As we begin a new year of ministry at ParkwayHills, I must tell you that I am very excited. For me, Belinda and a handful of others this excitement was born many years ago, as we huddled together against the winter winds of 1989 - praying round fireplaces of living rooms and dens - then stepped out to begin a mission that would one day become this church we now all love. But beyond those years, in countless events and meetings, in strategy sessions et. al, I have not held any greater sense of God’s blessing, plans or purpose than I do now. The why of this is clear to me, and I pray it is clear to you. For I believe that ParkwayHills is entering upon a year that will determine not just the future of this church but the eternal future of hundreds who will walk through our doors to be changed, challenged and prepared to walk out as ambassadors of Christ bringing salvation to others and ushering us ever closer to the day Jesus returns.
Now, we should know that being desirous for what God wants from us must be more than a attitude of the heart, it must be a matter of our will, as well. Meaning, it must be a matter lived through discipline, fortitude, and purpose. In point, it is a matter of us being 'on mission' - and for this reason I will focus my new years winter-message series as one titled simply - MISSION/17. But, be sure, this is not to say this is a new mission. For our mission has not changed. But to say only that it is a new year. For certainly both the year and the times have changed. Yes, we look to the future with the same mission as before - grateful for our past, but only that we might build upon it, not languish in it sentimentally. And, as we do this, we do so under a challenge that bears our full attention. The series is MISSION/17 and our first message is LEGACY, begging the questions, what will we, as God’s church on the Parkway, leave behind worth remembering? What have we begun that must march on? Whom have we readied after us to continue? And... how will our legacy carry on?
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Dennis and Barbara Rainey, family counselors and noted speakers, write of an American couple who walked by great faith and left a legacy far beyond anything they could have imagined. This couple lived in the early 1700s in colonial America and their names were Jonathan and Sarah Edwards.
Jonathan Edwards felt God's call to become a minister, so he and his young bride began a pastorate in a small congregation. During the years that followed, he wrote many sermons, prayers, and books, and was influential in beginning the Great Awakening in America. Together they produced eleven children who grew into adulthood. Sarah was a partner in her husband's ministry, and he sought her advice regarding sermons and matters of the church. They spent time talking about these things together, and, when their children were old enough, the parents included them in these discussions. The effects of the Edwards's lives have been far-reaching, but the most measurable results of their faithfulness to God's call is found through their descendants.
Elizabeth Dodds records a study done by A. E. Winship in 1900 in which he lists a few of the accomplishments of the 1,400 Edwards descendants he was able to find:
100 lawyers and a dean of a law school
80 holders of public office
66 physicians and a dean of a medical school
65 professors of colleges and universities
30 judges
13 college presidents
3 mayors of large cities
3 governors of states
3 United States senators
1 controller of the United States Treasury
1 Vice President of the United States (Aaron Burr)
100 missionaries, pastors and theologians
So what kind of legacy will you leave? Will it be lasting? Will it be imperishable and eternal? Or, will you leave behind only tangible items—like buildings, money or possessions?
In his last years the apostle Paul wrote a letter to Timothy filled with encouragement and instruction re: things he'd lived, methods he'd employed, and the purpose he had realized. In his letter he passed on a lasting legacy. He instructed Timothy to, like him, invest his life in faithful men who would be able to pass God's truth on to the next generation. Considering Paul's words, where and how does God want you to invest the time you have been given, and with whom? In living a life worthy of legacy, here is some of what Paul passed on in the opening words of 2 Timothy chapter 1. To help our thinking, I have provided an outline that came to my mind as I read these words.
Here Paul shared...
1. A LEGACY OF GOD
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, according to the promise of life in Christ Jesus,To Timothy, my beloved son: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. I thank God, whom I serve with a clear conscience the way my forefathers did, as I constantly remember you in my prayers night and day. (Vv.1-3)
2. A LEGACY OF FAITH
For I am mindful of the sincere faith within you, which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am sure that it is in you as well. (v.5)
3. A LEGACY OF COURAGE
For God has not given us a spirit of timidity (fear), but of power and love and discipline. (v.7)
4. A LEGACY OF GRACE
Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me His prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity. 2 Timothy 1: 8-9
5. A LEGACY OF MISSION
For which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle and a teacher. (v.11)
6. A LEGACY OF HOPE
For this reason I also suffer these things, but I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day. (v. 12)
A Christians legacy is born, foremost, in a relationship with Christ, and then realized through his/her life and its living. It is meted out by learning from the past, living in the present and building for the future. Great leaders leave a lasting legacy - but the greatest leaders do not become so by investing in things, but rather through investing in people. Why? Because in terms of legacy success without a successor is failure.
Yours in Christ for a lasting and eternal LEGACY,
Pastor Sam
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