Having Influence that Lasts

My name is Mark, one of the pastors. I want to welcome you. So glad that you are with us here today and if you're joining us not only here but next door in venue or online, glad that you are part of this worship service this weekend. If you were with us last weekend, René mentioned that it's been just a little over a year that we've been able to utilize our brand new Children's Ministry building and it's just such a thrill. He had the opportunity to thank you and thank the Lord for what he accomplished and I just want to say the same thing. Thank you so much Twin Lakes Church for participating in this and thank you Lord. We need to thank the Lord for this amazing accomplishment.

This is the biggest goal that we've set for ourselves in a generation and God has blessed this church each step of the way. This was phase one. This was one of the projects, the biggest project in phase one was this building. There was another one in India and some other things as well. And the pledge period for phase one extends through the end of this year and then this fall we're going to introduce phase two of 2020, the things we hope to accomplish by the year 2020. These would be the last two buildings on this campus. It will finish out our master plan.

One of the buildings will be right next to Munski Hall where the portables are. That's Kraft Chapel named in honor of Pastor Roy Kraft who was senior pastor here for 47 amazing years. What a thrill to have the potential of honoring him in that and then as close as we can get to Cabrillo College right out by our driveway over here on this side. A community center or excuse me a college center and coffee house. Think of it this way a ministry magnet for the 15,000 students that go to school right next to us as well as a place to gather here as our church community and the broader community as well.

And so you'll be hearing a lot more about these things in the fall but if you'd like a little sneak peek we're scheduling some desserts, some informational desserts this summer and September. There's an insert right here in your bulletin. Looks like this has a little bit more detail about these two proposed buildings and you can sign up for these desserts. You'll see the dates. Just fill out your information at the bottom, tear it off, put it in the offering at the end of the service or just go to our website tlc.org and you can sign up there as well.

All right now I want to begin this morning's message by asking you a very deep and penetrating spiritual question. Are you ready? All right here we go. How many of you are Warriors fans? Yes, isn't it cool that the Warriors are going to go to the finals and beat the Cleveland Cavs here in the days ahead? Awesome. You heard it here first. But if you are a Warriors fan or any kind of basketball fan, you may not be aware that we have had a team member of the Golden State Warriors in our midst for many many years. He's been a very active member of our church. He and his wife Eunice here weekly. Ken Sears just a month ago passed away and such a remarkable guy.

He always sat in the very very back. In fact his daughter Debbie is back there. That's where they'd always say, "Hi Debbie." Let's say hello to Debbie right back there in terms of his son-in-law as well. Back there. Always sat in the very back because at 6'9" Ken never wanted to block anyone's view, which you could certainly do. I had the privilege of getting to know Ken and Eunice when I was privileged to baptize them a number of years ago. I'll never forget baptizing Ken because again at 6'9" I thought, "Is the baptister even big enough?" So I had to scoot you all the way over to one side and make sure that his head didn't hit the other side of the baptistery when I lowered him into the water.

I'm usually pretty confident that I can get people back up. I was a little bit in doubt with Ken, kind of like, "How am I going to prop this tree back up into his rightful place?" It all worked out again a privilege, but also just getting to know them. Ken mentioned casually that he had played basketball. He mentioned he played for Watsonville High, but he was so modest. He really wouldn't elaborate much beyond that. I think he also mentioned that he played for Santa Clara University. What he did not tell me was that he was the very first basketball player to grace the cover of Sports Illustrated. There it is right there. He just failed to mention that.

He also did not tell me that he was West Coast Conference Player of the Year two times. In fact, one of those occasions he beat out another player you might have heard of, Bill Russell, for that award. That just slipped his memory, apparently. Here's a clip of Ken playing. He never said this either. I learned this at his funeral. He was the fourth player pick in the first round of the draft that year. Went to play for the New York Knicks. You'll know who Ken is. He's the guy who's making all the baskets here. Bear in mind, this is before dunking was legal. Some of these shots, you just know he could have just crashed through that hoop, but they couldn't do that.

Get this. I knew he was an All-Star one year. He was actually an All-Star two years. Then for two consecutive years as a forward, he had the highest field goal percentage in the entire league. Number one shooter in the league, our very own Ken Sears. Amazing. He played six years. Yeah. He played six years for the Knicks, finished off his career for the Warriors, where one of his teammates was another guy you might have heard of, Wilch Chamberlain. Just this illustrious athletic career. That's what he's famous for.

But if you want to know what Ken's legacy is, you have to look somewhere else. You have to look about eight miles south of Puerto Vallarta in a little village called Miss Molloya. Because after basketball and for 34 consecutive years, Ken and Eunice would load up their RV and load up Debbie and all sorts of stuff. They would head down to Miss Molloya where they would spend a month, two months, three months, sometimes even four months out of the year down there, camping, fishing, hanging out with friends and family.

Prior to every single trip, months in advance, Ken would go to yard sales, garage sales. He would go to the flea market and he would buy bicycles. He would go to hundreds of pairs of shoes, swim trunks that he would give to the children in Miss Molloya. And so pretty short order, whenever they'd see the RV pulling into the town, a parade would form around the RV and all the kids are yelling, "Kenny, Kenny, Kenny!" Because they knew him to be a man of tremendous generosity, a man again of great humility, a man of family and faith and laughter. Yes, he was famous for basketball, but his legacy is composed of those things. And those are the things that will live long after he has.

So the real spiritual and penetrating question for us this morning is, what kind of lasting influence will you have on the people in your world? What kind of influence will you have on your spouse, your kids, your co-workers, your neighbors, whatever the nature of your relationships, what about you is going to last longer than you do? What will be your legacy? That's one of the most clarifying questions we can ever ask ourselves.

And to help us think this through this morning, we're going to look to the life of a man who, at least in the Christian faith, his legacy is second only to that of Jesus Christ. And of course, I'm talking about the Apostle Paul. Apostle Paul, who wrote much of the New Testament, including First Thessalonians, in which our series Hope Agent is based. And René got us off to a great start last weekend. If you missed that message, I encourage you to go to our website and check it out, TLC.org. If you fall asleep today, you can do the same. You can watch these messages and many, many more for free and for as long as there is an internet.

But today, we're going to be in First Thessalonians 2, verses 1 through 12, which will make no sense to you unless you understand the context. So I'm going to invite you, if you're a note-taking kind of person, pull out those very complicated notes today. And somewhere maybe in the notes section, write Acts, chapter 16 and 17, because it's in those two chapters that we get to see the backstory of what's going on in the verses that we will be studying today. I'm just going to summarize this for you. You can read it later.

But it starts out in Philippi, where Paul and Silas, no sooner do they start telling people about Jesus than there is this slave girl who Luke, the author of Acts, tells us is possessed by a spirit that enables her to tell people's fortunes. But she's taking a break for that. She's following around Paul and Silas. She keeps yelling out for everyone to hear, "These men are servants of the Most High God. They are telling you the way to be saved." And she just keeps saying that over and over again, day after day. And it's as if Paul's like, finally he gets so annoyed. It's like, I'm not going to let some spirit announce the gospel. And he casts the spirit out of this girl.

Problem solved, right? Well, yes and no, because her owner has been making money off her fortune telling ability. And now she's lost the knack. She's not going to be able to do this anymore. And so the owner is so mad. He assembles a mob that turns into a crowd. They cause a riot. The city magistrates, they grab Paul and Silas. They strip them naked. They beat them with rods. And then they throw them into prison. About midnight that night, Paul and Silas are singing and praying to the Lord. I don't know about you, but if that happened to me, I wouldn't be singing and praying. I'd probably be feeling sorry for myself. But they're singing. They're praying. And God causes this big earthquake to shake so hard it blows open the doors of the jail.

The jailer assumes that all the prisoners have fled. So he pulls out his sword. He's going to kill himself. And Paul says, "Wait, wait, wait, wait. We're all here." He brings some torches in and there they are. This jailer drops to his knees and he says, "What must I do to be saved? You guys are amazing." He receives Christ. He actually brings Paul and Silas to his house. He tends to their wounds. And then in the morning he says, "Oh, by the way, those city magistrates have told me that you can go." And Paul says, "Not so fast." You see, we're Roman citizens and you don't just beat and imprison a Roman citizen without a trial. That's a big no-no.

So I love this about Paul. He's not above just kind of rubbing it in a little bit. He says, "Yeah, we'll leave, but we want those magistrates to escort us to the edge of town." And they saw they're like sheepishly having to escort Paul and he leaves Philippi. Now that's the immediate string of events, but there's a larger context in addition to that, which is this. In this part of the world at this time there was no shortage of these religious snake oil salesmen that were going from city to city and they're stirring up crowds. They're bilking people out of money. They're warming their way into people's homes. And so all of these cities are on alert, so to speak, for anyone who shows up with a religious message, which happens to be Paul and Silas when they arrive in Thessalonica.

Acts tells us that they preached three consecutive weekends in the synagogues and there's this amazing response. Jews, even more Gentiles, and Luke even says, "Many prominent women, they come to faith. This church just comes out of nowhere and starts to grow, but then this arouses the anger of Paul's opponents, other religious leaders, and what do they do? They assemble a mob which leads to a crowd in a riot and these new Christians in Thessalonica say, "Paul, Silas, you got to get out of here before it's too late." And off they go under the cover of darkness, which then leaves these brand new baby Christians and the people that essentially drove Paul and Silas out of Thessalonica.

And you can imagine what these guys are saying, right? "Hey, where's your pastors? You know, where's the mighty Apostle Paul? He just strode into town and he threw his weight around and he filled your head with all such stories about this Jesus. He seemed to have a great appeal with your women." You can understand the subtext of what they would be saying. And now he's gone, skipped town, like just like all the other religious nuts that we've seen roaming the countryside. So what do you do? Well, this is Paul's response, chapter 2, verses 1 through 12. I just want you to listen. The recipients of this would have heard it, not read it. And so I want you to just experience the same now that you understand the context.

And if you just want to close your eyes and imagine you're hearing, these are the words and the heart of the Apostle Paul when he says, "You know, brothers and sisters, that our visit to you was not without results. We had previously suffered and been treated outrageously in Philippi, as you know, but with the help of our God, we dared to tell you his gospel in the face of strong opposition. For the appeal we make does not spring from error or impure motives, nor are we trying to trick you. On the contrary, we speak as those approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. We're not trying to please people, but God who tests our hearts.

You know, we never used flattery, nor did we put on a mask to cover up greed. God is our witness. We were not looking for praise from people, not from you or anyone else, even though as apostles, we could have asserted our authority. Instead, we were gentle among you, just as a nursing mother cares for her children. So we cared for you because we loved you so much. We were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God, but our lives as well. Surely you remember, brothers and sisters, our toil and hardship, we work night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone while we preach the gospel of God to you.

You are our witnesses, and so is God, of how holy, righteous, and blameless we were among you who believed. For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, encouraging, comforting, and urging you to live lives worthy of God who calls you into his kingdom. This is the word of God.

I want to make clear, Paul's not terribly concerned about his reputation. What Paul is concerned about is the welfare of these new believers in Thessalonica who have to feel incredibly inadequate for the task of going forward. I mean, Paul and Silas leave. They haven't even been able to celebrate the one-month anniversary of this brand new church. And so the first thing Paul reminds him is, "Hey, this was no flash in the pan here." He says, chapter 2, verse 1, "You know, brothers and sisters, that our visit to you was not without," what? Results. Well, what results? Well, he mentioned them in chapter 1, like in verse 7. "You became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia." Verse 8, "The Lord's message rang out from you. Your faith has become known everywhere." In other words, that visit was not without results. It was a miracle that took place, that God has established this church.

And in the remaining verses, I want to point out to you three reasons why I believe Paul and Silas had such lasting influence with these Thessalonian believers. Now, it needs to be said, this was a God thing. God did this amazing miracle. But as far as the human beings are concerned, there are three things that I think Paul and Silas did that are very instructive to us if we want to have lasting influence on those around you, around us. Now, I need to say, none of these three things come naturally. They're hard. That's why, if they were easy, more people would have greater influence. But I don't think we have an overabundance of people who have the kind of legacies that we would aspire to have for ourselves.

Also, these are things that any one of them would contribute to your influence upon others. But together, that's where there's really dynamic power, when these three things come together. And again, they only come together when God and His grace transforms our hearts and our character, and we begin to live out the calling that He has for us. And the first reason I think Paul and Silas were so influential, and if we want to be the same, this needs to be a reality in our life, and it's this. I need to live in service of the gospel.

You know, you have the opportunity to make someone's day, make someone's week, but when you help someone encounter Christ, you can have a part in making their forever, their eternity. There is no greater blessing than helping someone encounter Christ in their lives. And if the word gospel is somewhat new to you, it simply means good news, in particular the good news about Jesus Christ and what He means to us. And perhaps the best summary of what that good news is, is in a verse that you may likely be familiar with, John 3:16, that simply says, "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." That's the gospel in a nutshell right there.

And gospel, turns out, it's got to be one of Paul's favorite words because he uses it far more than any other New Testament writer. In fact, he's going to use it four times in the 12 verses that we see here today. And the reason for that is because Paul is consumed with a desire to live his life in service of this gospel. I mean, why else would Paul and Silas come limping in to Thessalonica, wounds fresh, and what do they start doing? They start preaching about Jesus all over again, inviting the same type of opposition and abuse. I mean, are they crazy? Are they gluttons for punishment? No, they're simply convinced that this is the highest calling that they could ever have in life.

In fact, Paul says in chapter...in verse 2 of chapter 2, he says, "With the help of our God, we dared to tell you His gospel in the face of strong opposition. This was not easy for them, but they could do no less." And why is that? Verse 4, we speak as those approved by God to be, what, entrusted with the gospel. In other words, they understood themselves as to be stewards of what God had entrusted them with, and it was the greatest message in the entire world. And so, you know, you don't need...when you have that message, you don't need tricks, you don't need gimmicks, you don't need to manipulate people. They're doing this before God and allowing Him to take care of the results.

Now, you might be thinking, "Well, that sounds great, Mark, for those of you who, you know, preach or you lead a ministry or something like that, but I'm just an ordinary person." But you know what? You've got people in your life. You've got neighbors, you've got co-workers, you have people that you are influencing every single day. You might go, "Well, I don't have a whole lot to give them. I don't know what I could do to influence them." Well, you know the kind of people that God uses? I'll tell you. God uses the people that say to God, "Will you use me? I want to make myself available to you. I want to give you whatever, Lord, you allow me to give." I mean, think about when Jesus fed the multitudes. It's not like a big truckload of fish and loaves were delivered at the scene. What was it? One little boy's sack lunch. It's all took. Jesus is like, "You just give me what you have and I'll take care of the rest."

It just starts by saying, "Lord, would you enable me to have an influence on other people around me?" I mean, what plot more could you want to live for in this life than to touch other lives for Christ? You know, I mentioned the children's building at the beginning and we don't talk about money here a lot and that's for good reason, but I have to say for my wife, for me, it has been such a thrill and I have the privilege of traipsing into that building several times a week and seeing the young kids that are in that building and knowing that their lives are being influenced and impacted with Christ-centered ministries and programs and classes seven days a week that's going on in the lives of hundreds of children.

And when I think back of the things that we invested in over the last three years, nothing has given us more joy than to have a small part in what God is doing there. And when you... it helps me understand why Paul was so passionate about the gospel because the more you get drawn in to participating in what God's doing, the more it just fuels your fire. And so we live our lives in service of the gospel, but you know there's an old saying that goes like this, "Nobody cares how much you know until they know how much you care," right? And so the second reason that Paul and Silas had lasting influence is this, if we want to have the same, we need to love generously and sacrificially.

Love generously and sacrificially. And you think about it, Paul could have showed up in Thessalonia and he could have said, "You know, I'm kind of a big deal. There's a reason they call me an apostle. Jesus appeared to me. I mean, Jesus, the glorified, resurrected God of the universe appeared to me. Not you, me. So I'm pretty special. He could have lorded that over, folks. He could have said, "You know, I'm here to kind of whip your lives into shape." But he says in verse 7, "Instead, we were gentle among you. Just as a nursing mother cares for her children, so we cared for you." And there's, he says, "You know, you want to have an image of how I dealt with these people?" It wasn't as General Paul or Paul the CEO. He compares himself to a mom breastfeeding her child. And that's generous and sacrificial. That's a one-way exchange, right? You get it, you give, you don't get back. Not really. Paul says, "That's the way we were."

And in verse 8 he says, "Because we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God, but our lives as well." Because you see, ministry is more than just dispensing biblical information. Ministry is about sharing your life, relationships, and caring for people, showing up in their lives. One of the guys who I think on our staff does this so well is our pastor Dave Hicks. In fact, this verse here, verse 8, is Dave's life verse. Dave just loves to hang out with people. In fact, in the offense, we call him the pastor of fun because he's always just doing stuff, activities, and, "Hey, let's go do this, and let's go do that," because he wants to share his life, not just, you know, data.

And the good news is this, you don't have to just be a super extrovert to do this. I mean, if you're wired like Dave, that's great, run with it, but some of you, maybe you're a little bit like me, and you're like, "Well, I'm kind of an introvert, and that kind of just makes me feel tired just thinking about it." So for all of you, I would remind you, according to Luke's gospel, Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed. In other words, Jesus ditched people just to get away by himself, and all the extroverts are going, "Yes, Jesus is an introvert like me." I don't know that that's true, but I like to think that. But the point is, however God has wired you, you find ways to invest in the lives of other people.

And Paul expands on this in verse 9 when he says, "Surely you remember, brothers and sisters, our toil and hardship. We work night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone while we preach the gospel of God to you." In other words, they poured themselves out by working and toiling. I'm sure because of this climate of suspicion that they were just there for people's money. And so Paul says, "You know, we're not going to take any offerings, we're just going to work, earn our own income, so we're not a burden to anyone." In other words, they poured themselves out in every way possible. They just gave themselves generously and sacrificially to the Thessalonians.

Now, where do you think Paul would look to an example of generous, lavish, sacrificial love? It's the answer that you know you can always go to in Sunday school. It's... You can say that with conviction. It's... Jesus. Yes, when in doubt, just say Jesus, okay? Jesus is an example for Paul. Paul is an example for Silas. Paul and Silas are an example for the Thessalonians. This is why Paul will say to them a number of times in this letter, "You know. You know, brothers and sisters, you're our witnesses. Surely you remember, in other words, you saw us. We lived this out in front of you. We modeled it, and then to what result the Thessalonians became a model for all the believers.

Because would you agree? Yes, we need people to tell us how to live, but even more, we need people to show us how to live by their example. And that leads to our third and final reason. You want to have lasting influence. You live your life in service of the gospel. You love sacrificially and generously. And third, you lead by example. You lead by example. Now, I told you this was hard because you know your heart. I know my heart. I know my thoughts. I know that people give me too much credit, and perhaps you think the same thing. And so you go, "Lead by example. Man, if anyone knew who I really was, they wouldn't want to follow me. They wouldn't want to listen to me." This is why this can only happen in the power of God's transformational spirit working in our lives.

Because here's the thing. You might be thinking, "Well, you know, Mark, I'm not really a leader. I'm sure there's at least one person in this world that's following you that's listening to you." So the question is never if you are a leader. The question is, "How do you lead? Do you lead with integrity, with consistency? Do you walk your own talk?" Look at these stunning words. Verse 10, "You are our witnesses, and so is God of how holy, righteous, and blameless we were among you who believed." Now, that is some serious integrity right there. The Paul could say that with a straight face. But we were holy and righteous and blameless. And again, that humbles me. That motivates me to pray regularly, if not daily, "Lord, Jesus, please help me to be the husband that you created me to be, and the father that you created me to be. Oh, Lord, help me to be the leader that other people are relying on me to be, because I can't do this in my own strength. But, Lord, I want to lead with integrity. I want to be able to lead with example, by example.

And you know, Paul says, "It's not that I'm saying I'm a perfect person." Because elsewhere, he's going to discuss his own weaknesses, his own frailties. In fact, one example is in 1 Corinthians 15, where he says, "He is the least of all the apostles." I'm not like the super guy. I'm at the bottom of the rung, he says. And then he goes on to say this. He says, "But by the grace of God," not his willpower, "but by the grace of God, I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect." Where did we hear that? Right back here in 1 Thessalonians 2. My visit was not without effect or results. In other words, the exact same grace that transformed Paul's life is at work in the Thessalonians. Grace that comes through faith in the Gospel. Grace that's lived out in generous sacrificial love. Grace that actually transforms us into holy examples of Christ-like love and character. That is our calling church. That is our destiny. And amen as well.

And so Paul says in these last two verses, he says, "For you know that we deal with each of you as a father deals with his own children, encouraging, comforting, and urging you to live lives worthy of God who calls you into his kingdom and glory." In other words, he's saying, "Guys, in word and deed, we brought out your best. We encouraged and inspired you to live out your holy calling." That was our influence. That was our goal. That's a legacy that you can be proud of. Because you know what? Someday most of us, if we're able, we're gonna look back on our lives and you know what? In that moment, you're gonna want to be pleased with the view. And yes, there will be bumps, there will be bruises, there will be regrets. But most importantly, you're gonna want to look back and see how your influence is going to remain positive, godly influence, remain in the lives of people that you loved, people who God gave you the privilege of being able to encourage and foster greater faith in them.

It doesn't matter if you're young, if you're old, God in his power, his grace will enable you to do this, to live your life in service of the gospel. Say, "Lord, enlarge my heart. I want to love generously. I want to love sacrificially because that's how God loves us." And finally, "Lord, help me to do it with integrity, to just lead by example." I started this message with Ken Sears and a story from basketball. And I'm going to end with another story from basketball because remember, the Warriors are going to the finals. So we gotta celebrate this a little bit.

But this is a story not of a player, but of a man named Ernie Johnson Jr. And Ernie Johnson Jr. is the host of a show called Inside the NBA. It's the number one show of its kind. And if you've watched any of the finals or the semi-finals lately in the playoffs, you've seen at halftime Ernie Johnson and his famous cast of co-hosts. Here's a little introduction if you haven't seen this. Check this out. But this is a story about the maestro. My name's Ernie Johnson, but they call me E.J. He's the perfect foil. He's the white suburban neighbor. I host a little show called Inside the NBA. Oh, he's part of the jokes. He gives us the ideas a lot of times. He's part of the whole man. Without Ernie, this show would be awful. He runs a show, man. It's not me. It's not anybody else. I can't believe they put me up to this. It's Ernie. Ernie Johnson has been in this chair for 25 years. Ernie Johnson's a nice guy in the world. But the stuff he's taken on in his personal life, that's why we all respect him. And no one's going to accuse Charles Barkley of being overgenerous with praise.

So what's he getting at? Well, Ernie Johnson is very good at what he does. Again, number one show. He's won three Emmys and commands the respect of these players that surround him on set. But his story is so much bigger than that. Ernie and his wife Cheryl became Christians 20 years ago, and they have six kids, four of whom that they have adopted. And the first one they adopted was a little boy in Romania who had been abandoned, left in a park. And Cheryl went over there wanting to adopt a healthy infant. But when she met three-year-old Michael at the time, she couldn't bear the idea that this boy who had severe disabilities was diagnosed with severe autism as well. What would happen to him if they didn't adopt him? What would happen to Michael? So they did. They adopted him. And doctors said that Michael would never walk, he would never talk. And yet, under the loving care of Ernie and Cheryl, he did both. Didn't say his first word until he was eight, but he was already walking by then.

In his early teens, while Ernie was struggling fighting cancer, lymphoma, Michael was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy. Michael is now 26 years old, and what you're about to see is a beautiful portrait of the gospel, where this man of faith is not only dad, but he's a nurse, and he's a friend to the son that he loves. Watch this. Michael is now 26 years old. At all times, he needs to be attached to his ventilator. He lacks the muscle strength necessary to cough, so his lungs must be suctioned mechanically. You want me to hold him up when you do the bed? Yeah, that would help, but yeah, because his neck is hard to get. It's an hour or so to get Michael up. Michael cannot, you know, he has to be toiletted and fed and showered. You're looking good, too. Looking good. We're buds, we spend a lot of time together. The good thing about my schedule is that I don't have to be downtown every day. Hey, dad. Hey, good. Dad, mine too. I love you too. Dad's happy with mine. I'm ecstatic. I'm his dad, obviously. I'm his buddy. We just like to do stuff together. Hi, daddy. We're what? Can I call you someone? I love you so much. You are a whack job. You are. March 26, 2014. Bernie's in the studio until 3 a.m. A few hours later, he's up. The car show is going to be cool. Today is a big day. Michael lives for the car show every year. He loves it. You're the greatest man. You're the greatest man. You are. You. All right. This guy's hanging out today, right? He says this way to the auto show. He is perfectly and wonderfully made. Sometimes our expectations get so high and our desires get so high for the next this or the next that. Thank you very much. Hey, Michael, here we go. Here we go. Inside. I'm just seeing Will. You give Michael a car magazine or laminate a picture for him and it's like I hit the lottery. Do I get this? Do I go daddy's? Yeah. Do I go daddy's? Oh, yeah. He's whole. He's um... He's got to figure it out. And I think Ernie Johnson has it figured out too.

Because while he's famous for what he does in front of the camera, that's his legacy right there. Michael and his brother and sisters. A legacy that will endure long beyond the times that Ernie is on screen, calling basketball games and the like. But again, it's a beautiful picture of the gospel. Because according to the gospel, we were all lost. We were all abandoned, if you will, orphaned by sin. And yet God says, "You are fearfully and wonderfully made and I love you and I want you to be part of my family." And so he sends his son to come and to call us and to bring us and enable us to be part of his kingdom. That is the calling that he has upon all of us here. And so may the lasting impact of Jesus translate into great influence in your life as it extends to those around you. Amen? Amen. Let's pray.

Heavenly Father, we thank you so much that in love you call us. We thank you for your son Jesus Christ today. And Lord, I pray that you would ignite our hearts and our souls. This is such a wonderful, wonderful congregation, Lord. So willing to reach out into the lives of people around them and community. But I just pray today that you would give us a fresh fire in our hearts, Lord, when we think of our co-workers and our neighbors and people in our families that don't yet know the joy of saying, "I am a child of God," that Lord, you would empower and enable and equip your humble servants, Lord, just to give what we have to give. It doesn't have to be fancy or complicated or complex. We just give of ourselves. Trust you, Lord, with the results. And so motivate us today.

And Lord, I also pray for the person who is perhaps on the periphery of faith. They're here because they're visiting friends for the weekend or they've been curious about what it means to be a Christian and they hear you calling their heart, calling them to your kingdom. And so, Lord, I pray that in their own heart, Lord, they would simply be able to say, "Yes. Yes, Lord Jesus, count me in. Yes, Lord, I understand that I am lost in my sins and I need you. I need your power. I need your forgiveness. I need your grace in my life. Thank you for dying on the cross for me. I believe that. Yes. And Lord, I want to live out the calling that you have for me from this day forward until the day I see you face to face." And if that's your prayer, there's no magic words, but I've tried to suggest to you some language just now that you can just say, "Yes, Lord. That's what I want." What Mark was just saying, "That's what I want."

Father, we thank you for this time. We ask that you bless it to our hearts, our lives, and the lives of those around us. It is in the name of our Lord and Jesus Christ. We pray these things and all God's people said, "Amen."