Live In Your Season On Purpose

Charles H. Spurgeon said, “The seasons change and you change, but the Lord abides evermore the same, and the streams of His love are as deep, as broad and as full as ever.” 

Pastor Ray shares a new message titled, Live in Your Season—On Purpose

What is Ridgecrest Baptist Church - Sermons?

Ridgecrest Baptist Church is located in Dothan, AL and exists to Reach the lost, Build the believer, and Connect people of God to the mission and purpose of God.

And that's particularly important for all of us, because all of us are going through something or we're in some kind of time. Today I want to talk with you about living in your season. Some of you are going through a season of testing right now. Some of you are in a season of favor I mean it's good. Some of you are in a season of suffering. Some of you are in a season of rejoicing. There are things there are good things that you can just rejoice to God about. Some of you are in a time or a season of relative calm. Some are in a season of chaos right now. Some are in a season of decision making, some a season of great productivity. Some of you are in a season of great spiritual growth. But all of us are going through some kind of stage or some kind of season.

Marshall Shelley, who is the former editor of Leadership Journal, told how his father-in-law, who was a Kansas farmer, taught him an invaluable lesson. He said his father-in-law spent a lifetime raising wheat and corn and beef, along with some sheep and chickens. He said one morning, while I followed him around his farm, we talked about differences between city living and rural living and he said my father-in-law said this to me. He said you know, most city folks expect each year to be better than the last. They think it's normal to get an annual raise, to earn more this year than you did last year. But as a farmer, he said, I have good years and bad years. It all depends on rain at the right time, dry days for harvest and no damaging storms. Some years we have more and some years we have less. Shelley says it was one of those indelible moments where God used it to bring some stunning clarity to me and to remind me of the law of the harvest. Some years are fat years and some years are lean years. And he says it applies to more than just agriculture. It applies to your life and the seasons of spiritual maturity. Some calls you to grow more rapidly than others. The seasons of more and the seasons of less, he said. In our lives, god weaves into specific areas. Sometimes it relates to friendships, it can be related to our marriage, our career, our finances, our ministry and, as he indicated, spiritual growth.

I believe for myself, one of the most powerful scriptural principles I think that I've ever learned was that life is full of seasons. I mean spiritual seasons, I mean understanding those seasons. It's helped me so much to understand these seasons and how to live in the midst of those seasons. I want to share some of that with you this morning, and you may be surprised at how much the Bible has to say about seasons. The Psalmist talked about seasons, solomon wrote about seasons. There is a time you know You've read that Paul wrote about seasons, as we'll read this morning.

Jesus talked frequently about seasons and growing times, and so the Scripture has a lot to say about living our lives in the various seasons. And I've come to understand this that if you can identify the season that God has put you in, you'll better understand how to live in that season and sometimes how to live through that season with purpose and on purpose. And that's what we are going to look at this morning Learning to live in the season that God has you in for His glory and on purpose. If you're physically able to do so, why don't you stand with me this morning as we read our text from Galatians, chapter 6, beginning in verse 7. Do not be deceived, let us not mock, for whatever one sows that will, he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the spirit will, from the spirit, reap eternal life. And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith. Now, father, teach us this morning from your word to understand the seasons and to, father, recognize the season that we are in in our own lives, so that, father, we can live on purpose in the midst of the season. Remind us that it is a season and, father, that there are other seasons to come. Help us, father, to listen to your voice and to look to you, so that we can navigate, for your glory, the seasons of our life. Now, father, would you take my study, do you take my words, my thoughts, all of that, father, and cause them to come together to help us understand your word. Well, we ask it in Jesus' name, amen. Thank you, you can be seated Now.

Verse 7 that we start with is a serious warning. Our passage begins with that, and it is a serious warning to all of those who think that they can mock God, to those who think they can live as if there will be no subsequent consequences. And let me just put a little footnote in here If you ever look out and say, why does the evil seem to prosper? David asked that question in Psalms. Remember that God doesn't settle all of his accounts in this life, and so this is a warning to those who think they can live in a way that defies God and denies God, and the word here for mock literally means to turn one's nose up at or to treat with contempt. So he says to those don't be deceived. To those who treat God with contempt or they turn their nose up at God or the things of God, or the ways of God, or the will of God, or for that may be the word of God, he says to them it's a warning that God has not changed his law of the harvest.

But the law of the harvest isn't limited to a negative outcome. We tend to always look at it and say, well, that's a negative outcome because of the way verse 7 starts, and certainly it is a warning, a serious warning that God wants to bring to all of us. But it's not limited to always a negative outcome. The other side is also true. If you sow to the right stuff he says it in the passage if you sow to the spirit, you'll get a spiritual harvest, you'll get a righteous harvest.

The fact is, you and I determine how the law of the harvest plays out in our lives, and there are many applications to the principles in this passage. For example, it also teaches us that our life is like seasons, and that's what I want us to think on today, because all of us are in some kind of season, and I want you to be able to identify and recognize the season or seasons that you are in, because it's crucial to your spiritual growth and your ability to do what this series is all about to live on purpose. And so I want to show you several things and some seasons this morning. The first season I want you to notice is the season of dissemination. In verse 7. He says whatever one sows, note the all inclusiveness of sowing. We're all sowers.

The question is what are we sowing to? Are we sowing to the flesh? Are we sowing to the spirit? But it is implied in the passage that all of us are sowing. We're always sowing something. You're either sowing spiritual seeds, or sowing to the spiritual side, or you're sowing to the fleshly side of your existence, and so it's the season of dissemination. Now, in a spiritual sense, this is one season that we're always in. You're always in a season of sowing because you never are not sowing, either to the flesh or the spirit. But sometimes this season of sowing is more prominent than others in our life. And this season is vital because, you see, there can be no reaping without sowing. Amen. In fact, god's whole economy, physical and spiritual, is built on the law, this one law, of sowing in the harvest.

Now, right now, you may be in a very defined or prominent season of sowing, and the sowing season is challenging for several reasons. It's challenging first of all because it can be a season of discouragement. The sowing season can be a season of discouragement. You see, what you're doing may not appear to be working. Have you ever been there that you're sowing? You think you're sowing what you ought to be sowing, but it just doesn't seem to be working and it doesn't seem to be producing. Now I'll tell you when you're in a sowing season, the devil will try his best to convince you that nothing is happening and nothing's going to happen. That's what he'll try to do to your heart in the midst of the season of sowing.

Now, this season is challenging because we live in a world of instant gratification, don't we? I mean, we can have everything pretty fast now. Our daughter and son-in-law live, of course, in the Nashville area and they can now order stuff on Amazon. You know, amazon says we'll get it to you in one or two days that sort of stuff. But they, where they live because there's a major Amazon hub in that area they can order in the morning and have it delivered in the afternoon from Amazon Instant gratification. And we all have come to expect those sorts of things, haven't we? I want it and I want it now. Now, we've always kind of lived that way, but today we can have stuff pretty quickly. And so, because that is true, we've come to expect things to be quick and easy, and if it isn't, we think something's wrong. But sowing doesn't work that way. Sowing is not quick and easy.

Sowing is actually challenging and because of that it can be a season of discouragement. God taught me this lesson years ago. He taught me this lesson as a young pastor. You see, I'd get terribly discouraged when I didn't see constant outward indicators that God was working through my ministry and really that's all about me. And I would get discouraged. I would think, well, I'm not doing something right or I'm missing God's direction, and I would beat myself up over it. Alison would recognize the discouragement and she'd try to help me see the bigger picture. But I still battled it. I have to admit I battled it for years in my early ministry as a pastor, and one day I was grousing to the Lord Before telling the Lord how discouraged I was and how I was not seeing more fruit.

And it was in one of those moments. I've had a lot of these in life, if you had these moments where God whispers to your heart and says I need to get something straightened out with you. And God whispered and the first thing he said is this isn't about you. So that's number one. This is not about you, this is about the kingdom. And then he said number two. He whispered in my heart your responsibility is to sow the seed, to work the field and then to leave the crop in my hands. And it was then that the importance of recognizing the seasons became very real to me, and it helped me gain perspective. And I will tell you something. It delivered me from a burden that I had carried for years. You see, it helped me gain perspective. Now.

All the seasons are important, don't get me wrong, but the seasons have different purposes and we have to seek to understand what the purpose of the season we are in is all about. So you're in a season right now and understanding what is that? See, and, by the way, the good news about a season, if it's a tough season, is the seasons don't last. They come and go. So you're in a season. That's what the Lord helped me. You're sowing right now, ray. You're sowing, sow and work the field, and all of that. And then he said it's a season, this is a season. Fruit comes after the sowing. Keep sowing, keep working the field, whatever the season.

You may say, well, I'm not in a season of sowing. Well, there are other seasons. There are other seasons, for sure. But it's important to identify where you are, and once I learned this, it helped me see other settings and other challenges in life as seasons. So it can be a season of discouragement if you're sowing, that is, you're doing something that you know that you're supposed to be doing. You're serving, or you're investing, or you're doing the work that God may be as a parent, it may be as an employee, it may be whatever sphere, as a neighbor, wherever it is you're doing, but you're not seeing anything coming back right now I would just say don't get discouraged. The devil wants you to believe that nothing is happening.

But it can also be a challenge, because it's a season of hard work. Why is that? It's because sowing and planting requires diligence, discipline. Sowing isn't easy. You know just, we're in an agrarian area here in South Alabama and a lot of farmers and they would tell you you don't just go out and scatter seed. You don't just say, well, I'm just going to fly over a field and just drop my seed and good luck, we'll see what we get. They understand something it's hard work.

Sowing is hard work. Investing in someone's life, raising a family, a home, all of these things it's hard work. And it's getting harder because our culture is taking aim at the very things that build for a healthy family, a healthy life, a healthy individual. It's getting more difficult. It's going to get more difficult and this season of sowing is hard because it's going to take discipline. It's going to take a diligence, staying at it.

There is a strategy for sowing. There's a time to sow. We don't sow all through the year, we sow in the season. There's a season, a strategy, and if you sow in the wrong season, it doesn't matter how good the seed is, it doesn't matter how long you wait, you won't get a crop. And so it can be a season of hard work. But listen, it can also be a season of anticipation and celebration, because, you see, if you're sowing to the Spirit, as Paul indicates here, it represents something favorable and something blessed. So you're investing your life in the things of God, you're investing your life in the truth of God and you're allowing it to invest in you. Listen, the seed of the word implanted in you and the work of the word operating through you can make a difference and be an occasion for celebration. You can anticipate. Okay, I'm doing this, I'm doing this. I don't see any fruit right now, but I'm doing this and I know what's coming. I know what's coming, I'll stay with it. James talked about that. The hard working farmer plants and then he waits, he's disciplined and he cultivates and does all of that sort of stuff because he knows what is coming. You can anticipate. The season of sowing can be a great time to anticipate and to celebrate in advance what's coming.

My father-in-law he farmed behind their house, just for kind of fun. He grew up in the country and he loved it. He farmed about probably about two acres and I can tell you I love the fact that he farmed because when he farmed I got to experience the benefit of his farming without doing the work. It was a wonderful thing. And he had this corn and green beans that he would grow among a whole bunch of other things, and he would work that field and he would take care of it. You know he planted. I always remember that when Allison would say, well, daddy's planted the field back there, I always got a little bit excited because I knew it meant cream corn was coming Down the road. Cream corn, and not only that, here's what I knew, that he would raise it and then he would take it, he would give it to my mother-in-law and she would can it and we would just pick it up. So you can see why I could anticipate and celebrate what was ahead. I knew what was coming.

Sowing can be an occasion for celebration, can it? If we look forward to saying, yeah, there's hard work going on right now, but there's a product that's coming down the road that makes it worth it. It can be a season of anticipation. I believe it's the reason that the Apostle Paul said in 1 Thessalonians 5, rejoice always and give thanks in all circumstances. Rejoice in advance for the crop that's coming Now. Maybe you're in a season of sowing right now. Maybe you're serving God, you're investing in people, your family, whatever it may be. You're doing the work of God, you're living for God, you're obeying God and you feel like there's nothing coming. Can I urge you to keep your eye on the prize that's yet to appear and rejoice and give thanks right now in anticipation of what God is going to do, both in you and through you, for His glory. That's the season of dissemination.

Now here's the second season I want you to see this morning the season of duration. Look at verse 9. There he says you notice this phrase in due season, in due season, we will reap. This is a season of waiting. You know, you've sown as we talked about and now you're waiting. Now don't confuse waiting with passivity. You see, after sowing, the seed has to be nurtured, it has to be watered, it has to be reviewed, it has to be fertilized. It's a long process, but it is a season of waiting, but it is not a season of passivity. You're waiting for that crop. As I just said a moment ago, you're anticipating the crop, but between the sowing and the harvesting is the waiting, the work.

About ten years ago, god gave me a word about our church. It's a long story so I won't go into all of that, but it came from Haggai, chapter 2 and verse 9, and it was during a time of my seeking Him about our church and some directional things for our church. He spoke to me that particular morning. I was in Haggai and this is the word he brought forth he said the latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, says the Lord of Hosts, and in this place I will give peace, declares the Lord of Hosts. In fact, I don't know if you've noticed, but when you come in this worship center there's a scripture above the doors of this. That's it Haggai 2 9. The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, says the Lord of Hosts, and in this place I will give peace, declares the Lord of Hosts. It was a word that he gave to me when I was seeking Him, particularly about our church, and asking Him about some things, and that's the word he brought to me.

Now, this season of waiting can be difficult, you see, when God gives you a word and then you have to wait. It's difficult because we don't wait. Well, I preached a message some years ago, probably 15 years ago, I know you all remember. It called when you're in God's waiting room. That's the hardest thing, isn't it? When you're waiting, when God has spoken to your heart, god has told you something, and then he's put you in a position where he says I want you to wait, I want you to wait on me, and I just I struggle to wait sometimes. I guess it's why God gave me Isaiah 40, 31 as my life verse back when I was a teenager. They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings as eagles. They shall walk and not become tired. They shall run and not become weary. I guess God knew that I have trouble. Do you have trouble waiting, especially when God has said something to you and then you start going God, how long? How long? God when? How about now?

After that promise that God gave me about our church from Haggai, well, a few years ago, I began to ask Him Lord, did I miss something? A few years after He'd given me that, I said Lord, did I miss something? Did I just eat some bad pizza and think that was a word? And the Lord in the same way. He's so good with this. That's why you need to stay in the book. And it just so happened I was asking this question of Him while I was also in the book of Habakkuk, chapter two, and on that particular morning I'd been praying, god, if I missed something. I know the word that you gave to me about our church, and it's been a few years now I guess it'd been three or four years and I thought I'd been particularly patient. And so I said God, what's going on? What's the deal?

That morning from Habakkuk, as I had prayed and asked Him, this is what I read, and the Lord answered me write the vision, make it plain on tablets so that he may run. Who reads it? For still, the vision awaits its appointed time. It hastens to the end. It will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it, it will surely come. It will not delay. Isn't God so good? And that's what he said, ray? And he said it wasn't bad pizza, it was my word wait for its appointed time, and it will surely come, by the way. I don't know for sure, but I think we're beginning that time.

That's not what this message is about, but I share that with you because maybe you've been praying about something, maybe you've been seeking God about something. You've been faithful to obey God as much as you know how, and it still hasn't happened. It still hasn't arrived. I bet there are testimonies all over this room and by people that are watching us and listening to us. You've been praying and seeking and trying to obey and do your best to follow God and you've been in His Word, and maybe he's even gone silent, or you think he has. God is never silent. Even when he's silent, he's speaking. His silence means something and maybe you've thought well, god, I don't think you're working, and if that's where you are, god likely has you in a season of waiting. So calm down, relax and wait on the Lord. As, again, my life verse says, they that wait upon the Lord renew their strength and they mount up with wings like eagles. They run and they walk and they're not weary and they don't faint. So if you're in a season of waiting, don't be deceived into thinking that God is doing nothing. The fact is, god's always working. There's never been a time when God was not working out His plans. And guess what? You are a part of His plans. God is always working.

I was reading recently well, this past week I was reading about the giant sequoias in the Redwood National Forest in California, and some of those trees are over 300 feet tall, just like a 30 story building. But they didn't start that way. They started with the smallest of seeds and some of them are over 2400 years old. But they started with the small seed and they've been growing and growing and maturing ever since that seed germinated in the ground. They've been growing. Actually they're older than before the time of Christ. You see, it's taken a while. It's taken a lot of seasons and we have seasons of sowing and anticipating. But you can't rush the harvest. You have to wait for it, solomon.

Solomon was considered the wisest man on the earth in his time and this is what Solomon said in Ecclesiastes. He says cast your bread upon the waters, for you will find it after many days. He said sow and wait, but you'll find it. Did you get that? Sow and wait, and after many days, dear friend, I want to say this If you're in a season of waiting this morning, don't give up on God. Keep waiting.

There were people, when Peter wrote, who said where is the promise of his coming? Jesus is coming back. They were skeptics and they were making fun of the fact that you keep saying that Jesus is going to return. Where is the promise of his return? Do you remember what Peter wrote? He said God is not slow concerning his promise, but it's patient, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. You know what? It is a reminder to us that God is not slow concerning his promise. Are you waiting for a promise from God? Keep on waiting. God's schedule and your schedule are not the same. Stay in his word, listen to what he says and wait on him. God is not slow concerning his promise.

But then there's a third season I want you to see from our passage that is, beyond the season of duration, is the season of determination, verse nine. Now go back there and let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap. Here it is if we do not give up. Maybe you're in a season of weariness and it requires determination. You see, despite what some would lead us to believe, you can grow weary in your walk. There are some seasons that drain us and there are some seasons that cause us to want to just give in and to give up more than other seasons in our life. And some people do, some people just, they just give up, they lose resolve, they stop believing what God has said or told them and they just throw in the towel. They've sown, they've done some cultivating, and the crop hasn't produced like they wanted it to, and so they just stop. They stop waiting on God, they stop working the field, they stop obeying God, they stop serving God and they begin to produce a new crop, a crop of the flesh. You see, if you're not producing a spiritual crop, you will produce a crop of flesh, and it is a crop of ruin. Now there are people listening in here today and you're in a season that has drained you, a season that's tempted you to give up and to give in. It's the devil who wants to defeat you and to lead you into a season of despair. Don't listen to his voice.

In the Olympic Games in 1964, were held in Tokyo. Sri Lanka sent a contingent to the Games that included a 10,000 meter runner by the name of Ranitange, and the 10,000 meter race was actually won by Billy Mills of the United States, and when Mills finished and passed the finish line, ranitange, from Sri Lanka, was still four laps behind. The spectators expected him to quit at some point in time. The race was well over, but he kept running and he kept running alone and people in the stands began to laugh at him and some even began to heckle him and call out to him. But he still kept running. And when the spectators eventually realized that, whoever this unknown athlete was to them, he was determined to finish the race. Then their heckling turned from jeers into admiration and some began to applaud, slowly until everybody in the stadium began to stand up and began to clap, and they went from jeers to cheers, especially as he entered his final lap. After louder and louder the crowd did, they were now inspired by his perseverance and they encouraged him to complete the race. All of this cheers and applause erupted as the exhausted athlete crossed the finish line. And after the race he was interviewed and Ranitange said this in the interview. He said well, the Olympic spirit is not to win but to take part. So I completed my part.

You know, today there are a lot of Christians that are giving up on their spiritual race. They're giving up their quitting due to the hardships and the challenges that have come their way, difficult seasons that they felt like and feel like will never go away. Well, don't forget the words of the Apostle Paul. Paul writes in Philippians, chapter three I forget what is behind and I strain forward toward what is ahead. I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. Friend, let me just say if this is where you are this morning a season of weariness it's going to require determination. Press on, be determined. Don't give up. Remember that it's a season and this season will pass. Don't stop. Determine to run your race.

The writer of Hebrews tells us that we're in this race and each of us have a race that's marked out for us, and that we are to keep our eyes fixed on the author and the perfecter of our faith. We're at that weary place where you say I just might as well drop out. Listen, I want you to know something you can win the race you're in. You don't have to worry about my race or somebody else's race, but you can concentrate on your race and you can win that race, because God has made that race something that you can complete and you can go, even if you say, well, others have run it better or run it faster. That's not what the race is about. The race is about running and doing your part, and if you're in a season of wearing this, your tendency is going to be to just drop out. Do you say there's no point in going on? Oh, yes, there is, because there is a prize that awaits you at the end of your race. Don't listen, don't drop out. It's what he tells us here. Don't give up, don't give up. And then last, there's one more season that I want you to grasp this morning, and it's the season of destination. Verse 10 says so. Then, as we have opportunity, let us do good. In other words, because we haven't given up, so then. So don't give up, stay in the race. It's a season, don't give up. So then, because there's a destination.

Beyond the season that you're in, there is a season that is a season of reward. It's a season of impactful living. It's a season where you can look back and you can see what God has done. You know. Oftentimes we can't see it in the midst of that season, can we? In that season we don't look and say, oh look, what God is doing. It's often down here, after that season has passed, that we can look back and go look what God did. I didn't realize what God was doing in that season and now I'm in a season where I can see and I am in a season where God is letting me harvest fruit.

Paul said Paulus planted, eye-watered, but God gave the increase. There is a season of the harvest. That is the season of destination. That is the season where your life has. You can begin to see the impact and the harvest of your life, and that's a connection with your destination. It's a connection with how God wants to use us and where he wants to take us and what he wants to do through us. It's about your involvement in the kingdom work. All of us here on this planet, all of us here in this place, are to be engaged in the work of the kingdom. That means living your life on purpose, living through the seasons, understanding the seasons. Each season has significance and so don't worry about my season, understand your season and wherever you are, paul said now, god helped me to live faithfully in this season for your glory.

Now maybe you're in a season where you're making a difference for God. You can actually see some fruit. And to those who are younger, I would just say one of the great blessings of mileage in years is you can see fruit that you didn't even know was being created in your life. Maybe your season right now is a season of harvest If it is celebrated, if it's a season where you're seeing fruit, celebrate it. I think these are the most enjoyable seasons. When we get in those seasons where we see the fruit of investment, the fruit of serving and obeying and following God, I think it's the most enjoyable of all the seasons. But it is a season. Don't get too high on that season. Enjoy it, because there'll be another season, another kind of season to follow, and if you get too high on that season, you'll think all seasons are like that season and the devil will discourage you and lead you into passive despair. But enjoy it when you're there. It's a season of destination.

Now listen, we've been talking this morning about these seasons and there are many more seasons if you want to but we're using the kind of laws of the harvest as our model that Paul gives us here. But did you know that others can actually reap from what you sow? That's what Paul's talking about here. Listen, jesus said in John 4,. He said for here the saying holds true One sows and another reaps. I sent you to reap, listen, that for which you did not labor. Others have labored and you have entered into their labor. Do you get that? You and I benefit from the sowing and the faithfulness of those who've come before us and, god willing, those who come behind us will benefit from all that we have sown. That works both ways, hello. But hopefully we will sow as Jesus indicated and as Paul teaches us, toward the spirit, so that those who come behind us there'll be a crop, a spiritual crop, that they will reap from. Look around you this morning.

This didn't just happen. This work that God has entrusted to us, this place where we worship, it didn't just fall out of heaven. But in 1953, a handful of people came together in a little house in the neighborhood. They believe God, they love God and they said God wants us to reach people for the kingdom and they began to work. They began sowing and living and obeying and doing the work of God. And here we sit today because we are reaping what they sowed. It didn't just happen. It happened because a lot of people have come before us and paved away and blessed us, and we're a part of that for the next generation, aren't we?

You know, when we refurbish this auditorium I don't know, I guess it's been five or six years ago. It's hard to believe we've been in here that long. But I remember when we did that, and on the Sunday, when our team brought the recommendation that we refurbished this and changed the design of our worship center, I remember that there was a man in our service that day who represented the company that manufactures the seats that you guys are sitting in, and he's a believer, and so he was in the service. He wanted to be here for that service, that presentation service, and so he was sitting down on the second row here. And when I'm addressing the congregation, I made a statement. I said today we're engaged in planting shade trees. This isn't an original statement with me, but today we're engaged in planting shade trees and many of us will never sit under, but there will be generations that come behind us and they will reap the harvest of what we planted and they'll sit under those shade trees that we planted and sowed and grew into maturity and many lives will be changed because we've sowed and we planted those kinds of trees.

Well, a couple of days later, after that service, I get a call from him and he's a middle-aged man. At that time he was a middle-aged man. He calls and he says pastor. He said I was in the service, as you know, on Sunday, and he said I was inspired by the message and so I went back to the president of our company and told him what you said about we're engaged in planting trees, shade trees that many of us will never sit under but many will, and he said it so impacted me that I asked our president how can we be more involved in planting shade trees? And he said I wanna tell you we've decided that we're gonna take another $30,000 off of the bill for the seats because we want to be involved in planting trees that others will sit under. By the way, a couple of years after that he died suddenly, but he was a part. He said that's what I can do, that's my part.

Well, the fact is, all of us are sowing today what others will benefit from and unless the Lord Jesus comes, perhaps thousands will sit under trees that we planted. That began in 1953. It doesn't just happen, you see. It happens because we sow, it happens because we cultivate, it happens because we wait, it happens because we work. It happens because we believe there's a destination that God has given us and called us to. All of us here today are the recipients of what others have sown, but we're also the ones who can make a difference for those who'll come after us.

Your life, my life, our lives have been affected by someone else who lived out the destination of God for their life on purpose. We reap, we reap, we reap. We reap many blessings that we didn't sow, amen. There are people here today Thank God for your godly parents. There are people here today and you ought to say God, thank you for my home. There are people here today that maybe you need to say thank you for that person that I work with that helped me come to understand who you are. There are people here today you ought to say thank you, god, for my church. There are people here today that look.

All of us must say thank you, jesus Christ, for coming and sowing your life that I might have life. Unless Jesus spoke of that. He said unless a seed fall to the ground and die, he cannot live. He was talking about himself. He sowed his life in death that he might be resurrected from the grave so that you and I could have life. We're in debt, aren't we? We're in debt to those who've come before us. We are reaping a harvest where we have not sown, but we are also privileged people because we can sow seeds that others will reap. That's the season of destination. Have you come to the place where you've learned to look at your life and the seasons of life, to see where you are? Listen, it may just give you the perspective you need to stay and keep going, to keep from giving up, to give you stamina. It'll give you ministry, for sure. Understanding, you see, the spiritual seasons will help you live your season on purpose.

Dr Adrian Rogers told a story about evangelist Billy Sunday. Billy Sunday, in the early part of the 20th century, was the Billy Graham of his era, and in the early days of his ministry he would do crusades and he didn't have a lot of help, and so he'd put up a big tent and then, when the crusade was over, he would have to take the tent down. He'd put it up and he'd have some volunteers help him and then he'd have to take the tent down. And one day, after one of his crusades where a lot of people had been saved, he's helping the workers take down his tent. Now the crusade was over and they're taking down the tent and a young man comes rushing into the tent while they're trying to dismantle the tent and he said are you, billy Sunday? And Sunday said yes, I am. And the young man said could you please help me? He said well, if I can, I will.

And the young man said well, I wanted to come to the crusade but I missed it. And he said the reason I wanted to come is because I want to be saved. Can you please tell me what to do? What must I do? And Sunday replied to the young man said you're too late. And he just kept on taking down the tent. And he said no, no, listen, I need to be saved.

And what I need to do to be saved? And Sunday just kept on taking the tent down, he just continued. He said you're too late. I told you you're too late. He said you mean just because I missed the meeting, you're not going to tell me how to be saved. And Sunday said no, you're too late to do anything to be saved, because Jesus did it all 2000 years ago. There's not a thing you can do to be saved. You just received the gift. Jesus already done everything that you need to do. He's done it for you. All you need to do is reap the results of what he did for you. Maybe you're here this morning and that's what you need to do. You just need to reap from the laborer that Jesus has already completed on your behalf. He loves you, came into the world. He died for you. He died for your sins because you couldn't and you couldn't handle it, but he did so. He became the seed that fell to the ground and died and lived so you could have life. Would you bow your head, close your eyes? No one's looking about in this place. If you never trusted Him as your Savior, you can do that this morning.

If you're watching on live stream, if you're listening by radio television, whatever it may be, you can call out to Him Lord Jesus, I need you. I know that you love me and died for me, and I know that I'm a sinner and I want you to be my Savior, Forgive me of my sins. I invite you to come into my life and be my Lord and Master. Now, lord, thank you. Thank you that you were the seed that died and rose that we might live. Now, lord, help us to understand our seasons, where we are and how to live in that season for your glory on purpose. In Jesus' name amen, would you stand Well? I'm so glad that you have tuned in to the broadcast today. I hope you've been encouraged by God's Word. Sure has been a joy to share it with you, and even now people at Ridgecrest are making decisions for Christ.

Perhaps, as you've watched this broadcast, you've recognized the need for your own decision for Christ. The prompting of the Spirit it's caused you to recognize that you need Christ as your Savior, and the good news is you can receive Him right where you are. The Bible says whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. Right where you are, you can call on Him. Say something like this from your heart to Him Lord Jesus, thank you for loving me. I know I'm a sinner and I know that you came into this world and died on the cross for my sins, and right now I invite you to come into my life, forgive me and be my Savior. I can assure you, if you call on Him, based on what God has already told us in the Bible, that He'll hear that prayer and He'll answer that, and he wants to begin this new journey in your life with you, transforming you into His image.

We'd love to help you with that decision as well. You'll see a QR code on your screen and if you would scan that or you'll see contact information, or if you'll contact us about your decision today, we'd love to help you take next steps. There are no strings attached, no fees involved. We'd just like to help you begin that journey with Christ. You may be watching this broadcast today and say I need a church family to belong to. I already know Christ as my Savior and I'd like to be a part of the Ridgecrest family. Also, if you will scan that QR code, that'll take you to a location and we'll be able to help you make those kinds of decisions, like becoming a member here or if you've never been scripturally baptized, those kinds of things. So contact us through that QR code or through the contact information on the screen. Well, again, it's been a joy to have you with us today and I hope you've been encouraged by God's Word. Whatever decision we can help you with, by all means contact us. May the Lord bless you.