Living For Legacy | Tyrone P Jones | Legacy Giving | Full Service

S3 S3 S3 Good morning church for the city. Will you rise with us, please? Thank you so much. We're so glad that you're here this morning Well, I have the the privilege and the honor of bringing a verse For us as we prepare our hearts for worship and that verse is from the book of luke luke 4 1 which says and jesus full Of the holy spirit returned from the jordan and was led by the spirit In the wilderness and this is the place where jesus was tested And now I know that some of you walked into this room this morning and you're in a spiritual wilderness But you see god doesn't just allow testing god appoints testing and if there's something that we can learn from jesus in the garden, it's that we We don't have to do anything to overcome the devil we Simply have to proclaim What god the father has already said and already done see sometimes our mistake is not that we've lost the battle It's that we fail to recognize that we're in a battle and that jesus come on Has already handed us the victory on a silver platter So, you know what we're going to do this morning before worship begins We're going to proclaim the good news of jesus christ to ourselves as we prepare so let's pray father Thank you. Thank you so much for the victory that you've given us. Thank you for loving us Thank you for giving us jesus on the cross so that we may live And have life and have it abundant in this room right now God break our hearts wide open for the reception of your gospel Let your gospel permeate every fiber in our body as we lift our hands in earnest worship We love you so much in your name. Amen Let's worship So

Falling down in worship to sing the song of ages to the land Is Is the highest your name is the greatest your name stands above them all And dominions and all powers and positions your name Stands above them all And the angels cry Holy Our creation Holy You were lifted Holy We'll sing the song forever to the land And if you walk in freedom and if you bear his name Or sing the song forever to the land And the angels Oh To the King of kings You are holy And You will always be So holy Holy forever Because Your name Is the highest And Your name Is the greatest And Your name Stands above them all Sing it out Above all thrones And dominions

And all powers And positions Your name Stands above them all Jesus Your name Is the highest And Your name Is the greatest Your name Oh it stands above them all Oh above all thrones And dominions And all powers And positions Your name Oh it stands above them all And the angels cry Oh holy And all creation cries You are holy You are lifted high So holy Holy forever Holy Your name Oh sing Oh holy And to the King of kings You are holy

And You will always be So holy Oh You will always be Holy Holy forever You will always be You will always be Holy You will always be Holy Your name Oh Jesus Let's celebrate somebody going public with their faith. Amen. My name is Angelina. Before I truly knew Jesus, I was living the way a lot of people in their early 20s do. Going out, drinking, chasing attention, and thinking that was living my best life. I went to church growing up, but I didn't understand what it meant to actually live for Christ. I felt empty, and I felt like I was just moving through life. After going on and off to CTC for a year, something changed. One Sunday, as I was on my way to church, I prayed, Jesus, if you're listening, can you let them play my favorite worship song today?

It was the song I played on a night when I was heartbroken over a situation in my family, wondering how anything, how anything good could come from it. And that morning, the last song they played was that song. In that moment, I knew God had never left me. Sorry. Not in my childhood, not through my sin, and not ever. He was just waiting on me to lean into Him. And then my husband came along into my life. I didn't know it at the time, but God did. I didn't feel ready, but God knew exactly, He knew exactly what I needed. Even when I tried to pull away, He stayed steady and patient with me. Growing up, I didn't see what a God-centered marriage looked like, so it almost felt too good to be true. But now I can see God was rewriting my story, giving me what I never saw growing up. Two years later, we welcomed our son Esaias, and I realized then God was going to change not only my life, but the generations after me. The Sunday my husband and I decided to attend CTC as a family is when I completely surrendered to Christ. Immediately, everything began to shift in our hearts, our marriage, and our home. Since giving my life to Christ, He has surrounded me with godly friendships, strengthened my faith, and began breaking generational patterns of pain and addiction that had followed my family for years. I'm not perfect, and I'm still growing every day,

but I know I'll never walk alone. God is in my marriage, He's in my motherhood, and in every part of my life, God truly is always good, and He has a plan for every single one of us, even when you can't see it yet. Today, I'm going public with my faith. Angelina, Jesus said every disciple should be baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And because of your confession of faith today, I baptize you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins, and according to Scripture, you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. come on can we celebrate that church come on let's lift it up all the promises of God are yes in Jesus come on let's continue to sing I can feel your spirit I've been praying you've been working working it all for good stand the flame you're fighting as you I'll sing it out in faith miracle after miracle open door after open door here it comes so get ready for another one cause another one is on the way miracle after miracle open door after open door here it comes so get ready for another one cause another one is on the way another one is on the way rushing wind and moving water

god of signs and god of wonders if you will it work and stop it cause you're working it all for good yeah you're working it all for good miracle after miracle open door after open door here it comes so get ready for another one cause another one is on the way miracle after miracle open door after open door here it comes so get ready for another one cause another one is on the way another one, another one another one is on the way another one, another one another one is on the way another one is on the way all things are possible for you and if it's on the sun when you rise any day you will again and if it's on the snow until you sleep any day you will again and if it's on the sea when it's slipped any day you will again

and if it's over walls when they fall any day you will again and if it's over chains when to break any day you will again and if it's over walls come alive any day you will again and if it's over stone roll away and if it did you will again and if it's over grave let him go and if it did you will again and again and again and again and again I know you will again cause you're good cause you're faithful and another one is on the way miracle, after miracle open door, after open door

here it comes so get ready for another one cause another one is on the way miracle, after miracle open door, after open door here it comes so get ready for another one If He told the chains where to break And He did, He will again And if He told the bones come alive And He did, He will again And if He told the stone roll away And He did, He will again And if He told the blade let him go And He did, He will again And again, and again Oh, I know You will again And again, and again, and again Because another one is on the way Another one is on the way You're not to move Miracle after miracle Open door after open door Here it comes So get ready for another one Because another one is on the way Miracle after miracle Open door after open door Here it comes So get ready for another one Because another one is on the way Oh, it's in You, Jesus How deep the Father's love for us How vast beyond all measure That He should give His only Son To make a wretch His treasure How great the pain of searing loss The Father turns His face away As wounds which mar the Chosen One Bring many sons to behold Behold the man upon the cross Mercy upon His shoulder Ashamed I hear my mocking voice I call out among the scoffers It was my sin that held me here Until it was accomplished His dying bed has brought me here Now I know that it is His Oh, it is His Oh, it is His Oh, I will not boast in anything No gifts, no power, no wisdom

But I will boast in Jesus Christ His death and resurrection Why should I gain from His record? I cannot give an answer Why should I gain from wisdom when I cannot give an answer? I know with all my heart His wounds have paid my ransom But this I know with all my heart His wounds have paid my ransom That's just one of the most telling lines in that hymn, that His wounds have paid my ransom. This is one of the most important moments of our gathering. We've had a sacred moment with the baptism of Angelina, which was a beautiful statement of faith, beautiful testimony of one who has come to know who Christ truly is and what Christ can do in a life of a family. But we also come to this moment where it now becomes personal. It's always good for me. I love when I get to watch and hear somebody else's story. But where the rubber meets the road is for me to contemplate my story, your story. It's the personal moment of where you acknowledge and recognize, has this Christ, has He paid the ransom for me? And if He has, then what am I going to do about it? What am I going to do about it? It's a contemplation moment. It's a moment of reflection and a moment of action. There's no doubt about it that Jesus died on the cross. No doubt about it that Jesus' blood was shed. No doubt about it that Jesus, because of that act, can declare to all of us that our sins are forgiven. Do I accept it? Do I accept it? And what you hold in your hands represents that truth and that act. The body of Jesus was broken.

The blood of Jesus was shed. And at this very moment, for some, it may be a one-time, first-time act of faith where you say, I receive Jesus. I know this truth. I know what He's done for me. I accept that. I receive Christ as my Lord and Savior. And for others of us, it's an affirmation that the blood of Jesus Christ is still working. It's a beautiful thing, too, about the cross. It doesn't have a voice, but it speaks. It speaks rescue. It speaks deliverance. It speaks salvation. It speaks forgiveness. It speaks eternal life. And my prayer is that ears are open to hear, minds are open, that at this very moment to say yes to what Jesus has done, that my life may be eternally saved by the act of Jesus Christ and Him alone. Father, I pray as you minister into the hearts of everyone, Lord, that's holding these elements in their hand. Holy Spirit, you speak, you work, you finish. In Christ's name we pray. Let's eat together. And let's drink together. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Father, we thank you. In Jesus' name, amen. Beautiful.

Well, thank you for joining with us here at Church for the City, where we're going to teach the Word of God. We're going to encounter the presence of Him, and we're going to spread the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. I want to give a shout-out to those that are watching us online, those that are in the prisons, those that are at the county jail. Thank you for joining with us. We're on a journey to help people that are far from God find life in Christ. Thank you for being part of that. Take a moment, if you would, to introduce yourself to someone around you as we get ready for the word of the Lord. Well, all right. Again, thank you for joining with us and just appreciate you being part of what the Lord is doing here with us. This is the first Sunday of the year of 2025, and so we're bringing this year into a close and just excited about what the Lord has done and certainly looking forward to what He will be doing. I just want to give a few shout-outs and then I'm going to go right into the message and walk through what the Lord has placed on my heart for you. Wednesday night was our first Wednesday of the year, and we had Pastor Brad Neuschwander with us, and him and Jenny stayed over for date night on Friday night, which was just amazing. Wednesday night was tremendous. Those of you, I know it was at least 100 couples here for date night, and that was just wonderful. The teaching, the ministry time, the engagement, the energy that was in the room, I could say the same about Wednesday night. It was just a lot of energy and excitement, great ministry time. I do want to thank Pastor Oakley and Candy. They just done a tremendous job with that of leading their teams and organizing and just making it wonderful. And I cannot say enough about the hospitality team, RC and Angie and that team. It was just wonderful. The meal was wonderful. And so I'm so, so, so thankful for that and what we've experienced this weekend. I do want to tell you that our year-end

report, it's available online. You can go online and you'll see the year-end report, which actually covers a fiscal year for us that ends in June. And also there's copies, the hard copies there in the lobby. And finally, our Christmas Eve services will obviously be on Christmas Eve, but there'll be three services, one at 4 p.m., one at 5.30 p.m., and one at 7 p.m. So the Christmas Eve services will be at 4 p.m., 5.30 p.m., and 7 p.m. All right. With that, I think I'm going to go into the Word. I usually talk about generosity, but I'll do a little bit of that in the message. And so I'm ready to pray. I don't have a particular verse that I usually read at the beginning of a message. I have several in the message. So you can remain sitting for just a moment, but please take your caps off, let's pray, and let's get on into the Word of the Lord. Father, I want to thank you now, Lord, for this opportunity to minister and to share. I'm trusting, Lord God, in the manner that you will guide will be one that I would receive and just allow the Spirit of the Lord to work in just in quite a mighty way. Lord, I certainly believe the message that I have was given from you. Pray that the manner that I've crafted it, Lord God, is in reverence and obedience to you. But more so, Lord, that the words that I will speak will come from the prompting of the Holy Spirit and, of course, from the Word of the Lord. Lord, I pray for those that are watching online, those that are in prison, those that are in the county jail, Lord, that this just won't be a moment of escape for them, but a moment, Lord God, where they're really in tune to what you want to say to them. Lord, I know in this message not everything is going to apply to everyone, but I know that you care and concern about everyone. there will be a word that you speak to everyone watching and everyone listening. Lord, my prayer also is for churches that are gathered around our county, that you would work in the lives of every pastor, every leader, that they would be healthy leaders, healthy pastors. The churches, Lord, will be impacted by the presence of you. And we can rejoice of the fact of the work that you're doing in our county through the local church. I pray, Father God,

that even the ministry times that we've had this week on Wednesday night and certainly date night, the ministry into marriages, to people's life, that what you began, Lord God, you will continue. And Lord, that each of us will be better. Each of us will be people that pursue you greater. Each of us will be people that desire more of the Holy Spirit working in us. Lord, that we would deepen ourselves in our faith, that we would become better husbands, better wives, better mothers, better fathers, better children, better parents. Lord, that we would be more and more conformed to the image of our Lord Jesus Christ. Father, I thank you for loving us enough to send your son, Jesus Christ, to die for us. And Lord, as we approach that wonderful day that we call Christmas, may we approach it, Lord, from the right heart, from the right mind, for the right reason. And that we find reasons every day to celebrate not only the birth of Jesus, the life of Jesus, but the death of Jesus, and the resurrection of Jesus. And with such great anticipation, we look for the return of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. It's in his name we pray. May the people of God say amen. I'm going to talk. We're going to do three weeks going into before we hit Christmas Eve on legacy living. And I want to talk today about that very statement on living for legacy. I know it's a word that many people hear. The word legacy is not an uncommon word. It's not a new word. And probably you've spoken it yourself, and hopefully spoken it with intention, with a real desire that you do want to live a legacy life, which would, of course, would lead to leaving a legacy. There's three manners in which legacies can be measured. Some measured simply by inheritance or something that's been left, bequested, whether it be money or property. People have the benefit of either living on or owning what was handed down to them, which was established, of course, probably generations before them. So they have the honor of living on a legacy that was established by someone else. Sometimes another way it's used is by something that's kind of handed down. Some of that is positive. People that have done good things,

you may see their name on a bridge or a building or a school or an endowment. And so, you know, whatever they've done or accomplished was handed down where people can still experience something that they had done. It's positive. Sometimes it's negative, like we can talk about the bitter legacy of the Civil War or bitter legacy of slavery, things that, again, handed down to us that we live with, live under, live through, whatever, however you want to phrase that. But then there's the one of a person's heritage, where the enduring impact of your individual life or your individual work or your individual actions. Just a couple of verses that come to mind just to establish this. Legacy is what people remember when you're gone. And Psalm 112, just the latter part of verse 6 says, those who are righteous will be long-remembered. Some people just live a legacy life of righteousness. And when those days when people stand over them or... or around them when they breathe their last breath, statements may come out, man, this person's life was just righteous. The scripture notes that God also, it uses the term that God doesn't forget some things, as if there is a memory that God has. Of course, you know that's what we call an anthropomorphic term, where God is speaking in human terms, but he says this in Hebrews 6.10. For God is not unjust. He will not forget how hard you have worked for him, and how you've shown your love to him by caring for other believers, as you still do. And this is what I know. What we do for ourselves will usually die with us. What we do for ourselves will die with us.

But what we do for others will live beyond us. It'll live beyond us. I wanna show you two pictures of two men that have certainly left legacies that I don't know yet that they know what those legacies are. I know there's a lot of discussion on what people know when they're in heaven. I probably got a little bit of different funky beliefs than some of you about that. I do believe all things will be known, but I don't believe that the minute somebody dies that they're in that final place. So I don't know what everybody knows that has died before the resurrection of all people. So I'll just leave it at that so I don't get myself caught up in a theological juggernaut when I'm trying to preach on something else. But there's two people that have left legacies. One is my grandfather. You'll see a picture of my granddad here. My grandfather built a small church on 15th Avenue here in Yuma and 4th Street. That building still stands. I actually meant to get a picture of the building and failed to do so. Some of you that know the north end of town may remember where the old Cretins was. And so it was one block from the old Cretins

there going north. Built that building in 1945. And my grandfather always was a bivocational guy. He worked at Firestone. Again, that's some people that I'm dating a lot of us because many people here don't know that there was ever a Firestone tire. Firestone makes tires for those young folks, just so you know. It was a tire store and he worked at that store for 35, 36, 38 years, something like that. It was on 8th Street and 4th Avenue. He came to Yuma, though, to grow cotton or to work in cotton, sorry, not to grow it, but to work in cotton from Oklahoma. Lived in a little place called Bowley, Oklahoma. At that time, Bowley might have had 800 people and everyone in that little town was black. And he loaded up with my grandma and came here to work in the cotton. He built that little church because he came to know Christ. He came to know Christ after he got here. He didn't know Jesus when he left Oklahoma. He might have knew some things about God, but he didn't know Jesus as Lord and Savior, but came to know Christ. And along with two other men that was related to him, brother-in-laws, they built this building. Interesting thing about that is that that church always stayed small.

It never really grew. Even, I say never really grew. Of course, there was times maybe there was 50 people, maybe 75, maybe 100, but it was always a small church. And even when I came along, it was a small church. When people talk about being pew babies, I'm telling you that's exactly what I was from the time I was born. It would be hard-pressed for me to not to think of a day until I got out on my own, that I wasn't in that church building every day. But my grandmother tells me of times when my grandfather built that church, they would do then, they would do Tuesday night or whatever, Wednesday night, Friday night, and Sunday morning, Sunday night, just kind of church everybody to death, really. And probably that's what was happening. They was dying all along, but he would still do Sunday night service. My grandmother would tell me stories while she was raising eight children, my grandmother had, that there was some Sunday nights that she couldn't go to church. go to church because she had the kids and whatever to take care of, and my grandfather would go down to the building just like church time. He didn't have a worship team. He didn't always have somebody that can play music. My grandfather used to like to sing, and he had a very deep baritone voice, so he was always pretty confident that if nobody came that could sing with him, he would sing by himself. But she said, there was nights I know for sure that he would be in that building by himself. Nobody would come to Sunday night

services. She tells stories of people that would open the door and look at him and see him there in the church by himself and would mock him. You're just sitting up here by yourself. Nobody wants to come here. Nobody wants to hear from you. Nobody wants to hear about that message. What I don't know if my grandfather knows now, he'll know one day, is that him standing in that building every Sunday night reading his Bible and praying has left a legacy right here at CTC. That because of that faith and because of that commitment, there's a church here that's having an impact. A man that didn't know what he was expecting, didn't know what he was waiting for, but he knew that the Lord called him, and he prayed, and he preached, and he waited, and he anticipated. That's a legacy that not only now is two generations down, but not only that, but in my children, another two generations down, and in your children, generations down. That's leaving a legacy. That's leaving a legacy because you want to live for someone else. Let me tell you about another man. This is my father-in-law. Always get emotional telling this story. This is Virginia's dad. I didn't get to spend a lot of time with him, and even when I did, I couldn't talk to him. I didn't know any Spanish. I would fake it from time to time. He would laugh when I would say things. He didn't know what I said, and I would laugh with him. I don't even know what he said back, but we had a good time. Juan came to the Lord when he was 17 years old. He was drunk, walked into a Pentecostal service, and he was warned to stay away from them, what was called the hallelujahs, stay away from them. But he was drunk, and he thought he was going to another party in San Luis. He heard music, so he thought, okay, here's another party. I'm going to go to the next one. He walks in there, and he sees things happening that he wasn't recognizing, and a young man comes over and prays for him. And the moment that young man prayed for him and called down on Jesus, not only did he sober up, but he got filled with the Holy Spirit at that moment, 17 years old. He was so excited about what the Lord had done that he went back, and this is Elias back here. This is my wife's older brother, who was actually the first one that came to the church, by the way, but I didn't marry him. I married you. I loved him too. But he goes back home to tell his parents that he had found Jesus. They were in the Guadalajara area. He goes back home to tell them that he had found Jesus. And his father, because they were raised Catholic, said to him, there's more to the story, but here was the bottom line on the next morning after he had got there. He says, because you

have abandoned the faith, you're dead to me. When he said he was dead to him, he literally actually had the priest do a funeral to say that his son was dead to him because he had came to Christ. That morning, after telling his parents that, he never saw his parents again. His father said, you're dead to me, and never want to see you again. He left his home crushed, but he had a commitment to Jesus. And even at 17, after being rejected by his parents, he continued in the faith. He married Virginia's mom and Elias' mom, who was named Virginia. They had nine children, nine children. And of this day, all nine of those children know Christ as Savior, all nine of them. Seven of those nine children are faithfully serving a local church. Five of those children are in the pastoral ministry. Here's a man that left a legacy in spite of the obstacles that he had to go through. And this is what I know about God. When God starts building something in you, it doesn't stop with you. It doesn't stop with you. It goes on down into a generation. Pastor Brad done a wonderful teaching on the Tabernacle of David on Wednesday night. And, of course, there's a thought that came to mind as I prepared this message on the whole Tabernacle of David, where David brought the Ark of the Covenant and set it on Mount Zion, that people can go and worship God freely and in his presence. David knew that what he had reestablished through the Tabernacle of David, that God wanted to continue. And there's passages in the Old Testament again, Book of Acts and James, et cetera, of repairing the breach. But it was something that the Lord wanted to continue, and David knew that. And so, David wants to prepare a place where people can come and gather. But the Lord, of course, tells him that Solomon is the one that was to do it. But David took it so serious that he not only prepared everything for Solomon to build this place where people could come of all walks of life, of all status, of all backgrounds, that they could come and be in the presence of the Lord, that he tells Solomon, I need you to hear this, listen to this in 1 Chronicles 28, 10 through 11. He said, so take this seriously. The Lord has chosen you to build the temple as his sanctuary. Be strong and do the work. Then David gave Solomon the plans for the temple and its surroundings, including the entry room,

the storerooms, the upstairs rooms, the inner rooms, and the inner sanctuary, which was the place of atonement. David said, I need you to take this seriously. What the Lord has began in me is not to stop with me, it's to carry on for generations. That's why we come into the house of the Lord now week after week, because of what the Lord started with David. It did not end with that generation. It didn't end with Solomon. It's carried all the way down to us, and we gather in the house of the Lord to worship him in spirit and in truth. Can you say amen? And so there's three words that I want to share with you that assures legacy in your life, the life of your family. And the first one is this, legacy is about purpose. I think for every one of us, and this is an old term, a southern term, but I think for every one of us, you got to live with a fire in your belly, something that really just really gets you, that you know is worth living for. And the Bible certainly gives us many reasons to live for God, but particularly that we would know him and to glorify him, that each of us was created with a unique plan. The Lord has prepared us all for good works, and that's done as we find him and serve him. The ultimate purpose of our life is to glorify God. We'll see that in 1 Corinthians 10.31. And that we're not an accident, that we're created by specific design. 1 Corinthians 10.31 says this, so whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. That ought to be a fire in our belly, that I want to live for the glory of God. Ephesians 2.10, I love this because it's such a prophetic word that the Lord gives for us in Christ Jesus. It says, for we are his workmanship. Just think about that, that the scripture is saying that every one of us that have surrendered our life to Christ, that we are his workmanship. We're the product and the fruit of his hands. We're created in Christ Jesus for good works, which he prepared before. beforehand that we should walk in them. We want to live this life with focus. We want to live with life's mission. We want to have a perspective of those things that fit. And of course, that means your relationships, your children, your health, even financial fitness. All of those are important and every one of those are part of your heritage. But the values you establish will carry

on to the next generation, carry on to the next generation. And so, above all of that is living for the glory of God. So, legacy is about purpose. Legacy is also about commitment. It's about commitment. We do live in a world where things are disposable. And, you know, there's some good to that. Honestly, there's the manner of...I actually do like a vehicle that I can get into, and honestly, I don't got to do anything. I mean, you can almost sit in a vehicle now and the thing will talk to you, it'll turn for you. I mean, it'll do everything. There's some things I like some progress on some stuff. But there's a lot of things that have been disposable just because, you know, people don't have the value of them as they used to, and things just come and go and get tossed. But God is a God of covenant, God is a God of commitment. And when we talk about a legacy life, it's because we have a confidence in the faithfulness of God and what he's putting in us through his promises. And it's because of God's commitment to us that we honestly can live rock solid even when the storms of life comes because of the commitment God has made to us. We don't change our mind about him because things are no longer convenient or things may get out of style or tough times may come. And I think all of us got to answer the question, are we faithful to the commitments that either we've made or ought to make? Are we faithful to the commitment to live for Jesus who died for us? He made a commitment, not one that he pulled back, not one that he shied from. He didn't have to die on the cross. He didn't send somebody else to die on the cross. He made a commitment to us. And are we committed to living for him based on what he's done for us or the commitment to serve the Lord with the weight of eternity that is on us, serving him, or the commitment to do what we're called to do? In my case, whether it be those who work with me, those who work beside me, children, volunteers, friends, even commitment to my city, to local citizens. But a commitment to leaving a legacy, it's not something that should be partial. As a matter of fact, when we come into the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ, there's a real call that Jesus makes to us, that that is that we would give our

whole heart, soul, strength, and mind to him. It's a big task. It's a big task. Let's not try to sugarcoat that. It's a big task to come to the place in your life where you say, I am giving all of my heart to the Lord. I'm giving all of my soul to the Lord, all of my strength to the Lord, all of my mind to the Lord. That's a big task. We have a hard time when the word all comes into play. Let's just face it, we like to reserve a few things for us. We want to live with a little margin in our life, a little bandwidth, giving us some options to like, you know, I've given you so much, can't I just have some things on my own? We have a hard time with the word all. But I think when Jesus said it, he didn't give any excuses and he certainly didn't set an example where all wasn't all. Y'all doing all right? And so, it's all our heart, soul, strength, and mind. And that means it requires some perseverance, do some hardship. Jesus symbolized that, this statement here in Luke 9, verse 62. Listen to this, no one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God. No one who does that and turns back. We have one example. of that, of someone who made a response as if they were going to follow the command of the Lord. And you read about it in Genesis 17, I think it is, it talks about Lot's wife who turned back to see what she was leaving behind. And the Scripture says, she turned to a pillar of salt. Man, it's a good thing the Lord doesn't turn us into pillars of salt. There'll be salt mounds all over the city. Just salt, salt, salt. You ain't never got to buy it again. There you go. There go Uncle so-and-so, just scoop him out, he turned back. But the mindset is that we don't turn back. Psalm 37.5, listen to this, commit your way to the Lord and trust in Him, and He will act. This word commit, the Hebrew word is the word galal, it's interesting. It really means to roll onto fully understanding the inevitable result. So when it says, commit your way to the Lord, roll onto Jesus, if you could picture that. Just fully put yourself onto Him. The actual picture of it is basically someone who jumps on a grenade,

knowing what's going to happen, the blowing up of that person, and yet for the salvation of the others. And that's the same commitment the Lord is asking for us. Roll yourself on me. There's some impending things, inevitable things that will happen here. Of course, our life will be transformed, our life will be changed. There'll be some things that come along the way that are not as easy to deal with. If it's a loss of friends, a loss of family, and ridicule, and mockery. But Jesus says, commit yourself to me, the inevitable result. There may be some things in your life that blow up, but at the end of it, there's a great interest into the kingdom of God. There's a great interest. He says, commit your way unto the Lord, trust in Him. This word way, the Hebrew word is darak, it just means the territory you're treading on, meaning everywhere you tread, everywhere you walk, everything you touch, everything you do, commit that to the Lord. That is your way. Your way is everything that is part of your life, your steps, your touching, your doing. Commit that to the Lord, trust in Him, and He will act. Proverbs 16.3 says, commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established. Same word there, commit. The word work here is malaise, and it means whatever you do, whatever you fashion, whatever you farm, whatever you produce, whatever you assemble, commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established. So legacy is about purpose, legacy is about commitment, and finally, legacy is about investment. And here's what I know. Generations are more important than gratification. Generations are more important than gratification. Angeline, I hope I'm saying her name right. Is she sitting in front of me somewhere? Yes. I think there was a lot of things you said there that really ministered to me, but when she made that statement that this is about generations, that hit me. Generations are more important than gratification. And there is a difference in spending and investing. Spending is for instant gratification, investing is for long-term legacy. John Maxwell said this, if you are successful, it becomes possible for you

to leave an inheritance for others. But if you desire to create a legacy, then you need to leave something in others. When you think unselfishly and invest in others, you gain the opportunity to create a legacy that will outlive you. And that's what the heart of investment is, is investing in something that would outlive you. Many people, like ourselves, know investment in property lasts beyond you. Assets grow, and you can hand it down to generations. Investing in your family, your children, your greatest disciples. Investing in your city for the greater good of our community, for the welfare of our city. Investing in your church. You know it's going to last. Christ is the builder of it. The church will outlast all of us. I don't know what CTC would be like without me. Sometimes I get nervous about it, honestly, but that's my own selfishness. But this is what I know. It's going to go on beyond me. And it should, and even greater, because of the investment that's being placed in now and here. It's because Christ builds it. Matthew 16, 18 says, and I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. The church is built to last. CTC is building a life-giving local church that people can know God, they can find freedom, they can discover purpose and makes a difference. And you're giving, you're investing, you're tithing. We talked about this last week. It provides meat in the house, as Malachi 3.10 says. It's investment. Here's what I know, church. Life is short, eternity is real, but people matter most. Life is short, eternity is real, and people matter most. And with that, I'm going to leave you with a thought. There's so much more that I want to say, and so much more that I can say. And as I just...oh, I want to point this out. I don't know if everybody...you should have got one of these when you came in, hopefully, just a little bitty card, and has on there manners and ways, honestly, that you can make a commitment to continue to give for what the Lord is

building here. For some of you, it's just to start giving, just to start giving. You might be new to the faith, may not have ever understood what it meant to give to the local church, but you can start giving. And you can make a commitment to that because everything you do for the kingdom of God will last. And for some of you, it's giving consistently. Maybe you give some and just not consistent. Be consistent, commit to it. For some, it's tithing. We talked about this last week. I'll continue to share it again. It is response to what the Lord says. And we say it over and over again that if you trust the Lord for 90 days in your time, then I can assure you...team, you can come, sorry. I can assure you that you will not go wrong. You will only see the blessing of the Lord. And then there's legacy giving. We got lanes. I won't have the time to go through all of this, but there's things that we do here at CTC that you're part of and some things I actually want to share with you about on where we invest. Some of it is we do a lot with global missions, as many of you know, keeps the church outward focused. Mark 16, 15 says for us to go into the world and preach the gospel to everyone. So we focus on strategic missions. We'll continue to do that in 2026 with India and South Africa and Central Asia church planners, which I would love to share more about that, but they're underground. And then the work we began in Indonesia last year was our first trip. Slovakia, we'll be working with the Roma people again this year, or 2026, sorry, in helping them build another building. I shared a little bit about Casas last week and Mexico and the work that we're going to continue to do building down there by the dump. Convoy of Hope is a big deal that we support. And if you've heard me share about that on many times, they're the first ones to respond, along with Samaritan's Purse, honestly, to disasters and human crises, humanitarian crises. 99 responses in 2024. 168 million pounds of product that was distributed. This is one of my favorite one. 639,000 children around the world fed every day through Convoy of Hope in these poor countries. 39,000 individuals that was trained to do agriculture because Convoy is big on not continuing to have

to keep giving to the folks. It is totally designed through the local church for that cycle of poverty to be broken in that region. And 45 million people served. And that's, again, because of your generosity, leaving a legacy beyond us. I think you're going to see a couple of pictures on the screen. I love this one also. I'm going to see if we have the pictures from the folks. Yes, I'll hold that one for just a moment. With those folks holding the Bible, that's a very remote village in eastern India. And they're holding a Bible. That Bible is the first book many of them ever got into their hand because of Mark Trapura, who has been with us, who wrote a language for... his people grew. You know why those people are holding that Bible for the first time? Because CTC paid for those Bibles to be printed. And some of them, for the very first time, are holding a Bible in their hand where they can hear the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's because of legacy given. We do local missions, of course. We believe in strengthening churches. I was just at a dinner the other night for the Good News Club where there's five, I think, or six churches that are invested here in our community that go into schools and teach the Bible, teach the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is an amazing, amazing thing. That's through giving. That's through legacy. Tonight, I meet with 40 or 50, I don't know where Joel is, local pastors and their wives tonight that we'll be able to meet with again. We're hosting a dinner for them. Why? Because we love the local church. You know this. We're not concerned about building our own empire. We got a call during this last fiscal year of a church that was in trouble here in town financially. They had some financial issues. It was a matter of whether the church could survive or not. We'd done a little bit of investigation and realized that their financial strain was just a portion, honestly, of their budget, which was mostly their mortgage. They were a very small church, but doing a good work of what they're doing on the north side. We presented that need to the elders, found out that they only owed $23,000 on their mortgage, although that payment was bigger than they could handle

at the time. $23,000. You know what CTC did? We paid off the mortgage so the church can survive. That's investing in the local community. We just gave $20,000, the Convo of Hope gave some money to the Hanson House. There's so many things I can go on, even investing in the next generation of future leaders through our kids' camps and youth camps and kids' jam and youth conferencing, Bible college, the kids' academy. We want to ensure that what we have began, what I shared about Virginia's dad, what I shared about my grandfather, continues on. This is a verse that ought to frighten you, Judges 2.10. After that generation died, talking about the people of Joseph, another generation grew up who did not acknowledge the Lord or remember the mighty things he had done in Israel. That verse ought to scare you. If the thought of us that we could be one generation for people not knowing the Lord, and that's why we invest in the future. Psalm 78, 5 and 6 is a great verse on, so that the next generation may know them. Psalm 145, 4, let each generation tell its children. And then, of course, there's the capital projects. And as you all know, we're working through, working with consultants, preparing to build a 1,200-seat sanctuary next door in the next 18 months to two years. And why is that? Again, we want to make sure that things go on for decades. So global missions, of course, is reaching the world. Local missions is transforming the community. Next generation leaders is investing in the future and church expansion is building for tomorrow. And so, this is the invite. First of all, of course, is for you, if you haven't come to Christ, that's your first call, is knowing that He is the Lord of your life and the Savior of your soul, and that you can begin a legacy life in front of your family when you make a commitment to Jesus. And I want you to pray about what the Lord will do in your life, what the Lord is asking you to do for beyond yourself. I want you to participate, of course, and just partner in what we're doing. I want everybody to stand,

and I'm going to close out with this. Prayer team, you can come. These cards that you're given, honestly, they should be conversation starters. For some of you, you already know where you are and what you do, and I thank you for that. For some of you, as you talk about everything else in your life that you want to leave a legacy on, I'm going to ask you to talk about and pray about what you can do as we go toward the end of the year for your giving. For some of you, it might be just giving weekly or giving, you know, regularly. For some, it's tithing. For some of you, that tithing may be going beyond and giving a gift that helps us with legacy. You pray, you seek the Lord, and you ask God what it is that He needs you to do. And don't miss the first thing. And that's committing to living for Him. I would love for everybody in here to be able to tell a story like I told about my grandfather, like I told about my father-in-law. I would love for everybody in here to be able to tell a story. Wouldn't it be wonderful if your grandchildren can sit down with a group of friends and say, let me tell you why I'm sitting here with you, telling you about Jesus. Because I had a mom and a dad, I had a grandfather and a grandmother who loved the Lord and was more concerned about what God was doing through them for the next generation than they were about living their life and flaming out for whatever they wanted to do for selfishness. Y'all doing all right? Did the plane land all right? Father, I want to thank you for your goodness and your grace. Thank you for the opportunity, Lord God, to share from the heart. I pray that every one of us will hear, every one of us will receive, and every one of us, Lord God, will know what it is that you're saying to us. For those who need to make a commitment to Jesus, let today be today. For those, Lord God, who need to make a commitment in giving and investing, let today be today.

Lord God, that you speak to their heart as they pray, as they talk, as they sit down. Lord, let them hear what the Spirit of the Lord is saying, that they also can invest in the kingdom of God. And Lord, I pray that you would be glorified in everything that we do as we go and live with the fire in our belly to glorify you. In Christ's name, we pray. Amen. Amen. If you know what you want to do and you can put your information on, you can drop it in the box, we'd greatly appreciate it. God bless you. Have a great day. ♪ Yeah. ♪ So thankful for that message from our pastor. You know, you really can't take anything with you when you leave this earth, but you sure as heck can decide what you leave behind. Our team is going to close this out in worship here in just a moment. But before they do, if you're new or you want to take a next step in your faith with Jesus Christ towards baptism or child dedication or serving, open house, whatever it may be, if you're watching online, you can do so with the digital connect card. If you're here in person, there's the discs on the seats there that you can use. You can also stop by the connect table in the lobby. Pastor's book is still available for purchase. It's so good. I've read it. It's amazing. It's perspective shaping. That's still available for purchase at grippedbyhope.com. And there's also a poster in the lobby you can scan to purchase that as well. Well, church, we hope that you have a wonderful Sunday.

Please enjoy another song of worship and rejoice in the salvation of Jesus with us today. Thanks. ♪ Praise God from whom all blessings flow. ♪ Praise Him, all creatures here below. ♪ Praise Him, above the heavenly host. ♪ Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. ♪ Praise God from whom all blessings flow. ♪ Praise Him, all creatures here below. ♪ Praise Him, above the heavenly host. ♪ Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. ♪ Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. We love you, church. Have a great day.