I want to thank you as a congregation for welcoming Drew
and Louvian and Aria and Micah. Thank you for accepting them.
This is almost a surreal moment for me, as I wasn't sure if and
when Drew would become a lead pastor and shepherd his own
congregation. But Drew's more patient than his
father, and he waited for God's perfect timing.
And then God brought all this together and we couldn't be more
grateful, Drew mentioned. We're from West TX.
Texans have the unfortunate reputation of being
braggadocious about everything being bigger and better in
Texas. I heard about a Texas rancher
and an Iowa farmer that met at an agricultural convention.
The Texas rancher said to this Iowa farmer, he said, how big is
your spread? And the farmer said not not that
big, big enough, no more than 100 acres.
This Texas rancher said, are you serious?
That's nothing, 100 acres. I have so much land I can get in
my truck in the morning and drive from sunrise until sunset.
And at the end of that time I still will have not gotten to
the end of my land. This Texas rancher said that's,
that's, that's OK. He scratched his head.
The Iowa farmer did and said, I know exactly what you mean.
I used to have a truck like that myself.
Anyway, you can always tell a Texan.
You can't tell him much, but you can always tell a Texan.
Please turn in your Bibles or open up the Bible app on your
phone to Joshua chapter 14. I am preaching from the newer
edition of the King James translation.
If you're using something else, I am certain that it will be
much the same. This morning we're addressing
the subject of age and aging. I read about a woman that sat in
the waiting room for a first time appointment to see a new
dentist. She noticed his diploma from
dental school that had his full name, and she was surprised to
see that because she remembered a tall, handsome, athletic boy
with that same name from her high school from her high school
graduating class long ago. She thought, could this possibly
be the same guy I had a crush on in high school?
But she immediately dismissed that idea when she met the
dentist. He was a short, balding,
wrinkled, pudgy old man. She thought that this man was
much too old to have been in her class, but she couldn't contain
herself. She just had to ask.
So after they had spent some time together, she asked, Did
you happen to attend Morgan Park High School?
He smiled and said, Yes, I did. I was a Mustang.
She asked. And when did you graduate?
He said 1959, She responded, 1959.
Then you were in my class. He paused, looking at her more
closely. Said I was in your class.
And what was it exactly that you taught?
Aging happens, and from a medical perspective, aging is
the alternative to death. So unless we're anxious to die
soon, then aging is a good thing.
Aging is a blessing from God. The percentage of older people
in the US population is increasing at an exponential
rate. This is 2025, and there are now
73 million of us aged 65 and older.
That's almost one fifth of our entire population.
And then there are 6.4 million of us that are 85 and older.
Actually, the fastest growing demographic right now are people
aged 90. Plus we have some widows in our
congregation that are 90 and more than 91 is 95 and she still
drives. Not sure that's a good idea.
On a global scale, there are 1 billion people over age 65.
Japan is aging so fast that adult diapers are out selling
baby diapers. the United Nations is estimated there are now some
316,000 centenarians. Centenarians are people aged 100
and older. And now there's a new
demographic level called super centenarian.
That's people 110 and older and there are live and now an
estimated 300 and Fort Fort 450 super centenarians people.
That's craziness. Caleb is one of my favorite
biblical characters. Our oldest grandson is a Caleb.
He is a second year electrical engineering student at
California Baptist University. His father and our second son is
a Joshua. So we have a Joshua and a Caleb.
Let's read some background to these comments on Caleb, Joshua
14, starting at verse 6. Then the children of Judah came
to Joshua at Gilgal, and Caleb the son of Jofana the Kinnazai,
said to him, You know the word which the Lord said to Moses,
the man of God, concerning you, Joshua and me, Caleb and Kadish
Barnia. Verse seven.
I was 40 years old. This is Caleb speaking.
I was 40 years old when Moses the servant of the Lord, sent me
from Kadish Barnia to spy out the land, and I brought back
word to him as it was in my heart.
Verse 8. Nevertheless my brother, and who
went up with me, me and the other spies made the heart of
the people melt. But I wholly follow the Lord my
God. It is estimated that 2 million
plus Israelites had left Egypt and a journey to the edge of the
land God had promised them. That land was called Canaan and
the people stopped just outside Canaan at a region called Kadish
Barnia. From Kadish Barnia, Moses agreed
to send 12 men on a reconnaissance mission into
Canaan. Those men were instructed to
investigate the condition of the land and more specifically to
bring back some of the grape harvest to demonstrate that
lands fruitfulness. That happened per those
instructions. And so it's no coincidence that
the modern day Israeli Ministry of Tourism has as its logo to
men carrying an enormous cluster of grapes hanging from a pole
beneath between them. Those spies were also instructed
to determine the strength and fortification of Canaan cities
and people. The 12 spies all agreed on the
desirability of the land but disagreed on what to do. 10 of
those spies brought back an exaggerated negative report and
said it would be impossible to conquer Canaan.
The argument was there are giants in Canaan and we're
grasshoppers compared to them, we cannot do this.
But Joshua and Caleb disagreed and said to the others, no, God
told us to invade Canaan and we can do this.
Well, the problem was the people listen to the bad report from
the 10 spies and so rejected Caleb and Joshua and even wanted
to stone them in order to punish the people.
Stubborn disobedience. God pushed pause and God put a
hold on the movement to invade the Promised land.
He forced the entire nation to wander in the wilderness region
until that entire first generation of Israelites that
had left Egypt died off. Only Joshua and Caleb and the
emerging generations would be permitted to enter Canaan.
Notice verse 9. So Moses swore to Caleb on that
day, saying, Surely the land where your foot is trodden shall
be your inheritance and your children's forever, because you
have wholly followed the Lord my God.
Verse 10. And now this is Caleb speaking.
Behold, the Lord has kept me alive as He said these 45 years,
ever since the Lord spoke this word to Moses while Israel
wandered in the wilderness. And now here I am, this day, 85
years old. That's an abbreviated background
to this text. Now let me extract from this
narrative 4 principles about AG principle.
One advanced stage doesn't mean we have to think old getting
older. Advancing age doesn't mean we
have to think old. Verse 11 notice, Caleb said.
And yet as yet I am as strong this day as on the day that
Moses sent me. Carefully notice, he said.
And yet I am as strong this day as on the day that Moses sent
me. Just as my strength was then, so
now is my strength for war, both for going out and for coming in.
From personal experience, the first half of life was a piece
of cake, but the second-half has been more difficult.
Old age is not for sissies. Caleb had a mindset to handle
AG. Caleb essentially said he felt
as strong at 85 as he did at 40. Imagine that he felt as strong
at 85 as he did at 40. That might have been wishful
thinking, but it wasn't old thinking.
Unlike Caleb, I have lost some fitness and strength.
I used to pinch an inch and now it's grab a slab.
I used to lift more weight than anyone in the gym and now I sit
in the tub, pull the plug and fight the current.
I actually sat in a rocking chair this past Tuesday but I
couldn't get it started. And each morning I wake up, what
doesn't ache doesn't work. I admit I'm old, but I don't
think old because unless we die, we cannot avoid the inevitable
ageing process. So we should learn to adjust to
ageing. Aging isn't a choice, but our
attitude toward aging is. From a biblical perspective,
aging and old age is a blessing from God.
Consider some examples of that. Genesis 25 verse 8.
Then Abraham breathed his last and died in a good old age.
Notice old age is described as being good.
Abraham breathed his last, and died in a good old age and old
man and full of years. First Chronicles 29, verse 8 So
he David died in a good old age full of days.
Job 42 verse 17 So Job died old and full of days.
Proverbs 16 verse 31. The silver haired head, meaning
the hair on an older man's head that often turns Gray, is a
crown of glory. Now personally I think hair is
overrated, but that's probably just me.
Titus one and verse 5. Paul said to Titus appoint
elders in every city. God specified that the highest
governing group in the church should be elders, and that
original word meant someone of advanced age, an older and
mature man. Titus 2 verses 3 and 4
encourages quote older women to teach younger women.
Problem is, it's extremely difficult to find a woman that
actually admits to being an older woman.
Exodus 20 verse 12. This is the 5th commandment.
Honor your father and mother. And why would God tell the
ancient Israelites to do that? That your days may be long.
The blessing God promised His obedient covenant children that
honored their parents was old age.
Moses described aging as something desirable and a
blessing. Leviticus 19 verse 32 stand up
in the presence of the elderly and show respect for the aging.
Age is something to be respected and something to be honored,
something other cultures understand.
China legislated a recent law that requires adult children to
visit their parents and not to do.
That can result in punishment ranging from fines to jail time.
And that's also the similar emphasis in Korea and Japan.
In the United States, not so much.
In our culture, the aged are often abandoned in convalescent
and nursing homes. Now don't misunderstand that I
understand because of serious health problems the aged, it
happened to my mother, the aged need special 24 hour care and I
understand that. But I've been and I visited
convalescent homes for the past half century often.
I ask does anyone come to see you?
And their response is no, no one.
The older generation should never be abandoned and never be
ignored and neglected. According to the 5th Commandment
in the Decalogue. That is not how we honor our
parents. God has placed a premium on
aging. We should accept advancing age
as a blessing and a gift from God, and we should determine to
appreciate and celebrate our longevity and not just endure
it. Aging is 10% what happens to us
and 90% how we respond to it. There might need to be some
adjustments in order to accommodate the aging process.
I have a General practitioner, medical doctor, and I also have
six medical specialists because aging often includes health
problems. That's part of it.
So aging might require us to make some adjustments, but age
doesn't mean we're done. I read AT Shirt that said I'm
retired but not expired. Older generations might struggle
to keep up with emerging generations.
In some sense, especially in technology, our grandchildren
know more about our phones than we do.
If I have a phone problem, I call our oldest grandson and
he'll explain. Walk me through it.
But remember something. As long as we that are older are
alive, as long as we that are older are alive, we're still
leading. We're still leading because we
are aware of the emerging generations have never been
youthfulness is so naive. Emerging generations consisting
of baby Busters, Generation X. Our son is a Buster.
Millennials, Generation Y, and especially now members of the
Generation Z, the Zoomers, and now the most recent generation
is AA, consists of children born from 2010 to 2025.
But emerging generations have the mistaken notion that old
people have always been old and that they themselves are never
going to get old. That's called self deception.
So generations after us have to learn aging from us.
David commented on that Psalm 71 verse 18.
Now also when I'm old and Gray headed, oh God, do not forsake
me until until I declare your strength to this generation and
declare your power to everyone who is to come.
To everyone who is to come means generations that would come
after David. As older people, we've all made
mistakes, we've all had regrets. We all wish we could have some
do overs and that's not possible.
But we can pass on our experiences to emerging
generations, all of them. The good, the bad and the ugly.
We can pass on those things to generations after us so that
they can benefit from our experiences.
There's so much we can learn from older people.
Someone said aging is just mind over matter.
If we don't mind, then it doesn't matter.
Age is just a number. And that's because it's about
attitude and Caleb have the right attitude.
Principle 2. Aging should be seen as a
challenge. Verse 12 Caleb said now
therefore give me this mountain. Caleb is requesting a mountain
give me this mounting in which the Lord spoke in that day, for
you heard in that day how the Anakim were there and that the
cities were great and fortified. It may be that the Lord will be
with me and I shall be able to drive them out as the Lord said.
Remember, at this juncture, 80, Caleb is 85.
And notice he didn't. He didn't resign himself to a do
nothing rock chair rocking chair existence.
Most of his peers had already probably retired to Red Sea
Condos. Not Caleb.
He didn't go. Been there, done that, even got
the T-shirt. Someone else can do it now.
I'm done. I'm serious.
I'm done. That wasn't Caleb.
Caleb said Give me those mountains.
Caleb said. Bring on those giants, let me
out those fortified cities. Don't get me a Walker, people.
Get me a sword. I'm not through here.
That was Caleb. Some people stagnate in old age.
Those people don't just get old, they get obsolete.
I heard about a dynamic St. who suffered A cardiac arrest and
died suddenly at age 83. But after she passed, her
daughter was going through her things and found a note.
Dated the night before she died and on that note, she had listed
her personal goals for the next 10 years because she accepted
aging as a challenge. Nola Ox was born in 1911,
graduated from high school in 1929.
She married and mothered four sons, 13 grandchildren and 15
great grandchildren. She took her first college
course in 1930. Now, 56% of all students that
start college don't finish college.
She wasn't one of those unfortunate statistics.
Almost 8 decades after she started college, she graduated
from Fort Hays State University where she earned a General
Studies degree with an emphasis in History.
She was 95. Princess Cruise Line heard about
her and hired as a guest lecturer on a Caribbean cruise.
She returned and decided to go to Graduate School.
Nola earned a master's degree at age 98, the oldest Graduate
School graduate ever to that date.
And then once she turned 100, she said yes to another
challenge and accepted a job as a graduate assistant.
People, that's what I'm talking about.
Nolan, I should add, didn't die till she was 105.
As Drew mentioned, this past summer I turned 75.
We've been married for 55 years, which boggles our mind.
How did this happen so quick? 23 months ago, I accepted
probably the most difficult task God has ever assigned to me, and
that was to revitalize an older congregation.
No one was younger than 62. God assigned me the task of
revivaling that congregations, something that all the experts,
denominational experts said could not be done.
I brought in Dr. Jonathan Smith from Dallas.
He spent 2 1/2 hours one Sunday evening with our people, as many
as I could get there. And at the end of his
presentation, and he is an expert on church revitalization.
He's very, very knowledgeable. At the end of the presentation,
he said, I'm so sorry, but this church is not a candidate for
revitalization. You have money in the bank.
You'll last longer than some, but you're not going to make it.
Wow. But I said yes, ultimately yes
to that assignment. And God is doing some miraculous
things. Aging should be seen as a
challenge. Principle 3.
It's possible for our greatest achievements to come in our old
age. It's entirely possible for our
greatest achievements to come in our old age.
Numbers 14, verses 2 through 4. God said that my servant Caleb,
because he has a different spirit in him and has followed
me fully, I will bring into the land where he went.
Canaan and his descendants shall inherit it.
So Caleb assisted his partner, General Joshua in invading
Canaan, and in a series of light night lightning strike attacks,
the major strongholds in that land were conquered.
Caleb was a significant participant in that invasion,
and at age 85, that turned out to be probably his greatest
achievement. Anna Mary Robertson Moses,
better known as Grandma Moses, had no formal art training but
became a cultural icon after she started painting at age 76.
Before she died, she painted some 1600 canvases, including 25
paintings she completed at 101. She sold her first painting for
$3, and in 2006 one of her paintings sold for $1.2 million.
At age 59, the pitching phenom from the Negro Lick Leagues,
Satchel Paige, started his last Major League ball game.
He pitched for the Kansas City Athletics.
The Athletics originated in Philadelphia, Philadelphia
Athletics, then Kansas City Athletics, and then in 1968 the
Athletics moved to Oakland and became the Oakland Athletics.
And now in 2028 going to be the Las Vegas Athletics team just
can't stay still. I don't know what's going on,
but he pitched for pitched for the Athletics.
The game was September the 25th, 1965 against the Boston Red Sox.
Satchel sat in the bullpen in a rocking chair and a nurse
massaged his pitching arm and served in coffee between
innings. He pitched 3 scoreless innings
and left the game to the crowd singing The Old Gray Mare.
She ain't what she used to be. At age 64, prolific author
Charles Swindell. He's authored more than 70
books. I'm actually indebted to him for
some of this material. But Charles Swindell at 64,
started Stonebrough Community Church in North Dallas, Frisco,
to be precise. Church is a mega church.
Phenomenal facilities. Dr. Swindell retired this past
fall at age 9090, but he turns 91 this month, and each morning
he still goes to his office at Inside for Living, where he
helps facilitate transmitting his sermons on more than 2000
radio stations. At age 70, Benjamin Franklin
became the oldest signer of the Declaration of Independence.
Most people have the mistaken notion that Daniel was thrown
into the lion's den and survived when he was still a teenager.
Wrong. Most biblical historians would
argue that Daniel was tossed into the lion's den at age 80.
Billy Graham was the greatest evangelist in modern times.
He preached his last crusade in Queens, NY. 3 consecutive nights
of crusade. Each night the attendance was
more than 80,000. Billy Graham preached his last
sermon at age 86. These men and women had some of
their greatest achievements in old age.
Those people subscribe to the adage that it's never too late
to do something significant. Principle 4.
No matter how old we are, God still rewards spiritual
commitment. No matter our age.
No matter how old we are, God still rewards spiritual
commitment. Verse 13 And Joshua blessed him,
meaning Joshua blessed Caleb and gave him Hebron, and gave Hebron
to Caleb the son of Geophonah as an inheritance.
Verse 14. Hebron therefore became the
inheritance of Caleb, the son of Geophonah the Kinzenite.
To this day, because, notice, because he wholly followed the
Lord God of Israel. I should mention that that
mountain Hebron is also pronounced Hebron.
Both are acceptable pronunciations.
That last phrase he wholly followed the Lord God was used
to describe Caleb six different times in the Old Testament.
It's interesting. Biblical historians aren't
exactly sure what the name Caleb meant.
Some believe it meant dog and undomesticated dog.
But then most are convinced Caleb meant wholehearted.
Wholehearted. Caleb had a whole heart for God,
and that wholeheartedness fits this statement.
He wholly, not partially. He wholly, completely, totally
followed the Lord God of Israel. There's a sports line that reads
leave it all on the field. Coaches tell teams, get out
there and give this game everything you have.
Don't hold back anything. Leave it all on the field.
Caleb did that. Caleb demonstrated complete
devotion, unreserved enthusiasm and unconditional commitment to
God. That was Caleb at age 85.
Has that ever been us at any age?
Translated into two Testament language?
Caleb illustrates that being a Christian is a 24/7 full time
job. Being a Christian requires all
of us and all the time, no matter how old we are.
Convenient Christianity is unacceptable.
Comfortable Christianity is unacceptable.
Uncomfortable Christianity is unacceptable.
God wants a Caleb wholeheartedness from us.
Jim Elliott should sound familiar.
He's quoted so often one of the five murdered martyr new
missionaries in the Esquid Ecuadorian jungle in 1956.
I have a good friend, a pastor friend, who spent a number of
weeks there in that jungle with the formerly known as ACA
Indians. And those missionaries were
murdered in 1956. Jim Elliott said this.
When it comes time to die, make sure that all you have to do is
die. Meaning when it comes time to
die, make sure there's no unfinished spiritual business.
When it comes time to die, we are to be faithful to do all
that God required from us, and so all we have left to do is to
die. I'm part of the baby boomer
generation, the stretch from 1946 through 1964.
Together almost 77 million of us, twice the size of the Buster
generation after us, and boomers are now retiring at a record
pace. 8000 or more boomers retire each day.
There are now more retirees than ever.
Most people aren't aware, but retirement is not found in
Scripture. In fact, retirement is a recent
practice. Most historians trace retirement
to Germany's Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, who pushed through a
series of social changes in the late 19th century.
He created a German system similar to our Social Security
benefits that guaranteed a retirement pension to older
people. I'm OK with the idea that we can
require retire from our current employment, but from a biblical
perspective, a Christian should redeploy after his employment
has ended because God still requires commitment from us even
in old age. Christians can retire from Ford
Motor Company, retire from IV, retire from Bank of America,
retire from the post office in the fire department, retire from
the school district, retire from John Deere.
That's fine, that's all fine. But Christians don't retire from
being a Christian. The objective in retirement
isn't to just visit our grandchildren.
Now don't misunderstand that one reason we're here is because of
our grandchildren. We have 4 grandchildren, 2 boys,
2 girls. They're all amazing and we miss
them and they're one reason we're here.
I've always said grandchildren are God's reward to parents who
don't kill their children. And so we love to see our
grandchildren, but that's retirement after retirement.
Our objective should be more than that.
Our objective shouldn't be to just better our golf score, or
improve our tan, or just hunt and fish, or improve our
pickleball game, or restore a classic car, or just RV
ourselves until the wheels fall off.
No, no, there are short term mission trips to be taken.
There are ministries to be volunteered for.
There are marriages to be salvage.
There are people to be friend they were unsaved to be
evangelized. There are people in pain to be
counseled, children without parents to be mentored, the
underprivileged to be fed and clothed, and on and on and on.
Christians never, never retire from being a Christian and doing
all that God expects from us. Now notice Caleb's consistent
commitment was first rewarded on earth and receiving that
inheritance God promised him. Caleb had asked Joshua to give
him a mountain inside Judah. Joshua blessed him, and that
blessing acted as a sign that God had granted him that
request. So God gave Caleb Hebron the
mountain. Hebron was an important site
because it is supposedly where the ancient Jewish patriarchs
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are buried, and according to
rabbinical tradition, the first man, Adam, was also buried
there. Although no one actually knows
that Caleb wanted Hebron, and in compensation for his commitment
to God, he inherited Hebron. That was his initial reward.
God still rewards us here on this earth, our reward.
He rewards us with financial and material assets.
He rewards us with strategic personal connections.
He rewards us with promotions and recognition.
God still rewards us here, but those are only our initial
rewards. Our greatest and most permanent
rewards are reserved for us in heaven.
Matthew 5, verse 12. Jesus said rejoice and be
exceedingly glad, for great is your reward.
And where is our great reward? In Heaven In Heaven, the
organization ARAP, American Association for Retired Persons.
That organization started sending me stuff at age 50.
I go, man, this is ridiculous. I don't need this now.
That organization suggests that most people after age 50 believe
in life after death. That particular research project
revealed that confidence in life after death increases with age,
and that's because Ecclesiastes 311 reads that God has put
eternity into our hearts. The sense that we have been
created to exist forever is has been a part of all civilizations
throughout human history. Astrophological evidence
suggests that every culture, no matter how primitive, every
culture, has this God-given an eighth sense of the eternal.
There was this sense that our time on this earth is not all
there is. In a grammatical sense.
Death is not a period. Death is just a comma in the
continuation of life. Death doesn't mean termination.
Death just means a transition into the eternal.
Famous German pastor, theologian and strong anti Nazi dissident
Dietrich Bonhoeffer was executed by the Nazis just before the
liberation. His last words were oh God, this
is the end. But for me this is just the
beginning. And that's because there's an
infant amount more life on the other side of the grave than
there is on this side. Breath brings us birth brings us
into time. Death brings us into
timelessness. That's the reason it concerns
me. The contemporary Christianity
seems to focus more on the here and now.
We've all heard them. I'm not going to mention names,
Joel Osteen, but we, we've all heard them say that you know the
emphasis on being happier now, your best life now, having more
here, having good health here, solving our problems here, being
more blessed here, being more fulfilled here, being more
successful here. People, have we forgotten that
here stops at the grave? I read about someone that didn't
understand that concept. He saved and hoarded as much
money as he could throughout his lifetime because he had an
unreasonable, unbiblical affection for money.
Just before he died, he insisted his wife put his entire life
savings into the casket with him.
She was scheduled to receive sizeable life insurance
benefits, so she was provided for after his death, but he
wanted to see if he could be the one exception.
The one exception to take his personal 6 figure bank account
into the afterlife. His wife protested at first, but
then reconsidered and promised him she would do that at his
funeral. After the service, just before
the casket was closed, his wife put a small box into the casket.
The Mortuary staff then closed the casket, rolled it away.
One of the wife's friends was aware of this man's strange
request and she noticed what this woman had just done.
And she said, wait a minute, you weren't foolish enough to put
all that money into the casket, were you?
She said. I promised my husband I would
put his entire life savings into the casket with him.
This friend is frantic and shocked.
Seriously. Seriously.
You mean to tell me that you actually put all that money into
the casket? She said.
Yes, I did. I wrote him a check for the
exact amount here. Stops at the grave.
So the older we get, the more focused on the eternal we should
be. Bruce Wilkerson, famous author.
His books have sold millions of copies and also founder of Walk
Through the Bible Ministries and I've met him and spoke to him
and have listened to him at different seminars.
Bruce Wilkerson's calls that the law of the unbreakable link.
The law of the unbreakable link. Unbreakable link, meaning the
uninterrupted link between the here and the hereafter.
That law states our choices on earth have direct consequences
in heaven. That law was illustrating using
a dot and a line as on this poster and as on the note sheet.
You have notice on the note sheet the dots and then the line
beginning after the dot and then going off the edge of the page.
The dot represents our entire existence on this earth from
birth until death, and the line represents our eternal existence
in heaven. The dot is finite, the land, the
line is infinite. The dot almost never lasts more
than a century, but the line lasts forever.
Carrie was on the dot until this past Wednesday afternoon.
Now Kerry is on that line and someday we will all be on that
line. Please understand there is a
direct connection between what we do on the dots during our
life here and then what we experience on the line.
That which we do on earth as on the dot is going to be
recognized and then rewarded in heaven on the line.
That means that the at this moment, we're all existing on
the dot, but we were meant to live the line.
We need to understand that this is an eternal perspective we are
to have. We're existing on the dot, but
we are to live and invest in the line.
One of my all time favorite communicators was Howard
Hendricks from Dallas Theological Seminary.
Dallas Seminaries 1 of this nation's elite seminaries before
his death in 2013. Doctor Hendricks taught at
Dallas Seminary until age 86. All together, he taught more
than 10,000 students throughout his sixth decade tenure there as
a professor. One of the greatest
communicators I've ever heard. Some of his students have become
household names in evangelicalism.
The influence he had on Chrysodom is incalculable.
Doctor Hendricks and I heard him share this in person once,
shared how he and a small group of men had been in a Sunday
School conference at historic Moody Church in Chicago.
At lunchtime, these men were eating at a small hamburger shop
across the street and one of them noticed an older woman who
couldn't find the seat, so these gentlemen invited her to sit
with them. This widowed woman had ridden
all night long on a Greyhound bus from Upper Michigan to
attend this Sunday school conference.
Now get this this woman was 83 and at age 83 she still taught a
junior high boys Sunday school class.
People, junior high boys are potential domestic terrorists.
This woman came from a small congregation in a small Upper
Michigan town. It's combined Sunday school
attendance averaged 65, and 13 or more of them were in her
class. She said to these men, I came to
this conference for one reason, so I can learn how to be a
better Sunday school teacher. At 83, she's investing in the
line. Still investing in the line
Wanted to be a better Sunday School teacher.
At age 83, this woman was barely still on the dot, but she was
still investing in the line. Listen carefully.
After her tenure as a Sunday school teacher at that small
church, 2222 of her formal pupils graduated from Dallas
Theological Seminary and all together 84 of this teachers,
former junior high students ended up in full time
professional ministry. People that's investing in the
line. And that's what we are called on
to do and to continue to do and to continue to do and to
continue to do until we're actually on the line.
Let's bow our heads. I think I've gone over.
I apologize, Father, I thank you for Caleb, for his example, for
all of us. Even the younger people here
should be able to relate to this because their desire is to get
older. And I pray God that you will
help each of us to, to learn these lessons from Caleb.
Help us even though we're still on the dot.
Help us to invest in the line. That's what you require from us
and that is what we should give you out of gratitude for all
that you've given to us. I do want to pray for Carrie's
family during this time and her many, many friends.
We're happy for her, she's with you, but we're sad for everyone
who's been left behind. So I pray that you will comfort
and encourage their hearts. Again, thank you for this
opportunity to meet these dear people and to share your word.
And I thank you in Jesus name, Amen.