Good afternoon, everyone.
Today I want to talk about what type of legacy will we leave behind.
But the question I want to start is, when you're gone, what will people remember about you?
It's a deep thought, but it's also one that is worth considering for our lives.
When we often think about legacy, sometimes our minds go to famous individuals like presidents, athletes, inventors.
Their names live on because of what they stood for or what they accomplished.
But what about you?
What kind of legacy are you building right now?
If today was your last day, what would people say?
It's easy to assume that legacy is something that we often think about later in life, but the truth is we shape it now and how we act, our choices and our daily faith.
The life we live today
The life we live now determines what we leave behind tomorrow.
Think for a second about an old cemetery.
We've all walked through there.
We've read some of the inscriptions on the gravestones.
Some say beloved father, others say faithful servant of God.
Now for a second, imagine with me if your life was summed up in a single sentence, what would it say?
Every person when they leave this world leaves behind something when they're gone.
Some leave behind
wealth, business, or accomplishments.
Others leave behind broken relationships, regrets, or missed opportunities.
But the greatest thing that you can leave behind is not wealth.
It's not business or accomplishments.
It's a legacy of faith and obedience to God.
If you turn with me to Joshua chapter 24 verse 15, that's where we'll start this morning and then we'll go on to other verses.
But in Joshua
Joshua understood what it meant to trust God fully.
he said, Joshua was setting that decision for his entire household.
He knew that the decision that he would make now
would influence generations to come.
That same decision that Joshua made needs to be the decision that we need to make today.
The decisions we make now, whether to serve God or just go through the motions, will have lasting effects in our lives.
Joshua made that defining choice to serve the Lord with all of his heart.
Even when the world around him was filled with false idols, false gods, and distractions, he could have just done what everyone else was doing.
But took him and his family and drew a line in the sand and said, this is where we stand.
Think for a moment about Lot's wife in Genesis 19.
In Genesis 19, Lot's wife had every reason to serve the Lord, to walk with him.
But one decision, one decision cost her everything.
And that one decision of her looking back showed God everything that she really wanted and what she really thought and what was on her mind.
Think about King Saul in 1st Samuel 13.
King Saul was anointed, chosen by God, had every opportunity to do the right things.
But over time he let fear and over time he let pride take over in his life.
And later on God took the kingdom from him.
On the other hand we have people like Noah.
In a world where everyone was doing evil, Noah chose to walk with God.
And because of that decision, God blessed him and his entire family.
In Genesis 6-9 it says that Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations.
Think for a moment another reason, Moses.
Moses had everything.
Moses had everything you could ever want, but he decided to suffer with God's people because he knew that the eternal reward was far greater than anything else.
So today I want us to consider what kind of legacy we are leaving behind.
This morning we'll look at three key areas.
the legacy of our choices, the legacy of our faith, and the legacy of Christ.
So what about the legacy of our choices?
Every day we decide how we will spend our time, what words we will speak, and how we will treat others.
We also make choices about our faith, whether or not to serve God wholeheartedly.
But the outcome of these choices forms the legacies that we leave behind.
Joshua made that defining choice when he proclaimed, as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
Our choices matter.
He didn't base his decision on what was popular.
He didn't wait to see what the crowd would do.
He took a stand and committed himself and his entire family.
Think about the choices that we make daily.
Are they the ones that are drawing us closer to God or are they setting a different example?
Now think about King Solomon.
In 1 Kings chapter 3 verse 9, King Solomon says, Solomon made a wise decision that led to blessings.
He asked God for wisdom rather than riches.
But later on, his choice is changed.
He allowed his heart to be turned away by foreign wives and idolatry.
Solomon's story, though it doesn't end with wisdom, it ends with warning.
And look on to 1 Kings chapter 11 verse 4.
And it says,
built altars for idols.
He wrote proverbs of wisdom, but then later on he lived his later years in compromise.
This teaches us that a strong start does not always guarantee a strong finish.
Every day we must choose to walk with God because one careless step, one careless step can lead us away from the path that we need to be on.
Our choices affect more than just ourselves.
They impact those around us.
What message are we sending with our choices every day?
and our workspace, at school.
If someone wants to sum up our lives right now based upon how we live so far, what would they say?
Would they say we live for Christ or would they say we lived for the world?
There was a man a long time ago, he passed away, but at his funeral, everybody came up not to talk about his achievements or what he accomplished in his life, but they went up there
to say that he always showed up for me when no one else did.
He prayed for me when I was hurting, when I was sick, and he lived what he preached.
He wasn't famous, but he left a legacy because his daily choices was to honor God, his Father.
You don't have to be famous to be faithful.
You don't even need a platform to leave a legacy.
You don't have to be a preacher to make an impact in other people's lives.
You just have to be a faithful servant of God and willing to work.
Proverbs 3, 5 through 6 gives us the key to making the right decisions.
When it says, in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding, in all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths.
If we seek God in every decision that we make, he will lead us toward a legacy that is worth leaving behind.
Our choices reveal who we really are.
The things we choose, especially when no one else is watching, shows the condition of our hearts.
Jesus said in Matthew 5-16 that you should know them by their fruits.
Our choices are the fruit of our hearts, what we really believe, value, and love.
Anyone can talk about following God when things are good, but our decisions show whether or not that is true.
You can say anything with your mouth and carry the Bible and sit in the pew all you want.
But if your life
is not one that is stuck in God's Word.
You're living a false life.
uh
It's when, we're sorry, he knows, God knows when we're just playing church.
He knows when we're saying one thing but then choosing another.
He knows when we come here and sit and why our reasons are that we're here.
But it's also when we're tempted to look at something we know we're not supposed to.
It's when we're a room full of gossip and have every opportunity to speak up or stay quiet.
It's when we're tired, frustrated and no one else would blame you
losing your cool, but you choose to be patient anyways.
These moments are when our legacies are really being written.
That's when God wants us to choose Him, to choose Him when it's hard, to choose Him when others persecute you, to obey when it costs us something, because the truth is what you
choose now, what you choose today, determines what you become tomorrow.
What about the legacy of our faith?
Beyond the choice is another powerful thing that we leave behind is our faith.
Our faith isn't just for ourselves, it's for everyone around us.
It's not something that's supposed to be hiding or kept away.
Jesus said in Matthew 5, 14 through 16, you are the light of the world.
A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid.
Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but under a candlestick.
And let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works, which glorify your Father.
which is in heaven.
Our faith should speak so loudly that when others are not around, people still remember it.
Faith is one of the most powerful things that we can leave behind in this world.
In Hebrews chapter 11, verse 4, says, faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than came, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of
his gifts, and by yet he being dead, yet speaketh.
Even though Abel died long ago,
his faith still lives on today because his faith was real and his faith left an impact in everybody's lives around him.
Think about the people who influenced your faith.
Maybe it was a parent, a teacher, or even a fellow preacher.
But what if they never took the time to sit down with you and study God's Word?
What if they never took the time to show you love and patience?
Their faith shaped yours the same way yours should be shaping those around you.
Paul said in 2 Timothy chapter 4 verse 7 through 8, as he neared the end of his life, he said, have fought a good fight.
I have finished the course.
I have kept the faith.
Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, not for me also, but also unto them that also love is appearing.
Paul
left behind the legacy of faithfulness unto God.
His writing still encourages us and his writing still convicts us today because it was real.
by leaving a legacy of faith, requires endurance.
Faith that lasts is not built overnight.
It's not a sprint, it's a marathon.
It's something that we continue to do every single day we get the chance.
Anyone can believe in God when things are going great, but real faith, real enduring faith shows up when life gets hard.
It's when you keep showing up to worship even when your heart is pricked.
It's when you keep doing the right thing even when no one else is watching and there's no reward in sight.
Paul didn't just say, had faith.
Paul said, I have kept the faith.
The word kept means he held on with everything that he had and he didn't let go no matter what happened.
He kept pressing and he kept going forward even when everything around him was falling apart in his life.
And because of that, when he says, he said, henceforth there's laid up for me a crown of righteousness.
Leaving behind real faith means putting God first above anything else.
It speaks louder than words and louder than anything that we could ever say.
That's the reward for endurance.
That's what we're living for every single day, not just to be remembered, but to hear the words, well done.
When you endure, your faith becomes a roadmap for someone else's life.
You may never preach a sermon or write a book like Paul, but you can certainly live a life that says Jesus is worth it.
Sometimes we hear lessons like this and think, one day I'll start living that kind of legacy.
One day I'll be more faithful.
One day I'll be more bold to speak out and be able to preach God's word.
But we know that kind of thinking is dangerous.
It's not something that should be on our minds.
Because James 4.14 reminds us that, you know what shall be on tomorrow, for what is your life?
Is even a vapor that appeared for a little time and vanished at the way.
Legacy is not something you prepare for.
It's something you shape every single day you get the opportunity.
You're building it right now in how you live.
You're building it right now in how you love people.
You're building it right now in how seriously you take your walk with God.
It's not about perfection, it's about direction.
Now are we moving toward God or are we setting a different example?
Are we growing on our faith because even small steps toward God, they matter.
But how does the legacy of faith look like in everyday life?
It's a young man choosing to follow God even when it costs him popularity in school.
It's a mother who keeps praying for her children even when they're far away from God.
It's a grandfather opening his Bible every day not to impress anyone but because he knows that God is worth knowing.
It's a friend who sends you a verse every day to help encourage you when he knows that you're going through something.
You don't have to be a preacher
to make an impact.
You don't have to tell a perfect story, you just have to be faithful where you are.
Your quiet obedience to God in the ordinary moments might be the very thing that helps someone else in their life.
What about the legacy of Christ?
One of the greatest examples of a living faithful legacy is found in Christ.
Someone who never traveled a hundred miles from where he was born.
but changed the world forever.
He showed us how to love our enemies.
He showed us how to forgive even when it was hard and how to put the will of God above our own.
Jesus laid his life for sinners, for his friends, but also for everyone here.
His legacy wasn't just in how we live, but it was also how we died and rose again.
And now because of his legacy, we have a chance to live
and to leave a legacy that honors him.
So as I end this morning, there's an old story about a man who faithfully laid stones every single day up a mountain.
Every day, day by day, he laid one stone at a time even when no one noticed.
Even when storms came and even when it felt like the mountain would never be climbed, he still laid stones.
But soon later, he wasn't able to climb that mountain.
But some other stranger started climbing it.
And because there was a path that was faithfully already laid there, he was able to climb that mountain and reach the top.
That's what enduring faith does.
You may not see all the results in your life.
You may not get all the recognition you think you deserve, but every time you live faithful, you're laying stones and you're building a path.
So today, keep laying the stones, keep running the race, and keep the faith.
The legacy you build right now, people will remember.
But will people look at your life and say they love their God and chose Him every day?
Or would they say, or would they find any struggle to see that at all?
Jesus doesn't want part of your life.
He wants it all.
And if you give it to Him, your time, your heart, your future, you'll leave behind something that this world can never take away.
A legacy of faith and a path that leads to heaven.
So today, if there's any way that we can help you, come now.
Let's together we stand.