You Still Have a Purpose. Do Your Part. | Tim Dunn

lead pastor, right here at Drace Way. This culture does not debate the cross, because nobody cares how Jesus died. We do care whether or not Jesus can do the thing he said he can do, for the reason he said he can do it, because we know intuitively that if that is true, there are things that would have to change in us. His educational journey has taken him through Kent State University, Trinity College of the Bible, and Trinity Theological Seminary, where he earned multiple degrees. Tim and his wife, Ashley, have shared more than 20 years of marriage and are the proud parents of Noah, Emma, and Isaiah. T-C-M-C, get loud for Pastor Tim Dunn. Alright, let's go ahead and grab your seats. You know that I don't mind fighting, but I ain't trying to start one. And the reason that I wanted Pastor Charlie to be here and the reason that I asked him to speak candidly about some of these issues very candidly is because I trust you. I want you to understand that. I'm not trying to lecture you, I'm not trying to condescend you, I'm trying to help you understand that I trust you, to be able to have a big enough view of the world and of Jesus and of King Adam and of the Bible, that even if that hits some of the sides of your thinking, you'll sit with it for a minute before you start law of in accusations. So I want you to understand, I'm trying to learn too, I'm trying to understand too. There are conversations that I put myself in that are uncomfortable for me. But that I believe that the church gets better when we're willing to do that. And so this isn't about me, this is about the church and this isn't about you, that's not commentary on you, that's commentary on us and what the church looks like and how it is perceived in this country and how we can do better and how we can do better together. And I trust you, I trust you to be able to handle that. So if you are interested in picking up the book, we'll have it out in the lobby. Everybody want this one? There you go, that'll be 73, no I'm just kidding, me's kidding. He looked at me like I knew it, white people, all right?

All right, so listen, I have brought to you a world class preacher from Chicago. Deliverance without correction is premeditated relapse, are you kidding me? I was just saying that to my wife this morning, no I was not, no I was not. And I brought you a world class cowboy from Texas. I gotta tell you a funny story about this, I'm so excited about this. Harper and I, but we, it sounds less manly than I thought it was going to, but we, we buy stuff for each other and so he bought me, just knock it off. So he bought me a Ohio State Buckeyes sweatshirt kind of deal and I bought him a T-shirt that says Dallas sucks with a picture of JFK on it. Yeah, yep, I think I won that round harp, I think I won that round. So listen, here's the thing about both of those men. I love and respect both of them dearly, I met Pastor Charlie about a year ago at Dr. Perry's retirement and he walked out to me and he said if I get out of this room without talking to you, Dr. Perry's going to kill me and I said he told me the same thing. And so as he said, Dr. Perry, who is my pastor and my spiritual father and is in the room or was in the room, is kind of the connection between us and I have an incredible amount of respect for Pastor Charlie and Chris Harper is one of my dearest, dearest, dearest friends in the world. I think that both of them have served us so well today. However, this ain't their city, it's our city, it's our city. Kansas City belongs to Jesus, right? [applause] And you can get these out in the lobby. Someone want this one? All right, all right, there you go. All right, so what I want to do is you have been preached to and at an incredible level, I just want to pastor you for a few minutes. I want to put the cookies on the bottom shelf because I don't think that you can do what I'm about to tell you unless you understand what we already talked about. But I don't want you to leave with all these ideas knocking around in your head, in your

equilibrium, just a little bit off without knowing, okay, now what do I do with my hands? And so if you have a Bible, get over to Habakkuk chapter 1, Habakkuk chapter 1. Put your finger in there and then go to Acts chapter 13. And in Habakkuk chapter 1, Harop talked about it, one day we're going to meet Habakkuk and he's going to say, bro, just read my book. And so now you're going to be able to say, yes, I did at the Kansas City Men's Conference. And it starts with Habakkuk, whining to God, fussing to God, lamenting some things that are happening in his world. He says in verse 2, "How long shall I cry for help and you not hear me? How long should I cry violence and you not save? Why do you make me see iniquity and why do you idly look at wrong? Destruction and violence are before me, strife and contention arise. The law is paralyzed, justice never goes forth, the wicked surround the righteous, justice is getting perverted." It's like nothing has changed. Habakkuk is doing what a lot of us don't do. He's not fussing on social media, he's fussing to God. He's not fussing to a new source. He's taking that lament and that consternation. He's taking it to God and in verse 5, God talks back to him and says this, "Hey, look among the nations, wonder and be astounded for I am doing a work in your days that you would not believe if told." It's almost like God says, "I know what you're seeing and I understand what you're seeing, but there's some things that you're not seeing. There's some things that I'm doing that you're not seeing and 700 years later," and Acts 13, if you have a Bible get over there, "700 years later a guy by the name of Saul gets converted on the road to Damascus and 13, 12, 13 years later he gets sent out of this church in Antioch. In Acts 13, he is preaching to some Jews about what God has been up to. In Acts 13 and verse 36, he gives our text for today for David after he had served the

purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid with his fathers. That's verse 36. And then in verse 40, he says, "Beware therefore, lest what is said in the prophets should come about." What prophet Paul, the prophet Habakkuk, here it is, "Look, you scoffers, be astounded and perish, for I am doing a work in your days, a work that you will not believe even if one tells it to you." Paul says, "David served God's purposes in his generation and then he died and man." I hope that that's what's said about me. I hope that when I'm all said and done and I'm all washed up and I'm put in a box and dressed up like a clown, we all stand around my box and say, "Well, he's dead, but while he was here, he served God's purposes in his time and place." You can't ask for more than that. The Bible says it about David, but what we understand is that David didn't do everything he could have done. He didn't finish everything that he could have finished. He didn't solve every problem. In fact, what we know about David is something that he wanted to do for God. God told him no. Remember David wanted to build the temple. He had a vision for it. He had a desire for it. He had gathered resources for it, and God said, "You aren't going to build it. Somebody after you is going to build it. In fact, your son is going to build it." So here's what I hope for today. My hope today is that you were encouraged, fed, and provoked. All three. My part now is to tell you what you should do with it, and it's as simple as this is three words.

Are you ready for it? Yeah. Okay. Do your part. you've heard so far. You have a be careful to not miss what God is up to. Be careful in your lament of all the brokenness in the world that you don't see where God is at work. Be careful that you miss what God has done and God is doing because you're busy with what you're up to. God is at work in your day and you have a part to play in it. So all the things that have been said to you so far, it's really easy for us to leave that as ideas. It's really easy for us to kind of compartmentalize all that's cool that posture. Charlie said that, that's cool that harp said that, that's great information for me to have. And what I want to do is I want to push all of it off the stage and into your lap. And I want to say it's 2026 in Kansas City, Missouri, and God would say to us, be careful to not be too busy with what you're doing to miss what I'm doing in the part that I want you to play in it. And so I want to give you four things. I'm going to go quickly. I know you're hungry, but let's just be honest, some of y'all are just fine. I'm trying to help you in all the ways. You'll be all right. You'll be all right. So how do I do that? Number one, you got to know what God has given you to do. I can't say this any simpler than this, but I don't want you to walk out of here with lofty ideas and not someplace to put your footsteps. You got to know what God has given you to do. In Acts 13, it doesn't say that David served his purpose. It says that he served God's purposes, and there's a difference. There's a difference between you serving your purposes and dying and serving God's purposes and dying. And I want to be honest with you. I want to be candid with you. There is a cost to you serving God's purposes. You can hear it when you listen to Habakkuk. You can hear the frustration between kingdom come and coming and us being in between it. You can hear what is happening in this world. You can hear the frustration when you hear Paul. You can hear the frustration when you hear Pastor Charlie. Can't you? There's a cost to leaning into God's plans and purposes for your life. I don't want to say to you that a man can spend his entire life being busy and still miss his fundamental assignment. We can spend decades showing up once a year to men's conferences, clapping ourselves on the back, responding to expectations out there, chasing expectations out there, comparing ourselves with

other men, even being successful and never build what God told us to build and never do what God told us to do. And this is what I worry about for some of you because some of you are exceptionally successful and some of you are exceptionally impressive and some of you are exceptionally accomplished. And you come into this and you're willing to pick up this intellectual idea and not understand that God has something wants to say to you. Has a part that he wants you to play. And eventually every grown man who says they love Jesus has to ask the question, what does God actually have for me to be and do? In order for you to get to the end of your life and have the testimony of King David, you only get today. I'm not talking about opportunities missed in the past. I'm not talking about opportunities still to come in the future. Jesus tells us repeatedly, you don't even know that you're going to get that. You can't do anything about what you missed and you might not get tomorrow with the opportunities that it brings. And so I want you to just take some inventory right now about the things that are exclusively yours. Are you with me? Number one, today what is God's purposes around your character? Around your character? What does God want to accomplish in your character? Not yesterday, not tomorrow, today. Ain't nobody in this room that can take responsibility for your character other than you. Number two is your marriage and your family. If you are a married man, you have responsibilities in your time and in your place that you will answer to God for. And if you have kids, you have responsibilities in your time and in your place that you will answer to God for, neither your wife or your kids are yours. They are on loan to you until you return them to God. You say, well, I have a wife and I don't have a kids. I'm single. Great. Then your character, your integrity and your purity, nobody can take that from you unless you give it to them. And today, your character, your marriage, your family, your work, what you do for work, you say, I hate my job, not the point. God says, He doesn't say in whatever you do that you enjoy, do it as unto the Lord. And nobody can give you a work ethic if you don't wanna have it. Nobody can give you work that brings glory to God if you don't take responsibility for it, not yesterday, not tomorrow, today.

Your church, you say your church, I thought this was your church. Now, if you're a grace win member, this is your church. This is our church. And I watch too many men following their wives in the church. I watch too many men who can't read their Bibles at harps that I watch too many men who know that the world is broken and never stand up in it, let alone speak up to it. I watch too many men who say that they love Jesus and love the church, but do not serve it. Do not give to it. Do not stand on the promises accounted for in it. Do not bless it in any way, shape or form it. Can I tell you I can preach until I'm blue in the face around the responsibility that you have in the church, but the truth is I can't force you to do it. There are plans and purposes that God has for your life that go through the church. It's just how God set it up. Next is your calling, your calling, not my calling, not Pastor Charlie's calling, not Harper's calling, your calling, your spiritual gifts. The reason that God didn't take you to heaven when he saved you, you're gonna love Jesus more, you're gonna understand God's glory more, you're gonna sing better and your knees are gonna feel better in the morning. Why, when God saves you, doesn't he just suck you into the sky and take you to heaven?

Because you have calling and you have ministry. You say, "Well, I don't know what it is." Then you're probably not doing a very good job stewarding it. And so your character, your relationships, your work, your church, your calling, these are things that exist today in your time and in your place and in your generation. Now, if you're looking at that list and you go, "I got some gaps in there. "I got some gaps in my character. "I got some gaps in my marriage with my family, "in my work, in my calling, in my church, "in my influence." That's your next step. That's your next step. Because you don't need to worry about doing God's purpose for you and your generation if you aren't already doing the things that you know that you ought to be doing. I'm not trying to put more on your plate. I'm just asking you to better steward what is already on your plate and what is already exclusively yours. My wife is my wife, she ain't your wife. You ain't got to worry about it. In fact, don't even look at her, all right? Don't look at her, don't talk to her. Don't try to be friendly to her, just leave her alone. Don't worry about her, all right? My work is my work, it's not your work. My calling is my calling, my family is my family. My character is my character.

It's not up to you to fix my character. It's up to me to submit myself to God and commit to holiness and righteousness and justice from my character. You can't do that for me. And so if you look at that list and you go, I'm not doing some of these. Don't worry about all the big ideas that you heard from the great preaching that you've heard earlier today. Go home and say God, I'm not even being responsible for what I know you have given me, let alone what I don't know you will give me. You don't get somebody else's responsibility, you don't get somebody else's generation, you don't get somebody else's story, you don't get somebody else's assignment, you get yours. And David understood that his life and his responsibility and his purposes belong to somebody bigger than David. David understood that his stuff wasn't his stuff. And in America, some of you don't, you still don't understand that. You think I work for my stuff. Oh, your stuff isn't your stuff. Your car isn't your car, your house isn't your house, your family isn't your family. The breath in your lungs isn't the breath in your lungs. It was gifted to you. And David understood that. You can't commit yourself to God's purposes if you think it's all for you.

And so David understood, listen, this is bigger than me, this is over my pay grade, my stuff isn't mine, this kingdom, even though I'm the king, it isn't my kingdom, this throne, even though I sit on it, isn't my throne, this temple, even though I'm dreaming about it, it isn't for me, it isn't to me, it isn't from me, 'cause it isn't mine. It all belongs to God. And this is what's important. Legacy begins long before you end your life. Legacy begins long before you end. doing what God has given me to do. I can't put the cookies any luck. They aren't even on the shelf, they're just on the floor. Just just walk up and put some together. Listen, your God-given, God-glorifying legacy begins, the moment that you say, I'm just going to from this day forward, you can't do anything about tomorrow. With all the days you give me, I'm going to do God what you have for me to do. Because it's all yours. It's not mine. I can't take it with me, and if I could, I would still put it at the base of your throne. And some of you, the reason that you're struggling right now is you're trying to hang on to things that aren't yours. And the problem is a lot of men get to the end

of their life and think that's when their legacy kicks in, know your legacy starts today. And a lot of men get to the end of their life and think if I've got the most amount of stuff I've win, but how many of you know, we know men who accumulated a lot of stuff and lost their soul along the way. You don't want that legacy. And so you have to have this holy moment with God where you say, God, these are the things I know you've given me, my character, my relationships, my influence, my work, my church, my calling. How am I doing on that, God? Am I truly surrendered to you in a tangible life altering, surrendered kind of way? Or do I have some work to do? Don't worry about other more esoteric things. Just worry about the meat and potatoes of you being surrendered to the king. And understanding what God has called you to, to be and to do. Number two, you have to accept that you're not going to finish. When we look at David, you're going to have to accept that you're not going to finish. This might have been one of the hardest lessons in David's life. He wanted to build the house of God. And my guy, David, you never had to question whether or not David loved his version of the church, right? He's like singing about it and writing songs

and writing poem, doing all this weird stuff about it, right? Things we have a heart, a thousand days or that. I'd rather be anywhere. I want to be in the church more than anywhere else. And he's like, God, I want to build you a house. And can't you presume that David thought that God would be like, that's awesome, man. Thank you, let's do this. David, you love me more than ever. David, you love the church, man. David, you want to build me a building? That's awesome, man, let's do it. And God's like, thank you for all of that. No, no, you don't get to do everything you want to do, man. You don't get to have everything you want to have. You don't get to accomplish everything you want to do. Want to accomplish. And here's the thing that's interesting, what do you do when God tells you no? And the truth of it is that a lot of us are so disconnected from the voice of God you don't even know when God tells you no. But just imagine that you are locked in and that you're hearing from God and that you bring something to God that you think he's just gonna immediately sign off on and he goes, no. If I'm David, I could have gotten sideways about this. I could have disengaged, I could have said, who I got church hurt.

But what does he do instead? He starts to figure out how he's going to resource who does get to do it. So instead of fussing about it, David starts preparing. Come on, read your Old Testament. He starts gathering materials. He starts organizing leaders. He starts making plans. He starts paying for blueprints. He starts giving generously. He names his successor and he starts grooming him and developing him to be able to, he poured himself into the future knowing he would never personally be able to experience it. That is legacy. Some of us think that legacy means what I get to put my name on. But David teaches us something different, that legacy isn't to make sure that people remember my name. Legacy is to make certain that the work of God continues once my name is forgotten. I'm gonna say it again, 'cause just like Pastor Charlie said, if you understood, you would have said amen there. So, okay, legacy isn't to make sure people remember my name. Legacy is to make sure God's work continues when my name is forgotten. And I have to know my part to play, and I have to be stewarding the things that are exclusively mine.

But then I have to also understand that the point isn't so that when I'm dressed up like a clown in a box, you go, "Tim was such a good guy." now that Tim is gone. And too many of us think that we are running a sprint when we are actually running a relay. You think you're going to get to the finish line and no when you get to the finish line you hand the baton to the next guy. The truth is there are going to be lots of things that you start that somebody else finishes. There's going to be prayers that you're going to pray that you're never going to get the answer to. That's the point. There's going to be seeds that you plant that become trees that you never sit underneath. There's going to be men you invest in who are going to accomplish things that you'll never accomplish. There's going to be things that God puts in your heart that somebody else will take to the next generation and that has to be okay if you are God's man. Can I tell you one of the reasons that you don't love the church and I'm going to just use myself as an example. I love the church not because I get to run my mouth in church. I love the church because of men like that man right there, Dr. Dwight Pay. When I think about the church I don't think about this. I think about him and Pastor Jeff Adams and men in my life who have paid the price so I don't have to start where they started. Men in my life who have spoken blessing over my life so I could go further because of how far they ran. And the truth is some of you don't understand the church. You think this is the church. I would hate the church too if I thought this was the church. This is not the church. The handoff of calling and responsibility and stewardship and grace that is supposed to be inherent in the church between the men of the church is the thing that makes the church so beautiful. But if you're coming in here and you're in tow to your wife and you're grumpy by having to come to church again and you read your Bible twice a year and you don't know what you're called to and your character is in shambles and you don't love your wife and your lazy at work I would hate church too. But if you understood I have a part to play and every now and again God puts me up against somebody who has been paying the price so I could play my part. That's why I love him. That's why I love Pastor Jeff Adams because I know that there's a cost to doing it God's way and I know that I benefit from them paying a bill so I didn't have to pay it. But I also want to serve God not just because I want to bring glory to God but because I don't want to dishonor my pastor. Can I tell you why I'm not out on these streets doing crazy stuff because you love your wife. Yes because I love my wife it's true because you love you. Yes I love

you. Do you know why? One of the big reasons that I'm not because I don't want to get a call from him. Hello Pastor Tim this is Dr. Perry. I know I know I know I'm sorry hey I'm going to come down and see you. No no no please that yes Pastor Tim I'm going to come down and see you and first lady actually there's a couple things that you're right sir yeah yeah. I don't want that call. I'm indebted to other men who have gone before me who knew their part and were willing to hand me the baton of a finish line they didn't get to cross. And so David understands this is my responsibility. I'd like to do this God says no he doesn't throw a fit about it. He starts preparing for his part of the blessing that will come in Solomon's life and that's that's actually step three. Prepare somebody to go farther than you. Are you still with me? This is where David's legacy becomes tangible. David doesn't simply announce that Solomon is next he prepares Solomon to follow him. So before David gives Solomon plans for the temple he gives Solomon his convictions. Hey here it is 1 Chronicles 28 and you Solomon my son know the God of your father and serve him with a whole heart and with a willing mind. What does he say? You know how I've walked with God son. That's what a father gives to a son a biological father or a spiritual father. That's what an older man gives to younger man. That's what one generation is supposed to give to the next generation and I'm just going to be honest with you fellas in this generation our generation. You got hundreds of men in the room. How do you feel about the convictions that we have and handing them to the next generation? Could you say to your kids, Y'all know how I've walked with God and not have them stare blankly back at you? Could you say, y'all know the man of prayer that I am. Y'all know the man of calling that I am. Y'all know the man of character that I am. Y'all know how I imperfectly love your mom. Y'all know how I have suffered and labored to fulfill the part that I'm supposed to-- y'all know that. Could you say that? David says to Solomon, "You know the God of your father. You've seen me love him. You've seen me serve him.

And I give you that conviction." This is why we have discipleship in this church, by the way. It's not to get somebody through the lesson. It's to give them the convictions that you're supposed to have. It's to give them the love that you're supposed to have. And Solomon doesn't just receive convictions. He also, number two, receives David's source of courage. 1 Chronicles 28 and verse 20. Then David said to Solomon, his son, "Be strong and courageous and do it. Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed for the Lord your God. Even my God is with you. He will not leave you or forsake you until all the work for the service of the house of the Lord is finished." What does he say? "First off, you know how I've walked with God. Secondly, my God can become your God. Don't worry, He'll never abandon you. Can I ask you? Do you have people that can get courage from having watched God's providence in your life? Do you have people that you can say, you know how God has taken care of me? And watch, older men ought to make younger men braver for God. Your son should be more confident in God because they watched you trust God. Younger leaders should know how to obey and love God because they watched the men in this room. The men around you ought to be more courageous because they're in your life

and they know the God that you serve. You see, I'm gonna be very, very, very honest with you, okay? I'm overwhelmed with gratitude about what God intends to accomplish in this room today, but I typically hate conferences. I think they're a waste of time, I do. Because we do all these ideas and get all these good vibes and then we go home, we do the same thing. It's pointless and that's why I wanted to, I wanted Pastor Charlie to rip your face off. I wanted you to go harps the coolest guy I've ever met. I wanted you to hear from God's word and then I wanna stand up and go, yes and. And let's make this as simple as possible, y'all. This could be a catalytic moment in this church. This could be a catalytic moment in this region. This could be a catalytic moment in this city. And I'm not being rhetorical, I'm being actual. You put 600 men in a room and we all go, God, what do you want me to be and do? God, I wanna play my part in my generation and in my location and I want my conviction to be worthy of being handed down. I want my courage to be worthy of being handed down. Come on, it's not this big ideological thing. It's, do you love Jesus and at the end of your life when we go, whoo, he loved Jesus. He played his part and then thirdly, David gives Solomon his resources. He spent years gathering what Solomon would need,

money, materials, plans, people, wisdom. He essentially says, son, I'm gonna give you everything I can so you don't have to start where I started. Can I tell you? Can I tell you? I received the blessing of the work that Pastor Jeff Adams did for 34 years in this church. And Pastor Jeff has said to me many times, I get to see come to pass what I hoped would come to pass now that you're the pastor, but here's the truth. He wouldn't be seeing those things if he hadn't labored to bring certain things to pass but he understood that the finish line isn't a line, it's a hand off of a baton. Can I tell you, Pastor Charlie Dates would not be here today, preaching the way that he's preached without 13 years ago, Dr. Perry inviting me to become his spiritual son and then being faithful to me for a decade and a half. There are conversations and labors and works and wounds that Dr. Perry has, so I don't have to start at the same place. I don't have to start at the same conversation. He has things to give me and things to bless me. I had to choose to do that. He had to understand how the kingdom worked to do that. repeatedly hand me the baton, hand me the baton, hand me the baton to prepare me for how far I was supposed to go. He had to give me convictions, he had to give me confidence, he had to give me courage and he's also given me a lot of resources, you know how I know, because he stood on the stage today.

He stood on the stage today, he's still with me, say I'm hungry, you'll be fine, you'll be fine. Then you have to give him the work, you have to know who you are, you have to understand you're not going to finish everything, you have to understand you have to prepare who is going to take the work and then you've got to give it to him, okay. This is the hardest part, eventually David has to let Solomon build the temple, right? Think about this, David prayed about it, dreamed about it, planned it, funded it, prepared for it, Solomon got the credit for building it. David had to relinquish his relevance. I think about that for a second. What is David's greatest relevance, his ability to relinquish his relevance? This is mind-bending for men in 2026. You want me to go in the shadows so that kid can get the shine, yeah, because it isn't your shine, because it isn't your stuff, because it isn't your throne, because it isn't your story. So I want you to understand that there comes a point where you step back so that they can get the credit and I want you to understand that them getting the credit is part of your responsibility and legacy. There comes a point where faithful men have to release what they have and give it to somebody else. Healthy fathers have to release their sons. I'm going through this right now, I hate it. Go be a man, go make decisions, go build a family, go build a life, go follow Jesus. Healthy leaders have to release younger leaders. Not, watch me do it, watch me do it, watch me do it, watch me do it, no, you do it. Healthy pastors have to release ministry, healthy men don't need everything important to happen through them. So eventually somebody else gets the keys. Eventually somebody else sits in the chair. Eventually somebody else leads the organization.

Eventually somebody else raises the family. Eventually somebody else carries the ministry. Eventually somebody else builds the next part and the goal isn't for them to become in a long-gated version of you. The goal is for them to faithfully serve God's purposes in their generation, but they can't do that if we don't serve God faithfully in our generation. This is the reason that I have passed with Charlie come up here and say, "We're not doing good enough," and I stand up here and say, "It's not about you, this is about us. This isn't about this church, this is about the kingdom and we've got to be willing to say in our generation, are we able to handle something better to the next generation, something more fully formed in the image of Jesus, something more fully formed according to the kingdom having been brought into the present? Are we going to be able to hand that to the next generation? I'm afraid of the church that we are handing to the next generation. I'm afraid of the manhood that we are handing to the next generation. I'm afraid of the fatherlessness that we are handing to the next generation. I'm afraid of the biblical illiteracy that we are handing to the next generation. I'm afraid of the greediness and stinginess that we're handing to the next generation. I'm afraid of the information that we have but the discipleship that we don't do to the young men in this room for the next generation. I'm afraid of the next generation of pastors in America. David's success wasn't diminished when Solomon built the temple. The goal was for David to relinquish his relevance and fade into the shadows and understand that Solomon's success was his legacy. Can I tell you one of the greatest blessings to me? Is my pastor sitting on the front row of this church and experiencing what God's doing in this house? And I always want him to understand that this house is part of his legacy. I always want him to understand. Now, the failures are on me, but the success

of you to? Who are you handing the war stories and the faithfulness of God and the providence of God and the prophetic voice of God in it? Who are you handing it to? A man's legacy isn't what he builds, it's who continues to build it because he handed it to them to continue building. And so, a man's life is this simple, you ready? And then I'm in my seat, okay? God, what part do you have for me to play? God, I acknowledge that I'm probably not going to finish everything that you want me to do. So, who, God, do you want me to prepare to take this further than my life is going to allow and there's going to come a day where I have given them every thing I know how to give them that I'm going to give them the keys and they're going to drive off. And when they win the race, I'm going to be their biggest fan. And I'm not going to take that personally and I'm not going to get insecure about that and I'm not going to cry proud tears in the shadows because I didn't get the hold the trophy. I understand how the family and kingdom of God works. And so, God, I pray that I will do my part in my generation and that's it. And then I will fall asleep and I will stand before the King. For David, after he had served the purpose of God and his own generation fell asleep, what an incredible way to describe a life. Now, David had victories, yeah? David had failures, yeah. David had accomplishments and David had regrets, David got some things right and got a lot of things wrong, but when Scripture summarizes his life, it gives us this. He served God's purposes in his generation and then a king woke up before the king. His generation ended and ours will too. And there is a clock running on our assignments. There's a clock running on the church becoming under our watch what God wants it to become.

And one day, what it is and what my wife is and what my kids are and what my relationships are and what my work and my calling is, one day, I'm going to be done. And that day might be tomorrow, but one day this peasant is going to wake up to the king. There's going to be a last sermon, there's going to be a last meeting, there's going to be a last decision, there's going to be a last conversation, there's going to be a last opportunity, there's going to be a last chance to put your arm around a young man and say be strong, be courageous, do it how I did it because you're going to go farther than I could ever go. And the question is not going to be that I do my part so people remember me, the question is going to be that I do my part so the work of God can continue once I'm gone. I'll try to spend your life finishing everything you can, don't try to spend your life building something that will make people remember you, they won't. Know people who remember God. Know what God has given you to do, accept that you will not finish it, prepare someone to go further, then give them the work and when your time comes and they win, say thank you God that I got to play my part. When your generation is over, it might be said of this generation of the men at Graceway. Come on, this is this generation, you're in the room because you're a part of this generation of our church. May it be said of the men in this generation, they did their part. And they finish their part and then the next generation go and now it's our turn. Come on, this church is 84 years old and I'm the fourth senior pastor. And I think about number five all the time, you've heard me say this, you come to this church, but can I tell you, this is the fourth generation of this church and one day there will be a fifth and so it's not just my responsibility. It's not just senior pastor to next senior pastor, it's generation to next generation. And one day our generation is going to come to an end in this church, men. I say this to you. You are the lid, and you are the engine of this church. You're the leader, whether you admit it or not,

like it or not. So in this generation, what is our part in this city, and in this time, and in this place, so when we're done, they can say, I didn't love everything they did, but they did the part that God had for them, and now we get to do the part that God has for us. And what that means is you're gonna take all these ideas, and you're gonna get very tactile and very serious about being responsible today with what only you can carry. And you're gonna get the other stuff out, and you're gonna say, I'm gonna be faithful today, yes, because I love God, but because I'm also a part of a family that needs to continue once I'm done. And I'm gonna be doggone. If Jesus doesn't come back, that the next generation of this church isn't gonna be more beautiful, stronger, more fruitful, more glorifying to God than we ever were, because we built footers that they can't see, but they're standing on. And we had conversations that made us uncomfortable, but we couldn't be there if we hadn't done that. And we had faith that put us over our skis, and God said, that's too many for me to win, and we trusted him, and we got into our book, and we knew that three bucks would have gotten me out of that thing, and I knew how to pray, and I knew how to seek God,

and I knew how to kill the enemies that God told me to kill so that my kids didn't have to fight them, and I'm tired, and I'm wounded, and I'm damaged, and I'm glad that God chose me. To play my part in this place, not in that place, you ain't from Chicago, you're from Kansas City. To play my part in this city, you ain't from Dallas, Dallas sucks, that's JFK. (audience laughing) You're from Kansas City. And 2026, and you're part of this house, and we have a responsibility to our king and to the next generation to play our part, and if you don't know it, dog on it figured out. What you do in private matters. Your character matters, your marriage matters, your family matters, your work matters, your calling matters, your influence matters, and dog on it, we need it. - Amen. - I don't like begging men, I don't. You're a grown man. You understand, yes? Do your part. Do your part. Why don't you stand up, let me pray for you. Why don't you put some hands out here. Father, I thank you for your good grace to us today. Father, I thank you for my spiritual father

and my pastor, Dr. Dwight Perry, who's in the house today. I thank you, Lord, for the prices that he's paid and the battles that he's fought, and your kindness and love to me through him, and I love him, Lord, and I'm grateful for him. I thank you for the ministry of Dr. Charlie Dates and the dynamic gifting that you've given him and the mind that he has and the prophetic voice that he has and his faithfulness to be willing to turn that to your people and say, no, we need to be more honest and have more full grown men conversations. I thank you, Lord, for Dr. Chris Harper. I thank you for his friendship. I thank you, Lord, for the way that he serves your church and serves the men of your church, and more than I thank you for your love to me through him and his friendship to me, Lord, and I love him. I love Pastor Charlie and heart and Dr. Perry, Lord. I love the men that are in front of me. And, Lord, I'm tired. I'm tired of the church being fragile and fragmented and tribal and political. I want to play my part. The part that you've given me, not the part that you've given heart or Pastor Charlie. we're not from Chicago. We're not from Dallas. We're in Kansas City. And we have real issues, and real crises,

and real challenges that you are bigger than. And we need the real ones, the real men, to stand 10 toes down on the promises of God, to stop making excuses and frittering their life away with things that do not and will not matter, and to get serious about the part that God has created them to play in our generation. Let it be said of this generation. They did the purposes of God in their generation, and then they died, and now it's our turn. And let that start today. God not to be manipulative or rhetorical, but in an actual spiritual reality kind of way. Let that start today in the men of this house. We thank you, Lord, for those who have gone before, and we thank you, Lord, that if you tear it, your church will continue to be built in the gates of hell, will not prevail against it. But, Lord, in this day, we need the men to stand up. We need the men to play their part. We need the men to be faithful until you call them home. We don't want to lose, we want to win in the name of Jesus. We don't want to be distracted, we want to be focused, we don't want to love and have our affection be given to other things, we want to love you first and most and love our neighbor as ourself and so, Lord, in a real tangible way, take everything that has been said today and bring it to its full and most beautiful fruition for your glory and for our good, and do it through the men.

We love you, God. We thank you, thank you for the food that we're about to share, the conversation that we're about to have, light a spark, plant a seed, grow something beautiful. For your glory, we thank you, we love you. And in Jesus' name, all the men of God said-- [APPLAUSE] (applause) [BLANK_AUDIO]