bibles all the time.
SPEAKER_01: Because if if the person with the last name T could do it, then this guy with the last name T can do it.
SPEAKER_01: And I can tell you this if they could do it, if I can do it, you can do it.
SPEAKER_01: So we remember the witnesses and this encouragement that people were found faithful should lead us to point two, which is this is that we remove the sin and the weight.
SPEAKER_01: We remove the sin and the weight.
SPEAKER_01: Look what it says in verse one.
SPEAKER_01: It says, let us also lay aside.
SPEAKER_01: Another way you can translate this is remove to set apart, like you're setting yourself apart.
SPEAKER_01: Remove yourself from these things.
SPEAKER_01: Lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely.
SPEAKER_01: Let us also lay aside every weight.
SPEAKER_01: What is the weight?
SPEAKER_01: It's what I've already talked about.
SPEAKER_01: See, our life that we live is heavy.
SPEAKER_01: See, I remember being a student, and I remember thinking, oh my gosh, like life can't get busier than this.
SPEAKER_01: Oh man, my life is not gonna get harder than this.
SPEAKER_01: Algebra 2 is not gonna get it's not gonna get any better.
SPEAKER_01: Like this is the worst thing in my life.
SPEAKER_01: Physics.
SPEAKER_01: I understood physics, but chemistry had no idea what was going on.
SPEAKER_01: I I remember being like, oh man, I gotta wake up early for football practice.
SPEAKER_01: And then I gotta go to school.
SPEAKER_01: And then, oh by the way, it it's basketball season, so now I gotta go, now I gotta get get ready and watch some film for basketball, but yet I'm on the football team, so now I feel this.
SPEAKER_01: I remember thinking life was so busy, so hard, so heavy.
SPEAKER_01: And it was.
SPEAKER_01: I wasn't mature enough to handle it.
SPEAKER_01: But then as I grow, as I learn God's word, as I as I step into new things in life, what begins to happen is more responsibility comes.
SPEAKER_01: I I go to college free.
SPEAKER_01: You with me?
SPEAKER_01: I'd pay for my college, but I'm free from my parents.
SPEAKER_01: You with me?
SPEAKER_01: Okay, pray the provision of the Lord in my life.
SPEAKER_01: I felt independent.
SPEAKER_01: I can do whatever I want.
SPEAKER_01: I remember being a horrible student in high school, but I winged it and I was smart enough to still pass and make my family happy of me.
SPEAKER_01: Like, oh, he's making A's or whatever.
SPEAKER_01: I just won't wing that thing, maybe look at at a at a friend's homework every now and then.
SPEAKER_01: Don't do that.
SPEAKER_01: I regret it because what I'm about to tell you is I got to college, there's this thing called a syllabus.
SPEAKER_01: Had to read a syllabus.
SPEAKER_01: Didn't read that, kept it in my backpack, never looked at it.
SPEAKER_01: And what ended up happening is the first day of class, I go to school, I go there, I get the syllabus, and I'm like, man, we didn't do anything in this class.
SPEAKER_01: This is incredible.
SPEAKER_01: And then I go on on the Friday to this class and Thursday night, I'm hanging out with all these new friends that I made.
SPEAKER_01: Because I'm a freshman at Washita, and what ends up happening is a friend's like, hey, did you do the homework for this class, this class, this class, this class?
SPEAKER_01: Because we're all in these classes together.
SPEAKER_01: And I was like, homework week one?
SPEAKER_01: Like, you're crazy.
SPEAKER_01: He's like, Did you not read the syllabus?
SPEAKER_01: No, I didn't read the syllabus.
SPEAKER_01: Like, shouldn't I shouldn't the teacher have told us something?
SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
SPEAKER_01: She probably did.
SPEAKER_01: But what ended up happening is I I thought I was about to I was about to drop out of school week one because I'm staying up late on the back deck of of the student center overlooking the Washita River, letting mosquitoes bite me.
SPEAKER_01: Because I just got to stay awake and read Love Beyond Reason for Scott Duvall for Dr.
SPEAKER_01: Scott Duvall's spiritual formation class.
SPEAKER_01: And then and then we get to to the class and we're like, hey, there's a quiz, and I'm like, oh, I'm done.
SPEAKER_01: Like this is my world was crumbling.
SPEAKER_01: And then I realized, wait a second, do your homework, read your syllabus, get a planner, schedule this thing out.
SPEAKER_01: And then then I get a job.
SPEAKER_01: Oh my goodness.
SPEAKER_01: I'm like, oh, I thought I had no time in college, and now I really don't have time.
SPEAKER_01: And then I get married, and now I have kids and the weight of life.
SPEAKER_01: You start having influence over people, you start leading your home for the men in the room.
SPEAKER_01: You start caring about the soul of your children.
SPEAKER_01: You want to do well at work.
SPEAKER_01: And it gets heavy.
SPEAKER_01: And what the enemy wants you to do is he wants you to think you're doing this all alone.
SPEAKER_01: He wants you to be isolated.
SPEAKER_01: But what the Lord wants you to do is to come to him with it.
SPEAKER_01: See, it says in in Matthew chapter 11, verse 28 and 30, it says, Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden.
SPEAKER_01: Students, I'm here to tell you in the room, one, you labor and there's heavy laden in your life.
SPEAKER_01: But the older you get, the more it's going to get on your shoulders.
SPEAKER_01: So learn this verse now.
SPEAKER_01: Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
SPEAKER_01: Take my yoke upon you, learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly.
SPEAKER_01: This word lowly is humble, that the Lord Himself towards us, his heart towards us is one of gentleness and humility.
SPEAKER_01: And it says, and you will find rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy, my burden is light.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know how many agricultural people there are in here.
SPEAKER_01: You could probably give me a lesson on this, but from my understanding, a yoke is something that went over the shoulders of like a cow or a horse or a mule, and there's a younger horse, a younger cow, a younger mule that would be underneath this yoke.
SPEAKER_01: So so that the one that's trained to actually be able to plow, or the one that's trained to actually be able to pull, is training this younger one, this least experienced one, how to go.
SPEAKER_01: But but if there's an older mule and there's a younger mule, more than likely, the older one is carrying all the weight because his shoulders are bigger, he's a little taller.
SPEAKER_01: But the younger mule has no idea.
SPEAKER_01: He's just learning and going wherever the older trained mule is taking it.
SPEAKER_01: See, in in the story, when Jesus says, Take my yoke upon you, what he's saying is it's like, listen, when you come to learn from me, when you submit your life to me, when you choose to follow Jesus, my yoke goes over your shoulders.
SPEAKER_01: And what ends up happening is that Jesus Himself is carrying the weight, and he's leading you and guiding you every step of the way.
SPEAKER_01: All you have to do is recognize that you're not the one carrying the weight, that it's him.
SPEAKER_01: So as long as Jesus is with me, I'm gonna be okay.
SPEAKER_01: Remove the weight of this life by refocusing on who Jesus is.
SPEAKER_01: But then it says to remove sin that cleans so closely.
SPEAKER_01: If we're all honest in the room, we all have sin in our life, sin that people don't even know about because we're good at hiding it.
SPEAKER_01: But but our job in following Jesus is to live a life of holiness, to live a life set apart for the work of Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: You see, Jesus wants to use you at your work, he wants to use you at your school, he wants to use you if you're a coach, he wants to use you as a teacher, he wants to use you if you're an oil, he wants to use you if you're a farmer, he wants to use you wherever you go.
SPEAKER_01: And so our job, not just as preachers or pastors, but as as followers of Jesus, is to live a life of holiness because one, we want to walk in the abundant life of Jesus, but we also want other people to experience it too.
SPEAKER_01: So we want to look different and act different and talk different, not because we are different, but because we want to give someone a better picture of what true joy looks like, what true peace looks like.
SPEAKER_01: And it's only found in Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: So when we follow Jesus, we remove sin.
SPEAKER_01: If you're a believer in the room, your life should be marked by a pattern of confession.
SPEAKER_01: It says in 1 John 1 9 that if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us of all unrighteousness.
SPEAKER_01: It says that he cleanses us.
SPEAKER_01: See, how does this happen?
SPEAKER_01: Well, one, Jesus has already paid the price for your sin.
SPEAKER_01: So all you're doing is telling the Lord, hey, listen, Lord, I've been unfaithful, that I sinned against you.
SPEAKER_01: And Lord, I'm sorry.
SPEAKER_01: I chased after the things of the world instead of chasing after what you want me to chase after, and I have failed, Lord, forgive me.
SPEAKER_01: And in that moment, the thing I want you to hear is the Father saying, I already, I already forgave you.
SPEAKER_01: All you have to do is come to me so I could remind you of the love I have for you.
SPEAKER_01: This everlasting, unconditional, steadfast love that I have for you.
SPEAKER_01: That there's nothing you did to earn my love, there's nothing you can do to make me remove my love.
SPEAKER_01: I love you, so come to me, all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
SPEAKER_01: Take my yoke upon you, for it is easy, and my burden is light.
SPEAKER_01: When we confess, we claim the forgiveness that's already given to us.
SPEAKER_01: So we keep a short record of sin in our life.
SPEAKER_01: So point one is we remember the witness, point two is we remove sin and wait.
SPEAKER_01: Point three then is that you run your race.
SPEAKER_01: You run your race.
SPEAKER_01: It says this, it says, let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.
SPEAKER_01: See, currently I'm training to run a marathon.
SPEAKER_01: And I said I said I'm a competitive person, so I'm not in sports anymore, so I have to find ways to compete.
SPEAKER_01: And this one is a competition against myself because when I try to run and I'm competing against other people, I lose because I'm not the quickest guy, fastest guy.
SPEAKER_01: So I'm training for this marathon, and my goal is to just finish.
SPEAKER_01: Just to finish.
SPEAKER_01: The furthest I've run so far is 13 miles, and I thought I was dying at mile five.
SPEAKER_01: I have no idea how I got to mile 13.
SPEAKER_01: See, the Christian life is compared to running a marathon, and the whole goal is about finishing the marathon.
SPEAKER_01: What do you do?
SPEAKER_01: You train for a marathon.
SPEAKER_01: So you train for the Christian life.
SPEAKER_01: Spiritual disciplines.
SPEAKER_01: You read, you read your Bible, you pray, you come to church, you get in community, you tell other people about Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Not because it's a checklist, but because the love of the Lord has changed your life.
SPEAKER_01: And so I want to know his word.
SPEAKER_01: I want to communicate with him, and I want other people to know how he has changed my life.
SPEAKER_01: See, you endure, hardships are gonna come, life is gonna life.
SPEAKER_01: The unexpected diagnosis is gonna come.
SPEAKER_01: That that bill that you thought you paid, like you didn't pay, and now and now you're like, oh gosh, I didn't expect that.
SPEAKER_01: I have to do this here, and that I'm managing my my money.
SPEAKER_01: I wasn't expecting this expense, I wasn't expecting this thing, I wasn't expecting my my child to come home and get caught out in the sin that they're doing, and I don't know how to respond to this, I don't know how to parent this moment.
SPEAKER_01: Life is going to life, but the one who's unfaithful is the one who endures.
SPEAKER_01: The Christian life is just a faithful finish.
SPEAKER_01: It's way more elementary than we make it out to be.
SPEAKER_01: We make it harder than it is, we make it think it's calculus when really we're just in kindergarten.
SPEAKER_01: One plus one is two.
SPEAKER_01: Yes, sir, I got it.
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna read my Bible, I'm gonna pray, I'm gonna tell people about Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna go to church, I'm gonna be surrounded by godly community.
SPEAKER_01: And whenever I sin, I tell the Lord because I know he's a good dad who loves me.
SPEAKER_01: So, how do we have a faithful finish?
SPEAKER_01: Ultimately, it's point four.
SPEAKER_01: It's we refocus on Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: We refocus on Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: It says looking to Jesus, the founder, meaning we can't be saved if it wasn't Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: We can't have faith if it wasn't for Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: We don't have everlasting life if it's not for Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: He's the founder and then the perfecter of our faith.
SPEAKER_01: This idea of being made perfect is one, we're going to be made perfect when Jesus comes back and we get to see him face to face.
SPEAKER_01: But until that moment, there's this thing called sanctification.
SPEAKER_01: It's the process of us looking more and more like Jesus each and every day.
SPEAKER_01: He helps us along that entire process.
SPEAKER_01: We look to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy, listen, the joy that was set before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame, and is now seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
SPEAKER_01: I need you to see this moment that the author of Hebrews wants us to see is that when he's telling us to run the race of life, to be found faithful.
SPEAKER_01: What I love about the Lord is that he doesn't just give us commands, he's actually modeling what he wants us to do.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus would leave heaven, enter into our mess, and run a race where he never sinned, he never did anything wrong, but yet he went through hardship.
SPEAKER_01: He knows what it's like when a loved one passes away, he knows what it's like when people stab him in the back, he knows what it's like.
SPEAKER_01: And yet he was found perfect, and he would go and die on the cross so that you could have life and an abundant life at that.
SPEAKER_01: He had a faithful finish, and if he's the founder of my faith, if he's the perfecter of my faith, then that means I can have a faithful finish, not because of what I do, but because of what he has done in me.
SPEAKER_01: We run this race, we leave Kingdom Legacy, and this is the takeaway that I want you to see.
SPEAKER_01: Is yes, you run, you erase.
SPEAKER_01: It's not the person's next you race, it's you erased.
SPEAKER_01: At the end of the day, the Lord's gonna look at you and he's gonna see what you did for him.
SPEAKER_01: And then he's gonna look at his son and say, Forgiven, you're mine.
SPEAKER_01: Look at the Lamb's book of life, and there your name is, you're good because of what Jesus did.
SPEAKER_01: But we are gonna be given account for the life we live in all areas of our life.
SPEAKER_01: But in this moment, Jesus is modeling how you are found faithful, but he's also modeling that the race you're running is for other people.
SPEAKER_01: The takeaway is this: if Jesus ran his race for others, then we should too.
SPEAKER_01: If Jesus ran his race for other people, then we should too.
SPEAKER_01: You see, I I'm a I'm a visual learner.
SPEAKER_01: And and I have two candles.
SPEAKER_01: I'm not gonna light them because I don't trust myself.
SPEAKER_01: Little ADD sometimes.
SPEAKER_01: But I want you to imagine that that this is the next generation.
SPEAKER_01: That these are the students that are in here in the middle.
SPEAKER_01: These are are are any this is anyone younger than you.
SPEAKER_01: It could be younger in the faith, it could physically be older than you, but they're new to the faith.
SPEAKER_01: Anyone younger spiritually or physically than you.
SPEAKER_01: I want you to imagine that this is you.
SPEAKER_01: You've been following Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: The spark, the life that's in you, the flame that burns within you for the Lord is burning your candle.
SPEAKER_01: And in between your birth and your death, this candle just gets lower and lower and lower.
SPEAKER_01: But you've been walking with the Lord and you've been living in the light for a very long time.
SPEAKER_01: But yet there's a new generation, there's a new believer in Christ.
SPEAKER_01: There's a young student right here, there's a young adult in the room.
SPEAKER_01: There's something going on where the where Jesus would say, Hey, listen, I didn't just come to be be perfect.
SPEAKER_01: I didn't just come to die for my sin because he didn't have any hence, he came for you.
SPEAKER_01: And if we are to look like Jesus, then that means our life should be a life of lighting the flame of people who don't know Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Should be setting on fire someone who doesn't know Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: It's what you do with your life that matters.
SPEAKER_01: Because I I don't know about you, but but I can have a house.
SPEAKER_01: I can make money.
SPEAKER_01: But there's a day that I don't have any of it.
SPEAKER_01: So you know what I want?
SPEAKER_01: I want to give my best to my family, not to my job.
SPEAKER_01: Do I want to do greater job at my work?
SPEAKER_01: Absolutely, but I don't want my wife to hate me.
SPEAKER_01: I don't want my kids to think I'm a distant dad.
SPEAKER_01: I want them to know me.
SPEAKER_01: Why?
SPEAKER_01: Because I want to light the flame.
SPEAKER_01: I want them to know Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: I want them to know what a godly man looks like.
SPEAKER_01: I want to treat them how I hope their future spouse treats them.
SPEAKER_01: I want them to know Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: I'm a student pastor because I want students to know Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: I'm here because I want you to know Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Pastor Taylor's here because he wants you to know Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Pastor Cope is here because he wants you to know Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: What you do with your life matters.
SPEAKER_01: And my question is, will you invest in the right thing?
SPEAKER_01: Not just good things, but the right thing?
SPEAKER_01: Will you light the flame of your son or your daughter?
SPEAKER_01: What about your grandson or your granddaughter?
SPEAKER_01: But let me take it a step further because I believe that the church is plan A to seek and save the lost.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus wants to use you.
SPEAKER_01: What if, what if the Lord is whispering in your ear right now, pulling at your heart right now?
SPEAKER_01: He says, Hey, listen, I need you to be a spiritual dad to someone who has no dad.
SPEAKER_01: I want you to be a spiritual mom to someone who has no mom.
SPEAKER_01: I want you to be a spiritual grandfather, a spiritual grandmother, meaning I want to take someone who needs help following Jesus under my yoke because I have been submitted to the yoke of Christ for a long time.
SPEAKER_01: And I want to bring them along this thing with me and teach them what it looks like to follow Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: I want to teach them what it looks like to finish faithful.
SPEAKER_01: This church needs people, needs men, needs women to invest in the kids' ministry, to invest in the students.
SPEAKER_01: But they need people to go to the El Dorado football game and invest in the people next to them.
SPEAKER_01: To go to the Brookshires and invest in them there.
SPEAKER_01: To invest in the people in this room.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus says it's you, like you're gonna be the one to point them to him.
SPEAKER_01: So my challenge is love Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Let your fire grow, but begin to set more people on fire.
SPEAKER_01: Set the light of their life so that when your light goes out, the light of Christ is still reaching the darkness long after you're gone.
SPEAKER_01: Leave kingdom.
SPEAKER_01: Not your, not I'm not talking about your money, I'm not talking about your house, I'm not talking about I'm talking about kingdom legacy.
SPEAKER_01: By changing the trajectory of the next generation and the generations to come.
SPEAKER_01: So this is what I'm gonna do.
SPEAKER_01: I just want to give it to a time of invitation.
SPEAKER_01: And up at the front, I'll stand here, Pastor Taylor stand here, Pastor Colby will be here, but maybe you're a student in the room, and we gave you an opportunity to respond to salvation, to give your life to Jesus, and you didn't come forward.
SPEAKER_01: And this is the time for you to come forward.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe you're in the room, maybe you're up in the balcony, and you and you've realized you've never given your life to Jesus, you've never understood that the burden can be removed with Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe you never understood that he actually died so that you could have life.
SPEAKER_01: Everlasting life, and experience the love, the steadfast love, the faithful love, the enduring love of a Father.
SPEAKER_01: So this invitation is to students, but it's also to anyone else in the room.
SPEAKER_01: Man, if you need to give your life to Jesus, I want to talk with you.
SPEAKER_01: Pastor Taylor wants to talk to you, Pastor Colby wants to talk to you, and all we would ask is during this song, you would just come forward because we love to help you make that decision.
SPEAKER_01: But I'm also gonna put something else.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe, just maybe, you're going through something and you need prayer.
SPEAKER_01: I would love to pray for you because I believe that the the unity of the body of Christ, the power of prayer, that the Lord hears our cries.
SPEAKER_01: And I would love to pray for you.
SPEAKER_01: So, Lord Jesus, thank you for today.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you for the opportunity, Lord, to deliver your word.
SPEAKER_01: So, Lord, may it not fall on deaf ears, Lord.
SPEAKER_01: Spirit, encourage where it needs to be, encouraging, Lord, convict where there needs to be conviction, Lord, and inspire us to be people who leave Kingdom Legacy.
SPEAKER_01: And we ask you all this awesome powerful name of Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: So respond how you need to.
SPEAKER_01: We'll be up in the front.
SPEAKER_01: Would love to receive you and talk to you about anything.