Make Sure They Know - Tim Timberlake

Hey, I'm Tim Timberlake, and I want to thank you so much for listening to the Celebration Church podcast.

I hope this message encouraged you, strengthened your faith, and gave you something you can carry into your week.

If you'd like to stay connected, I encourage you to join us live every Sunday at 9 a.m.

or 11 a.m.

on YouTube.

We would love to have you there.

And if you're ever in the Jacksonville, Florida area, come see us in person.

We have a seat safe for you.

Thanks again for being with us.

We're so grateful for you.

And see you next time.

I want you to go to 2 Timothy, 2 Timothy chapter 1.

2 Timothy 1 · chapter mention

We'll be back to Axe next week, okay?

Don't cry.

Don't cry.

Today is gonna be as special as our series in Acts.

I want to welcome all our first-time visitors, those that are here, amen.

Those that are watching online.

I was in the lobby in between services.

I met a sister that flew in from Kuwait, from the Middle East.

Just wave at the people.

She watches every single week.

And flew in from Kuwait just to go to church.

Remember y'all didn't hear what I said.

I didn't say, hey man from down the street.

I said flew in from Kuwait.

To go to church.

God is up to something special.

And I'm honored to be a part of it.

I'm glad that you're here.

Second Timothy chapter 1.

2 Timothy 1 · chapter mention

Beginning at verse number 3, I'll be reading from the ESV translation.

Scripture says, I thank God whom I serve, as did my ancestors, with a clear conscience, as I remember you constantly in my prayers, night and day.

As I remember your tears, I long to see you that I may be filled with joy.

I'm reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and now I'm sure it dwells in you as well.

For this reason, I remind you to fan into the flame of the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands.

For this reason, I remind you to fan into the flame of the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.

And I want to utilize this passage for a message that God has given me as we dedicate this day, as we celebrate what God is doing in our church.

And this message that God has placed on my heart is entitled, Make sure they know.

Make sure they know.

Look at your neighbor, tell your neighbor, make sure they know.

Turn to your other neighbor, tell them, make sure they know.

Make sure they know.

Make sure they know.

Let's pray.

Devilly Father, we thank you for your word.

We ask that you would speak to us.

We thank you, God, for days like this.

We're honored by what you're doing in our midst.

We don't take it for granted.

God, we have our minds made up that we will not see the gospel of Jesus Christ placed down.

Go unheard, unnoticed on our watch.

We will do our part in continuing the spread of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the advancement of the kingdom of God, the evangelism to every generation, God, and we thank you that the generation coming behind us will also carry this grace, this gospel, this message of you, our soon coming king.

We give you all the glory, we give you all the honor, and we thank you right now for what you're going to do.

In Jesus' name, we pray.

Amen.

Take your seats.

Make sure they know.

Paul writes in 2 Timothy from a Roman prison to the end of his life.

He knows that his time is short.

And so as we read 2 Timothy chapter 1, verses 3 through 6, it reads almost like a generational handoff.

2 Timothy 1:3–6

This is my expectation of you.

I know that you have what it takes because your grandmother, she passed this message down to your mother.

And your mother, Eunice, she passed this message down to you.

This is three generations of the word of God being taught, three generations of the word of God being carried, three generations of the word of God being spread.

And the reason this is important for us to realize is because God is a generational God.

In the Old Testament, he would explain his generational impact through great men and women who would declare and decree he's the God of Abraham, he's the God of Isaac, he's also the God of Jacob, putting emphasis on the fact that God is a generational God.

And I wonder, is there anybody glad that the generation before you make sure that somehow, somehow, you heard about the gospel of Jesus Christ, whether it was a televangelist or whether it was your co-worker, whether it was your parents, or whether it was your praying grandmother or your praying grandfather, someone somewhere heard the message of Jesus Christ and made sure they made room for you to hear the message of Jesus Christ.

And so Paul, he's writing to Timothy from this prison cell, understanding that his life is coming to an end.

But he wants to encourage Timothy to remember the things that his grandmother and his mother have told him, but he puts extra emphasis on it by telling him, So now I want to encourage you to fan the flame of the gift of God in you.

I know it's in you because I've personally laid hands on you.

And this passage it teaches us something so important.

What was carried to you must now be carried by you.

And in verse 6, he tells Timothy, don't just carry it fan into the flame of what God has placed on the inside of you.

This picture is powerful, and Paul is leaving, but the gospel is not.

And one generation is nearing the end of his assignment, while another generation is picking up the baton and declaring, I'm going to carry this message that you've shared with me, this grace that you've imparted into me, this anointing that you've given me.

I'm going to carry this message as far as I can because I understand what it could cost if we do not.

This assignment that Paul is encouraging Timothy in, this isn't something that he just wants to do.

This is something he needs to do.

That's the responsibility for every generation.

Not that we would just come to church, hear a nice little message that tickles our flesh.

We hear our three favorite songs in worship and we feel good about it because they sang it and we leave the same way that we came.

We go to brunch and we have a nice little cocktail or mocktail, and we have our pancakes and our eggs, and we we do all these great things, and we don't share or spread the gospel of Jesus Christ.

We go to work on Monday, and our lives look very similar to everyone else.

It does not have a relationship with Jesus Christ.

We have the same conversations around the water pool, we have the same looks that we give to people when we get upset, we have the same demeanor when we are in the parking lot leaving for lunch.

We have the same attitudes with the people that come in that need the services that we provide, and there's no separation between us and the world.

And Paul is encouraging us the text, do not forget the grace that Jesus has given you.

And I need you to fan the flame on the inside of you.

And when you fan the flame on the inside of you, what it creates is an opportunity to make sure they know.

What are we making sure that they know?

We're making sure that they know who the true and living Savior is.

But we're making sure that they know that this gospel that we believe in, it is in fact life-changing and transformative if you apply it.

This gospel that we believe in, it is the solution to all of the problems you will ever face.

And if the gospel of Jesus Christ is not preached, we are all doomed.

I mentioned to you at the very beginning, I'm just getting back from Central Asia.

I'm just getting back from Turkey, and this was a place that was predominantly known as one of the birthing places for the spread of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and now 99.9% of the entire country does not know who Jesus is.

99.9% of this region celebrates and worships another God.

A radical ideology because a generation thought to themselves the generation coming behind me will automatically pick up what it is that we carry.

They assumed that the gospel would continue to spread, and they made no way, no intentionality, no generosity to make sure that their lives was a living sacrifice for the generation coming behind them to hear about Jesus Christ.

And now, in certain parts of that area, if you even mention the name, you get arrested.

I said across from the table from pastors who have been in prison because they believed in Jesus Christ.

Hear me when I tell you this: if you get caught with two Bibles, you get arrested.

That's a trafficking violation there.

Are you listening to me?

And here we are, freely able to sit down at the Lord's table, open the word of God, read scripture, pray, post it on social media, come into a public setting like this, lift our hands, worship, declare that Jesus is king and overseas.

If you do that, you get arrested and you get cut off from your family, and they have a funeral for you, and they declare to the rest of your family if you convert to Christianity that my son and daughter are dead to me.

And here we are playing games.

Bickering back and forth with each other, having theological discussions about how our belief in Christianity is better than another Christian's.

Like, are we kidding?

Sitting here posting about other Christians who we have never met.

Fussing and arguing over two pastors taking the gospel of Jesus Christ to places never met us.

While the whole time the enemy is infiltrating this country with another ideology.

And we think, oh, this is God's country.

It can never happen here.

I'm pretty sure they thought the same thing in Turkey.

I'm pretty sure they thought the same thing in the Middle East.

I'm pretty sure they thought the same thing in Central Asia.

It can never happen to us.

Walking through these religious buildings that were once temples and churches, and now every image of Jesus has been stripped down or literally torn off the walls.

Every cross has been taken down and has been painted over with another religion's ideology because a generation did not make sure that the generation coming behind them knew.

This isn't about Sundays.

This is about every single day of your life, making sure that the people that you know know who you serve, and they know why you serve him, and they know what he's done for you, and they know the sacrifice he made for you, and because the sacrifice he made for you, you make substantial sacrifices for the people that you know.

So, yes, it takes all of this.

And if you thought that I was radical before, you have no idea who you're getting now.

If you thought that I talked a lot before, you have no idea how loud I'm going to talk now.

Because I've seen it with my own eyes.

I've been there, I've been in a region where you don't see smiles, you don't see joy, you don't see happiness, you see women suppressed, you see them walking five feet behind their husband, you see them completely covered, you see this ideology, I've seen it that was once filled and rich with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

I've seen it, and we think to ourselves, it can never happen here.

Let me help and let me help you understand this.

It's happening now.

And we complain, why did the church spend so much money on a kid's space?

You spend money to go to Disney World?

Gladly, right?

Gladly, gladly, gladly.

You you say you you make excuses like I'm a Florida resident, so I get 10% off.

You still dropping a bag.

And when you get in there, you go pay$20 for a smoothie.

You go pay another$30 for a hot dog.

After that, you're gonna wait in the hot sun for three hours just to get on a teacup that goes in a circle.

And you're gonna get off that teacup and you're gonna look at your kids, and you're gonna look at your grandkids, and both of y'all gonna be hot and sweating, and you're gonna say, What next line do you want to go wait in?

And you wait in line to take pictures with a mouse, and that mouse don't even speak to you.

That mouse don't even talk to you, that mouse don't even say nothing to you.

He just looks at the camera, he smiles and he waves, and you leave there thinking, we did something today.

We had a lot of fun, didn't we?

When did that mouse save you?

You and your wife and your kids go, and before you know it, you didn't run up a thousand dollars.

You don't complain about it.

You don't complain about it at all.

You go into the shops, and your kids run among I want this, I want that, I want that.

Well, you can't have that, but you can get this one.

And they got all types of stuff in there, they got all types of craziness in there.

And you don't say nothing about that.

And we create a space with scriptures on the wall for your kids.

We create a we create a space for your kids to encounter Jesus at the altar.

Where they begin to learn the spruits of the spirit.

When you get back in the car with them and you ask them, what did you do today?

They'll tell you more than, oh, we just ran around and had snacks.

No, no, what did you do today?

Oh, we learned about this person in the Bible.

We learned about the Holy Spirit, we learned about Jesus, we learned about prayer, we learned about the dangers of sin.

We learned about what it takes to be a believer in Christ Jesus.

We learned that we are the light of the world and we're supposed to shine and radiate brightly in it.

We learn, we learn, we learn.

We are not creating space for them just to come and run amok.

We are creating a space for them to encounter the true and living Savior.

And so we will not spare any expense to make sure that the gospel of Jesus Christ is not lost on our watch.

And Paul is teaching Timothy, regardless of what happens around you, make sure you fan the flame of the gift of God on the inside of you.

And I'm telling you, coming from the region I just came from, seeing where the New Testament church was having its heyday back in the early days of the church, and now there's no morsel of it, no remnant of it.

If you if you stand on the corner and you start to declare the name of Jesus, you will be taken to jail.

There is no freedom of speech about who you believe in.

Churches that want to fill the region.

Generations later, the gospel has become largely unfamiliar.

I cried every night.

Out of the window.

I'm thinking to myself, God, may we return back to you.

May we not become so complacent.

May we not become so spiritually lazy.

May we not become murmurers and complainers.

May we not think so much about ourselves that we forget the generation that's coming behind us.

May we not make much of our name, but continually make much of the name of Jesus Christ.

So that a hundred years from now, this building will not become a museum.

And be occupied by another religion and every scripture torn off the wall.

And every image that the pig is Calvary covered with paint.

A hundred years from now, may it be said that there was a group of people that believed that Jesus was worthy enough to share to everyone that we came into contact with.

I just refuse to stop until all I've heard about the good news of Jesus Christ.

I want you to write this down.

Point number one.

Faith can be passed down to you, but it cannot be lived for you.

Paul says, The faith that lived in Lois, your grandmother, and Eunice now live in you, Timothy.

This word matters.

Live.

Timothy wasn't sustained by his grandmother's encounter with God.

He wasn't living on his mother's conviction.

At some point, what surrounded him had to get inside of him.

At some point, standing on the shoulders of someone else's faith had to become his own faith.

And I think one of the greatest dangers of being around Christianity for a long time is that proximity can start feeling like possession.

And we start to believe because we're in proximity, we possess the presence of God.

And the reality of that is you can know the songs and still not know his voice.

You can know church and still not know Jesus.

You can come on the weekends and check church off the box of your list and still not have intimacy or relationship with them.

And so when you come on Sundays, you get a little piece of heaven, and when you go to work on Monday, you raise hell.

And we made church about us.

And we like church an hour and 20 minutes.

Oh, he's gonna preach long today.

I'm gonna miss brunch.

So what?

No one's following you to see if you got a Bible.

There's no threat on your life to lock you up and you held without any release date.

I'm telling you, God is my witness.

We sat at the table with pastors who have been arrested for just saying the name of Jesus.

And here we are too ashamed to say it in our own homes.

When's the last time you talked about Jesus?

When's the last time you talked to your children and your grandchildren about Jesus?

Matter of fact, when's the last time you talked to Jesus?

Not in a crowded room like this when you were by yourself.

It's just you and him.

Let nothing and no one stop you from entering into the presence of God.

We have this mindset sometimes that the church hurt us.

The church didn't hurt you, people in the church did.

Okay?

And guess what?

If you go to a football game and the person beside you have enough beers, they're gonna hurt you.

Gonna say the Jaguars hurt me.

The NFL hurt me.

No, when there's another home game, you're gonna take your money, you're gonna purchase a ticket, and you're gonna find a seat, and you're gonna continue to go back because you understand the difference between a fan and an organization.

Isn't it crazy though how we don't understand the difference in the house of God?

No matter who the person is, it could be the pastor.

He is a person.

He has flesh.

She has flesh on them.

And guess what?

They are going to hurt you.

At some point, people are going to hurt you.

That is not Jesus, that is not God, that is not the church, that is a person in church.

And one of the things that I've come to learn is oftentimes the unbeliever does not have a problem with Jesus.

The unbeliever has a problem with the person that says they represent him.

And if we can't get our act together as the body of Christ, why in the world can we be witnesses to something that we truly don't believe in because we don't display and yield and give grace the way that we need it?

And so you can inherit someone's convictions without ever developing your own.

And I'm just telling you, after being surrounded by hopelessness, no joy, no happiness.

I can't remember laughter in the city.

Are you listening to what I'm saying to you?

So being surrounded by that, I feel a sense of more urgency to communicate to you.

We have work to do.

It's not about buildings, it's not even about how large our church grows.

It makes no sense to have a lot of people come and leave less looking like Christ than when you got here.

I'm not interested.

Hear me, I'm not interested in pastoring a big church.

I'm interested in pastoring growing people.

And if you're always taught to feel comfortable, never challenged, never step out of your comfort zone into the area of generosity so the generation coming behind us can hear the gospel of Jesus Christ, then you have failed to realize what this walk actually means because someone before you made significant sacrifice so that you could hold the Bible or search for the Bible on your smart device freely.

We forget that because we're so selfish.

We're so lost in our own little echo chamber that we've forgotten that there have been people that have laid their lives down for you and me to hear freely the gospel of Jesus Christ.

One in particular, he was hung on a cross for you.

He took nails in his hands and his feet for you.

He took a pierce in his side for you.

He took the crown of thorns on his head for you.

He was whipped with the cat of nine tails for you.

He was fed vinegar and water.

He did all these things with you on his mind because he understood the importance of sacrifice over comfort.

He said, Not my will, but your will be done.

And maybe it's time for us as the bride of Christ to start praying prayers like that.

God, not my will, but your will be done.

Whatever you want from me, the answer is yes.

Whatever you need from me, the answer is yes.

Wherever you want me to take this gospel, the answer is yes.

However long you want me to teach and preach and carry the gospel of Jesus Christ, the answer is yes.

Because if that's not our mentality, then what we have become are consumers.

We live in the day and age of consumer Christianity.

Consumerism.

We shop for churches like designer stores.

We'll search online on YouTube for another message because our church doesn't feed us.

You ever notice the same people that say the church is not feeding me, I'm not growing at my church are the same people that don't contribute.

The same people that don't tithe, the same people that aren't generous.

Isn't it crazy how that goes hand in hand?

Right?

So you're selfish all the way around.

We don't want to hear messages like this though.

Because we like to be taught, no, that money you work hard for.

You keep that.

That's yours, you work hard for that.

See if you can take it with you into eternity.

See, see how much money you can take with you for where you're going.

How many cars you can swipe, how many cars you can drive, how many homes you can walk into, how many clothes you can wear.

See how that works out for you.

No, no, the word of God teaches you in Deuteronomy.

It is He who gives you the ability to get wealth.

He never calls you an owner, he calls you a steward.

And he says, You return what belongs to me, I'll make you a steward of more.

And here we are thinking the church just wants our money.

No other religion thinks that way except for Christians.

We think we got a lot of churches here.

Let me help you understand this.

Where I just came from?

There were 4,000 of their churches within a 14-mile radius.

Did you hear what I said?

4,000.

Do you know why?

Because they believe no matter how much money it takes, our message is going to spread.

What would happen if the body of Christ had that mentality?

But what if what if what if we had that mentality for the next generation?

No matter how much it costs, we will ensure that the generation coming behind us knows who our Savior is.

Make sure they know.

And proximity to faith can teach you the language of Jesus without ever showing you the life of Jesus.

And just because you're close to the word of God don't mean you open it.

Don't mean you're reading it, don't mean that you're in it, don't mean that you're allowing it to convict you.

And the reality is that you cannot live forever, and somebody else's encounter with God will eventually be their testimony and not yours.

So why not encounter him for yourself?

Why not be one of the pillars in the kingdom of God that ensures the gospel of Jesus Christ will not go silent while I'm still alive?

We sit here arguing over who's the richest person in earth.

Who cares?

Let's talk about who's the richest person in heaven.

How do you get rich in heaven?

How many of you store up treasures in heaven?

How do you store up fruit in heaven?

I'm telling you how.

By making space, by creating animals, by providing opportunities for everyone you know to hear about the gospel of Jesus Christ.

So I don't want to be rich here, I want to be rich then.

I want to see how the sacrifices are made, have made room for people to encounter the true and living Savior Jesus Christ.

And my pen has been when I get there.

I'm gonna meet people for the very first time that I never met here that says, I'm here because you made a sacrifice for me.

I'm here because you preached the gospel of Jesus Christ, and I'm turning on to your YouTube, and I'm heard you speak, and I felt conviction in my soul.

I was once following a false God, and something you said convicted me, and now I follow Jesus Christ, and because of your sacrifice, and because of your obedience, I am now here, spending eternity with you.

And I don't know about you, but I pray that's your testimony as well.

So, like Paul to Timothy, I urge you to fend the flame of the gift of God on the inside of you.

It does not fall by the wayside.

Point number two is this one generation assumes the next generation can forget.

Lois taught Eunice, Eunice taught Timothy.

And there is intentionality in the text.

Somebody had to tell somebody.

Because the gospel of Jesus Christ is only one generation away from becoming unfamiliar.

Isn't it crazy?

How the very people Paul warns us about are now warning us about Paul.

Teaching a theology about what we believe and who we believe in, that is a false doctrine.

Isn't it crazy that Paul teaches us that in these last days truth will be told that is a lie, and lies will be told, that is truth.

We're sitting here arguing amongst each other while the enemy sifting our kids and sifting our grandkids.

What happens when the body unifies, comes into agreement around one Savior, one agenda, that all may hear about the gospel of Jesus Christ?

What happens when we, as the sons and daughters of God, make sure that they know?

I'll tell you what happens.

Heaven gets populated with more children.

And hell gets robbed.

What one generation assumes, the next generation can forget.

I can't get out of my head the images I saw.

I can't get out of my head the experiences that I had.

The same streets that I walked on, Paul once walked on.

The apostles preached there.

Churches flourished there.

And yet today, millions of people they live surrounded by the ruins of Christianity by knowing very little about Christ who started it.

That shook me.

That alarmed me.

I knew it before, but it's nothing like going there and seeing it for yourself.

And I pray that there's a great awakening that happens in your soul.

An urgency that takes place to understand and know yesterday's revival cannot disciple tomorrow's children.

Let me repeat, yesterday's revival cannot disciple tomorrow's children.

Make sure they know.

Not just the rich heritage of your family, make sure they know the rich heritage of the kingdom of God.

Make sure they know not just from where you came from, make sure they know what you were delivered from.

Make sure they know not what you do for a living, but make sure they know why you live.

Make sure they know.

We have to tell them.

We have to teach them.

That's why we are creating spaces.

That's why we are building places.

That's why we are creating rooms for all people to hear about the gospel of Jesus Christ.

And one of the things I truly believe and know by the Spirit of God we are graced for.

We are graced to serve generations.

We will not idolize one generation over the next.

This is not going to be a church that idolizes youth over our seniors.

No, we are here serving one king, and his name is Jesus, and we're all in pursuit of that king, and we will make space for every generation to come and hear of the good news of Jesus Christ.

And I'm so glad that we have four generations represented here at Celebration Church.

And it is because a group of people have decided and declared that we will make sure that they know.

The gospel doesn't disappear in a generation because it stops being true.

The gospel disappears because someone stops telling it.

What we celebrate but fail to teach, the next generation may only remember its history if we don't do our job.

Point number three is this, and this is where we're land the plane.

We aren't building rooms for children.

We're building runways for the gospel.

Hear me.

Paul is writing to Timothy, a young man who would eventually lead, preach, pastor, and carry the gospel of Jesus Christ forward.

When Eunice was pouring truth into Timothy, she couldn't see everything that God would eventually do through him.

That makes what we have done today and opening that space, cutting that ribbon, having this celebration even bigger than this moment.

We are opening rooms that children will run through, and we're also opening rooms that future pastors will hear the name of Jesus for the very first time.

But we're creating a space for the next doctor to hear about the gospel of Jesus Christ.

We're hearing the gospel of Jesus Christ preach and teach from the generation coming behind us because we made sufficient sacrifice.

We're creating rooms where maybe the next president of the United States will not just say he knows who Jesus is, but is a follower of Jesus and is led by the Holy Spirit and is a disciple of Jesus Christ.

We're creating a space for people to know who our Savior is, not in theory, but also in theology.

We're not creating a space that's cool and aesthetic, but doesn't have anointing.

We're creating an opportunity for our next generation to run smack dab into the presence of the Holy Spirit and feel and notice a tangible difference between where they are and where they used to be and feel a conviction in their heart to change, even means there's a minor change.

We're not just creating rooms, we're creating encounters.

We're creating future missionaries, future pastors, future teachers, future evangelists, future prophets, future apostles.

We're creating those here at Celebration Church, and it's not on the backs of one person, it's on the backs of all of us, and all of us are held responsible for the generation coming behind us, whether they're your kids or not.

We're creating space for future worship leaders.

To find out why it's important to lift your hands.

We're creating a space for future prayer warriors, to understand that there's still power in prayer.

We're creating a space for the next news anchors to not only talk about the bad things happening in the world, but also to live a life that expresses the good news of Jesus Christ.

Maybe, just maybe.

One of those world changes is yours.

And because of days like this, you get a chance to see how great and how mighty God uses them in the last days to declare that He is Lord, He is King, He is holy, and He is righteous.

Never underestimate the child in the room.

You may be discipling someone God intends to send out to the world.

Never underestimate how God desires to use you to change the lives of countries and regions and continents because of your sacrifice.

And never think to yourself that what you give is too little.

Nothing is too little.

And nothing is too large.

I'm not just looking for people that come to church.

I'm looking for people that want to carry the gospel of Jesus Christ around the world.

If your mentality is just to come and sit and receive and leave, then maybe this isn't the church for you.

That's not a disciple.

Because a disciple's first instructions is go ye into all the world.

So let me ask you a question.

If you can't physically go, what can you do to go?

Send the seed that God has given you to steward.

Send the resources that God has allowed you to steward.

Send that hard-earned money you think is yours that actually isn't, into the life of someone that will read the Bible for the very first time in their language and come into the knowledge of knowing who Jesus Christ is and follow him for the rest of their life and maybe just maybe change the city that they're in for the glory of God and for the advancement of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

I pray I meet people in eternity that don't speak the same language I speak, but heard about the sacrifice we made for them so that they could get the gospel of Jesus Christ in their language and understand our soon coming king.

So we're not spending money on script footage.

We're sewing into people who will carry Jesus long after we're gone.

The rooms we built today may become the birthplace of someone else's calling tomorrow.

And I pray as Paul has urged Timothy that you would fan the flame of the gift of God that you will make sure that they're my Bible.

I have it inscribed with something that I see every single day that I read it.

It says, in these pages, I find my help, my history, and my hope.

I hold this boldly, I hold this courageously, I hold this fearlessly, I hold this as a free man, but there are many who cannot hold this freely.

Let's do our part to make sure that our kids and our grandkids are able to stand on stages like this and hold the Word of God up and declare publicly and declare courageously and declare boldly that Jesus Christ is Lord.

Today we cut a ribbon, but it's not really about a ribbon.

It's not really about a building.

It's about a baton being passed from one generation to the next.

Because eventually buildings will age.

Carpet eventually wears out.

Technology will eventually become obsolete.

One day another generation will stand where we're standing.

The question is not whether they will inherit what we built, the question is will they inherit what we believe.

Take a lot of hits publicly.

But I will not back down.

That He has given us.

So that all of this is not in vain.

All of this is not for nothing.

All of this it lasts beyond us because one day we will have to give an account to the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.

And I want what we do to matter, I want your life to matter, I want your sacrifice to matter, I want you being a believer and a disciple of Jesus Christ to matter.

And I'm telling you, based upon our westernized beliefs and standards, what we say.

Is Christianity is not Christianity?

But I pray that there's a people that are awakening to the things that God desires for us to grab a hold of and hold near and dear to our hearts that are important to Him.

And because it is important to Him, it is important to us, and we make sure that they know.

Who the true and living God is, who our risen Savior is, who the healer, who the restorer, who the redeemer, who who the who the one is that renewed your mind and gave you a life worth living.

Listen, I don't want our children inheriting the ruins of our faith.

I want them carrying the fire of our faith.

That's why we build, that's why we give, that's why we serve, that's why we create environments where children can meet Jesus because we are graced to serve generations, and if the gospel stops with you, then you are not following the Jesus of the Bible.

This gospel that we believe in, it must be carried by you and cast by you so that the generation coming behind you can carry the message as well.

And so I beg you, I urge you, I implore you, please make sure that they know and have a godly conviction that no matter what it takes, we will stand on the front line and continue to push back at the gates of hell so that the radiant light of Jesus Christ can shine far and long and live on well beyond us.

In Jesus' name I pray.

Amen.

Take your seat for a second.

You may be here right now, you may be watching online.

And you know Jesus, but he's not your Lord.

Listen to me.

I don't want no one moving right now.

Hear me.

Unless it's an emergency, please stop walking.

Whatever it is, it can wait.

You're here right now.

You know you have not been following Jesus the way he desires for you to follow him.

You may be online watching me right now, and you know that your relationship with Jesus has become lukewarm and you want to fan the flame of the gift of God on the inside of you.

If you're watching online right now, I want you to put in the chat, that's me.

If you're here in this room right now, I want you to bow your heads, I want you to close your eyes.

If you know you need to follow Jesus with all of your heart, not partial, not a great portion, not a fraction, not a good percentage, all of your heart, I want you to stand to your feet right now.

Lift your hands, stand to your feet.

Maybe you've been lazy, maybe you've been apathetic, whatever the case may be, but you want God to fan and start something fresh on the inside of you.

I want you to stand to your feet right now.

The word of God says that one can chase a thousand, but two can put ten thousand to flight.

I wonder what happens when thousands of people take off of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

I'll tell you what happens.

Whole cities are saved, whole regions hear about the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Duvall and beyond understands the significance of our King and how he's soon to come and he's coming back for a brat without spot or blemish.

We will make sure that they know who our King of Kings is and our Lord of Lords are.

And if you're standing, I want you to just stretch both hands to heaven right now.

I want you to repeat this after me, Lord Jesus, I repent from my sins.

I ask you to forgive me, cleanse me from my unrighteousness.

Right now, Jesus, I ask that you would heal me, redeem me, renew me, restore me, and use me.

My answer is yes.

However, you want to use me, my answer is yes.

Whatever you want me to teach, my answer is yes.

Whatever you want me to say, my answer is yes.

Whatever you want me to sacrifice, my answer is yes.

And God, I thank you for having a desire to use me for your glory and for your kingdom.

And so I confess with my mouth that you and you alone are my savior, and I believe in my heart that you are my master.

In Jesus' name I pray.

Amen and amen and amen and amen and amen and amen and amen and amen and amen.

Come on, right now, make sure the enemy knows who your God is.

Make sure the enemy knows who your Savior is.

Make sure the enemy knows that number of you flight church.

You are the church of the living God, and you will make sure that they know who the Kingdom Kings and the Lombard of Lords is.