Faith That Finishes Strong

One summer when I was in college, I was over at my friend's house and we were serving on camp teams, going to different Christian camps and churches uh that summer.

And we were spending the night at my friend's house who's on our camp team, and we were talking to his parents and complaining that the other camp teams from other schools had cool t-shirts and things to give out that drew people in and the students wanted to spend time with them.

And my friend's dad said, Well, you shouldn't come to me with a problem, you should come to me with a solution.

You should go to somebody that can do something about it and come up with a plan.

So if there's something you need, my friend's dad is here today to preach for us by way of Savannah, Georgia.

Cam and Sarah Huxford are here with us.

They have served at Compassion Christian Church and now retired.

And I knew a year ago I asked him, I said, Cam, are you going to be coming to Indianapolis for Spire, which is a conference that our staff is going to?

And he said, Yes.

I was like, Well, do you want to preach the Sunday before or the Sunday after?

Your choice.

And he said, I'd be glad to come and preach.

So we have Cam Huxter with us today.

Would you welcome Cam up to the stage to bring God's word?

All right, thank you, Brian.

Thank you, Bill.

Love you, Pat.

Oh my goodness.

It's so good to be here.

And Joel grew up.

It's awesome.

I mean, it's fantastic, man.

I'm so honored to be able to share God's word with you today.

And frankly, just to share a ministry with Joel.

I've known Joel for a long time.

His dad and mom are ministry friends of mine.

I went to college with them.

His dad was my cousin's roommate when he was at Atlanta Christian College back in the day.

And his grandfather was my first spiritual mentor after my parents.

His grandfather was the pastor at my little country church out in the cornfields in South Carolina.

And that man had an incredible impact on my life.

Mr.

John challenged me to, instead of being part of the herd, you know, to step up and be a spiritual leader when I was in high school.

I mean, he got in my face about it, and I appreciated that.

He also invested in my life and guided me when God was calling me out of a career in law to a career serving the Lord in the local church, and I really appreciated that.

Joel is the third generation of pastors in that family line who have known and loved and served the Lord.

Can we just thank the Lord for Joel and Jessica and for the generational blessing that your church is going to enjoy because of their ministry here?

Now, I also want to bring you a greeting from my family.

You know, this is the got the Huxard family picture coming up.

There it is.

That's my little we family right there.

My Sarah's sitting on the front row with us here today.

You know, we, by God's grace, had three sons.

Then when they got married, we had three daughters, and now we got 12 grandkids, one for every tribe of Israel.

Somebody say praise the Lord.

All right.

And listen, yeah, we got one grand dog.

Did I mention that?

Because when our son moved up here to Mooresville, you know, he didn't want to bring that dog with him because of, you know, a hundred reasons.

So Sarah and I kind of took Tucker in, uh, and Tucker and I were having a few little adjustment issues.

And if you know what I'm talking about, just go, mm-hmm.

Yeah, we're having a few adjustment issues until a couple months ago when he intercepted a trespasser on our property.

Bam.

Yeah, ugly thing.

Uh, and let me tell you, that viper was not feeling the joy when Tucker cornered him, but he ain't feeling nothing now, y'all.

He died of blunt force trauma, as I recall.

Me and Tucker sent him back to his father, the devil.

But we do love our granddog, but not as much as our grandkids, and we're thankful, thankful, thankful for them.

Now, I just thought I would talk for a minute so y'all can get used to the way I talk.

This is not an impediment.

This is a southern accent.

Okay?

And don't feel bad about it because when we get to heaven, everybody's gonna talk like this.

Amen.

You probably heard the story about the Indiana kid who decided his senior year in high school, he's gonna go out for wrestling.

And I was like, what?

I mean, this is the state that invented wrestling, right?

He never wrestled in his life, but he was a great athlete.

His technique was just terrible.

But somehow he just had this Cinderella season, won every match, went all the way to the state finals, and found himself wrestling against the champ from the year before.

And man, when that match started, that champ just tore him up.

Tore him up.

And then you hear the coach, you know how they do the running out here trying to shout instructions out on the mat, trying to help him out?

Nothing.

I mean, it didn't help.

This this kid was killing him, right?

And so the coach put his head in his hands like this, and all of a sudden he hears a whistle, looks up, his wrestler pinned the state champ from the year before and won the match and the title, and he missed the whole thing because he wasn't looking.

So, man, he runs out on the mat and said, dude, what did you do?

I mean, great day, man.

That guy was killing you, and next thing I know, you won the title.

What happened?

He's like, Coach, that guy was a monster.

He was a monster, man.

He had me pin, he had me turned in ways I never been turned before.

He had me so tied up, I looked up and all I could see right in front of my face was a big toe.

And I know this is not strictly legal, but I bit that toe as hard as I could.

He said, Coach, do you know what your body is capable of when you bite your own big toe as hard as you can?

Now, what I want to talk with you about today is something in your spiritual life that might be worth biting your own big toe for.

Might be worth that.

And to do so, I want to share with you my life verse.

Have you ever heard anybody had a life verse before?

Uh, this is the practice that people have honored through the centuries of just picking out a verse of scripture that resonates with their highest hopes and uh for their life and their faith, and then they commit that verse to memory so it can be like a GPS, you know, like a North Star for them, you know, in their spiritual life.

And today I want to share with you my life verse because I love it.

In fact, if you already have a life verse, I'm kind of hoping you're gonna switch over to mine.

Because it's that good.

I'm just telling you, man.

I'm I'm telling you, this verse is strong, it is motivating, it will call the best out of you.

But this verse is also comforting, it's hopeful, which means it's really helpful when life gets hard.

And if you don't have a life verse, I want to offer you my life verse.

I want to encourage you to memorize it and let it do for you what it has done for me.

Listen, this verse has kept me centered when everything else in my life was out of control.

This verse has kept me anchored, I'm telling you, during some brutal storms.

This verse has kept me going when I was honestly dumbfounded and discouraged and frustrated.

This verse has been like a firewall for me when I've been tempted to trade God's vision for my life for a bowl of temptation soup.

You know what I'm talking about?

Say, mm-hmm, if you know what I'm talking about.

You know, you know that that firewall against life-wrecking, legacy-killing, sinful sense of entitlement.

This verse has been like a lighthouse for me.

I'm just telling you, man, I love it.

Uh my life has been strengthened by it and shaped by it and stabilized by it.

So here it is.

Let me read you my life verse.

This comes from 1 Corinthians 15, 58.

Therefore, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.

Somebody say amen.

Hey, let's say this all together.

Okay, all together, big voice like lions.

Now, here we go.

Come on.

Therefore, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.

Now, the Apostle Paul wrote this verse, and it begins with the word, therefore.

Now, here's the rule in biblical interpretation.

Whenever you see the word therefore, you should ask yourself, wonder what that's there for, right, Joel?

Wonder what that's there for, right?

Now, earlier in 1 Corinthians 15, Paul is reminding the church in Corinth of an ominous reality.

He says, Now, because Jesus was resurrected from the dead, you know what that means, right?

Every human being who has ever lived will be resurrected from the dead as well.

The moment you die.

1 Corinthians 15, 52 says, we will be transformed in a moment, in the blink of an eye.

Every person, every person who has ever died will immediately awaken, alert, and aware in a new reality.

Or if you're still living when the Lord Jesus returns, you will be transformed instantaneously into the same kind of resurrected body that Jesus had after he rose from the dead.

You can read about it in your Bible.

And then in the next verse, he says, our dying bodies will be transformed into bodies that will never die.

Our mortal bodies will be transformed into immortal bodies.

And friends, that's really good news.

But here's the ominous part you will be resurrected to eternal life, whether you're a follower of Jesus or not.

Whether you go to heaven or not.

Paul taught that at death, every single human being will be resurrected to stand before God and give an account of their life, what they lived for, who they live for, how they spent their one and only life.

Okay, quick side note, let's hit pause here for a second.

Today, in 2026, what do you think most people believe is going to happen when they die?

What do you think it is?

It's the same fairy tale that people believe back in 1026 and back in the year 63 when this book was written.

Throughout history, the majority of people have thought when they die, poof, their little candle goes out and they cease to exist.

They don't believe there's a resurrection.

They don't believe there's any life on the other side.

They don't believe they're gonna have to stand before a holy God.

They don't believe in the judgment, they don't believe they're gonna have to give an account for how they live their life on earth.

No eternal rewards, no eternal consequences, just nothing.

Eternal, unconscious, nothing, dead like a dog, or if you've been really bad, dead like a cat.

Forgive me for that.

That was the prevailing view back in Paul's day as well.

And you know what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15?

That's nonsense.

Believing that is nonsense.

Believing that fairy tale is dangerous because it just ain't true, and Jesus proved that when he rose from the dead.

Consequently, everybody who dies will be resurrected into a new reality, I'm telling you, the moment you die.

And the reason we believe this is history.

Everybody say history, not theology, not philosophy, not religion, not like Lenin said, because we're scared of the dark.

We believe in the resurrection because of history.

Jesus rose from the dead.

Thousands of people witnessed it.

Unbelievers wrote about it.

Our world has been changed because our Lord Jesus rose from the dead.

1 Corinthians 15, 20 says, Christ has indeed been raised from the dead.

You know who wrote that?

A hater, a persecutor of the church, who became an eyewitness of the resurrection and got saved.

But Paul says, man, Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.

Now, asleep was a metaphor for death that Paul's using here.

Now, first fruits, the first fruits idea in that agrarian culture is like, you know, the first ear of corn, uh farmer harvest in the fall.

I know y'all from Indiana.

Y'all ever heard of corn before?

Yeah, okay, okay.

You know that first ear of corn, you know, that comes off, and man, he picks that first ear, smells it, and then he just smiles and thinks there's a whole field of corn out there, just like this.

And it's coming in the next day and the next day and the next day and the next day, and it's going to replicate the beauty and the value of this ear of corn, this first fruit.

And that's what Paul is saying about Jesus' resurrection.

It's the first fruit.

And that means because Jesus was resurrected from the dead, there's a whole world of people who will also be resurrected in exactly the same way.

Consciously, immediately, bodily, just like Jesus.

Now, part of the reason that Paul is just hammering, hammering, hammering away on this reality of the resurrection is because that Corinthian church culture, the culture in that city, still believed in that escapist candle goes out theory of death.

And friend, if you follow that philosophy out to its logical conclusion, it's malignant.

It's plutonium.

Life and the beautiful world that God created here lose its meaning altogether.

And so Paul says, please, man, listen, if nobody is resurrected after their death, why does anything matter at all?

I mean, dude, if you're gonna be dead like a dog, just do what you want, right?

In fact, Paul says in verse 32 of chapter 15, man, let's just feast and drink for tomorrow we die if there's no resurrection.

Party hardy, man.

I mean, if this life's all there is, what does it matter?

And you don't have to look very far in our world today to see neighbors and classmates and people at your college who are living that theory out right now.

But you run that philosophy all the way out to the end.

If there's no resurrection, the modern-day sex trafficker who's making millions of dollars buying and selling little girls and boys, and we know the horrific things that happen to those little girls and boys.

When that sex trafficker dies, poof, his candle goes out.

Eternal nothingness.

Really?

His candle goes out just like Pastors Joel, Billy Graham, you know, leaders of Samaritan's Purse, who work their whole life reaching lost and saving those poor and hurting and trying to save the little girls and boys from those horrific experiences.

If you believe there's nothing after death, then you know none of it matters.

I mean, if we just disappear, poof, whatever.

The serial rapist, you know, the abuser, the thief, the murderer enjoy the same quiet end as the Billy Graham's and Nelson Mandelas of this world.

And Paul is saying, don't believe that, bro.

Don't believe it.

That's not how it's going down.

Every human being is gonna be resurrected, just like Jesus was, every human being is gonna stand before their God and the Lord Jesus Christ, and they're gonna give a full account of their behavior and their words and their deeds and their actions and their attitudes and what they believed and why, therefore.

Therefore, since we all rising from the dead to give an account of our lives to a holy God, be steadfast and immovable.

Therefore, be steadfast and immovable.

And the first reason I love this verse is because it leads me to live my life with a sense of urgency.

Everybody say urgency.

Now, let's talk about what this verse means.

Steadfast means to lock it down.

Now, in Georgia, where all the bulldog fans are, we talk about hunkering down, you know what I mean?

And that's what he's saying you should do with your faith.

Because of the resurrection of Jesus.

This is who I am.

This is what I believe, this is my identity.

I will live and be and do and live this way 50 years from now.

They no backsliding on my horizon, bro.

No deconstruction on my horizon.

I don't care what the world does.

My belief and my character, if they change with God's help, they're gonna get stronger.

Because my faith and my life is built on a rock, the historic resurrection of Jesus.

So be steadfast.

Immovable means we don't negotiate.

We don't negotiate on the truth.

We're immovable about who Christ was, what Christ taught, why he alone could die and atone for our sins on a blood-soaked cross, how God raised him from the dead, and the consequent authority of what he says about every little thing in your life.

And dude, when the whole culture is saying, oh, the Bible's just a myth, dude, eat, drink, be merry, just you be you.

Paul says, don't buy any of that.

Don't buy any of that.

Man, we're gonna stay spiritually and mentally tough.

We're gonna stay focused on these core Christian beliefs because they all go back to Jesus.

And listen, when everybody else is doing their thing and they're believing their truth instead of God's truth, no matter how ridiculous or harmful their truth may be.

And then when they're mocking you for being that ignorant, uninvolved thinker for not just joining the herd, you be steadfast.

You be immovable.

You know, years ago, Sarah and I led a group from our church on a pilgrimage to trace uh the gospel from Israel all the way to Rome.

Uh and we visited the city of Corinth, you know, where this letter was written.

And uh, and and man, it's all right there.

I mean, if you if you want to go see that archaeological site, you could be there tomorrow.

I mean, this is history.

And then when we got to Rome, we visited the catacombs.

And this was initially the burial site for Christians who were killed uh during a Roman persecution.

And we had this godly Polish woman who was our guide, and she told us how the catacombs got started.

She said, you know, these started because uh, you know, Christians buried the dead instead of burning their dead out of respect for the body.

Uh and so Emperor Vespatian, you know, launched this first wave of persecution against the church.

There were actually ten waves of persecution against the church in the first 300 years of church history, but Vespatian was the first guy to do it, and he wanted to purge the army of any followers of Jesus.

So Roman legions were literally assembled in Rome by battalion, and then told following Jesus is now illegal.

And the punishment is death.

So if you're a follower of Jesus, step forward.

And four men in the first battalion stepped forward and were put to death.

And those were the first Christian men who were buried in the Roman catacomb.

And then our guide told me something I've never been able to forget.

She said, You know, nobody in Rome died because they were a follower of Jesus.

They died because they admitted that they were followers of Jesus in the army, where it was illegal, at school, at work, in the neighborhood, everywhere.

They nailed their colors to the mass, steadfast, immovable, faithful unto death.

Friends, this verse reminds me of why I said yes, when I believe God was calling me out of a career in law to give my life to serving the local church of the resurrected Jesus.

And I'm telling you, man, in moments of fatigue and frustration and criticism and discouragement, this verse is like a bucket of cold water in my face saying, Cam, don't sell out.

Don't sell out, man.

You only got one life, old son.

Don't sell it out for ease or momentary relief or temporary things.

It doesn't even work that way.

That escapist thinking is a fairy tale.

Jesus is real.

You know it.

The resurrection proved it.

It's history.

Reject what the world says.

Who cares if the world mocks?

They've been mocking us for 2,000 years.

We are sons and daughters of God.

And lives are at stake.

Our kids' lives are at stake, eternal lives are at stake.

And many of those same folks who are mocking you today will be saved 10 years from now.

And thank you for setting them a good example.

Thank you for not bailing out.

So be steadfast.

Be immovable.

Do you see why I love this verse?

Why I need this verse?

Why I think you need it too.

Now, you know, one of the things I love about the church when it's working right is that we have this sense of urgency that so many of us here at Post Road live with and have lived with for a long time.

Man, we are steadfast in our belief that what we do as followers of Jesus is eternally important.

Man, we believe that lost people matter to God.

That's why we welcome people into our church.

We believe that students matter, families matter, people in other countries who have never heard the gospel matter to God, and so they matter to us.

And man, I'm so thankful for your passion and your audacious faith, you know, that you demonstrate, you know, every week here at Post Road.

And I love this verse because it generates a sense of urgency in my life that I need.

Guys, this verse takes a swing at me every day.

It reminds me to finish strong.

And I think we all need that push.

And I think if you memorize this verse, it'd be good for you too.

So let's say this all together.

Ready?

Big voice, come on.

Therefore, be steadfast and immovable.

Now, another reason I love this verse is because it gives me, it calls me to give my absolute best every day.

Everybody say, give the best.

This verse makes God's marching order for my wife crystal clear.

Let's read it all together.

Come on.

Be always abounding in the work of the Lord.

Always, always, always abound in the work of the Lord.

The New International Version says, always give yourself fully to the work of the Lord.

Now, what it doesn't say is if it's not too much trouble.

If you can ever get around to it, you know, in your otherwise busy life.

If it's ever convenient and you have absolutely nothing else to do, then hey, throw God a bone every now and then.

Nope.

That's not what it says.

Paul puts the bar about as high as the bar can go.

He basically says, you need to always abound in the work of the Lord every day, whether you feel like it or not, always abound in the work of the Lord.

Intentionally, strategically, passionately.

He learned this from Jesus.

Listen, Jesus said in John 15, 8, by this my Father is glorified that you bear much fruit, and so prove that you are my disciples.

Your life should bear much fruit.

Not a little bit, not a little bit of seed here and there.

My father is glorified when you bear much fruit.

I mean, a lifetime of it.

And Jesus and Paul say, look, bro, your life is going to pass so quickly.

Abound in the Lord while you can.

Bear much fruit.

Because your time's going to be over before you know it.

You know, one of the most profound Christian thinkers and writers of our day died about 10 years ago.

His name was Dallas Willard.

And Dallas Willard was an influential, straight-up follower of Jesus in the philosophy department at the University of Southern California.

Wow.

I mean, prolific writer.

His promotion to heaven was a tough loss for us on earth.

But Dallas was being interviewed some time ago, and because he was such a joyful, loving, outgoing guy, the interviewer asked him, Dallas, does anything really frustrate you?

And I mean, just like that.

He said, I'll tell you what gets me down.

It bothers me that Christ's followers in America require so much prompting and cajoling to do God's work in the world.

He said, You know, pastors I know have to beg people to show up for worship.

I mean, they have to beg people to use their spiritual gifts.

They have to beg people to read the Bible and pray and tithe.

They have to plead with people to volunteer to serve.

He said, You know, churches in America have to spend thousands of dollars producing emotional videos to move people to care for the poor because if they didn't show those videos, people might not care for the poor.

And then he just shook his head and said, you know what?

It shouldn't be that way.

Man, the motivation for a Christ follower should always come from within.

And let me tell you, he ain't wrong.

And if you adopt 1 Corinthians 15, 58 as your life verse, and you memorize it and you say it every day and live it every day, you won't be that way anymore either.

Because let me tell you, all through the day you will hear this war drum of the Holy Spirit sending that constant message.

Be steadfast, be immovable, always abound in the work of the Lord.

You ain't gonna need a pep talk from some pastor or a pleading from some ministry leader to step up and get involved in the work of the Lord.

Those baby days will be in your wake.

Man, if this verse is resonating in your mind all day, every day, you'll be fired up for Christ all day, every day.

I'm not talking about some fake, frantic panic to do something that people will see you doing for Jesus.

I mean when you see a need, you will abound.

When you are challenged, you will be immovable.

You will be steadfast.

Now, here's the good news, friends.

When you start living this kind of abounding life, it's contagious.

Your kids will see you and they'll want to be just like you.

Your friends will see, they'll be drawn to Christ in you.

Man, your church will just get stronger and stronger because we're all abounding.

And then people will be watching, and that's how they want to be.

Now, I was telling somebody, I I got to preach at the church of a friend of mine that I met at that church camp in South Carolina 55 years ago.

And this was the first actual Christian I ever met who was all in, other than my parents.

I mean, I was I was like a 15-year-old, and uh, and I met this dude, he was a college student from Atlanta Christian College, and this guy was all in.

Basketball player, great vocalist, but I mean he loved the Lord and he was in, not perfect, he's just all in.

And I I looked at this guy, and at that point I thought I was the most devoted Christian young person I knew.

And I was the most lame, lukewarm turkey you can imagine.

And when I met that guy, I was convicted.

And I'm telling you, before that camp was over, I I handed Jesus the deed of my life and said, Man, whatever, whenever, wherever, I'm your man.

Because I saw that in him.

Jerry Odell, godly man.

Now, this is how it works.

Friends, as cool as it is, though, to see your life change and other people's life change because they see Jesus in you, the end game should be the biggest encourager for you.

Think about it.

In the moment, right after you die, and you're resurrected in the blink of an eye, just as the Bible says, and you realize you're standing before the sovereign God who created the universe, who created you, breathed life into you, loves you, sent his son to die for you, and then you look just to the right of the Father, and you see the resurrected Jesus with a smile on his face.

And he's looking at you.

He's glad you're there.

What an awesome moment.

You will be so unbelievably grateful that you purposed to abound in the work of the Lord with your one and only life.

You'll be so glad that you lived your life for Jesus, wide open, man, that you worshiped him, served him, spread his fame, lifted up his name to everybody who would listen.

Not perfect, none of us are perfect, but faithful to the end.

And then maybe just for a nanosecond, you'll gasp at how horrible it would have been to stand before this awesome God and have to hang your head and admit that your one and only shot at life on this earth, your main thing, was eating and drinking and being merry.

And you were a joy collector.

I mean a toy collector instead of a fruit producer.

And you'll be thinking, I'm so glad.

I'm so glad I was part of a church that taught me not to piddle my life away on petty things.

All together, big voice, come on.

Be always abounding in the work of the Lord.

Okay, this leads me to the third and final reason I love this verse.

Now, this final phrase in the text gives me enormous comfort.

And what it says is knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.

Hey, will y'all see those just those three words, not in vain with me?

Come on.

Not in vain.

One more time, big voice.

Not in vain.

I love this verse because it assures me that when I am steadfast and immovable and always abounding in the work of the Lord, I can be absolutely sure that I will live a life of no wasted effort.

Somebody say amen.

I don't know about you, but I hate doing things in vain, don't you?

I mean, last time all the kids were over at the house, I told Sarah, I'm not changing any diapers.

She's like, What are you talking about?

I said, It's all in vain.

You change a diaper two hours later, you gotta do it again.

I ain't doing that.

It's a waste of time.

Just kidding about that.

But I do hate to do things in vain, which is one of the reasons why I love this verse.

This verse reminds me that every single effort I expend to advance the purposes of God in this world, doesn't matter how big or how small, how visible or invisible, is never in vain.

Every effort I make in Jesus' name is noticed and appreciated by God, big or small.

Every prayer prayed, every gift given, every sacrifice made, every deed or act of service, every attempt to share the gospel, every time I try to help somebody who's struggling somewhere, every faithfulness to my spouse, every investment in my children, grandchildren, family, friends, strangers, all observed, recorded on the ledger sheets in heaven, and it will be richly rewarded by God someday.

So none of it is in vain.

I got a little snapshot of the value of that when my oldest son was in a car accident in high school.

Uh Cam, my son Cam is a musician and a songwriter, and he leads a band called Ghost Ship, and Joel told me y'all did one of his songs last month, right?

At the end of the Job Serv uh series, which is great.

Well, back in high school, he was in high school.

I was in South Carolina with my youngest son who went to school with Joel, uh, visiting my mom, and I get a call from my assistant.

And she said, Hey, uh, your son Cam has been in an automobile accident.

You need to come home.

And I said, Well, how bad is he hurt?

She said, I don't know.

I said, Um, is he alive?

She said, I don't know.

But the helicopter's been dispatched.

Sarah's on her way to Memorial Hospital.

You need to come home right now.

And so my son Garrett and I jumped in my truck and set a new land speed record from South Carolina to Savannah, man.

I was so consumed with concern.

I'm I'm looking down, I'm going over 100 miles an hour in this truck.

I look over at my son and he's like, like that.

And then I just realized, dude, come home, you know.

So I smiled over at Garrett, I let off the gas, and I turned my mind to the Lord.

I was comforted, honestly, by another verse that I memorized as kind of an emotional stabilizer.

You remember in Hebrews 13, 5, God said, Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.

And so here I am in every parent's worst moment.

And I'm so glad my faith in Jesus was steadfast and immovable.

Consequently, I was able to trust that God would be with me and with Cam, my son, and with Sarah and with our family in the middle of this crisis.

So I just kind of slowed down.

I was so glad also that my faith had been steadfast and immovable for so many years.

So that when I prayed for my son, I wasn't coming to God like some stranger who only shows up when he needs something.

You know, your confidence and your comfort level in your relationship with God when you're steadfast and immovable and abounding in his work for a while.

Your comfort and confidence in him get so strong.

Because you got history.

You know him.

He knows you.

When I arrived at Memorial Hospital, you know, a hospital I walked in a thousand times to be with other people in need.

I was so grateful to see, you know, a room full of people from my church who had come there to be there for my Sarah and for me and for my family.

And our small group was there.

Y'all have small groups here?

You know, you know, you want to be in a small group before you need a small group.

Amen.

You want to be in one before you need one.

Now there's no rush on this.

Next week will be fine.

If you're not in a group yet, next week will be great.

All right.

I'm just I was so glad when I walk in.

My whole small group's there.

I was so thankful for the police officers and the firemen who cut him out of that car and the first responders who cared for him until the doctors and nurses could take over.

And our youth pastor was there praying with Sarah for Kim.

And you know what?

Everything, everything worked out.

We got out of the emergency room into a room later that night, and I'm sitting there beside his bed, and he's all sewn up and resting, and he got nicked up pretty bad, but and more surgery was ahead, but but he's in the bed, safe, good.

And I laid my head back on my chair and I contemplated what it would have been like if he had not survived that accident.

What would have happened if my prayers had not been answered positively, and his life had been taken by a foolish driver, and my son died.

And even in that, I was thankful for the steadfast, immovable faith that my son learned from his parents and his grandparents and generations of family who have been abounding in the work of the Lord.

I was so thankful for my church and the youth pastors, you know, who had worked with my son so that he could develop his own steadfast, immovable faith that was abounding in the work of the Lord, even in high school when he started his first Christian band.

And I think even if he had died, nothing we did in the Lord would have been in vain.

In fact, the opposite of that would have been true.

Because he had his own steadfast, immovable, abounding faith, even in death, he would have been okay.

He would have gone to heaven where he would be waiting for us.

And as grieved as we would have been, eventually we would have been okay too.

Friends, I believe even if I had lost my son, and I cannot even imagine the pain of that.

I know some of you can, but I believe after a long, thorough season of grief, I would have still had reason to get out of bed in the morning, climb up on the platform every weekend, preach the gospel and the good news, and abound in the work of the Lord every day because in Christ nothing is wasted.

Nothing we do for Jesus is in vain.

Amen.

Let me show you a picture.

See this little man right here?

That's John Ainen.

That's Joel's grandfather.

I know it looks like he's in a prison in Siberia somewhere, but he's not.

He's at our church camp for the winter student retreat.

Now that Joker's 65 years old.

And he's still going to youth retreats with his kids from his church.

I was one of those kids.

I might have taken that picture because if somebody else had taken it, it wouldn't have been so fuzzy.

But but that picture is 55 years old.

Now, guys, Mr.

Ayn was a faithful husband, a godly example, a great encourager, a tireless servant of Jesus all the way to the end.

Amen?

Dude, this is possible.

This is doable.

It's just not easy.

It requires you to throw your heart in the ring every stinking day.

It requires you to do the minimum requirement.

As a Christian, you know, worship every week, serve every week, study somewhere every week.

It's not easy.

It's just doable and it's life-changing.

So let's go.

Amen.

One more time.

Big voice.

Come on.

Therefore, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your soil is not in vain in the Lord.

Father, thank you for this encouragement.

Thank you for this great word from Paul.

Thank you for this opportunity we have to live this out every day.

I thank you, Lord, for the senior saints who are in this room right now, Lord, who've been setting us an example for 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80 years.

I'm so grateful for them.

I'm so thankful, Lord, for the young people who are in this room right now who are growing up, following their example, throwing their heart in the ring, getting involved in your work, Lord.

And I'm thankful for the people who are sitting here today who do not know you.

They know about the church.

They just don't know you.

And I pray, God, that today they will get in this fight.

I pray that today they will surrender their life to Jesus.

They'll do what I did back in high school.

They will hand you the deed of their life and put their trust in what Jesus did for them on the cross and be saved today and be steadfast and immovable, always abounding in your work until they see you in heaven.

We pray this in the strong name of Jesus and all God people said, Amen.

Amen.

God bless you.