Embracing Your Mission for the Future, Part 2 (Leading The Way LIVE at Apostles)

[Music] [Music] i [Music] will lead you through [Music] [Music] i'm [Music] this is our opening prayer this morning let's lift our hands up high to the lord this is our prayer we sing together and speak together lord let me burn for you again let me return to you again let me return to you again singing in spirit and the truth lord let me let me return to you lord let me return to you okay put those hands together church come [Music] [Music] i'm waiting for the day do you want to be here amen amen turn to your neighbors [Music] is [Music] you see it through to the end [Music] is [Music] you will us [Music] yes [Music] [Music] [Music] you will [Music] we won't move without [Music] and we won't move without you we won't move without you you're the light of all know that we [Music] need [Music] [Music] without him [Music] is [Music] forever [Music] [Music] i've heard a thousand [Music] stories [Music] that you're pleased [Music] it's who you are it's who i am [Music] is [Music] it's who you are [Music] [Applause] [Music] you are perfect in all of your ways [Music] you are perfect [Applause] [Music] [Music] i can hardly [Music] deeper still into love [Music] love [Music] is [Music] is [Music] is [Music] church [Music] you are perfect perhaps in the last 34 years i cannot count on one hand probably not that many times that i felt compelled by the holy spirit to speak to you and this is one of those to probably two or three times in all of those years and so i hope you hear my heart and what i'm going to tell you so many of us have been disturbed by the events that have taken place and where we are as a nation and what's happening and what's going on and the election and all of this stuff to make things worse we had some people who have prophesied certain ways that had not happened instead of repenting of their sin of prophesying what they wished had taken place they doubled down and they disturbing the body of believers around the country reminds me of the days of the prophet jeremiah jeremiah was speaking for god and he was the only one but they didn't like the message that he was prophesying they did not want to hear the message of repentance they didn't want to hear the message of the sovereignty of god they don't want to hear the message of turning to god and focusing on god and repenting of their sins so the judgment can be stayed but else the judgment is coming but there were so many prophets at that time i said no no no no no it's not going to happen that's not going to happen don't listen to jeremiah and god said they're prophesying falsehood they're prophesying what they want to happen i for one wish that they were right so you understand where i stand and i am not a shrinking violet when it comes to speaking against the anti-god and anti-biblical forces in fact i've got a book coming out in a few weeks time is spelling it all out and i'm not afraid of that but also at the same time i want to encourage you to focus on the sovereignty of god and to trust god [Applause] perhaps there was no greater injustice that has taken place in all of history of humanity than what happened on mount golgotham i have never been in israel and taught in gethsemane the garden of gethsemane without losing it completely because i think of my savior who was sweating blood and basically pleading with the father and saying if it be your will just let that cup pass but the father he knew he came from heaven for that but he was a god man a kangaroo court sentenced the only perfect sinless son of god son of man to death on the cross but what did god do he raised him from the dead probably satan and all his demons were celebrating and they were having a party and saying well he's dead now on good friday but on sunday god raised him up so i want you to look beyond the circumstances i want you to look beyond the government and all of that because our savior is greater than all and nobody nobody no matter who they are can ever defeat the cross because it is the power of god unto salvation nobody can defeat the cross so be of courage and the other thing i want to tell you before our lead us in prayer prayer of repentance burning turn it pray of turning to god and focusing off on god and his word is that even if there's a judgment coming even the great tribulation that some people believe is coming even if persecution comes jesus said when you see these signs far from being terrified he said lift up your head for the day of your redemption draws nigh and we of all people ought to be men and women boys and girls of courage and of self-control not of fear as reason the apostle paul names that spirit by name the spirit of fear and it tells us it is not of god we do not fear power we do not fear anyone because we only fear god and when we do that we will live our lives in victory regardless of who's in power regardless of the world might turn upside down our god still on the throne amen amen join with me please father we repent we repent we repent we repent we repent we repent of having our eyes on people individuals taking our eyes off you we have placed our eyes on the circumstances and we have forgotten what a mighty god we serve we repent of fear and anxiety and worry not a just about about us and about our next generation and father we know of all of your promises there are yes and amen in christ jesus and we know that he who began a good work in us is able to bring it to completion and we know that nothing will separate us from the love of god in christ jesus nothing and no one and so father we know that regardless of what happens all around us regardless of who is in power regardless of who sits in the earthly thrones we know he who sits on the heavenly throne and father as we turn from our failure to see you in all of your splendor and glory we ask you to help us empower us strengthen us father in the days to come no matter what happened help us to be light and salt father i pray even as we may see dark days that you would let your children to shine brighter like the stars and father we know that when sin increases grace also abound and so we pray in the name of jesus that you empower your people strengthen your people father that they will see us as ambassadors of christ as as representatives of our real home that's heaven and that we would not focus we do not focus our eyes only on this earth but know that this is a dress rehearsal father i pray for my precious brothers and sisters in christ not only here but around the world who are watching right now father i pray that if these are the last days and if we are seeing the signs of the end lord i pray in the name of jesus that you will strengthen us that we would not tremble and cower in fear but we will stand in courage our precious father for two thousand years your church have been through all sorts of circumstances but you continuously giving your church victory because you said and the gates of hell will not overcome it we thank you for that promise and we claim that promise because it is ours to claim father i pray that you protect your bride keep your bride safe until the day the bridegroom comes from a shadow in heaven and meet your near make us be ready prepared father above all we pray for those in authority over us in federal state or city father we pray for healing of this plague that is playing in the world we pray for healing from heaven we're praying for strength for those who are members of our church who are suffering in any way father those who are believed those who are sick those who are hurting those who are looking to you for answer lord i know you are not going to disappoint us and you always meet us at our point of needs we thank you we thank you we thank you we thank you we thank you and we praise you for who you are our lord our savior our redeemer and our king with whom we're going to reign for ever and ever in his name jesus i pray amen amen [Music] my name is parker gordy i'm originally from a small town outside savannah georgia which is rankin georgia i grew up hearing about jesus and all the bible stories here in sunday school and things like that so i don't think i really came into an environment where there was too much to rebel or too much to lead me astray until i came to atlanta so when i came to atlanta as a freshman in college the door was kind of wide open i didn't have parents there i didn't have those mentors there so any opportunity that people offered me whether it was go to these parties or go to whatever it was i said yes because i never had that option before but eventually all the things i pursued that that weren't christ did have an end they did not fulfill me like i know a relationship with jesus could i found a good group of guys who i started to get in discipleship groups with and they were about my age going through a lot of the same struggles and one of them had been to church of the apostles growing up and recommended we go one sunday so there we were all five of us college guys sitting in a pew from the first sunday hearing dr youssef preach hearing the truth he proclaimed unapologetically we haven't stopped coming since when you face temptation be very careful in trying to be clever with the devil i was flipping through some channels just looking through tv after class one day and i saw dr youssef on a news network and that surprised me seeing a pastor that i knew and i heard regularly on the television but he was talking about finding true peace that true peace can only come from christ and such a time as now with this pandemic no one seems to have the right answer no one seems to know exactly what to do but we know who holds the answers to all of this we know who controls it that peace comes from knowing jesus jesus is the way the truth and the only giver of eternal life and he is inviting you to come and surrender to him and he will give you unbelievable peace i'm thankful for leading the way um for what they do in the church but also how they reach out um being able to hear truth and the messages whether i'm listening on tv or listening through the leading the way out there are so many ways you can get connected to this truth and i'm thankful for the ministry that allows that to happen you can get connected to the truth of god that is being passionately proclaimed through leading the way through radio tv podcast social media leading the way is sharing the good news of jesus christ globally reach out today to see how you can get involved in what god is doing all over the world contact us today at ltw.org [Applause] as we turn our attention to giving to the lord and we lift up our hearts to him if you've been worshiping with us in person then you know that we are going to give at the end of the service we're not going to pass a bag right now but if you're joining us online you can give right now you can follow the link that's on your screen and uh and participate with us as we sing and we praise the lord um this this week as we were preparing we knew that dr youssef was preaching from psalm 128 and you can correct me if i'm wrong psalm 128 is a song of a sense and um the people of israel would sing these psalms as they approach the temple to worship the lord and so we thought you know let's let's put this psalm to some music and so that's what we did this week um we uh i i worked on it a good bit this week and texted some things to mac and we kind of went back and forth a little bit and um you know what if psalm 128 is your favorite psalm and this song makes you hate it then we apologize that's our fault but but hopefully hopefully it will be a blessing and hopefully uh we'll be able to praise the lord together so this this morning let's stand together and let's stomp and clap our way to the feet of jesus okay [Music] [Music] [Music] of [Music] his presence without it will keep us in his love and everyone [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] all right let's check it out [Music] [Applause] [Music] know the blessing of his favor this house will be [Music] homeless [Music] is [Music] foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] all i could say is wow i never get my sermon put the song except once when mike put that haggai passage to a song thank you thank you team thank you jeremy thank you uh parker is parker parker here on uh where is he sitting parker will you stand up please stand up thank you for letting us thank you this testimony was really done quite a while back and it'll be on the air on but i just when i i saw it i said this fits my message like a glove i wanted that and i wanted you to see it and i'm so grateful to parker for allowing us to use his testimony and i pray god will continue to bless you and all the other college and graduate school school students who are here it was few it was few weeks ago of actually a few months ago now times flies when i heard one of those progressive evangelical preachers preaching a message to parents saying to them in effect if you persist on believing the old testament and all the stories of noah's flood and jonah in the billy of the whale you will lose your next generation and now the the advice he's giving them is you need to get unhitched from the old testament i thought for a moment that only that this is extremely faulty premise extremely faulty premise on the part of this pastor but it is contrary to the evidence it is contrary to the evidence a few years ago a major study was conducted among college students who have turned their back on christianity all of the questions that were asked of the students centered around one core issue what turned you off christianity and the answer they've received over and over and over again is that they were turned off because of the churches they went to as high school students began to try to ingratiate themselves instead of challenging the students that as high school students attended these churches where the mission and the vision of the church was vague these churches were offering them superficial answers to life's difficult questions and yet they saw that the ministers that they respected the most they said they took the bible seriously they were turned off by those who wanted to entertain them and be their buddies the student concluded that the common theme among them the students who have turned away from the christian faith when they went to college is this they respect people with conviction providing that they know what they're talking about but there's more there's more playing down the truth or watering down the truth they said is far more of a turn off and a hindrance for them believing the truth now beloved just listen to my heart i cannot think of a greater indictment a greater indictment upon so-called progressive or liberal evangelicals or seeker-friendly or professing churches now if you're visiting with us we began in the last message a series of messages about embracing your mission for life namely the commitment of this body of believers here everyone regardless of age every one of us commitment of transmitting the whole truth not part of that but the whole truth the whole counsel of god to the next generation and we saw in the last message of the vital importance of training equipping and modeling for the next generation question for what purpose for bringing up warriors for christ for them becoming arrows as we saw from psalm 127 arrows in the hands of the greatest bow holder in the whole universe the holy spirit of god to do great exploits for god to impact this world for jesus christ and we looked at psalm 127 and if you were not here and please down load it and and listen to it more than once just listen to it more than once and it was we looked at psalm 127 where god starts with families and today we're going to examine psalm 128 the one after it in fact some people think it was one psalm and this got split along the way psalm 128 turn to it with me please now today i want you to read that psalm with me if you have it in your bibles or in your iphone we're going to have it on the screen as well would you stand with me in honor of the word of god i'm just going to read verse 1 and then let you read the rest of it blessed are all who fear the lord who walk in his ways you see the prosperity father in the name of jesus will you please set the holy spirit free to work in us in our hearts in our minds in our thoughts that this would be a landmark encouragement for the remaining years of our life for jesus sake in his name i pray amen be seated please throughout the scripture you see that god did not just design the family as a shield to protect the children from the evil influence of culture but there's more than that he created the christian family as a beachhead and a mission force again for what purpose to retake the satanically occupied culture for the kingdom of god the christian family is defined by its action as a an urgent agent of the church of jesus christ to be witness for the truth how do you go about this well look with me please again at the psalm 128. i think everyone agrees that the word blessed or blessing is a lovely word it's a wonderful word who doesn't want to be blessed raise your hand right who doesn't want to be blessed in the spiritual realm it means experiencing the favor of god can you say that with me the favor of god say it with me my family my wife and and and certainly god knows that god's favor is my daily prayer it is my daily prayer and not only for me and my ministry trust me when i pray for the favor of god upon the members of this church upon the leading the way ministry and all the ministries associated with us and and for the partners who make this ministry possible above all i pray for favor upon the next generation you see we often think of god as the one who has certain amount of graces certain amount of blessings certain amount of favor that he distributes around but that's the wrong thinking about god it's the wrong thinking god our god has unlimited favor god our god is so rich in mercy god our god is has untold an immeasurable grace and favor and when you begin to think this way it will change it will transform your prayer life especially for the next generation this will motivate you to spend every waking moment working and praying on behalf of the next generation the word blessing or favor is mentioned four times verses one two four and five in the last message psalm 127 we saw the blessing of god the favor of god upon the next generation uh so that the children become arrows in the hand of the greatest bo holder i i i know a family in this church who have ministered to the next generation for over 23 years i can tell you every one of their children are arrows in the hand of god see god blesses that and that's what sasama said he blesses that and he makes it very clear in this psalm particularly that when we invest faithfully into the next generation when we pour our lives into the lives of the next generation we will be blessed 127 he singles fathers and sons that's why i said they were both with one psalm at one point because here he includes the wives and the daughters and even the grandchildren isn't that wonderful what is he saying he's saying when we wisely invest in the next generation when we pour into the next generation god will not only bless us he's going to bless the next generation but not only that he's going to bless the generation next of the next generation can i get an amen look with me please at the condition of the promise you see we all love to claim the promise right very few people want to meet the condition of the promise but look at the condition of the promise it is that modeling that i talked about in the last message it is our own walk with god it is the example that we set for the next generation that's the condition of the promise this is the condition of the blessing verses one and two blessed or favored are all who fear the lord all who walk in his ways see that's the condition that's the condition you will eat the fruit of your labor blessing is prosperity will be yours the reason i emphasize modeling in the last message is because there is no use telling the next generation to do what i say that might have been back in the old days doesn't work now anymore we want them to do what we do hear me right please there is something that i need to explain here particularly i want to explain it to the younger generation i can see you where you're sitting i want you to listen very carefully please fearing the lord maybe some of the older ones as well fearing the lord does not mean being terrified of god absolutely terrified of god as some people used to teach that and some people may still teach that there are some who view god as someone who's always angry capricious and he can't wait for you to make a mistake or fail so he can whack you on the head i'm not going to ask you raise your hand if that's how you brought up martin luther the great three reformer he was thinking that way about god until he began to read the scripture not the dogma of the church but the word of god itself and he was set free and realized the character of god is very different to be sure yes our god is a god of justice don't ever forget that this is the other side of the coin of our god he is the god of justice and he will not allow injustice to remain forever one day sooner or later he will take care of that but he also reveals himself to us as the god of grace and the god of mercy as the god who does not withhold forgiveness his forgiveness from those who seek it god's word speaks of fearing god and that means that we are constantly being in profound reverence for god that we desire to genuinely genuinely obey god out of gratitude and out of thanksgiving that we esteem him so highly that we do not deliberately and premeditatedly and angrily go out of our way to offend a holy god that's what it means but a reverence for god begins with the spiritual head of the home reverence for god has to begin by the spiritual head of the home and this is where he starts the spiritual head of the home the spiritual head of the home is the one who reveres god obeys god walk daily with god express holy awe of god seeking to honor god not just with his substance but in all aspects of life then the next generation will get spiritually blessed out of their socks even listen to me even even in the times before they come to that realization themselves for make no mistake about it make no mistake about it i know from personal experience and others experiences well some of the next generation may go through the wilderness time before they will turn to the lord some will go to their own far country before they realize the love of the father some will even try the patience of god before they wake up and smell the coffee the other extreme of this of course is some of this generation this generation take god's mercy and grace for granted some of this generation nothing i'm talking about this generation trivialize god and his word some of this generation trifle with god and with his word some keep god at the peripheries of their lives of their business and at their homes and my beloved friends please listen that's what causes the next generation to turn away from the faith as the study i mentioned earlier in the message but when the next generation see this generation not taking god and his word seriously when the next generation see this generation take not taking god for granted uh when the next generation sees this generation treating god like a genie will come to him rub the the genie bottle until just to get what you want and when you want it and how you want it they will turn their back on this kind of hypocrisy the reason so many of the next generation has turned off of christianity is because of the hypocrisy of so many of us who are in the pulpits i need to explain this i need to explain this most of you know what the word secular means but just in case you have forgotten or those who don't know what the word secular means i need to just give you a quick definition and i'm going to show it to you how has invaded many a pulpit and many a church today the word secular comes from the latin word seculum which means this age this world this life that's what it means as opposed to the spiritual other world the eternal life there are so many so-called evangelical preachers today who are very secular in their life and in their preaching when best-selling books is all about this life this life this life that this is your best life not eternal life no wonder the younger generation are turned off secular means that their mental boundaries are limited to the here and now secular means that there is very little thought given to beyond the self beyond the self-fulfillment beyond this life secular means that we have given very little thought if any to our eternity in heaven which is a long long long time and beloved when that happens when that happens instant gratification rule supreme today so many church leaders see their congregations as consumers consumers to whom they sell their message their books and their material consumers to whom they market their ideas and their writings and their singing and whatever else they do if we do not ultimately reject this secular thinking in the church we will lose the next generation and that is why the psalmist warns us that there can be no blessing to the next generation if this generation does not repent of securism if we do not place all aspects of life under the sovereign control of god if we do not allah if we do not allow everything begins continues and ends with god then whatever blessings we have will fly away isn't that where we are today best-selling books your best life is now enjoying this life this life is it written by preachers i'm heartbroken about it but all this has to begin in the thought process it has to begin in the thought process you say why because action follows thought action follows thought say that with me action follows thought and when the psalmist speak of walking in god's way he's not saying think about god on sundays or think about god when you really need something from him you want him to do something that you want or think of god when you want him to obey your wishes we have where people talk i saw one of those people saying i declare i declare i declare that i started crying beloved only one can say i declare and that's god. have i stepped on enough toes yet yeah thank you i will have you ever asked yourself the question why does the bible talk about walking with god walking with god it never says sitting with god doesn't say yeah it's like a youth pastor i used to know he said well i'm hanging out with jesus you're hanging out with jesus you can't hang out with jesus you have to walk with jesus there's a difference there's a difference there's a reason for that because walking indicates a forward motion walking indicates a growing process growing in what growing in our spiritual and biblical thinking in the bible said if you remember back in genesis chapter 5 that enoch walked with god you remember that enoch walked with god it doesn't mean that enoch occasionally had a stroll with god it doesn't mean that enoch prayed fervently when he wanted something from god that's secular thinking that's secular thinking genesis chapter 5 verses 21 all the way to 24 says enoch was 65 years old when he began to walk with god 65 i want to go home by then i'm surprised i'm not there yet talk about blessing the next generation at 65 he gave birth to methuselah and the oldest human being has ever lived but at the age of 65 enoch walked with god it says and he walked with god for 300 years i know there's a big deal in the old testament i'm glad i live in the new testament i don't want to live that long not anywhere near that think about this 300 years he walked with god not an occasional straw as i said when he felt spiritual not an occasional prayer time when he needed god to bless him now not bargaining with god for something that he wanted now what did enoch do in these 300 years of walking with god well the half-brother of jesus jude tells us in his epistle one chapter epistle he tells us that enoch lived in total obedience see that's what it means that's what it means and remember this he did not have a bible he did not have a bible study group to help him out he did not have christian friends to encourage him he did not have worship time to uplift him no but because of his total obedience god revealed to him the coming judgment before he told noah god told enoch what the coming judgment that the coming judgment my beloved friend please listen to me please listen to me i know this is a hard word another word judgment is hated and i sub i i i i'm not a betting man but i bet 80 of you don't like the word judgment if not 100 of you huh hello i know the word judgment is not the hottest thing on wall street i know that i know it is not a popular message to this generation judgment is not a positive thinking message i know the word judgment is not a message that makes you feel good about yourself for that's what most of these preachers say i want people feel good about themselves in fact the time when enoch walked with god was a time of utter and blatant rebellion against god and that is why god said enoch tell him about the coming judgment beloved because walking with god compels us to speak the truth to our culture it compels us not falsehood or a popular message makes people feel good about their sin and themselves and they don't need to think about sin forgiveness and all that stuff i just want to feel good walking faithfully with god means aiming to please god first and foremost that's what it means look at hebrews 11 5 it says enoch was commended as one who pleased who god no wonder he bodily was transported to heaven literally his body did not see death like elijah that the two people in the old testament they're literally you know how superman used to go into this booth and he kind of sheds his his clothes and gets to superman these guys went into heaven revolving and shedding the flesh putting on the spiritual body on the way up please hear me right on this one when we fear god and obey god not only will be ultimately blessed but the next generation will be blessed look at verse 2 you will eat the fruit of your labor translation the translation here this is an old testament way of saying that you will have god's favor my friends i told you i pray for god's favor on a daily basis and i can testify to you before god who really matters the most i know my family but i can testify before god who who really matters the most to me that i seek and desire god's favor more than all of the wealth of the world something else i need to tell you when you walk with god nothing you do will be in vain did you hear that nothing you will do will be in vain even your setbacks even some crop failures that you may experience along the way even when you experience bumps along the way none of it will be in vain none of it will be in vain god will take these favor failures and challenges and difficulties and he shakes them up in his sovereign shaker and he brings good out of them whenever i autograph a book to somebody that i know been faithful to god i always put first corinthians 15 58. i'm not going to tell you what it is you go home and read it first blessing when you constantly walk with god is that he will work all your circumstances for your blessing and his glory second blessing when you constantly walk with god the next generation will be blessed even when they wander off he's going to bring them back kicking and screaming he did that to me even when they lose their way for a time they will find their way back because of your walk with christ even if they break your heart god will do his work in them that is why he said the wife will be like a vine translation in modern language a symbol of refreshment and lavishing joy why because the harvest of the grapes came after a long hot dry summer and refreshed them there's something vitally important here i don't want you to miss why god does not call the next generation a vine he only calls the wife a vine but not the next generation he called then the distinction is very very important i'm going to explain it to you very important if you missed everything i said so far i don't want to lose you okay you're with me say amen are you all with me wave back at me at the balcony god bless you i don't want you to miss what i'm going to tell you he said that next generation will be like olive shoots the wife is the vine the next generation olive shoots it's important distinction very important distinction very important to stick to don't miss it do you know why the next generation of those who are faithfully walking with the lord are called olive shoots i'll tell you a few things about olive trees okay i'll tell you a few things about olive trees i hope this thing is not as heavy as it looks it is heavy this is olive shoots i'll put it up here so you can see it olive trees grow best they grow best in hard rocky soil the roots go deep and they find their way into the craggy soil but they're a very slow growing plant my colleague from the middle east is doing this he he's he's this is a three-year-old olive tree he hasn't put it in the ground yet it's very slow growing in fact olive tree never produces fruit or berries until seven years in the ground and even then the berries are not very good you have to wait 10 to 15 years before the berries are really good olives talk about future generation listen to me with perseverance pruning instruction god will raise all of shoots in your home and in our church with perseverance and not giving up and not and viewing them as a heritage of the lord as we saw in the last message god will do great things through them god the bow holder will use them as sharp arrows to light up a dark world you know i know i'm a man but i'm telling you one of one of the people who challenges to me is a woman susanna wesley really is a challenge to me i don't mind telling you this and i might have said that before but she had a bunch of kids who died but 10 survived 10 kids and she used to say about her living children i have to instruct them 20 times a day here's what she used to say if i did not do it the 20th time the first 19 would have been wasted how about that and who can doubt the incredible impact of charles and john wesley upon the world for generations something else i must tell you about olive trees before i leave you something very important properly rooted olive trees can last for 20 generations did you get that 20 generations properly rooted olive trees do not need much cultivation or supervision literally once they get to that stage they take care of themselves oh very different from the vine men are you listening say amen man very different from the vine if the vine is neglected it will wither but not the olive tree now husbands and future husbands you get a single man and say well it's nothing he's not going to drink me i'm talking to you also talk to every man listen to me i'm going to stop preaching for a minute and start meddling just for a little bit okay just enough for very long it is of utter most importance always always always to nurture your vine your wife huh i thought all the men will be shouting amen are you feeling guilty or call up repentance after the service see but when the olive trees are established they'll take care of themselves the bible said train the child in the way he or she should go and then they grow when they get old they will not turn from it one last thing about olive trees i keep saying one last thing paul did this several times in philippians one last thing it's an evergreen it's an evergreen if it is set right in the soil it will display beauty no matter what the season is let me conclude i mean this is really the last step i want to tell you two contrasting stories two contrasting stories stories that illustrate the difference between those who seek to invest their all into the next generation and those who don't story number one in april of 2000 ruby eliason and laura edwards were killed in cameroon west africa ruby was over 80 single all of her life she poured her life into the lives of the next generation in a cameroon church laura was a widow a medical doctor pushing 80 herself as well served alongside ruby side by side in cameroon pouring into the next generation the breaks of their car as they were both in it failed and the car went off a cliff and they were instantly killed let me ask you a question was that a tragedy no no it wasn't no it wasn't two lives driven by passion for christ serving the next generation for god's glory not a tragedy at all their lives were not wasted but were invested invested now i want to contrast this with the second story still people come end of the service when i say i'm praying for you cold i don't have a cold i'm just get so emotional my nose start running forgive me for that i can't help it and if you don't like it god bless you story was published in a well-known publication about a couple who decided to retire early from the northeast and they moved to punta gorda florida he was 59 she was 51. they spent the retirement years cruising on their 50-foot trawler playing golf and collecting seashells when you first read this and you kind of have to wonder if it's a joke or they really the american dream tragically that was their dream and they lived it but when they came to the end of their most precious gift make no mistake about it it is the most precious gift next to salvation that's life i can only imagine i can only imagine their account that they're giving god look lord see is that a beautiful seashell collection isn't that beautiful you see that now that's tragic that is a tragedy what will it be for you what will it be for you will be for you what will it be for you will you keep ministering pouring yourself or keep living for self before i pray i want to point your attention to a card that's in the pew right in front of you it's not the visitor's card it is a card that's we printed it specially would you mind taking a moment and just grab one they're more than enough for everybody more than enough for everybody i want to do nothing with that card just take it i don't mind move around if you want to move around and we can't find one right in front of you zach can we make sure that everybody's got one yeah everybody's got one you got a card i don't want you to do anything with that card i want you to put it inside your bible just keep it there and on january 31 when we finish the series the last in the series that i'm bringing for this at this time i'm going to ask you to fill it out and we're going to bring it here and present them to the lord some of you might want to take two cards if you want to that's fine if that there's plenty there take two cards one that you will keep for yourself and one that you'll bring with you on the 31st either way i want you to take those two weeks take time pray think of these two lives two stories and ask yourself before god which way which way do you want me to invest my life it's between you and god and we're going to bring him the last sunday of this month father i know i can only pray for myself yet i want to pour my life i want to invest my life i want to do whatever you call me to do whatever resources you've placed in my hand whatever time you have given me to be invested in the next generation father i pray in the name of jesus this would be the prayer of every one of my precious brothers and sisters in christ speak to us not just today not just now but in the days to come let your holy spirit speak louder and clearer let the sound of the flesh the world and the enemy become faint so we can see and hear only jesus it is in his name that i pray and all of god's people said amen please stand up and sing with us [Music] lord bless you and keep you make his face shine upon [Music] and give you peace [Music] [Music] [Music] um [Music] make his face shine upon and be [Music] [Music] gracious [Music] uh [Music] um church can we hold our hands out receiving this promise in this blessing of the lord [Music] [Music] and your family and your children [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Music] is [Music] is [Music] is [Music] hears us [Music] brothers and sisters we stand in the blessing and the promise of god in jesus christ would you sing this hymn with me it's so sweet to trust in jesus just [Music] is [Music] jesus lord jesus [Music] christ [Music] precious [Music] me [Music] jesus lord jesus [Music] christ [Music] [Music] jesus jesus jesus [Music] amen amen let's leave this morning with that blessing that he's given next [Music] [Music] [Music] thank you for joining us in this corporate worship today we would love to hear from you we have to pray for you and encourage that god is doing with your mind if you would like more opportunities to connect with us please let us know may god bless you and your loved ones today and the coming week [Music] you

Channel: Leading The Way

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Keywords: Leading The Way LIVE, Leading The Way LIVE at Apostles, Christian, LIVE Sermon, Sermon, Biblical Truth, The Church of The Apostles, Leading The Way, LIVE Church, Church, Christian Church

Id: FjPMx7kT3sM

Length: 86min 35sec (5195 seconds)

Published: Sun Jan 17 2021