1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:04,080 Such an honor to be here today and with with Chuck and Taryn, 2 00:00:04,080 --> 00:00:06,160 two of our favorite people on the planet. 3 00:00:06,480 --> 00:00:11,520 When when Chuck said reached out to me a few months ago and said, 4 00:00:11,760 --> 00:00:14,960 would you be able to come over and we're yes, we even look at 5 00:00:14,960 --> 00:00:17,040 our diary. We're just yes, we can come. 6 00:00:17,560 --> 00:00:20,840 They're such humble leaders and as we've been able to be with 7 00:00:20,840 --> 00:00:24,160 them several days this week and they invited us into their home 8 00:00:24,160 --> 00:00:27,000 even. And they just care deeply about 9 00:00:27,000 --> 00:00:28,800 you. They care about what God is 10 00:00:28,800 --> 00:00:32,840 doing in your lives. They care about this this church 11 00:00:32,840 --> 00:00:35,840 and what God is up to. And I, I love seeing that. 12 00:00:35,840 --> 00:00:39,760 I have to say, Sherry and I, we very much love England. 13 00:00:40,240 --> 00:00:42,560 We love the UK. We might love England the most, 14 00:00:42,560 --> 00:00:46,560 but don't tell anybody else. We first came about 15 years 15 00:00:46,560 --> 00:00:48,400 ago. We met Chuck and Taryn at that 16 00:00:48,400 --> 00:00:50,280 time. And we get to come over about 17 00:00:50,280 --> 00:00:52,320 once or twice, once or twice a year. 18 00:00:52,320 --> 00:00:54,920 And I've told, I've told some people, I think I was supposed 19 00:00:54,920 --> 00:00:56,640 to have been born British. OK. 20 00:00:57,280 --> 00:01:03,280 My name is spelled Geoffrey, which no one in America spells 21 00:01:03,280 --> 00:01:06,200 Jeff that way. My mom has never been to 22 00:01:06,200 --> 00:01:09,520 England, but I think she meant me to be born in England. 23 00:01:09,520 --> 00:01:12,440 Some people have even said I have a British sense of humor, 24 00:01:12,440 --> 00:01:14,400 which I take as a huge compliment. 25 00:01:15,520 --> 00:01:19,480 But I know I'm not supposed to be British because I cannot 26 00:01:19,480 --> 00:01:23,600 drive on your roads. I hired a car. 27 00:01:23,600 --> 00:01:27,840 I hire a car every time we come over and every time it is 28 00:01:27,840 --> 00:01:32,120 helpful because Sherry is much closer to Jesus now than she was 29 00:01:32,120 --> 00:01:36,120 earlier because I hear her over and over again. 30 00:01:36,120 --> 00:01:38,640 Please, Jesus. Please, Jesus, save us. 31 00:01:41,880 --> 00:01:43,920 We love being here. Love what we're learning about 32 00:01:44,200 --> 00:01:46,720 Verso and to be here today, I was asking Chuck. 33 00:01:46,720 --> 00:01:48,520 Chuck. So there's somewhere between 80 34 00:01:48,520 --> 00:01:51,680 and 85 nations represented in this one church. 35 00:01:51,880 --> 00:01:53,760 That's awesome. Well, I need to check real 36 00:01:53,760 --> 00:01:55,440 quick. Any Americans? 37 00:01:56,640 --> 00:02:00,520 OK, 86. All right, because Sherry and I 38 00:02:00,520 --> 00:02:03,600 are from Denver and we said that my wife Sherry is here with us 39 00:02:03,600 --> 00:02:07,720 and she's an amazing speaker. You would have been better off 40 00:02:07,720 --> 00:02:10,639 to hear from her, but I got in front of the line and got ahead 41 00:02:10,639 --> 00:02:13,080 of her. So I get to, we have a couple of 42 00:02:13,080 --> 00:02:16,440 kids, today's Father's Day in the US as well. 43 00:02:16,440 --> 00:02:20,200 And so I'm missing my kids, Mike and Hillary. 44 00:02:20,200 --> 00:02:22,920 They're both or Mike and Brittany, they're both grown. 45 00:02:23,080 --> 00:02:26,000 They're both married, Mike married to Hillary, Brittany 46 00:02:26,000 --> 00:02:27,960 married to Freddie, and they're lovely. 47 00:02:27,960 --> 00:02:30,400 We love them, miss them. We're going to celebrate when we 48 00:02:30,400 --> 00:02:33,240 get back. But they matter not that much, 49 00:02:33,520 --> 00:02:36,240 because what matters is we have grandkids, right? 50 00:02:37,320 --> 00:02:40,480 Any other grandparents here? You know what I'm saying? 51 00:02:40,600 --> 00:02:41,680 Right? Exactly. 52 00:02:41,920 --> 00:02:44,600 Kids were fine. We're glad we didn't kill them 53 00:02:44,680 --> 00:02:48,360 because we have better ones now. 4 grandkids. 54 00:02:48,360 --> 00:02:51,920 We have two girls and two boys and they're just the delight of 55 00:02:51,920 --> 00:02:53,680 our lives. They live about 20 minutes from 56 00:02:53,680 --> 00:02:57,320 us and we spend as much time as we can with them and we're we're 57 00:02:57,880 --> 00:03:00,920 I, I miss them. I miss my dad. 58 00:03:00,920 --> 00:03:03,520 My dad's 92. My dad was a pastor. 59 00:03:03,760 --> 00:03:08,000 My dad just gave up his teaching his Bible study the other day 60 00:03:08,320 --> 00:03:10,320 and I did the math. My dad had been preaching or 61 00:03:10,320 --> 00:03:13,800 teaching for 77 years when he gave up his Bible study. 62 00:03:14,200 --> 00:03:19,400 But love being here and I love being here on Father's Day 63 00:03:19,400 --> 00:03:22,720 because normally on Father's Day I go to church and then I spend 64 00:03:22,720 --> 00:03:24,840 the rest of the afternoon barbecuing. 65 00:03:25,000 --> 00:03:27,480 And I like barbecuing. My wife knows I like it because 66 00:03:27,480 --> 00:03:31,080 I have 3 monstrous barbecues and I like doing it, but it's a lot 67 00:03:31,080 --> 00:03:32,840 of work to do it for the entire family. 68 00:03:33,120 --> 00:03:36,800 Today when we're done, Chuck and Karen have said we're going for 69 00:03:36,800 --> 00:03:40,640 a lovely Sunday roast and someone else cooked it, so that 70 00:03:40,640 --> 00:03:47,480 is phenomenal. But before we dive in today, you 71 00:03:47,480 --> 00:03:50,800 know, I understand you're happening to translate an 72 00:03:50,800 --> 00:03:54,320 American accent. And I will say some things today 73 00:03:54,320 --> 00:03:58,680 that make no sense to you. And I apologize for that, but I 74 00:03:58,680 --> 00:04:01,760 don't want you to hear me. I want us to hear from God. 75 00:04:02,040 --> 00:04:04,160 So would you pray with me as we dive in? 76 00:04:04,920 --> 00:04:08,000 Father, it's just such an honor today. 77 00:04:08,000 --> 00:04:10,960 And we honor you as we talk about Father's Day. 78 00:04:11,680 --> 00:04:15,400 But Lord, I thank you for just the honor and privilege to be on 79 00:04:15,400 --> 00:04:18,959 this amazing platform at this church. 80 00:04:18,959 --> 00:04:24,280 Lord, Lord, it's humbling to know that I, my job is to share 81 00:04:24,280 --> 00:04:29,560 your word and to speak in your in your presence. 82 00:04:29,880 --> 00:04:31,520 So, Lord, I pray you'll speak through me. 83 00:04:32,280 --> 00:04:34,560 Maybe if you're listening, you might pray a prayer. 84 00:04:34,560 --> 00:04:36,880 We pray this every single Sunday at my church. 85 00:04:37,840 --> 00:04:44,680 Lord, I'm here, I'm listening, speak to me. 86 00:04:45,800 --> 00:04:48,240 Maybe you'll pray this for someone sitting next to you. 87 00:04:48,240 --> 00:04:49,680 Maybe you know them, maybe you don't. 88 00:04:49,680 --> 00:04:52,080 But just pray, maybe something like this. 89 00:04:52,760 --> 00:04:54,800 Lord, I, I pray for the one next to me. 90 00:04:55,640 --> 00:04:59,560 I pray that they will listen and that they will have the wisdom 91 00:04:59,560 --> 00:05:04,080 and courage to respond to you. Are we asking your name? 92 00:05:04,560 --> 00:05:08,280 Amen. So Father's Day makes me feel a 93 00:05:08,280 --> 00:05:11,040 little bit nostalgic thinking about growing up as a kid And, 94 00:05:11,280 --> 00:05:16,400 and I, I, I, I, I try to be as humble as I can, which is not a 95 00:05:16,400 --> 00:05:18,720 word Americans use a lot, but I try. 96 00:05:19,120 --> 00:05:22,560 But I, I have some amazing skills and I want to share some 97 00:05:22,560 --> 00:05:24,120 of those skills. I think we have a slide that 98 00:05:24,120 --> 00:05:25,520 illustrates some of those skills. 99 00:05:25,800 --> 00:05:29,200 So in the middle is that many of you don't know what that is. 100 00:05:29,920 --> 00:05:32,880 That's called a telephone. I know how to use it. 101 00:05:33,080 --> 00:05:35,920 I can dial A number on that telephone. 102 00:05:36,720 --> 00:05:41,720 On the other side there's a the black and red with all of that 103 00:05:41,720 --> 00:05:44,080 coming out of it. I can do think two things with 104 00:05:44,080 --> 00:05:45,480 that. That's a cassette tape. 105 00:05:46,000 --> 00:05:49,120 I can make a mixtape. Any of you know how to do that 106 00:05:49,120 --> 00:05:50,920 mixtape there? There's my people. 107 00:05:51,160 --> 00:05:54,200 I also know how to take a #2 pencil, which you don't know 108 00:05:54,200 --> 00:05:58,680 what that is, and I know how to re spool the cassette tape, 109 00:05:59,240 --> 00:06:07,200 which you don't know how to do. Yeah, I also know how to ruin a 110 00:06:07,200 --> 00:06:10,560 marriage and a relationship trying to drive using the other 111 00:06:10,560 --> 00:06:17,040 thing which is a folding map. I can read a map, I can dial a 112 00:06:17,080 --> 00:06:20,080 telephone and I can re spool A cassette tape. 113 00:06:20,240 --> 00:06:22,480 Skills that are of no use whatsoever. 114 00:06:22,680 --> 00:06:26,720 They will never be of use again. If we had had to go with a with 115 00:06:26,720 --> 00:06:31,040 a paper map while we have been in the UK we would have died on 116 00:06:31,040 --> 00:06:35,520 Tuesday. But it makes me wonder what else 117 00:06:35,720 --> 00:06:37,440 is no longer going to be important. 118 00:06:37,440 --> 00:06:42,440 What is we see society and information increase and now AI 119 00:06:42,440 --> 00:06:45,880 and is there a point in time where not just the skills I 120 00:06:45,880 --> 00:06:48,200 have, but will I become obsolete? 121 00:06:48,800 --> 00:06:52,080 How do I honor the legacy that was passed on to me for my 122 00:06:52,080 --> 00:06:56,280 grandfather and my father? How do I pass that on to my kids 123 00:06:56,280 --> 00:07:00,320 and my grandkids? What am I leaving for the next 124 00:07:00,320 --> 00:07:02,760 generation? And I wonder about you. 125 00:07:02,760 --> 00:07:06,320 Do you ever stop to think about your legacy? 126 00:07:06,520 --> 00:07:08,920 What will be here when you are gone? 127 00:07:09,120 --> 00:07:14,640 What are you building that will bear fruit after you are with 128 00:07:14,760 --> 00:07:17,080 Jesus in heaven? And so that's what I want to 129 00:07:17,080 --> 00:07:19,280 talk about today. I want to look at a guy that if 130 00:07:19,280 --> 00:07:21,640 you've been around church, you're familiar with in the Old 131 00:07:21,640 --> 00:07:25,080 Testament called Daniel. And if you have your Bible with 132 00:07:25,080 --> 00:07:28,080 you, you can open it to Daniel or have the verses on the 133 00:07:28,080 --> 00:07:29,800 screen. But we're going to look a lot at 134 00:07:29,800 --> 00:07:34,240 the book of Daniel. But he is a man who left an 135 00:07:34,240 --> 00:07:38,720 incredible legacy. Now, his story begins with 136 00:07:38,720 --> 00:07:42,240 challenges. Daniel was taken as a slave into 137 00:07:42,240 --> 00:07:44,680 another country when he was 16 years old. 138 00:07:44,960 --> 00:07:47,560 And when they captured him and took him to the country, they 139 00:07:47,560 --> 00:07:50,520 made him a eunuch. And I'm not going to explain 140 00:07:50,520 --> 00:07:53,200 that today. That'll be a fun conversation 141 00:07:53,200 --> 00:07:55,560 with the kids that over lunch today. 142 00:07:55,920 --> 00:07:59,160 I'm just going to say it's not a good thing he was made of 143 00:07:59,160 --> 00:08:00,720 eunuch. He was forced to serve 144 00:08:00,720 --> 00:08:04,280 Nebuchadnezzar, the very man who destroyed his homeland and 145 00:08:04,280 --> 00:08:07,520 killed his family. Daniel had no money and he 146 00:08:07,520 --> 00:08:10,720 really had no real power. And yet his legacy is 147 00:08:10,720 --> 00:08:13,280 incredible. Later in the Old Testament, the 148 00:08:13,280 --> 00:08:17,520 prophet Ezekiel calls Daniel one of the three most righteous men 149 00:08:17,520 --> 00:08:21,640 to ever live. Jesus quotes Daniel as a great 150 00:08:21,640 --> 00:08:24,120 prophet. He leaves a legacy that 151 00:08:24,120 --> 00:08:27,360 thousands of years later still influences people. 152 00:08:27,360 --> 00:08:31,240 People all over the world know some of the stories we'll talk 153 00:08:31,360 --> 00:08:34,919 about today about Daniel. And So what we'll do is we're 154 00:08:34,919 --> 00:08:36,360 going to talk about four stories. 155 00:08:36,760 --> 00:08:39,559 We're going to talk about four, Four things we learned, 4 156 00:08:39,559 --> 00:08:42,559 building blocks for a legacy. And then we're going to finish 157 00:08:42,559 --> 00:08:44,440 by saying, what does that mean to me? 158 00:08:44,600 --> 00:08:46,240 So let's dive into the first story. 159 00:08:46,240 --> 00:08:48,320 The first story is a meal. A meal. 160 00:08:48,720 --> 00:08:52,640 So the Kingdom of Judah is defeated by the Babylonians, and 161 00:08:52,720 --> 00:08:55,880 the Babylonians take the best and brightest of mostly the 162 00:08:55,880 --> 00:08:59,320 young men and take the young men and take them as slaves into the 163 00:08:59,320 --> 00:09:02,520 kings of palace. And the goal here is to take all 164 00:09:02,520 --> 00:09:05,680 of the Babylon is conquering the world really. 165 00:09:05,840 --> 00:09:07,600 And they want to bring the best and the brightest. 166 00:09:07,600 --> 00:09:10,480 They want to educate them and then they want to turn them into 167 00:09:10,480 --> 00:09:15,480 useful servants in that Kingdom. And so Daniel is is captured, 168 00:09:15,480 --> 00:09:17,840 his friends are captured, they're taken to the palace and 169 00:09:18,040 --> 00:09:20,200 they're educated, created and groomed for leadership. 170 00:09:20,200 --> 00:09:23,640 And part of this program is they went, they're giving the best 171 00:09:23,640 --> 00:09:28,240 food in the Kingdom and a banquet of meats and fruit and 172 00:09:28,240 --> 00:09:31,240 delicacies from around the world is put before them. 173 00:09:31,440 --> 00:09:35,880 And I don't know if if buffet is a big thing here. 174 00:09:35,880 --> 00:09:39,200 I love a buffet because I just get all of everything that I 175 00:09:39,200 --> 00:09:41,280 want. And I start at the beginning and 176 00:09:41,280 --> 00:09:44,200 I get too much and then I need another plate, you know, to get 177 00:09:44,200 --> 00:09:47,560 the rest. But they have this banquet, this 178 00:09:47,560 --> 00:09:50,800 buffet before them. The problem is, is the food did 179 00:09:50,800 --> 00:09:54,520 not conform to Jewish law. Now, Daniel and his friends have 180 00:09:54,520 --> 00:09:59,240 been raised as as as very devout Jewish young men, and they know 181 00:09:59,240 --> 00:10:01,640 the law. But they look at this food and 182 00:10:01,640 --> 00:10:05,200 they realize we have been told by our faith, by our religion 183 00:10:05,600 --> 00:10:08,800 that we should not eat. Stop right there. 184 00:10:08,960 --> 00:10:10,960 What would you do? Like, what would you do? 185 00:10:10,960 --> 00:10:12,560 You're you're in this foreign country. 186 00:10:12,560 --> 00:10:14,760 You are a you are a servant, you are a slave. 187 00:10:15,280 --> 00:10:18,360 This food is put before you. It's amazing. 188 00:10:18,360 --> 00:10:21,600 It's like wow. But you know, it violates the 189 00:10:21,600 --> 00:10:22,960 principles that you grew up with. 190 00:10:23,200 --> 00:10:26,080 Maybe you would eat the food and ask for forgiveness later, you 191 00:10:26,080 --> 00:10:29,960 know, Hey, sorry about that God, but man, were those shrimp good, 192 00:10:30,000 --> 00:10:32,280 you know, or something like that prawns. 193 00:10:32,280 --> 00:10:36,440 Sorry. Or maybe you would pretend to 194 00:10:36,440 --> 00:10:39,160 eat the food and just keep. Quiet about it. 195 00:10:40,160 --> 00:10:44,240 Sherry when she was young, her mom would, would, would fish, 196 00:10:44,440 --> 00:10:46,360 would, would, would make fish fingers. 197 00:10:46,360 --> 00:10:49,080 OK, Sherry didn't like fish fingers. 198 00:10:49,080 --> 00:10:51,600 She wouldn't eat fish fingers. So. 199 00:10:51,800 --> 00:10:54,440 She would take her fish fingers and when her parents weren't 200 00:10:54,440 --> 00:10:57,520 looking, she would hide them behind the radiator. 201 00:10:57,600 --> 00:11:00,640 OK, Oh, you know where this story is going. 202 00:11:02,000 --> 00:11:05,480 In the summer, not a problem, but when it would get cold and 203 00:11:05,480 --> 00:11:08,480 those fish fingers, it sat there for a little while and the 204 00:11:08,480 --> 00:11:12,960 radiator comes on and the smell of old fish begins to fill the 205 00:11:12,960 --> 00:11:15,360 house. She was discovered. 206 00:11:16,760 --> 00:11:19,720 Sherry would. Have hidden the food, but here's 207 00:11:19,720 --> 00:11:22,560 what Daniel did. In Daniel 1/8 it says that 208 00:11:22,560 --> 00:11:25,760 Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and 209 00:11:25,760 --> 00:11:28,920 wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to 210 00:11:28,920 --> 00:11:33,200 defile himself in this way. See, Daniel knew that his 211 00:11:33,200 --> 00:11:35,680 decision was bigger than Justice himself. 212 00:11:35,840 --> 00:11:37,560 He. Wasn't just making a decision 213 00:11:37,560 --> 00:11:40,800 that will impact him. He knew that the other young 214 00:11:40,800 --> 00:11:42,720 leaders that were captured. With him. 215 00:11:42,840 --> 00:11:45,920 Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. He knew that they were watching 216 00:11:45,920 --> 00:11:50,520 him and so he lived by his his convictions. 217 00:11:50,520 --> 00:11:53,480 And so our first building block. If we want to build a legacy. 218 00:11:53,480 --> 00:11:58,600 Something that outlives us is to have deep convictions, to live 219 00:11:58,800 --> 00:12:01,520 by our convictions. See, people who leave a legacy 220 00:12:01,760 --> 00:12:05,880 decide what they believe. Before they are tested, Daniel. 221 00:12:05,880 --> 00:12:09,360 Didn't at that moment decide what he believed about the food. 222 00:12:09,440 --> 00:12:12,960 He had decided ahead of. Time people who build a legacy. 223 00:12:12,960 --> 00:12:17,000 They choose faithfulness over comfort and conviction over 224 00:12:17,000 --> 00:12:20,080 compromise. Daniel's convictions led to a 225 00:12:20,080 --> 00:12:22,720 legacy that outlived his challenges. 226 00:12:23,000 --> 00:12:24,640 And so we see the next few verses. 227 00:12:24,640 --> 00:12:26,920 We see the result of Daniel's stand. 228 00:12:26,920 --> 00:12:29,920 It says in verse 11. Daniel then said to the. 229 00:12:29,920 --> 00:12:32,040 Guard whom? The chief official had appointed 230 00:12:32,040 --> 00:12:36,480 over Daniel Hananiah Michelle and as I can't say those names, 231 00:12:37,080 --> 00:12:38,600 you can't. Either, so we're on the same 232 00:12:38,600 --> 00:12:40,680 page. Here we go, please. 233 00:12:40,680 --> 00:12:43,480 Test your servants for 10. Days give us nothing but 234 00:12:43,480 --> 00:12:45,600 vegetables. To eat and water to drink. 235 00:12:45,880 --> 00:12:48,760 Then compare our appearance with that of the young men who eat 236 00:12:48,760 --> 00:12:51,520 the royal food and treat your servants in accordance with what 237 00:12:51,520 --> 00:12:53,920 you see. So he agreed to this and tested 238 00:12:53,920 --> 00:12:56,480 them for 10 days. At the end of the 10 days, they 239 00:12:56,480 --> 00:12:58,680 looked. Healthier and better nourished 240 00:12:58,680 --> 00:13:00,360 than. Any of the young men who ate the 241 00:13:00,360 --> 00:13:02,800 royal food so the. Guard took away their. 242 00:13:02,800 --> 00:13:04,760 Choice food and wine. And they were. 243 00:13:05,920 --> 00:13:08,960 They were to drink and gave them vegetables instead. 244 00:13:09,600 --> 00:13:11,760 Which, by the way, did not make Daniel very popular. 245 00:13:11,760 --> 00:13:14,760 With the other guys, however. He stood by his deep 246 00:13:14,760 --> 00:13:17,160 convictions. So story number one is the meal. 247 00:13:17,520 --> 00:13:19,480 Story #2 is the dream. So. 248 00:13:19,480 --> 00:13:21,200 Nebuchadnezzar, the ruler of this. 249 00:13:21,480 --> 00:13:23,840 This empire, Babylon, he he has a. 250 00:13:23,840 --> 00:13:25,400 Dream. And so he brings. 251 00:13:25,400 --> 00:13:28,080 In all of his wise men. And he says, OK guys, I want you 252 00:13:28,080 --> 00:13:30,320 to tell me, what does the dream mean? 253 00:13:30,800 --> 00:13:33,400 And the wise men say. Absolutely. 254 00:13:33,400 --> 00:13:36,160 We'll tell you. Tell us what the dream is, he 255 00:13:36,160 --> 00:13:37,280 says. No, no, no, no, no. 256 00:13:37,280 --> 00:13:38,760 That's not how this. Works you. 257 00:13:38,760 --> 00:13:41,960 Tell me what I dreamed and then you explain what that means to 258 00:13:41,960 --> 00:13:43,960 me. And if you can't do that, I'm 259 00:13:43,960 --> 00:13:46,960 going to put you all to death. You think your line managers 260 00:13:46,960 --> 00:13:51,240 tough, right? Guess what your job is and then 261 00:13:51,240 --> 00:13:52,200 do it. Really. 262 00:13:52,400 --> 00:13:55,240 Really. Well, well, Daniel hears about 263 00:13:55,240 --> 00:13:59,280 this and he knows that not only the guys in in of the King's 264 00:13:59,280 --> 00:14:02,200 presence, but all of those in the palace, including him and 265 00:14:02,200 --> 00:14:03,560 his friends, are going to be put to death. 266 00:14:03,800 --> 00:14:07,480 So he sends word to Nebuchadnezzar that he, Daniel, 267 00:14:07,480 --> 00:14:10,480 will tell him his dream and he'll explain it. 268 00:14:10,480 --> 00:14:13,160 And here's what's interesting about this part of the story is 269 00:14:13,160 --> 00:14:16,360 at this moment, Daniel had no idea what the dream was. 270 00:14:17,000 --> 00:14:21,360 He had no idea what it meant. He was stepping out in. 271 00:14:21,360 --> 00:14:24,160 Faith. He was believing God will show 272 00:14:24,160 --> 00:14:25,560 up. God will act. 273 00:14:25,600 --> 00:14:29,240 I will move before. I know what the next steps are 274 00:14:29,240 --> 00:14:31,800 going to be. And then God honored his faith 275 00:14:31,800 --> 00:14:34,320 and allowed him to interpret the dream. 276 00:14:34,920 --> 00:14:38,560 And that's our second building block of a legacy is bold faith. 277 00:14:39,040 --> 00:14:42,200 So we have deep convictions. We have bold faith. 278 00:14:42,400 --> 00:14:46,480 Daniel's faith enabled his legacy to outlive his fear. 279 00:14:46,920 --> 00:14:51,720 Extraordinary faith is common among people who leave legacies 280 00:14:52,120 --> 00:14:56,160 in Hebrews 11/8. The writer says that by faith, 281 00:14:56,200 --> 00:15:00,080 Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as 282 00:15:00,080 --> 00:15:03,200 his as his inheritance, obeyed and went. 283 00:15:03,200 --> 00:15:07,960 Look at this last phrase, even though he did not know where he 284 00:15:07,960 --> 00:15:10,280 was going. I've thought about that a lot. 285 00:15:10,640 --> 00:15:12,840 I've thought about what if I walked into Sherry and I said, 286 00:15:12,840 --> 00:15:15,560 hey, Sherry, I think God's leading us to a new place. 287 00:15:17,240 --> 00:15:20,000 And she would say, yeah, let's talk about that. 288 00:15:20,000 --> 00:15:21,680 Let's pray about that. Let me hear about it. 289 00:15:21,680 --> 00:15:23,880 Where do you, where is it that you think God's leading us? 290 00:15:23,880 --> 00:15:27,240 And I said, no idea, but I think we should sell our home and just 291 00:15:27,240 --> 00:15:30,280 start heading east. That would not go well at all. 292 00:15:30,400 --> 00:15:32,000 That would not be a good conversation. 293 00:15:32,600 --> 00:15:35,760 But Abraham had that conversation with Sarah. 294 00:15:36,080 --> 00:15:40,600 The results of Daniel's faith when he when he told the king 295 00:15:40,600 --> 00:15:44,280 his dream and interpret it is that the king then placed Daniel 296 00:15:44,280 --> 00:15:47,240 in a high position and lavished many gifts on him. 297 00:15:47,480 --> 00:15:51,120 He made him ruler over the entire province of Babylon and 298 00:15:51,120 --> 00:15:54,360 placed him in charge of all the wise men. 299 00:15:55,000 --> 00:15:58,960 So Daniel stands on his faith. He steps out when he doesn't 300 00:15:58,960 --> 00:16:02,680 know what God's going to do. God shows up and then Daniel 301 00:16:02,760 --> 00:16:04,760 becomes one of the leaders in the Kingdom. 302 00:16:05,680 --> 00:16:09,160 So the first story we talked about the meal, we talked about 303 00:16:09,160 --> 00:16:12,160 the dream. The next story is the party. 304 00:16:13,280 --> 00:16:17,520 So eventually Nebuchadnezzar dies and his son Delshazzar 305 00:16:17,520 --> 00:16:20,040 becomes king, and Daniel is forgotten. 306 00:16:20,400 --> 00:16:24,000 Daniel winds up behind a desk. He's shuffling scrolls, he goes 307 00:16:24,000 --> 00:16:28,680 to endless meetings, and he's just another office worker in 308 00:16:29,520 --> 00:16:33,040 Belshazzar's Kingdom. So Belshazzar throws a party. 309 00:16:33,040 --> 00:16:35,640 It is what we call an America, a rager. 310 00:16:35,840 --> 00:16:38,720 The music is loud. The wine is flowing. 311 00:16:38,920 --> 00:16:41,040 People are making decisions they're going to regret 312 00:16:41,040 --> 00:16:44,640 tomorrow. Like this is a wild, wild party. 313 00:16:44,880 --> 00:16:46,680 And then in the middle. Of the party. 314 00:16:47,080 --> 00:16:50,600 Suddenly a hand appears out of nowhere. 315 00:16:50,600 --> 00:16:53,080 Not a arm, not a person, just a hand. 316 00:16:53,280 --> 00:16:55,640 And the finger begins to write on the wall. 317 00:16:55,840 --> 00:16:59,240 And I don't know about you guys, but nothing stops a party like a 318 00:16:59,240 --> 00:17:04,480 disembodied hand. So it writes on the wall. 319 00:17:04,480 --> 00:17:07,520 Everybody stops drinking, the music stops, they don't know 320 00:17:07,520 --> 00:17:10,400 what's going on. No one can read the writing. 321 00:17:10,400 --> 00:17:16,359 And suddenly Belshazzar's mum, Nebuchadnezzar's wife, remembers 322 00:17:16,359 --> 00:17:18,760 Daniel. And she says, I remember this, I 323 00:17:18,760 --> 00:17:21,760 remember this guy. And Nebuchadnezzar had a dream. 324 00:17:21,760 --> 00:17:24,839 I think he can interpret stuff. Let's go get this guy. 325 00:17:24,839 --> 00:17:28,480 So they go find Daniel. They bring him in to read the 326 00:17:28,480 --> 00:17:32,600 writing, and he's offered all kinds of gifts and a big job if 327 00:17:32,600 --> 00:17:34,760 he can do it. And Daniel turns down all the 328 00:17:34,760 --> 00:17:39,640 bribes, all the offers, and he doesn't mince words he says to 329 00:17:39,640 --> 00:17:42,360 the most powerful man in the Kingdom, a man who doesn't even 330 00:17:42,360 --> 00:17:46,240 know he exists. He reminds Belshazzar of 331 00:17:46,240 --> 00:17:50,720 Nebuchadnezzar's failure. He tells Belshazzar that he has 332 00:17:50,720 --> 00:17:53,960 made the same mistake. And then he reads the writing on 333 00:17:53,960 --> 00:17:56,520 the wall. He says, this is the inscription 334 00:17:56,520 --> 00:17:58,640 that was written. Many, many. 335 00:17:58,680 --> 00:18:01,880 Tackle, Parson, here's what these words mean. 336 00:18:02,320 --> 00:18:05,720 Many means God has numbered the days of your reign and brought 337 00:18:05,720 --> 00:18:08,920 it to an end. Tackle You have been weighed on 338 00:18:08,920 --> 00:18:14,280 the scales and found wanting. And Paris, your Kingdom is 339 00:18:14,280 --> 00:18:17,120 divided and given to the Medes and the Persians. 340 00:18:17,640 --> 00:18:20,440 How would you like to deliver that message to your boss? 341 00:18:20,440 --> 00:18:23,720 Like that would be a tough one to say, but the reality is 342 00:18:24,240 --> 00:18:26,400 Daniel stood on courageous truth. 343 00:18:26,840 --> 00:18:29,240 He didn't hide, he didn't shade it. 344 00:18:29,240 --> 00:18:34,040 He just said the truth. He was bold in his faith and he 345 00:18:34,040 --> 00:18:37,280 was courageous in truth. His commitment to truth meant 346 00:18:37,280 --> 00:18:41,160 that his legacy overcame his circumstances and the Bible is 347 00:18:41,160 --> 00:18:44,520 full of people who spoke difficult truths. 348 00:18:44,800 --> 00:18:48,240 If you remember the story of of David and Bathsheba, you 349 00:18:48,240 --> 00:18:52,040 remember the date the prophet Nathan who had to come and 350 00:18:52,040 --> 00:18:55,520 confront David and I'll never you that one of the phrases that 351 00:18:55,520 --> 00:18:59,040 stands out in the Bible is Nathan looking at the king and 352 00:18:59,040 --> 00:19:03,480 saying you are that man. In the New Testament we read 353 00:19:03,480 --> 00:19:07,360 about John the Baptist and Herod had had had married his 354 00:19:07,360 --> 00:19:10,720 sister-in-law and John the Baptist stood up to him and in 355 00:19:10,720 --> 00:19:14,040 front of the public said that is not right. 356 00:19:14,760 --> 00:19:17,120 David wrote this in the Psalm Psalm 15. 357 00:19:17,120 --> 00:19:20,480 He says, Lord, who may dwell in your sacred tent, who may live 358 00:19:20,480 --> 00:19:23,720 on your holy mountain? The one whose way is blameless 359 00:19:23,920 --> 00:19:27,880 and who is does righteous, who does what is righteous. 360 00:19:27,880 --> 00:19:30,040 Let me let me start that phrase again. 361 00:19:30,480 --> 00:19:33,680 The one whose way of life is blameless, who does what is 362 00:19:33,680 --> 00:19:37,160 righteous, who speaks the truth from the heart. 363 00:19:38,080 --> 00:19:41,160 That's what Daniel did. Daniel had this amazing faith. 364 00:19:41,160 --> 00:19:46,760 He was he, he, he, he stuck to his convictions and he spoke the 365 00:19:46,760 --> 00:19:49,800 truth boldly. One more story and this is the 366 00:19:49,800 --> 00:19:51,840 story that people all over the world know. 367 00:19:51,840 --> 00:19:53,640 Some of them know it and they don't even know where it came 368 00:19:53,640 --> 00:19:55,280 from. This is the story of the lions. 369 00:19:55,960 --> 00:19:58,760 Belshazzar dies the night of the party. 370 00:19:58,880 --> 00:20:01,560 He dies that night. Darius the Mead becomes the 371 00:20:01,560 --> 00:20:06,040 king, and now he he rules. By the time we get to the story 372 00:20:06,040 --> 00:20:08,360 of the lions, Daniel is now 80 years old. 373 00:20:08,560 --> 00:20:12,080 He was captured during the he was 16, so he's been living as a 374 00:20:12,080 --> 00:20:15,800 captive slave most of his life. He's now serving under his 375 00:20:15,800 --> 00:20:18,040 fourth king since being captured. 376 00:20:18,040 --> 00:20:21,240 And Daniel's just a normal guy. He's just a guy going to work 377 00:20:21,240 --> 00:20:24,640 every day, trying to do his job, trying to live his faith out in 378 00:20:24,640 --> 00:20:27,640 a faithless nation. He's once again made one of the 379 00:20:27,640 --> 00:20:31,120 top officials in the nation because he is a faithful person 380 00:20:31,120 --> 00:20:34,360 that can be relied on. But it didn't make him popular 381 00:20:34,360 --> 00:20:35,840 with the other government officials. 382 00:20:36,080 --> 00:20:40,000 They were jealous and they went to Darius and they said, Darius, 383 00:20:40,000 --> 00:20:42,120 you are an amazing king. You're awesome. 384 00:20:42,560 --> 00:20:44,920 Here's what you should do. You should make a decree. 385 00:20:44,920 --> 00:20:49,440 You should make a law that if anyone prays to anyone in the 386 00:20:49,440 --> 00:20:53,040 Kingdom except for you for 30 days, they get thrown into a den 387 00:20:53,040 --> 00:20:55,520 of lions. Now I think it's interesting why 388 00:20:55,520 --> 00:20:58,200 they chose punishment by lion, right? 389 00:20:58,200 --> 00:21:00,520 I don't know. They had tried if you if you 390 00:21:00,520 --> 00:21:03,680 know the story, they tried to burn some of Daniel's friends 391 00:21:03,680 --> 00:21:05,840 up, but that didn't work. So they say, well, maybe the 392 00:21:05,920 --> 00:21:09,760 maybe the lions will eat him. And so they they Darius loves 393 00:21:09,760 --> 00:21:11,520 this. That's great. 394 00:21:11,880 --> 00:21:13,920 I am so, so great. People should pray to me. 395 00:21:13,960 --> 00:21:19,240 All right, let's do that. So he signs this decree and then 396 00:21:19,920 --> 00:21:22,720 it's interesting. Some guys go to tell Daniel. 397 00:21:22,720 --> 00:21:24,600 Daniel, hey, did you hear about this decree? 398 00:21:24,600 --> 00:21:25,880 Did you hear about this law and we. 399 00:21:26,120 --> 00:21:29,040 Pick up the verse or. We pick it up in Daniel 610. 400 00:21:29,560 --> 00:21:33,080 Now, when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, 401 00:21:33,080 --> 00:21:37,320 he went home to his upstairs room where the windows open 402 00:21:37,320 --> 00:21:40,480 towards Jerusalem. And three times a day he got 403 00:21:40,480 --> 00:21:45,000 down on his knees and he prayed, giving thanks to God, just as he 404 00:21:45,000 --> 00:21:47,840 had done before. I love this picture. 405 00:21:48,280 --> 00:21:51,720 Daniel's 80 years old. He gets the news. 406 00:21:51,720 --> 00:21:55,960 He's an old man. He's faced death many, many 407 00:21:55,960 --> 00:21:58,160 times. Most of his friends, they were 408 00:21:58,160 --> 00:22:01,640 captured with him, have died of various things. 409 00:22:02,080 --> 00:22:04,240 And they tell in the news, Daniel, if you're get caught 410 00:22:04,240 --> 00:22:07,440 praying to anyone but Darius, you're you're going to be thrown 411 00:22:07,440 --> 00:22:09,000 into the den of lions. You're going to die. 412 00:22:09,000 --> 00:22:11,240 And he goes. All right, Thanks for letting me 413 00:22:11,240 --> 00:22:12,160 know. Let me know. 414 00:22:12,520 --> 00:22:16,360 I I got to go. Where are you going? 415 00:22:16,920 --> 00:22:19,640 Oh, it's it's 3:00. I I pray at three. 416 00:22:19,640 --> 00:22:20,880 I got to go pray. Wait. 417 00:22:20,880 --> 00:22:24,520 Hey, didn't you hear us? If you pray, you'll get thrown 418 00:22:24,520 --> 00:22:27,800 into den of lions. And Daniel goes, Yeah, I'm old. 419 00:22:27,800 --> 00:22:30,840 I'm not deaf. I heard you, but you're making 420 00:22:30,840 --> 00:22:34,000 me late. I got to go, and I think about 421 00:22:34,000 --> 00:22:37,360 Daniel climbing the stairs. I know when I climb the stairs, 422 00:22:37,360 --> 00:22:39,720 it sounds like somebody's playing the drums, like all the 423 00:22:39,720 --> 00:22:44,320 clicks and clacks gets to the top of the stairs. 424 00:22:45,120 --> 00:22:46,640 And he goes into his prayer room. 425 00:22:47,200 --> 00:22:51,320 And this is the same room that he prays in every day. 426 00:22:51,440 --> 00:22:56,520 Three times a day, he kneels at the same place that he kneeled 427 00:22:56,760 --> 00:23:01,120 every single day, and he opened his windows toward Jerusalem. 428 00:23:01,640 --> 00:23:04,360 And that's interesting to me. Why did he open his windows 429 00:23:04,360 --> 00:23:08,200 toward Jerusalem? Jerusalem was 500 miles away 430 00:23:08,640 --> 00:23:12,360 when Daniel prayed. Jerusalem was in ruins. 431 00:23:12,360 --> 00:23:14,440 It had been abandoned for decades. 432 00:23:14,680 --> 00:23:17,880 Wild animals roam the streets of Jerusalem. 433 00:23:18,200 --> 00:23:20,920 Why did Daniel pray facing Jerusalem? 434 00:23:21,840 --> 00:23:27,240 Because Jerusalem represented hope, and Daniel had never given 435 00:23:27,240 --> 00:23:30,800 up hope. So three times a day he kneels 436 00:23:30,800 --> 00:23:34,160 in the same spot. He opens his windows toward 437 00:23:34,160 --> 00:23:37,920 Jerusalem, and he prays just as he had always done. 438 00:23:38,640 --> 00:23:41,480 And what's amazing is we know how his prayer began. 439 00:23:41,920 --> 00:23:44,960 His prayer began. Hear, O Israel, the Lord our 440 00:23:44,960 --> 00:23:49,120 God, the Lord is 1 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and 441 00:23:49,120 --> 00:23:51,520 with all your soul and with all your strength. 442 00:23:51,960 --> 00:23:54,480 And why do we know that? That's how he started his prayer 443 00:23:55,040 --> 00:23:58,600 because that's called the Shema and faithful Jewish men always 444 00:23:58,600 --> 00:24:00,360 started their prayer with the Shabba. 445 00:24:00,880 --> 00:24:05,120 Faithful Jews almost always still 2500 years later begin 446 00:24:05,120 --> 00:24:09,920 their prayer with hero Israel the Lord, our God the Lord is 1. 447 00:24:10,440 --> 00:24:16,800 Daniel's faithfulness in prayer. His life was rooted in year 448 00:24:16,800 --> 00:24:20,840 after year after year, the faithful prayer. 449 00:24:21,600 --> 00:24:24,680 The last building block of legacy is this idea of 450 00:24:24,680 --> 00:24:28,640 consistent prayer. Daniel has established prayer as 451 00:24:28,640 --> 00:24:32,560 such a habit in his life that he can't imagine not praying. 452 00:24:32,720 --> 00:24:36,080 This day is no different. He's done this every day for 453 00:24:36,080 --> 00:24:39,720 year after year after year. His legacy is built on his 454 00:24:39,720 --> 00:24:43,720 consistent prayer. It's there's incredible strength 455 00:24:44,160 --> 00:24:47,560 in that image. It reminds me, it reminds me of 456 00:24:47,560 --> 00:24:52,400 my grandfather on Father's Day. I was thinking about grandpa and 457 00:24:52,400 --> 00:24:57,680 my grandfather grew up in the 1930s in America. 458 00:24:58,200 --> 00:25:02,320 And if you've seen old movies of the, of the the West in America 459 00:25:02,320 --> 00:25:06,240 or the Depression and how crazy, how wild it was, that was my 460 00:25:06,240 --> 00:25:08,320 grandpa. My grandpa grew up in the state 461 00:25:08,320 --> 00:25:11,080 of Oklahoma. He worked as a farmer. 462 00:25:11,080 --> 00:25:13,160 He didn't own the land, he just worked the land. 463 00:25:13,400 --> 00:25:17,080 And to make extra money, he made what we called moonshine, which 464 00:25:17,080 --> 00:25:19,120 was illegal in the 1930s in America. 465 00:25:19,320 --> 00:25:20,800 So he made moonshine and he sold it. 466 00:25:20,800 --> 00:25:24,680 He sold it to roving gangs of guys who went around robbing 467 00:25:24,680 --> 00:25:26,360 banks. That's who my grandpa hung out 468 00:25:26,360 --> 00:25:28,360 with. My grandpa was a mean man. 469 00:25:28,360 --> 00:25:31,800 In fact, he was known as the meanest man in town. 470 00:25:32,240 --> 00:25:35,400 That was a label that he had. He would go every Saturday night 471 00:25:35,640 --> 00:25:37,760 to the barn dance, and he didn't dance. 472 00:25:37,760 --> 00:25:39,120 He fought. He went to fight. 473 00:25:39,480 --> 00:25:43,400 He carried A handgun, a pistol with him everywhere he went. 474 00:25:43,640 --> 00:25:46,960 And he actually, he told me this, he filed the works of the 475 00:25:46,960 --> 00:25:51,000 pistol down so that if he shot somebody, it had a hair trigger, 476 00:25:51,000 --> 00:25:53,600 it would fire first. That's who my grandfather was. 477 00:25:53,600 --> 00:25:56,160 He was a mean man, a dangerous man. 478 00:25:56,360 --> 00:26:00,480 One day he caught someone stealing the whiskey from his 479 00:26:00,480 --> 00:26:04,120 still from his his moonshine, and he pulled out his gun. 480 00:26:04,120 --> 00:26:07,320 They pulled out their gun and my grandfather got into a gunfight 481 00:26:07,680 --> 00:26:11,800 and he shot a man in the elbow and crippled the man for life. 482 00:26:12,040 --> 00:26:15,800 The man shot him with a shotgun. There was a little tree in front 483 00:26:15,800 --> 00:26:19,200 of my grandpa, and it kept the shot, the buckshot from hitting 484 00:26:19,200 --> 00:26:21,400 his heart. And that's how he survived. 485 00:26:21,400 --> 00:26:24,960 That's who my grandpa was. But one day my grandmother got 486 00:26:24,960 --> 00:26:27,320 really, really sick. In fact, she was going to die. 487 00:26:27,320 --> 00:26:30,280 The doctor said there's nothing else we can do for her. 488 00:26:30,280 --> 00:26:33,800 And so they sent her home. And my grandmother heard about a 489 00:26:33,800 --> 00:26:36,520 couple of ladies who are traveling through that part of 490 00:26:36,520 --> 00:26:39,480 Oklahoma, and they were doing what were called tent revivals. 491 00:26:39,480 --> 00:26:43,040 They would do church services just out in a wheat field, and 492 00:26:43,040 --> 00:26:44,400 people would come and listen to them. 493 00:26:44,400 --> 00:26:47,560 And my grandma heard about that and she asked my grandfather to 494 00:26:47,560 --> 00:26:52,360 take her to this church thing. They've never been to church. 495 00:26:52,360 --> 00:26:54,000 They had no church connection at all. 496 00:26:54,240 --> 00:26:57,000 My grandfather thought she's going to die, hits her dying 497 00:26:57,000 --> 00:26:57,920 wish. I'll take her. 498 00:26:58,160 --> 00:27:02,040 So he loaded her up in the car and they went to this field. 499 00:27:02,040 --> 00:27:03,840 My grandmother was too weak to get out. 500 00:27:03,840 --> 00:27:06,600 So they just sat in the car and they roll down the windows and 501 00:27:06,600 --> 00:27:08,880 they could hear what was being said. 502 00:27:09,120 --> 00:27:12,840 And at the end of the sermon, one of the ladies preaching 503 00:27:12,840 --> 00:27:16,280 said, if you want to follow Jesus, if you want to become a 504 00:27:16,280 --> 00:27:18,880 Christ follower, just raise a hand. 505 00:27:18,880 --> 00:27:22,400 Well, my and grandma in the car weekly raised her hand. 506 00:27:22,400 --> 00:27:24,080 She couldn't get out, she couldn't walk forward. 507 00:27:24,080 --> 00:27:27,280 No one saw it. She didn't know what following 508 00:27:27,320 --> 00:27:28,720 Jesus meant. She had no idea. 509 00:27:28,720 --> 00:27:31,320 She just knew that she had no other choices. 510 00:27:31,640 --> 00:27:35,120 She raised her hand and then nothing happened. 511 00:27:35,760 --> 00:27:38,360 And so they drove home. But then she began to get 512 00:27:38,360 --> 00:27:41,600 better, and she began to Her health was beginning to be 513 00:27:41,600 --> 00:27:44,800 restored. And she told my grandfather when 514 00:27:44,800 --> 00:27:47,120 I'm well enough. I want to go to. 515 00:27:47,120 --> 00:27:49,760 Church. And I want to go to the church 516 00:27:49,760 --> 00:27:51,360 that was sponsoring that revival. 517 00:27:51,360 --> 00:27:53,800 Well, that church. Was a crazy Pentecostal 518 00:27:53,800 --> 00:27:56,640 charismatic pre vineyard vineyard. 519 00:27:56,640 --> 00:28:00,040 Church like they did they. Ran around and yelled and jumped 520 00:28:00,040 --> 00:28:03,840 and they did all the stuff. Right, my grandpa said it and no 521 00:28:03,920 --> 00:28:05,680 there and I'll. Never do that. 522 00:28:06,520 --> 00:28:08,360 Said some other words I won't. Repeat. 523 00:28:08,360 --> 00:28:08,880 He just. It was. 524 00:28:08,880 --> 00:28:11,760 Just bad. He stormed out of the house he 525 00:28:11,760 --> 00:28:15,160 was so angry and he was walking down a red. 526 00:28:15,160 --> 00:28:19,240 Clay St. in the. In in in a little village in 527 00:28:19,240 --> 00:28:21,600 Oklahoma. And this is my grandpa's story, 528 00:28:21,600 --> 00:28:24,080 not mine, but what he. Said is something. 529 00:28:24,400 --> 00:28:29,160 Knocked him on his face and he fell face down in the dirt and 530 00:28:29,160 --> 00:28:31,320 he thought that God was going to kill him. 531 00:28:32,280 --> 00:28:36,160 He said, God, if you let me live, I'll figure out how to 532 00:28:36,200 --> 00:28:39,960 follow you. And he got up and he went back 533 00:28:39,960 --> 00:28:42,760 to the house and he told my grandma we're going to go to 534 00:28:42,760 --> 00:28:47,560 that church. So they went and he tried, he 535 00:28:47,560 --> 00:28:49,320 figured out how to be a Christ follower. 536 00:28:49,600 --> 00:28:52,720 And I, one of the things he did in that church that they would 537 00:28:52,720 --> 00:28:54,480 raise their hands like we do here, right? 538 00:28:54,480 --> 00:28:57,040 And during the worship, well, there were some ladies raising 539 00:28:57,040 --> 00:28:58,600 their hands and they were just keeping them up. 540 00:28:58,600 --> 00:29:00,840 And my grandfather thought that how do they do that? 541 00:29:00,840 --> 00:29:03,720 He pulled his watch out and started timing how long they 542 00:29:03,720 --> 00:29:05,880 could keep their hands. That was my grandfather. 543 00:29:07,320 --> 00:29:09,760 But he followed Jesus eventually. 544 00:29:09,760 --> 00:29:12,640 If you ever read The Grapes of Wrath by Steinbeck, that's my 545 00:29:12,640 --> 00:29:15,320 grandpa's story. They moved to California, they 546 00:29:15,320 --> 00:29:18,440 became farmers. And then he wound up in Northern 547 00:29:18,440 --> 00:29:21,680 California and he wound up putting together enough money. 548 00:29:21,680 --> 00:29:25,840 He bought a little store and a gas station and he got committed 549 00:29:25,840 --> 00:29:28,000 in the church. He became a lay pastor in the 550 00:29:28,000 --> 00:29:32,760 church. But he and his his boys weren't 551 00:29:32,760 --> 00:29:35,560 didn't follow Jesus. They were teenagers, My dad, my 552 00:29:35,560 --> 00:29:38,560 uncle. And every day at 1:00, my 553 00:29:38,560 --> 00:29:42,120 grandpa would go in the back of the store and he'd begin to 554 00:29:42,120 --> 00:29:45,080 pray. But my grandpa somehow thought 555 00:29:45,080 --> 00:29:49,240 that God didn't hear too well. So he prayed at the top of his 556 00:29:49,240 --> 00:29:54,040 lungs. He just, oh, God, I can imagine 557 00:29:54,040 --> 00:29:57,720 how that went over in the store. But he was praying for his boys. 558 00:29:57,720 --> 00:30:00,560 He's praying for his boys. God, you've got to get a hold of 559 00:30:00,560 --> 00:30:02,200 my boys, get a hold of their hearts. 560 00:30:02,200 --> 00:30:06,080 And one by one, first my uncle, then my dad, they did commit 561 00:30:06,080 --> 00:30:08,360 their lives to Christ. And my grandpa felt that he was 562 00:30:08,360 --> 00:30:11,720 supposed to be a church planter and he was kind of like Abraham. 563 00:30:11,800 --> 00:30:13,520 He said. It's supposed to be back in 564 00:30:13,520 --> 00:30:16,280 Oklahoma. I don't know where God gave him 565 00:30:16,280 --> 00:30:18,400 a picture of a building. He didn't even know where that 566 00:30:18,400 --> 00:30:20,520 building was. He just saw this picture of a 567 00:30:20,760 --> 00:30:22,520 abandoned building in a wheat field. 568 00:30:22,840 --> 00:30:25,760 He sold the store. He loaded up their furniture and 569 00:30:25,760 --> 00:30:29,120 that they headed toward Oklahoma and they just drove. 570 00:30:29,480 --> 00:30:32,120 They're driving through a wheat field, and my grandpa stops the 571 00:30:32,120 --> 00:30:34,640 truck and he says that's the building. 572 00:30:37,920 --> 00:30:39,240 They go. They find somebody who knows 573 00:30:39,240 --> 00:30:40,800 about the building. They said it's abandoned, you 574 00:30:40,800 --> 00:30:42,320 can use it, whatever you want to do. 575 00:30:42,320 --> 00:30:43,720 And they started a little church. 576 00:30:43,720 --> 00:30:46,840 And my grandma started inviting the children to come and hear 577 00:30:46,960 --> 00:30:49,640 Bible stories and built the church. 578 00:30:49,640 --> 00:30:54,080 And then he moved on and planted another church and planted 579 00:30:54,080 --> 00:30:57,400 another church. My grandpa, my grandpa died at 580 00:30:57,400 --> 00:31:02,440 70. And at 70, he knew he'd lived a 581 00:31:02,440 --> 00:31:05,160 better life than he started out, and he knew that his kids 582 00:31:05,160 --> 00:31:08,200 followed Jesus. But my grandpa never knew his 583 00:31:08,200 --> 00:31:11,600 legacy. His legacy was built on that 584 00:31:11,600 --> 00:31:13,880 prayer. I remember as a kid, we'd go see 585 00:31:13,880 --> 00:31:16,400 grandpa and grandma and we'd stay with them. 586 00:31:16,560 --> 00:31:18,200 And at one O clock we'd have lunch. 587 00:31:18,240 --> 00:31:20,520 And at one O clock we would all go into the room. 588 00:31:20,880 --> 00:31:24,800 Had a sofa? Had a chair and my grandpa would 589 00:31:25,000 --> 00:31:28,360 kneel down at his chair and the kids, we'd kneel down at this 590 00:31:28,360 --> 00:31:32,560 scratchy sofa and grandpa would begin to pray at the top of his 591 00:31:32,560 --> 00:31:34,880 lungs. And after about 3 minutes as a 592 00:31:34,880 --> 00:31:36,920 kid, I'd prayed everything I needed to pray. 593 00:31:36,920 --> 00:31:42,320 I was good to go. 30 minutes later, grandpa still pray and 594 00:31:42,320 --> 00:31:45,640 still pray, and I'd fall asleep with my face on that sofa. 595 00:31:47,280 --> 00:31:49,200 But my grandpa never saw his legacy. 596 00:31:50,240 --> 00:31:55,200 His son, my dad became a pastor. His other son became a pastor. 597 00:31:55,200 --> 00:31:59,440 His daughter married a pastor. All their kids became pastors. 598 00:31:59,600 --> 00:32:02,600 All their grandkids became Christ's followers and pastors. 599 00:32:03,360 --> 00:32:08,000 Today across the world there are over 25 or 30 different pastors 600 00:32:08,000 --> 00:32:12,360 speaking as I today preaching to congregations that are all 601 00:32:12,360 --> 00:32:15,560 directly related grandkids of my grandpa. 602 00:32:17,040 --> 00:32:20,800 But what my grandpa never saw and I I'm not sure if we have a 603 00:32:20,800 --> 00:32:23,960 picture. I must not have got the picture 604 00:32:23,960 --> 00:32:24,800 there. I apologize. 605 00:32:26,480 --> 00:32:31,240 Few weeks ago I stood. And watched as my son. 606 00:32:32,080 --> 00:32:36,960 There it is, baptized. My oldest granddaughter, my 607 00:32:36,960 --> 00:32:41,800 grandpa's great, great granddaughter being baptized. 608 00:32:42,440 --> 00:32:45,520 Why? Because this was a man who was 609 00:32:45,680 --> 00:32:50,560 faithful in prayer. This was a man who was knew what 610 00:32:50,560 --> 00:32:55,160 his convictions were. He stood in faith and he spoke 611 00:32:55,200 --> 00:32:59,840 the truth. And that's the example I have. 612 00:33:01,400 --> 00:33:03,880 So let's finish Daniel's story. He was in trouble. 613 00:33:03,880 --> 00:33:07,640 He was praying. He got caught praying to God. 614 00:33:08,120 --> 00:33:10,000 And they go and tell Darius and Darius. 615 00:33:10,200 --> 00:33:14,920 Throws him in the pit with the. Lions and the next day, Darius 616 00:33:14,920 --> 00:33:16,560 comes to see. What happened? 617 00:33:17,000 --> 00:33:19,800 And it says in verse 19, at the first light of dawn, the king 618 00:33:19,800 --> 00:33:21,600 got up and hurried to the lion's den. 619 00:33:21,960 --> 00:33:24,720 When he came near the den, he called to Daniel in an anguish 620 00:33:24,720 --> 00:33:26,720 voice. Daniel, servant of the living. 621 00:33:26,720 --> 00:33:29,920 God has your God. Whom you serve continually been 622 00:33:29,920 --> 00:33:31,920 able to rescue you for the lions. 623 00:33:32,160 --> 00:33:34,480 And Daniel answered, May the king live forever. 624 00:33:34,760 --> 00:33:39,240 May God, my God sent his Angel, and he shut the mouths of the 625 00:33:39,240 --> 00:33:40,880 lions. And they have not hurt me 626 00:33:41,080 --> 00:33:44,640 because I was found innocent in his sight, nor have I ever done 627 00:33:44,640 --> 00:33:46,560 any wrong before you, Your Majesty. 628 00:33:47,000 --> 00:33:50,280 The king was overjoyed and gave orders to lift Daniel out of the 629 00:33:50,280 --> 00:33:52,240 den. And when Daniel was lifted from 630 00:33:52,240 --> 00:33:53,800 the den, no wound was found on him. 631 00:33:53,800 --> 00:33:57,000 Why? Because he trusted in God. 632 00:33:57,480 --> 00:34:00,960 Because Daniel trusted in God, a powerful legacy was built. 633 00:34:01,320 --> 00:34:03,840 It was built on his deep convictions and on his bold 634 00:34:03,840 --> 00:34:07,680 faith, and on courageous truth, and on a consistent prayer. 635 00:34:08,360 --> 00:34:11,199 Now, most of us will never have be called on to interpret a 636 00:34:11,199 --> 00:34:14,880 King's dream, or to confront a king with his sins, or to spend 637 00:34:14,880 --> 00:34:18,760 the night in a lion's den. Any night with cats is bad, but 638 00:34:18,760 --> 00:34:24,760 I'd sight. But every one of us will decide 639 00:34:24,760 --> 00:34:26,639 what kind of life. We're building. 640 00:34:27,679 --> 00:34:29,239 Building a life that lives beyond us. 641 00:34:29,239 --> 00:34:32,880 A lasting legacy. It's rarely built in dramatic 642 00:34:32,880 --> 00:34:35,800 moments. It's built in one decision at a 643 00:34:35,800 --> 00:34:38,560 time. It's built in one conviction 1. 644 00:34:38,560 --> 00:34:40,440 Step of faith one difficult. Truth. 645 00:34:40,840 --> 00:34:45,880 One prayer this week Which building block needs your 646 00:34:45,880 --> 00:34:48,600 attention is God calling you to? Stand. 647 00:34:48,600 --> 00:34:52,760 Firm on a conviction is God calling you not to take a leap 648 00:34:52,760 --> 00:34:57,080 of faith, but a step of faith? Is there a difficult truth? 649 00:34:57,080 --> 00:35:00,600 In a relationship that God saying you need to speak up, you 650 00:35:00,600 --> 00:35:05,200 need to say the truth or is God saying, let's rebuild that 651 00:35:05,200 --> 00:35:08,200 prayer life, no condemnation, no guilt. 652 00:35:08,200 --> 00:35:10,600 You know, you promised I'm going to pray every day and I'm going 653 00:35:10,600 --> 00:35:13,400 to pray in the morning. And it didn't follow through. 654 00:35:13,400 --> 00:35:15,800 And God saying, let's take a next step. 655 00:35:17,080 --> 00:35:19,600 Daniel's legacy wasn't built in a day. 656 00:35:19,920 --> 00:35:23,920 It was built over a lifetime. And for some of us, we hear a 657 00:35:23,920 --> 00:35:26,560 message like this and we think that would have been great when 658 00:35:26,560 --> 00:35:28,760 I was 20. It would have been great when I 659 00:35:28,760 --> 00:35:30,680 was 30. It was been, it would have been 660 00:35:30,680 --> 00:35:32,440 great before I made this mistake. 661 00:35:32,960 --> 00:35:36,360 It would have been great before these things happened with my 662 00:35:36,360 --> 00:35:38,680 kids. But it's too late. 663 00:35:40,000 --> 00:35:41,640 There's a. Phrase we use at our church all 664 00:35:41,640 --> 00:35:47,280 the time from this day forward, from this day forward, God is 665 00:35:47,280 --> 00:35:49,680 not here to condemn you for your past. 666 00:35:49,960 --> 00:35:52,080 We ask for his forgiveness. We're forgiven. 667 00:35:53,160 --> 00:35:59,360 God is saying, what is your step today toward the legacy that you 668 00:35:59,360 --> 00:36:01,240 will leave for the next generation? 669 00:36:02,040 --> 00:36:05,440 Kind of pray with you guys. Lord, I am so thankful for the 670 00:36:05,440 --> 00:36:09,280 legacy that I have for my grandfather, for my father, for 671 00:36:09,280 --> 00:36:12,840 my family. Lord, I know that so many times 672 00:36:12,840 --> 00:36:18,880 I have come short of stewarding that legacy, but Lord, you are 673 00:36:18,880 --> 00:36:21,720 faithful. Lord, I pray for those who are 674 00:36:21,720 --> 00:36:25,080 here today. Chuck talked about Father's Day 675 00:36:25,080 --> 00:36:27,440 being a tough day. It can be so, so bad. 676 00:36:28,200 --> 00:36:31,080 Many of us didn't receive a legacy from our Father. 677 00:36:31,880 --> 00:36:34,840 Some of us are not in a place where we can leave a legacy to 678 00:36:34,840 --> 00:36:38,920 our own children. The Lord, every one of us, man 679 00:36:38,920 --> 00:36:44,520 or woman, we can take a step today that will impact the next 680 00:36:44,520 --> 00:36:47,120 generation. Lord, give us wisdom and guide 681 00:36:47,120 --> 00:36:48,800 us in your name.