First Baptist Church of Tampa Sermons

S1 E15: Graduation Sunday - You Chose

• First Baptist Church of Tampa • Season 1 • Episode 15

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Graduation Sunday

Title: You Chose

Text: Psalm 1:1-6

Date: May 17th, 2026

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO THRIVE?

We want to help every person make a genuine commitment to follow Jesus and then follow through with that commitment in Connecting People to a Thriving Life in Christ. These Thriving disciples should Dig In to the Bible, Grow Up in Christ, and Branch Outinto the community.

Our Mission: To Connect People to a Thriving Life in Christ. What is a thriving life in Christ? Scripture says that Jesus Christ came “that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” Our mission in the city of Tampa is to make disciples who follow the pattern of the believer in Psalm 1 and desire God’s glory above all things.

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SPEAKER_00

Well hello everybody. You've already heard a lot from me, so I promise this message is a is quite quick. I also see the time, but uh we'll get you out right on time. With today being uh graduation Sunday, Pastor Bob has always given uh the next gin pastor the opportunity to preach, which is always a great time. Uh I'm always a little bit more nervous when he's actually here when I'm doing this. Uh I feel like I can't say things like I say so many crazy things when you're not here. Uh but it it feels like my father is watching over me, and it's kind of harmonic because he is. Um But Graduation Sunday, social uh uh Sunday, uh senior Sundays is not a new concept. It's not something that we only do here at FBC. It's a kind of a widely known thing, and there's there's always somewhat of a difficult uh balance uh when it's when it comes to the happenings of the day. Because we want to truly properly celebrate the the efforts and the achievements of our of our graduates, but that's not why we are here today. More importantly, this morning we are here to worship the Lord our God, to dive into scripture together to learn more about our Creator and our sustainer. And I pray this morning that we have accomplished that, uh the proper balance of celebration of our people and the honor and the praise and the worship of God. And part of that challenge is to figure out something to preach on that is both a challenge and a calling on the life of our graduates, but also applies to everyone in the room. Because even though a good amount of, even though we had a really good amount of graduates, the overwhelming majority of the people in this room this morning are not graduating from anything anytime soon. Uh so we there's a there's a fun balance there. Uh graduation typically brings about a lot of change in one's life. Obviously, it depends on what you're graduating from. There are bigger life changes, uh, like a jump from someone going to high school, uh going to off to college, living off the uh living on their own for the first time, uh between someone who has been retired twice and is graduating from seminary with another degree uh and who's just gonna keep living his life. Uh there it comes with a lot of different challenges, a lot of different changes, but one of which is is a battle that I think uh we all have fought once in our life and potentially are fighting right now, uh, and that is to fight the battle of when you're away from home for the first time, is to whether or not I go to church or I don't. To remain faithful to God and to show the truth of my relationship that I've been claiming for years, or do I show that my heart was never in it and just do what I want. It's kind of like the popular song by the clash. Darling, you've got to let me know. Should I stay or should I go? Not gonna lie, I had to look up who wrote that song. Uh I knew the song and just no clue who the clash were. Um, but we it was worth the reference, I think. Uh but this is not just a battle that people going off to college face, but it quite honestly, whether consciously or unconsciously, we are all fighting it every single day. Should I live my life based on what Jesus has done for me and my convictions, or should I live today based on my own selfish desires? A very telling sign of the side of the battle that you are going to end up on is who is around you? Who are your friends? Who are the people that are speaking into your life and influencing your decisions? This morning, I hope that we all can see the impact that the people around us make on our lives. Because whether you are looking forward to something new, about to start a brand new phase in your life, or you've been in the same place for 20, 30, 40 years, it is a very vital who is around you and where you are finding your source of peace and joy. I recently heard a sermon by a pastor and he introduced the text this way, and I just thought it was really snazzy. Uh so I'm going to, I wanted to adopt it. But he he says that I do not believe that the answer can be found out of thin air. So please join me in scripture. Psalm chapter one, first chapter in the book of Psalms. Uh once you get there, please join me in standing in order to honor the reading of God's Word. Psalm chapter one, verses one through six. Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers, but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaves a leaf does not wither, and all that he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that are wind that the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish. Let's pray. Lord God, just bless the reading of your word. Lord, as we dive into Scripture together, I just pray that we see you so clearly. And Lord, we see your strength, your guidance, your love, your power. And Lord, be with us. Give us clarity and speech, clarity and understanding. In the name I pray. Amen. I think this patches passage of scripture, it's it's a very popular one, and I think it's really amazing, but it it's like high key, the foundation of our church. It's where we get the thrive verbiage, it's where we get our logo from. It is a very foundational passage of scripture for the Christian walk in general. And I see that within these six verses, that we can see three major choices. Three major choices that we must make and are making, whether we want to or not. Those questions and choices are who is around us, what is influencing us, and what our future is. So look with me in Scripture at these three choices, and let's see how they affect what side of the coin we land on. Side that stays or the side that goes. So point number one this morning is choose your circle. Choose your circle. Verse one begins with the phrase, Blessed is the man who, which should signify for you that whatever is coming next is connecting, uh is connected to the blessing. People are considered blessed when they do or they don't do whatever is about to come next. Like earlier during the grad Sunday prayer time, I could have very easily said, and our graduates are, and then listed them out. That would have implied that everyone that I'm about to say are the graduates. That is what the author of this psalm is doing. He wants it to be clear that whatever he is talking about is uh a way that a person can be considered blessed. There are more ways of how someone can be considered blessed. Just look at the Beatitudes. There's about seven or eight of them. Uh but this is just one way that the author is telling us that we can be considered blessed. After that first phrase, blessed is a man who, uh, we immediately see a negative, which is not exactly expected. The author says that whoever does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers. I think one thing uh that we need to make very clear before we uh place ourselves in this conversation is that this passage is not fully talking about us. This passage is calling us to achieve these things, it's calling us to live in this way, but these verses are talking about Jesus Himself. This man uh was truly blessed, truly pure. He was the tree planted firm by the water. This verse is challenging us to be more and more like Christ. And how can we be more like Christ, you ask? Well, it tells us right here do not walk in the counsel of the wicked, do not stand in the way of sinners, do not sit in the seat of scoffers. And you may be sitting here this morning asking yourself and questioning, didn't Jesus hang out with a lot of sinners? Didn't he hang out with the lost and the lowly and the group of people that people don't want to be around? Wasn't some of the men around Jesus uh all the time former tax collectors and guys that had really complicated past? Did he not invite anyone and everyone into his presence? And how how uh what we're seeing here in verse or in Psalm 1 and what we saw all throughout the Gospels match up? How can they both be true? Because it doesn't necessarily look like it. My short answer to how that can be c uh capable is they are because God said they are. Kind of like a parent saying I said so, um, but a little bit more power. Uh but since that doesn't really satisfy some people, uh and I have a little bit more time, uh, they are perfectly in balance and they make sense together because both are very much true. Jesus did not walk in the counsel of the wicked. Jesus did not stand in the way of sinners, he did not sit in the seat of scoffers, but he also did not ignore them. He also did not neglect them. He gave them attention and time, effort and love. He did not isolate from them, he was with them at certain times. Jesus spent a lot of times, a lot of time with sinners, many unrepentant, but he did not allow them to affect his direction. What we're seeing here in verse one is a warning about who is around us the most, and a warning about who is speaking into our lives. Has anyone ever heard of the something called like the circle of influence or the sphere of influence or blank blank influence, whatever you want to call it? Uh the but there is a lot of different levels of influence that different people should be having on your life. As always, uh, when we're looking at something uh that we're being called up to do from scripture, we're gonna always look at Jesus as the best and the perfect example. Jesus had his circle of influence down to a T. During his time on earth, he drew massive amounts of crowds, massive amount of people. They would follow him around and get excited when he started doing something. They were really just kind of there to see what was going on, maybe get fed a fun meal or be a part of a really cool miracle. Uh they didn't believe in him, nor did they love him. They would be considered the outside ring of Jesus' circle of influence. Uh then if you you take it in a level that there were people a part of that big crowd that genuinely were believers, who genuinely believed who Jesus was and what he was doing and committed their lives to him. Then you you go in a little bit more and then you you see the apostles, his twelve closest followers, the twelve he trusted with the expansion of the gospel, the ones that he was around the most. They had direct contact with him practically whenever they wanted, and he to them. But then we even see that broken down even more. And we see that Jesus had three of his twelve disciples that were even closer to him. That the three that he had come farther into the garden before his crucifixion, and the three that were with him when he was transfigured. They were part of more things directly with Jesus. Each level gets more effort, gets more attention, and gets more love. Jesus did not let the big crowds speak into his life. They did not have direct access to him all the time. But he did let the three have constant access. The three did their best to speak into his life, and they certainly were a part of a lot more things. We must, if we are serious about our relationship with God, follow the same pattern. Because in this one verse, it is very clear that the blessing is linked to who you are associated with. The people who are the most influential in your life must be other people who are dedicated to Jesus. It's not about status, it's not about who's who, it's about whose they are. Because other believers should be the ones pushing you in your relationship with Christ, encouraging you when you are doing what is right, and calling you up when you are struggling. A person of the world, a non-believer, can be nice and all and be close and whatever, but they simply do not see the world the same way. They do not see it through the same lenses, which should be scripture. So it is so very vital in your walk with Christ on who you choose to have in your corner. The people who are talking the most into your life are going to determine whether or not you will stay in the fight or give up and go home. In combat sports, uh each fighter is allowed a few people with them, uh with him or her in their corner, whether it's an octagon or a ring. Uh that's typically a coach, that's a medical professional, and maybe one or two other people that they want to have over there. Those fighters want people who know what they are talking about, who knows their fighting style, knows their strengths, knows their weaknesses, and knows how to get the best out of them. When they get rocked and in the round with a busted lip and a bloody face, it is very important that they have the right people in their corner to help them with the fight that is at hand. Who is in your corner? That's my question. When you get popped in the mouth, when you are at your lowest, when you get that lab result back and it's not good news, when you don't get that promotion you know you deserve, when your child walks away from church, when your spouse cheats on you, when you fall into sin, when you lose a loved one, when you don't know, do not know what to do, who are you turning to? Who are you letting clean up your wounds and give you advice on how to survive the next round? Is it your coworker who's ignorant to the work of the Lord? Is it your Jim Crest that just so nice? Is it a childhood friend who may be or may not be a believer depending on what day you asked them? Or is it someone who can push you to God? Are you turning to someone who is who is wicked? Are you turning to an unrepentant sinner? Are you turning to a scoffer? Or are you turning to someone who knows where to point you? And that is straight to the cross. Not your feelings, not some book, not your own strength, but the cross. Be careful who has the most influence in your life. Because it's clear that who you are around is linked to being blessed or not. Which despite how you may feel or how difficult it may be, you can choose. You can choose who is in your circle. Point number two is to choose your source. Choose your source. Starting in verse two, we see where our focus should be in, where we should be getting our source of strength for the battle that we are in as Christians. Verse 2 tells us to delight in the law of the Lord. So not only does one who is blessed, the one who is on the right path, surround themselves with the right people, but he also finds this joy in the word of God and the way of living that it calls us to live. Something that we all need to check ourselves on. As much as we want to claim that we delight in the word of God, do we really act like it? I think many in us, many of us in here today can attest to the fact that it is extremely difficult to consistently read scripture. Consistently read scripture. We let life get in the way and we don't make time for it that it deserves. I can be guilty of it sometimes. But where you get your strength or your source of strength and your source of joy and your source of delight determines what side of the coin you end up on. If you were only finding joy in the things of this world, not necessarily even sinful things, then what happens when those things go away? Like I love disc golf a lot, probably a little too much. It's uh something that I like to do. Get outside, throw a frisbee. You know how it goes. Uh but it it's truly, it brings me joy, but not all the time, because I'm not always really good at disc golf. So sometimes I come home and tell Maddie, eh, it was okay. Uh but if my joy was solely based on disc golf, then my joy would not be there. Something that is ever changing, something that is not going to be around forever. I'll say this, and it may sound a little confusing after the first point, how I encouraged you so much uh to be around a lot of people that are pointing you to Christ, but trust me, what I'm about to say makes sense. If you're finding your joy and your strength to carry on solely from the people around you, whether they're Christ's followers or not, you will not have the complete joy and delight that Scripture offers. Because even the best Christian you know will hurt you in some way, will be less than expectation, will fail you in some way, shape, or form. And that is going to break down a lot of trust and even maybe make you want to not be a Christian anymore. Because you have placed too much power into the hands of a fallible human being. An alarming amount of people leave the church or no longer follow Christ because of another person's actions either towards them or to others. And as much as I can sympathize with them, there is a certain level of it where they have given, whether on purpose or not, that person or people too much power over their eternity. They were relying on someone for strength in a battle of Christianity, and when that person failed, it crushed their faith with them. We must commit to delighting in the word of God. We must commit to delighting in the law of the Lord. Because Psalm 19 says that the law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure. And as Christians, we must fully lean into Scripture for our strength and our guidance, because Scripture is God breathed. It's not changing, it's everlasting, it convicts, it encourages, and it comforts. Without fail, one of those three things should be happening when you open up God's word. You should be convicted, you should be encouraged, or you should be comforted. One of the gifts that we give our high school seniors always is uh an ESV study Bible. We've had for years and years, and I we do that because here at FBC, we so strongly believe in the power of having direct access to the Word of God. Some of these students may already have a Bible, they may already have even this exact study Bible, uh, but we want to be able to give them a study Bible that they can have a fresh new Bible going into a new stage in their life. And if you do not have a copy of God's word, uh we have plenty. Look in your pew back in front of you, grab the book that says the Holy Bible, and take it with you. Read it, mark it, call it your own and delight in it. It is very important that you do so. So we can we can choose our circle, we can choose our source. Now, point number three, let's uh look at how choosing our future, how it's choosing our future when we do those two. So point number three is choose your future. No matter who you are choosing to surround yourself with, or no matter what source you're getting your strength and your joy, you are actively choosing your future. We see this in verse three through six. Verse three, we see the description of a healthy tree that is planted near some water, producing fruit. This, of course, is specifically talking about Jesus, but it can and should be challenge to us today. This is the future that you can have if you surround yourself with the right people and you are delighting in the word of God. I mean, it says it right here. The one who is blessed, the one who does not walk with the wicked, stand in the sin with the sinners, sit with the scoffers, the one who delights in the world of uh the law of the Lord is the tree that is planted by streams of water producing fruit. In other words, the one who is blessed will prosper. Now, this is not saying our our life is easy, because if you've read any of the Bible or been a Christian for longer than 15 seconds, you know that the Christian life is not inherently easy. There will be hard times, there will be sad times, but you are prospering. Because you are in possession of something that is so, so good that outweighs the bad of this life. You are prosperous because you are firmly planted in the word of God. You are adopted into his family. One could even say you are thriving, uh having a thriving life in Christ. One could say that. Yeah, yeah. But then we look at verse four and we see the exact opposite the contrast to the future of the blessed man. We see that the wicked man, the one who does not walk with, or the one who does walk with the wicked, the one Who does stand in the way of sinners, the one who does sit with the scoffers, the one who does not delight in the law of the Lord is not a firmly planted tree, but they are chaff in the wind. I can only assume that not many of us know what chaff is because we're not in biblical times or farmers. Uh, but chaff is the part of grain that gets separated from the seeds, and it is super, super light, and the wind very easily moves it around. The wicked person will be pushed from place to place, from thing to thing, from belief to belief, because they are not rooted in scripture. They do not have the right people around them. They are not delighting in the word of God. So anything that sounds good or maybe makes a little bit of sense at the time is what they'll be drawn to. Whatever they feel is what they believe. This person is not going to be prosperous like the blessed man, but they are going to perish. They will not pass the final judgment of God. They will not make it to heaven because they do not know Christ, because the Lord knows the way of the righteous, which means you can only assume that he knows the way of the wicked as well. And God is a very discerning God. He knows the difference between those that are his and those that are not. The blessed man will prosper and the wicked will perish. Two options. Two possibilities. You can be prosperous with the grace of God in your life, or you can perish without the grace of God in your life. My challenge for you today is to choose who is in your circle wisely. Make sure that the people who are speaking the most into your life are the ones who view the world through the same lens. And that should be scripture, causing you to delight in the word of the Lord more. The one who is surrounded by the right people, and the one who truly delights is like a tree firmly planted by streams of water. Blessed. Every single day you are choosing a direction. You're choosing who shapes you, you're choosing what strengthens you, and those choices are shaping who you become. I pray that you choose to wisely, lean into scripture, delight in the word of the Lord. I pray that you take this challenge, that you you take what Psalm 1 says, and you commit to it. You read these words and you understand that those who are speaking most in your life should be Christ's followers, should be pointing you to Christ no matter what. That you should be delighting in the word of the Lord, meditating on it day and night. Let's pray.