1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:03,880 Our Scripture reading today Genesis chapter 23 verses one 2 00:00:03,880 --> 00:00:10,520 through 619 through 20 and 25 Chapter 25 verses 7 through 11. 3 00:00:11,640 --> 00:00:17,520 Sarah lived to be 127 years old. She died at curieth Arba, that 4 00:00:17,520 --> 00:00:21,640 is Hebron in the land of Canaan. And Abram went to more. 5 00:00:21,640 --> 00:00:25,360 Abraham went to mourn for Sarah and to weep over her. 6 00:00:25,880 --> 00:00:29,760 Then Abraham rose from beside his dead wife and spoke to the 7 00:00:29,760 --> 00:00:32,439 Hittites. He said, I am a foreigner and 8 00:00:32,439 --> 00:00:35,560 stranger among you. Sell me some property for a 9 00:00:35,560 --> 00:00:38,720 burial site here so I can bury my dead. 10 00:00:39,600 --> 00:00:42,880 Afterward Abraham buried his wife Sarah in The Cave in the 11 00:00:42,880 --> 00:00:48,160 field of Machpelah near Mamre, which is Hebron and the land of 12 00:00:48,160 --> 00:00:52,120 Canaan. So the field and The Cave in it 13 00:00:52,320 --> 00:00:57,240 were deeded to Abraham by the Hittites as a burial site. 14 00:00:57,920 --> 00:01:03,200 Abraham lived 175 years. Then Abraham breathed his last 15 00:01:03,440 --> 00:01:07,960 and died at a good old age, as an old man and full of years, 16 00:01:10,120 --> 00:01:11,800 and he was gathered to his people. 17 00:01:12,240 --> 00:01:16,200 His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in The Cave of 18 00:01:16,200 --> 00:01:20,120 Machpelah near Mamrie, in the field of Ephron, son of Zohar 19 00:01:20,120 --> 00:01:23,920 the Hittite, the field Abraham had bought from the Hittites. 20 00:01:24,520 --> 00:01:27,120 There Abraham was buried with his wife Sarah. 21 00:01:27,800 --> 00:01:32,520 After Abraham's death, God bless his son Isaac, who then lived 22 00:01:32,520 --> 00:01:35,040 near Bayer. Lahai Roy. 23 00:01:35,640 --> 00:01:39,600 May the Lord add his blessing to the reading and the hearing of 24 00:01:39,600 --> 00:01:44,240 His Word. We're talking today about this 25 00:01:44,240 --> 00:01:47,240 question. What do we really owe to the 26 00:01:47,240 --> 00:01:52,120 past and future generations? Now I'm going to start with some 27 00:01:52,120 --> 00:01:56,160 shocking news that no one has heard before. 28 00:01:56,160 --> 00:01:59,720 I'm sure this will be quite scandalous. 29 00:02:00,120 --> 00:02:05,160 Sarah and Abraham died. You all knew that already. 30 00:02:05,320 --> 00:02:07,480 If you didn't know it before, which you did, you would have 31 00:02:07,480 --> 00:02:09,280 known it after I read it just a minute ago. 32 00:02:10,600 --> 00:02:15,040 This is shocking though. In one sense, Sarah and Abraham 33 00:02:15,040 --> 00:02:19,960 played such a huge role in the story of faith, in the story of 34 00:02:19,960 --> 00:02:21,920 history. I heard someone say once, years 35 00:02:21,920 --> 00:02:25,880 and years ago, that another way of saying history is his story, 36 00:02:26,440 --> 00:02:30,720 his being God's story. And in God's story, Sarah and 37 00:02:30,720 --> 00:02:34,160 Abraham played a much larger role than most people do. 38 00:02:35,320 --> 00:02:39,840 They were, it was through them and through their faithfulness 39 00:02:40,160 --> 00:02:44,200 that God has been able to bless all the nations of the world 40 00:02:45,400 --> 00:02:49,760 through eventually the birth of his Son, Jesus Christ, through 41 00:02:49,760 --> 00:02:52,040 their faithfulness. It's a, it's a big role. 42 00:02:52,040 --> 00:02:55,680 And yet, and yet, right here, it's still the first book in the 43 00:02:55,680 --> 00:03:00,960 Bible and Abraham and Sarah dead, dead and buried. 44 00:03:02,200 --> 00:03:05,160 More text, I think. I haven't done actual line 45 00:03:05,160 --> 00:03:09,960 counting, but I think we get more text devoted to Abraham and 46 00:03:09,960 --> 00:03:12,520 Sarah than anyone else in the Bible up to this point. 47 00:03:12,720 --> 00:03:15,000 Noah got a lot. So maybe, maybe Noah had a 48 00:03:15,000 --> 00:03:18,160 little bit more Noah. Noah has died too, but Abraham, 49 00:03:18,160 --> 00:03:23,320 Sarah, Abraham, Sarah died. And it's just that far into the 50 00:03:23,320 --> 00:03:26,360 book, and then the story goes on. 51 00:03:28,880 --> 00:03:32,320 That's part of what I want us to keep in mind, not only 52 00:03:32,320 --> 00:03:35,800 throughout this sermon, but throughout our lives, that no 53 00:03:35,800 --> 00:03:39,800 matter how big a role that we play in his story, we're going 54 00:03:39,800 --> 00:03:42,120 to die. If Jesus doesn't come back 55 00:03:42,120 --> 00:03:46,280 first, we're going to die. And the story will go on. 56 00:03:47,440 --> 00:03:51,280 The story goes on after us and the story was going on long 57 00:03:51,280 --> 00:03:54,720 before us. This is a very, very long story 58 00:03:54,720 --> 00:03:57,800 that we're in that Abraham and Sarah, It's the same story we're 59 00:03:57,800 --> 00:03:59,240 in. It's very long. 60 00:03:59,240 --> 00:04:03,640 In fact, this story is going to go on forever and ever and ever 61 00:04:03,760 --> 00:04:09,360 and ever in the Kingdom that God establishes, has already 62 00:04:09,360 --> 00:04:12,400 established and will make real and present and full on this 63 00:04:12,400 --> 00:04:17,160 earth. And, and our role in that story 64 00:04:18,079 --> 00:04:22,960 is in reality quite small, quite small. 65 00:04:23,480 --> 00:04:25,040 The story we're in is a long one. 66 00:04:25,440 --> 00:04:28,560 And each one of us plays only a very small part. 67 00:04:29,760 --> 00:04:33,440 Now, the truth of that statement, I think is, is almost 68 00:04:33,440 --> 00:04:37,400 undeniable. Think about it this way. 69 00:04:38,280 --> 00:04:41,760 Can you tell me the name, first name of your great, great, great 70 00:04:41,880 --> 00:04:45,680 grandfather? Probably not. 71 00:04:46,640 --> 00:04:49,080 I couldn't tell you the first name of my great, great, great, 72 00:04:49,080 --> 00:04:52,960 great grandfather, or grandmother for that matter, on 73 00:04:52,960 --> 00:04:58,880 either side of my family. One of these days, one of these 74 00:04:58,880 --> 00:05:05,320 days, there won't be a person alive that remembers my name or 75 00:05:05,320 --> 00:05:06,760 yours. Now, they might come across a 76 00:05:06,760 --> 00:05:09,640 plaque someplace with our name written on it and they'll say 77 00:05:10,040 --> 00:05:12,000 who's that? And someone will say, I don't 78 00:05:12,000 --> 00:05:13,600 know what. They must have left some money, 79 00:05:15,680 --> 00:05:17,960 their names on a plaque. They probably left some money. 80 00:05:20,720 --> 00:05:24,280 We play a very small part and a very long story. 81 00:05:24,680 --> 00:05:29,720 And that truth is important for us to keep in mind because it 82 00:05:29,720 --> 00:05:33,760 humbles us, keeps us from thinking more highly of our of 83 00:05:33,760 --> 00:05:37,040 ourselves than we ought to. But that truth can have some 84 00:05:38,120 --> 00:05:43,160 pathological kinds of outgrowths from it, twisting it in some 85 00:05:43,160 --> 00:05:45,920 ways. There's a philosophy that's it's 86 00:05:45,920 --> 00:05:48,240 an older, it's an old philosophy, but it's growing in 87 00:05:48,240 --> 00:05:51,080 popularity again. The philosophy called nihilism 88 00:05:51,080 --> 00:05:54,720 sometimes pronounced nihilism. Either pronunciation is correct. 89 00:05:54,840 --> 00:05:58,160 And no matter how you pronounce it, nihilism is a a pretty 90 00:05:58,160 --> 00:06:01,520 insidious kind of thing. The basic premise of nihilism 91 00:06:01,520 --> 00:06:03,640 is, is, is none of it matters life. 92 00:06:03,640 --> 00:06:06,000 There's no purpose, there's no meeting, there's no point. 93 00:06:06,440 --> 00:06:09,800 We're here for a little while by accident, then we're gone and we 94 00:06:09,800 --> 00:06:12,880 never come back, and eventually our atoms just get scattered 95 00:06:12,880 --> 00:06:15,480 throughout the universe. There is no point. 96 00:06:15,680 --> 00:06:17,720 There is no purpose, there is no meaning. 97 00:06:17,840 --> 00:06:20,920 Some people take nihilism and say, then eat, drink and 98 00:06:20,920 --> 00:06:24,920 Mayberry for tomorrow we die. And others take nihilism and say 99 00:06:25,080 --> 00:06:27,840 ravage, kill, plunder and maim, for tomorrow we die. 100 00:06:28,240 --> 00:06:31,960 And others say, why do anything for tomorrow we die. 101 00:06:33,360 --> 00:06:36,000 There's no point and anything that we do. 102 00:06:36,200 --> 00:06:38,880 So whatever I do, there's no point to it. 103 00:06:38,880 --> 00:06:41,720 Whatever I don't do, there's no point to it. 104 00:06:41,960 --> 00:06:44,480 And there's no negative, there's no positive. 105 00:06:44,720 --> 00:06:50,000 It's all just meaningless. It's a philosophy that's growing 106 00:06:50,000 --> 00:06:53,520 in popularity, particularly among our younger generations. 107 00:06:53,800 --> 00:06:59,680 It is a philosophy that within the context of our faith and our 108 00:06:59,680 --> 00:07:03,840 hope that we have received from the countless generations that 109 00:07:03,840 --> 00:07:08,240 have gone before us, we can easily reject that philosophy as 110 00:07:08,240 --> 00:07:13,160 followers of Jesus because we know there is meaning, there is 111 00:07:13,160 --> 00:07:15,480 purpose. We're not here by accident. 112 00:07:15,480 --> 00:07:19,240 We're here on purpose. God intends us to be here. 113 00:07:19,240 --> 00:07:22,960 There's not a person, whoever has or ever will live and 114 00:07:22,960 --> 00:07:25,920 breathe on this earth who is not here on purpose. 115 00:07:26,080 --> 00:07:28,360 By God, God knows everyone's name. 116 00:07:29,680 --> 00:07:32,480 Everyone's name. Life is not meaningless. 117 00:07:32,640 --> 00:07:38,560 History is his story, and it is going somewhere with meaning and 118 00:07:38,560 --> 00:07:42,160 with purpose. But how do we pass that on? 119 00:07:43,240 --> 00:07:47,640 How do we pass that on? One of the things we need to 120 00:07:47,640 --> 00:07:52,840 remember as we're pondering this is that we owe a debt to the 121 00:07:52,840 --> 00:07:56,320 people who have gone before us, those who were in the past that 122 00:07:56,320 --> 00:07:59,920 went before that, passed that story on, so that we even know 123 00:07:59,920 --> 00:08:03,760 the story, so that we know the faith, hope, and love in God. 124 00:08:03,760 --> 00:08:06,160 Abraham and Sarah are among those folks. 125 00:08:06,160 --> 00:08:10,120 They lived lives of faith, believing in God and obediently 126 00:08:10,120 --> 00:08:13,280 following God, not perfectly. They made some mistakes. 127 00:08:13,280 --> 00:08:15,920 They made some small mistakes. They made some really big 128 00:08:15,920 --> 00:08:19,520 mistakes. They did some small sins. 129 00:08:19,520 --> 00:08:25,000 They did some really big sins and yet they persisted in their 130 00:08:25,000 --> 00:08:30,640 faith in God, following where he led, obeying him as they could. 131 00:08:31,720 --> 00:08:34,080 And because of their faith, Isaac was born. 132 00:08:34,240 --> 00:08:37,919 And because Isaac was born, the promise continued and eventually 133 00:08:37,919 --> 00:08:40,320 Jesus was born. And eventually someone built 134 00:08:40,320 --> 00:08:44,159 this wonderful building right here and Meigs County, Ohio, and 135 00:08:44,159 --> 00:08:47,240 made these pews and, and, and we're sitting here worshiping 136 00:08:47,240 --> 00:08:51,600 God today. And we owe a debt to every 137 00:08:51,600 --> 00:08:58,520 person who has gone before us on this long, long journey because 138 00:08:58,640 --> 00:09:00,840 we're not starting from the beginning. 139 00:09:02,640 --> 00:09:06,760 We're starting a few thousand years in and we know things that 140 00:09:06,760 --> 00:09:10,720 Abraham and Sarah didn't know. We know how their story went. 141 00:09:10,720 --> 00:09:13,400 For one thing, they had to live it to find out how it went. 142 00:09:13,400 --> 00:09:17,040 We get to read about it. They had to live it to see that 143 00:09:17,040 --> 00:09:20,400 God does keep his promise and can keep his promise and will 144 00:09:20,400 --> 00:09:21,920 always keep his promise. They had to live. 145 00:09:22,040 --> 00:09:23,360 We can. We've read about it. 146 00:09:23,480 --> 00:09:27,280 So we start from a point further down the road because of the 147 00:09:27,280 --> 00:09:30,400 people that were traveling on this road before us and we owe 148 00:09:30,400 --> 00:09:34,480 them a debt. We owe have a responsibility to 149 00:09:34,480 --> 00:09:38,560 the future, future generations, those who will come after us. 150 00:09:39,440 --> 00:09:43,120 We have a responsibility to them in the same way that Sarah and 151 00:09:43,120 --> 00:09:48,120 Abraham had a responsibility to Isaac, that they knew the story 152 00:09:48,120 --> 00:09:50,600 wasn't going to end with them because God had told them. 153 00:09:50,600 --> 00:09:53,520 You're going to be the the parents of a great nation and 154 00:09:53,520 --> 00:09:55,720 all the nations of the world will be blessed through you. 155 00:09:55,720 --> 00:09:59,640 And when they died, when they died, they had one son from that 156 00:09:59,640 --> 00:10:03,440 promise, one child from that promise, Isaac. 157 00:10:03,680 --> 00:10:07,240 Abraham had other kids. But it was only through the 158 00:10:07,240 --> 00:10:10,600 promise that God made to Sarah and Abraham together, one of 159 00:10:10,640 --> 00:10:15,800 their descendants, a child of their union, that this promise 160 00:10:15,800 --> 00:10:18,040 would come through. They have one kid, one kid. 161 00:10:18,320 --> 00:10:21,800 And we're told, you know, Abraham lived to a ripe old age. 162 00:10:21,800 --> 00:10:26,320 Sarah LED both of them. I mean 120 sevens old, 170 fives 163 00:10:26,320 --> 00:10:30,400 really old unless you're an Abraham's family. 164 00:10:31,800 --> 00:10:34,240 Are you aware? Are you aware? 165 00:10:34,240 --> 00:10:37,240 I did not realize this till I really started digging into the 166 00:10:37,240 --> 00:10:39,960 Noah story. Actually I'm researching for 167 00:10:39,960 --> 00:10:43,240 this time, preaching and teaching through it that Shem is 168 00:10:43,240 --> 00:10:49,200 still alive when Abraham dies. Noah's son Shem, Shem, Ham and 169 00:10:49,200 --> 00:10:54,040 Japheth, Noah's son. Shem outlived Abraham by 25 170 00:10:54,040 --> 00:10:58,480 years. He's hundreds of years old at 171 00:10:58,480 --> 00:11:00,440 this point, I can't remember exactly how many. 172 00:11:00,440 --> 00:11:04,200 I feel like it's somewhere around 450 when he died. 173 00:11:04,800 --> 00:11:07,680 Abraham died young for his family. 174 00:11:08,800 --> 00:11:13,720 He died young with one son and the only real estate they owned 175 00:11:13,800 --> 00:11:16,680 was a graveyard big enough for two people. 176 00:11:18,160 --> 00:11:19,880 That was the only land they owned. 177 00:11:21,120 --> 00:11:23,280 They were strangers in a strange land. 178 00:11:23,480 --> 00:11:27,720 Their entire lives of faith following God and they had one 179 00:11:27,720 --> 00:11:33,680 son and yet they passed it on. They had a responsibility to the 180 00:11:33,680 --> 00:11:36,320 future. And they, they, they, they left 181 00:11:36,640 --> 00:11:42,240 Isaac a legacy, legacy of faith, a legacy of, of, of loving him, 182 00:11:42,240 --> 00:11:44,920 a legacy of hope for what God would do in the future. 183 00:11:45,120 --> 00:11:47,440 They, they understood that responsibility. 184 00:11:47,440 --> 00:11:49,280 We have that same responsibility. 185 00:11:51,160 --> 00:11:53,920 We have a responsibility to the generations that will come after 186 00:11:53,920 --> 00:11:55,960 us. It is true that Jesus might come 187 00:11:55,960 --> 00:11:58,920 back in the next 10 minutes before I finish this sermon. 188 00:11:58,920 --> 00:12:02,120 Jesus might return and and everyone will say good, we got 189 00:12:02,120 --> 00:12:06,480 to go home early and really home this time 'cause Jesus's ear. 190 00:12:08,280 --> 00:12:12,920 Jesus might not come back for another 1000 years and and we 191 00:12:12,920 --> 00:12:16,080 have a responsibility to do 2 things. 192 00:12:16,360 --> 00:12:19,840 To live like Jesus might come back tomorrow and to live for 193 00:12:19,840 --> 00:12:21,840 the sake of our children, grandchildren and great 194 00:12:21,840 --> 00:12:25,440 grandchildren like they will have to live in this world too. 195 00:12:26,800 --> 00:12:28,480 And what kind of world are we passing on to? 196 00:12:29,880 --> 00:12:33,680 We have a responsibility to pass on a world that has a livable 197 00:12:33,680 --> 00:12:40,400 environment, a livable political system, a livable culture, and a 198 00:12:40,400 --> 00:12:44,200 livable faith. We have that responsibility to 199 00:12:44,200 --> 00:12:47,760 those who are coming after us. But what do we really owe them? 200 00:12:48,160 --> 00:12:49,280 You see? Because with these 201 00:12:49,280 --> 00:12:54,080 responsibilities, just like the, the, the notion that that we 202 00:12:54,080 --> 00:13:00,360 play a small part can have negative outgrowths from a good 203 00:13:00,360 --> 00:13:03,560 seed, from the seed of truth, negative things can come. 204 00:13:04,240 --> 00:13:06,120 And the devil can take anything and twist it. 205 00:13:07,040 --> 00:13:10,320 Any truth the devil can twist and God, the devil can twist 206 00:13:10,320 --> 00:13:13,040 these truths as well. This truth that we owe a debt to 207 00:13:13,040 --> 00:13:16,000 past generations and we owe a responsibility to future 208 00:13:16,000 --> 00:13:18,280 generations, the devil can twist that too. 209 00:13:20,160 --> 00:13:23,640 When it comes to past generations, it's important that 210 00:13:23,640 --> 00:13:28,680 we honor the past without trying to rigidly preserve it or repeat 211 00:13:28,680 --> 00:13:31,200 it. I used to say this a lot. 212 00:13:31,200 --> 00:13:33,880 I haven't. I, I, I've said it less and less 213 00:13:33,880 --> 00:13:38,040 over the years because I think folks are like, I think folks, 214 00:13:38,840 --> 00:13:42,640 we all get this right. The 1950s and 60s are not coming 215 00:13:42,640 --> 00:13:44,720 back. We we get that right. 216 00:13:45,280 --> 00:13:47,800 It's never going to be 1965 again. 217 00:13:48,280 --> 00:13:51,480 This is tragic news for my dad who thinks there has been no 218 00:13:51,480 --> 00:13:56,680 good music since 1965, but it's never coming back. 219 00:13:58,360 --> 00:14:03,320 Those days of how life and culture and community and work 220 00:14:03,320 --> 00:14:05,960 and church were then never coming back. 221 00:14:08,120 --> 00:14:11,560 We're on a journey and that journey we only get to travel in 222 00:14:11,560 --> 00:14:14,080 One Direction and it's not backwards. 223 00:14:15,160 --> 00:14:19,760 It's not backwards and and one of the things, one of the tragic 224 00:14:19,760 --> 00:14:22,680 things that can happen in a church and our desire to honor 225 00:14:22,680 --> 00:14:26,240 the past is we end up getting rigid and try to preserve 226 00:14:26,240 --> 00:14:28,800 everything and make it like it was then. 227 00:14:30,360 --> 00:14:34,680 The worship wars of the 80s and 90s in churches in America is a 228 00:14:34,680 --> 00:14:36,840 great example of that. I don't know if you all went 229 00:14:36,840 --> 00:14:41,680 through the worship wars here. It was all sorts of argument and 230 00:14:41,680 --> 00:14:44,240 fussing about what style of music are we going to have in 231 00:14:44,240 --> 00:14:46,280 worship. And there were two general 232 00:14:46,280 --> 00:14:49,800 camps, was one camp that said, let's bring in the guitars and 233 00:14:49,800 --> 00:14:53,360 the drums and sing new songs. And I've been in a church where 234 00:14:53,360 --> 00:14:55,720 people said, well, I don't know how we can call a church when 235 00:14:55,720 --> 00:14:59,720 there's drums in there and, and we've been in a camp. 236 00:14:59,840 --> 00:15:02,120 The other camp is we got the old hymns. 237 00:15:02,120 --> 00:15:04,080 And those old hymns were good enough for our parents and 238 00:15:04,080 --> 00:15:06,160 grandparents and great grandparents are good enough for 239 00:15:06,160 --> 00:15:07,920 us. We've got to preserve this and 240 00:15:07,920 --> 00:15:09,800 pass it on to future generations. 241 00:15:11,760 --> 00:15:15,240 And people fought over that. We fight over crazy things in 242 00:15:15,240 --> 00:15:18,440 the church sometimes color of the carpet and the style of the 243 00:15:18,440 --> 00:15:22,680 music. But the folks that were saying 244 00:15:22,680 --> 00:15:26,640 we've got the hymnals, we're going to stick with the old 245 00:15:26,640 --> 00:15:28,640 hymns. They were good enough for the 246 00:15:28,640 --> 00:15:32,120 people that you realize every song in the hymnal was once a 247 00:15:32,120 --> 00:15:34,360 new song, right? Right. 248 00:15:35,000 --> 00:15:37,200 Every single one of them was once a new song. 249 00:15:37,680 --> 00:15:40,920 We have this heritage, John. Charles Wesley wrote so many 250 00:15:40,920 --> 00:15:43,520 wonderful hymns and, and my goodness, and I heard this one 251 00:15:43,520 --> 00:15:44,800 too. We've got to be singing the 252 00:15:44,800 --> 00:15:47,600 hymns of Charles Wesley. That's our heritage. 253 00:15:47,600 --> 00:15:49,960 That's our legacy. You know what else is our 254 00:15:49,960 --> 00:15:52,520 legacy? Someone who wrote new hymns. 255 00:15:52,880 --> 00:15:56,280 Charles Wesley wrote all these new hymns and people weren't 256 00:15:56,280 --> 00:15:58,040 saying, well, maybe they were. I don't know if you ever got 257 00:15:58,040 --> 00:15:59,560 any. Why can't we just sing the old 258 00:15:59,560 --> 00:16:01,440 songs, Charles? Why do you got to write these 259 00:16:01,440 --> 00:16:03,080 new songs? He could have said, well, just 260 00:16:03,080 --> 00:16:04,720 wait, they'll be old songs eventually. 261 00:16:06,720 --> 00:16:12,040 When we fight about those things, we're not honoring the 262 00:16:12,040 --> 00:16:18,040 debt that we owed to the past. We're just calcifying that we're 263 00:16:18,040 --> 00:16:21,480 taking a living thing and turning it into something rigid 264 00:16:21,480 --> 00:16:24,080 and unchanging. And and there's there's one 265 00:16:24,240 --> 00:16:26,400 unalterable truth about living things. 266 00:16:26,400 --> 00:16:31,320 As they change, they change. There is no life without growth. 267 00:16:31,320 --> 00:16:36,520 There is no growth without change, and it's not our job to 268 00:16:36,520 --> 00:16:40,680 rigidly preserve the past, but to honor the faith that we've 269 00:16:40,680 --> 00:16:43,800 received from the past, that that gift of hope, the legacy of 270 00:16:43,800 --> 00:16:46,880 love, and then pass that on to future generations. 271 00:16:47,400 --> 00:16:50,360 And that's talking about future generations. 272 00:16:50,360 --> 00:16:55,840 We owe to future generations. I owe a lot to future 273 00:16:55,840 --> 00:16:58,240 generations. But the negative thing that 274 00:16:58,240 --> 00:17:00,280 comes actually, I move too soon on to that one. 275 00:17:01,080 --> 00:17:03,720 The negative things that can come when we think about what we 276 00:17:03,720 --> 00:17:07,240 owe future generations is, is we can and, and I'm, I'm sure you 277 00:17:07,240 --> 00:17:09,839 see this in social media in the news these days. 278 00:17:10,280 --> 00:17:15,560 We can get neurotically, even pathologically obsessed with 279 00:17:15,560 --> 00:17:18,160 fear about what's happening in the future. 280 00:17:19,119 --> 00:17:21,839 Oh my goodness, it's just a global warming and climate 281 00:17:21,839 --> 00:17:24,000 change and, and all of the desk in order. 282 00:17:24,200 --> 00:17:27,079 And what about, you know, the, the politics that that's going 283 00:17:27,079 --> 00:17:29,960 on in the world and in our country today and, and, and who 284 00:17:29,960 --> 00:17:32,160 gets elected and what awful things are going to happen? 285 00:17:32,160 --> 00:17:34,760 And in the wars that are out there in the world, in this 286 00:17:34,760 --> 00:17:37,480 artificial intelligence thing and in the machines going to 287 00:17:37,480 --> 00:17:40,680 rise up and kill us all. And we get neurologically, even 288 00:17:40,680 --> 00:17:43,120 pathologically fearful about the future. 289 00:17:43,920 --> 00:17:47,200 And that's we've forgotten we get in, people are obsessing 290 00:17:47,200 --> 00:17:49,120 about that. And we, we've forgotten that 291 00:17:49,120 --> 00:17:51,440 just a few years ago, we were obsessed about genetic 292 00:17:51,440 --> 00:17:54,880 manipulation and cloning humans and designer babies, which is 293 00:17:54,880 --> 00:17:56,560 all still on the table out there too. 294 00:17:57,480 --> 00:18:03,120 There's so much in the future that the world tells us we need 295 00:18:03,120 --> 00:18:06,000 to be afraid of and what's going to happen? 296 00:18:06,000 --> 00:18:09,960 And it's all going to, you know, it's all going to just just fall 297 00:18:09,960 --> 00:18:12,320 apart and, and it's all going to be terrible. 298 00:18:12,320 --> 00:18:18,360 It's not it's it's not bad things are going to happen in 299 00:18:18,360 --> 00:18:20,720 the future like bad things happen in the past. 300 00:18:20,760 --> 00:18:23,480 Good things are going to happen in the future like good things 301 00:18:23,480 --> 00:18:26,680 have happened in the past. That the the reason why we don't 302 00:18:26,680 --> 00:18:30,600 need to be neurologically, neurologically, neurotically, I 303 00:18:30,600 --> 00:18:33,760 don't know where I got either one neurotically obsessed and 304 00:18:33,760 --> 00:18:41,040 fearful about the future is we know God and we also know that 305 00:18:41,040 --> 00:18:45,920 no matter how big a role any of us play, how big a role any of 306 00:18:46,160 --> 00:18:49,920 we play a very small role in a very, very long and large story. 307 00:18:51,360 --> 00:18:57,800 One day Elon Musk and and and Jeff Bezos and and Donald Trump 308 00:18:57,840 --> 00:19:01,800 and and and Zoran Mandami, I can might get his name. 309 00:19:02,040 --> 00:19:07,240 All those names are going to be forgotten too, and they're going 310 00:19:07,240 --> 00:19:08,200 to play. They're going to have a much 311 00:19:08,200 --> 00:19:12,600 bigger impact than you and I will on politics and culture and 312 00:19:12,600 --> 00:19:16,560 economics and all of that sort of thing, though this story is 313 00:19:16,560 --> 00:19:22,280 so big and it's God's story. It's God's story. 314 00:19:22,520 --> 00:19:24,560 And that's where our legacy comes in. 315 00:19:24,560 --> 00:19:28,360 And what we really owe to the future, we owe to the past that 316 00:19:28,360 --> 00:19:30,680 we honor the faith they have passed on to us. 317 00:19:30,840 --> 00:19:36,080 And we owe it to the future to pass on that faith to them, pass 318 00:19:36,080 --> 00:19:38,640 on the faith to them, that trust in God. 319 00:19:39,840 --> 00:19:44,200 Isaac's parents told him. Isaac, whatever else happens in 320 00:19:44,200 --> 00:19:48,080 the world around you, we know you don't own an acre of land 321 00:19:48,080 --> 00:19:51,480 beyond these tombs. You're a stranger in a strange 322 00:19:51,480 --> 00:19:52,720 land. You don't have a government 323 00:19:52,920 --> 00:19:55,120 that's supporting you. You don't have anyone out there 324 00:19:55,120 --> 00:19:59,320 enforcing your legal rights. You don't have anyone out there 325 00:19:59,480 --> 00:20:02,320 guarding and defending you and providing secure borders. 326 00:20:02,320 --> 00:20:04,600 You don't have anyone doing any of that. 327 00:20:04,720 --> 00:20:06,800 You're a stranger in a strange land. 328 00:20:07,320 --> 00:20:15,160 But God, you can trust God. And God says that our family is 329 00:20:15,160 --> 00:20:19,120 going to become a great nation, and through us all the nations 330 00:20:19,120 --> 00:20:23,200 of the world will be blessed. And Isaac, we know God can and 331 00:20:23,200 --> 00:20:25,720 will keep his promise because you're here. 332 00:20:27,000 --> 00:20:32,000 Against all odds, you're here, Isaac, and you're alive. 333 00:20:32,680 --> 00:20:40,160 Trust in God, trust in God, and we know that story and we know 334 00:20:40,160 --> 00:20:43,760 that we don't know exactly what the future is going to be next 335 00:20:43,760 --> 00:20:46,600 50 years. I hope I live long enough to see 336 00:20:46,600 --> 00:20:48,640 some of the crazy changes that are going to happen. 337 00:20:49,160 --> 00:20:52,600 It's going to be wild. At least I hope it's if after 50 338 00:20:52,600 --> 00:20:55,480 years I'm still bored, then I'm going to be really disappointed 339 00:20:55,480 --> 00:20:58,720 if I live another 50 years and and and and not much has 340 00:20:58,720 --> 00:21:02,200 changed. But whatever change has 341 00:21:02,200 --> 00:21:07,520 happened, God is still God. And God has promised that we are 342 00:21:07,520 --> 00:21:09,240 not going to be the end of this world. 343 00:21:09,800 --> 00:21:13,320 You and I, no matter how bad we mess up, we're not destroying 344 00:21:13,320 --> 00:21:14,640 it. We can't. 345 00:21:15,040 --> 00:21:17,320 God has already said what's going to happen. 346 00:21:17,560 --> 00:21:21,600 His Jesus will come back. He will establish his Kingdom on 347 00:21:21,600 --> 00:21:29,400 earth just as it is in heaven. And we know we know God can and 348 00:21:29,400 --> 00:21:33,040 will do that because we know that God keeps his promises. 349 00:21:35,280 --> 00:21:40,240 Because Abraham and Sarah taught us and Isaac taught us, and 350 00:21:40,240 --> 00:21:45,760 David and Elijah and Elijah and Isaiah and Jeremiah and Jesus 351 00:21:45,760 --> 00:21:50,120 and Peter and James and John and Paul and Mary and and all of 352 00:21:50,120 --> 00:21:53,480 these folks have left us a legacy of faith. 353 00:21:53,480 --> 00:21:56,320 And that's what we can leave to our children. 354 00:21:57,480 --> 00:22:00,280 Oops. We owe the future a legacy of 355 00:22:00,280 --> 00:22:04,200 hope. Like I see so many voices 356 00:22:04,200 --> 00:22:07,320 screaming gloom and doom and destruction in the future and 357 00:22:07,320 --> 00:22:11,000 trying to make people afraid because scared people are easy 358 00:22:11,000 --> 00:22:13,920 to manipulate and easy to control and scared people give 359 00:22:13,920 --> 00:22:17,560 money to people that have power and wealth and weapons and all 360 00:22:17,560 --> 00:22:20,720 of these kinds of things. And, and people, the world wants 361 00:22:20,720 --> 00:22:25,640 our children to be afraid and to feel like the, the future is 362 00:22:25,640 --> 00:22:28,640 hopeless without so and so or such and such. 363 00:22:30,640 --> 00:22:35,520 We can pass on a legacy of hope. No matter what happens, your 364 00:22:35,520 --> 00:22:37,680 hope is in God. No matter who's in the White 365 00:22:37,680 --> 00:22:39,680 House, our hope is in Jesus Christ. 366 00:22:39,840 --> 00:22:42,480 No matter who gets elected to this position or that position, 367 00:22:42,600 --> 00:22:45,000 no matter who the wealthiest person in the world is, no 368 00:22:45,000 --> 00:22:47,840 matter what the average global temperature is, we have this 369 00:22:47,840 --> 00:22:52,880 hope in our Lord and our Savior Jesus Christ that again, He will 370 00:22:52,880 --> 00:22:55,160 come. He will establish His Kingdom on 371 00:22:55,160 --> 00:22:57,000 this earth just like it is in heaven. 372 00:22:57,160 --> 00:23:00,280 And one day, one day, we know there's tons of suffering, We 373 00:23:00,280 --> 00:23:02,040 know there's tons of pain, there's tons of Arctic. 374 00:23:02,160 --> 00:23:04,240 One day all of that's going to be wiped away. 375 00:23:04,400 --> 00:23:10,000 Every tear will be dried. All injustice will be undone. 376 00:23:11,120 --> 00:23:14,000 People won't go to bed hungry. They won't go to bed cold. 377 00:23:14,160 --> 00:23:16,840 They won't go to bed afraid. They won't live their lives 378 00:23:16,840 --> 00:23:20,280 degraded and dehumanized by people or systems or 379 00:23:20,280 --> 00:23:23,920 institutions. They will have the lowest of 380 00:23:24,000 --> 00:23:26,520 people on. The king in the Kingdom of God 381 00:23:26,600 --> 00:23:29,400 will be lifted up and given greater honor than the wealthy 382 00:23:29,400 --> 00:23:32,760 and the powerful today. That is our hope. 383 00:23:33,520 --> 00:23:38,600 That is our hope, and that's the hope that we can pass on to our 384 00:23:38,600 --> 00:23:42,240 children. And then finally, love, a legacy 385 00:23:42,240 --> 00:23:43,320 of love. Paul said it. 386 00:23:43,320 --> 00:23:45,760 Three things will endure. Faith, hope, and love. 387 00:23:45,760 --> 00:23:50,520 And the greatest of these is love, to pass on a legacy of 388 00:23:50,520 --> 00:23:55,600 love. Abraham and Sarah loved their 389 00:23:55,600 --> 00:24:00,280 son Isaac, and they passed that love on to him. 390 00:24:01,000 --> 00:24:04,960 And it was imperfect and he, Isaac, loved imperfectly too. 391 00:24:06,080 --> 00:24:07,720 None of these folks were perfect people. 392 00:24:09,600 --> 00:24:14,320 This legacy that God loves, God does not stand and God is not. 393 00:24:14,600 --> 00:24:19,840 God is not eager to destroy. See how bad Sodom and Gomorrah 394 00:24:19,840 --> 00:24:22,520 had to get before God was willing to destroy it. 395 00:24:22,960 --> 00:24:28,440 There was no one left there that loved, but they passed on. 396 00:24:28,440 --> 00:24:31,720 Legacy of love and we passed that on as well. 397 00:24:32,960 --> 00:24:37,840 Kindness and gentleness. Not keeping records of wrongs, 398 00:24:38,960 --> 00:24:44,000 but loving patiently and enduringly whatever we face. 399 00:24:44,080 --> 00:24:48,080 We show that to our kids. We show that to the community so 400 00:24:48,080 --> 00:24:51,120 that they can receive that legacy into the future. 401 00:24:51,120 --> 00:24:55,720 Faith, hope and love. I want to play a song. 402 00:24:56,800 --> 00:24:59,720 I'm going to utter a sentence that 20 years ago would have 403 00:24:59,720 --> 00:25:01,560 been absolutely meaningless to me. 404 00:25:02,480 --> 00:25:05,480 Some of the best Christian music you can find anywhere out there 405 00:25:05,480 --> 00:25:11,200 today is written by Jelly Roll. That some people know what that 406 00:25:11,200 --> 00:25:12,920 means. Others of you were going on that 407 00:25:12,920 --> 00:25:14,520 doesn't make any sense to me now. 408 00:25:15,520 --> 00:25:18,280 I don't know whether I don't know what I'm assuming Jelly 409 00:25:18,280 --> 00:25:20,920 Roll is not the name his mom gave him when he was born. 410 00:25:21,160 --> 00:25:23,760 I don't know what his, his mom given name is. 411 00:25:23,960 --> 00:25:26,720 I don't know whether he goes by Jelly or Mr. Roll when you're 412 00:25:26,720 --> 00:25:30,480 talking to him privately, but I know he's been through some 413 00:25:30,480 --> 00:25:34,800 stuff and he's written some beautiful music of faith and, 414 00:25:34,800 --> 00:25:39,000 and I, I'm guessing he wrote this song after the birth of it, 415 00:25:39,000 --> 00:25:40,360 one of his children. I don't know. 416 00:25:40,400 --> 00:25:43,040 I'm assuming that's when he wrote this just from the context 417 00:25:43,040 --> 00:25:45,360 of it. But he takes what I've been 418 00:25:45,360 --> 00:25:49,440 trying to say for the past 2025 minutes here and he says it's so 419 00:25:49,440 --> 00:25:51,360 elegantly in just two short minutes. 420 00:25:51,760 --> 00:25:55,160 I'm going to play this song. It's a made a lyric video of it. 421 00:25:55,480 --> 00:25:58,360 Not for us to sing along, but for us to listen and be able to 422 00:25:58,360 --> 00:26:00,920 see or the see the lyrics as we hear them. 423 00:26:01,160 --> 00:26:04,080 Donna, can you give us a little more volume back or or adjusted? 424 00:26:04,080 --> 00:26:06,240 It might be too louder. You might need to make it louder 425 00:26:06,240 --> 00:26:09,320 or quieter. Whatever you think is best. 426 00:26:09,760 --> 00:26:11,840 That's fine. There's the the it's it's we 427 00:26:11,840 --> 00:26:13,240 don't need dim lights for this one. 428 00:26:13,240 --> 00:26:16,200 I don't think so. But let's listen to this song 429 00:26:16,720 --> 00:26:20,960 and think about the legacy that God is calling us to leave to 430 00:26:20,960 --> 00:26:32,800 those who follow after us. Your blood is my blood. 431 00:26:33,120 --> 00:26:38,040 Him poison runs deep. Knowing your minds gets the hell 432 00:26:38,240 --> 00:26:43,040 out of me because hurt is a sickness and trauma is true. 433 00:26:43,840 --> 00:26:48,640 I'd rather die than to pass it to you because that's my cross 434 00:26:48,640 --> 00:26:52,840 to carry. My's cross to heal, my pain to 435 00:26:52,880 --> 00:26:58,760 bury, not yours to feel. I pray every day I can love you 436 00:26:58,960 --> 00:27:04,680 enough so my cross to carry won't be yours to pick up. 437 00:27:12,560 --> 00:27:17,680 I hope to God you don't get my addictions, don't deal with my 438 00:27:17,680 --> 00:27:23,640 demons, make my decisions. I hope the apple falls far from 439 00:27:23,640 --> 00:27:28,120 the tree and the sins of the Father stop right here with me 440 00:27:28,480 --> 00:27:34,000 'cause that's my cross to carry. My cross to heal my pain to 441 00:27:34,040 --> 00:27:39,880 bury, not yours to feel. I pray every day I can love you 442 00:27:40,120 --> 00:27:48,240 enough so my cross to carry won't be yours to pick up, won't 443 00:27:48,280 --> 00:27:54,440 be yours to pass down. And when you make mistakes on 444 00:27:54,440 --> 00:27:59,640 your own, I hope that you know you'll never go through it 445 00:27:59,640 --> 00:28:04,240 alone. That's my cross to carry, my 446 00:28:04,240 --> 00:28:11,120 scars to heal, my pain to bury, and not yours to feel every day 447 00:28:11,760 --> 00:28:17,440 I can love you enough. So my cross The Cave won't be 448 00:28:17,600 --> 00:28:25,720 yours to pick up, won't be yours to pick up, won't be yours to 449 00:28:25,840 --> 00:28:37,000 pick up. You know, in this nation we live 450 00:28:37,000 --> 00:28:40,080 in, we all get to vote, and who we vote for matters. 451 00:28:40,080 --> 00:28:46,400 And it's important we get one vote each one of us. 452 00:28:47,000 --> 00:28:49,560 We have a very small voice and a very large nation. 453 00:28:50,760 --> 00:28:54,000 We have a very small place and a very large story. 454 00:28:55,920 --> 00:28:59,120 And who we vote for while we met, while it matters, let's 455 00:28:59,120 --> 00:29:00,920 face it, it doesn't matter a lot. 456 00:29:04,720 --> 00:29:08,520 But what does matter is whether we deal with our stuff. 457 00:29:09,800 --> 00:29:14,400 We deal with our brokenness. We deal with our sin so that in 458 00:29:14,400 --> 00:29:19,080 faith and with hope, we can pass on love to our children and our 459 00:29:19,080 --> 00:29:23,200 grandchildren and the people around us in schools and in 460 00:29:23,200 --> 00:29:26,800 workplaces and in neighborhoods and wherever we go. 461 00:29:28,640 --> 00:29:32,920 That we deal with our stuff, the sin and the brokenness and the 462 00:29:32,920 --> 00:29:34,840 addiction and the pain in our life. 463 00:29:35,080 --> 00:29:38,720 So that so that when we're acting in the lives of others, 464 00:29:38,720 --> 00:29:41,680 we're not acting out of our brokenness, but we're acting out 465 00:29:41,680 --> 00:29:45,280 of the faith and the hope and love that we have received from 466 00:29:45,280 --> 00:29:49,400 previous generations so we can pass that on to future. 467 00:29:51,680 --> 00:29:54,560 How will someone in this community, no matter how much we 468 00:29:54,560 --> 00:29:58,040 speak about a God who is faithful, how will anyone be 469 00:29:58,040 --> 00:30:00,800 able to trust in the faithfulness of God if they 470 00:30:00,800 --> 00:30:07,040 don't see us living faithfully? How will anyone have hope for 471 00:30:07,040 --> 00:30:10,600 the future when so many voices shout fear, fear, fear, fear, 472 00:30:10,600 --> 00:30:12,560 fear? How can anyone have hope for the 473 00:30:12,560 --> 00:30:17,480 future if we're not living in that joyful hope that we know 474 00:30:17,480 --> 00:30:22,080 Jesus is going to come one day and establish his Kingdom here? 475 00:30:24,640 --> 00:30:29,480 And how can anyone know that they're loved if we don't love 476 00:30:29,480 --> 00:30:33,200 them? If we don't lay aside our fear 477 00:30:33,200 --> 00:30:37,400 and lay aside our worry and lay aside our anxiety and simply 478 00:30:37,400 --> 00:30:40,520 reach out and love the people that are around us? 479 00:30:44,040 --> 00:30:48,680 So we don't pass on our brokenness. 480 00:30:48,720 --> 00:30:53,920 And this is aspirational. This is aspirational because 481 00:30:54,120 --> 00:30:57,200 we're always with Abraham and Sarah passed on brokenness. 482 00:30:57,200 --> 00:30:59,960 Isaac passed on. We, we, we'll never going to get 483 00:30:59,960 --> 00:31:02,280 this perfect this side of the return of Jesus. 484 00:31:05,600 --> 00:31:11,520 But can we deal with as much as what we can so that our kids are 485 00:31:11,520 --> 00:31:14,160 starting standing on our shoulders rather than us 486 00:31:14,160 --> 00:31:16,600 standing on theirs? You know what I'm saying? 487 00:31:17,200 --> 00:31:20,440 That they're starting further down the road than we started. 488 00:31:22,000 --> 00:31:24,840 Whether that's economically further down the road is, is a 489 00:31:24,840 --> 00:31:27,040 nice thing, but that's not the key thing. 490 00:31:27,200 --> 00:31:33,200 The key thing is the faith, the hope and the love as we launch 491 00:31:33,200 --> 00:31:37,680 them into the future. When we launch them from a point 492 00:31:38,000 --> 00:31:44,240 of faith, hope and love, That's the way we honor the past is by 493 00:31:44,240 --> 00:31:51,400 passing it on to the future. To those who don't know yet from 494 00:31:51,400 --> 00:31:56,400 their own experience that they can trust God, that God will be 495 00:31:56,400 --> 00:32:00,480 faithful, that there is hope and there is love in this world. 496 00:32:00,720 --> 00:32:04,200 That's what we owe the past. That's what we owe the future in 497 00:32:04,280 --> 00:32:06,560 Jesus name, Amen. Amen.