Dalton First United Methodist Church Podcast
Leaving a Legacy | Part 3 of It's a New Season - Pastor Steven Usry
As we embark on a spiritual journey, stepping into a new season of our lives, we are left to ponder the unfathomable mystery of God's everlasting love for us. What if you could fully grasp how boundless and enduring this love is? We dive headfirst into this divine mystery, grounding our discussion in the enlightening book of Jeremiah, as we reassure you that God's love for you is limitless, regardless of where you find yourself in life's journey.
Leaving a Legacy | Part 3 of It's a New Season - Pastor Steven Usry
As we embark on a spiritual journey, stepping into a new season of our lives, we are left to ponder the unfathomable mystery of God's everlasting love for us. What if you could fully grasp how boundless and enduring this love is? We dive headfirst into this divine mystery, grounding our discussion in the enlightening book of Jeremiah, as we reassure you that God's love for you is limitless, regardless of where you find yourself in life's journey.
Leaving a Legacy | Part 3 of It's a New Season - Pastor Steven Usry
A few weeks ago, we launched a brand new series, a sermon series. As a matter of fact, if you have your message outline, I want to just to get you to look at the front of it. This series is called, it's a New Season and I know it's football season, right, you can tell it from the front of your message outline. But the idea is that byline, get off the sidelines, get into the game. And I don't necessarily mean what's happening here at church, I'm talking about whatever is going on in this next season of your life. We are praying for success, we are praying for fruitfulness and faithfulness. On the very back of your worship guide, I always provide a message outline and I would invite you just to keep that out. As we read scriptures this morning, maybe you had reached into the seat back in front of you. There should be a pen or a pencil there. We would invite you to take notes, fill in some blanks, maybe circle some things and underline some things in the scriptures. I'm going to dive into the message in just a moment, but I was so moved this morning by the anthem that the choir just shared. I wanted to share a simple thought and then we'll get into the word that we're going to study today. The simple thought that I have for you is in this series, we're talking a lot about how we live. We're talking about how we respond to what God has done for us. We're talking about living out the life that God's called us to live. But I just want to pause here for a moment and say that one of the most important things is not what we do. One of the most important things he's already done. The Lord, our God, loves you, and I don't know what else that I will say today from God's words that the Holy Spirit might whisper over you, I just felt the need to, before I preach today, to remind you that you are loved and that God is for you. He knows all about you. One time I was where you are and I was about to listen to a sermon and I'll never forget how the preacher started the message. He stood up and he said I have discovered the greatest mystery in the universe. Now, as a fellow preacher, I remember kind of sitting back in my seat and going well, I can't wait to hear what this is. I mean, you figured out the greatest mystery in the universe, right? The greatest physics mystery, the greatest mathematical mystery. You've got the greatest mystery in the universe, lord. I'll let me preach it. And the preacher that day you know what he did know the greatest mystery in the universe. He turned to the book of Jeremiah and he read the word of God from the prophet's mouth, where God said these words I have loved you with an everlasting love. I want to tell you that you can go to all the school you want to go, to read all the books you want to read, go to all the seminars that you could ever attend. The greatest mystery in the universe is that God would love us. We never deserve it. We break covenant all the time. We seek ourselves over and over again, but God loves us. The Bible says with an everlasting love, it never quits, it never stops. This choir. Today I wrote down y'all's words the greatest mystery, your awesome love for me. Hallelujah, all right. Well, I'm supposed to be preaching, but I just wanted to tell you that God loves you and he's for you. If you ever doubt it, lean into the mystery that you are loved with an everlasting love.
Speaker 1:I don't know if you noticed it yesterday, probably skipped right past it September the 23rd. I wonder if anybody in this crowd today knows what was special about yesterday. Ah, there are a few folks that know. I expected people to say the dog's plate. No, it was the beginning of fall. It was the autumn season that it began. Yesterday. September the 23rd is the start of fall. It is a new season, right, guys? Have you noticed the temperatures dropping and the season changing? The leaves are about getting ready to fall. We are moving in a new season and in this season of our church, I'm inviting you to think individually about what's in front of you the next few months and how you prepare and lean into this next season of your life. And I'm also inviting you to think corporately, because God is certainly doing a new and good work here at our church, and so I want us to think about what God is doing in this season of our church's life. As I begin today, let me share a little joke that I heard. It's not real, so don't get bent out of shape, okay.
Speaker 1:Two buddies went and seen each other in a long time, all of a sudden ran into one another and one was really excited to see the other one, but the other one looked incredibly sad and hopeless and he didn't respond quite the way you would when two old buddies run into one another. And so one buddy looked at the other and he said man, you look sad, you look down. What's wrong with you? He said life is terrible, man, it's so bad. He said you wouldn't understand. He said, well, I'm here for you. What's wrong? What's bad? He said he just Three weeks ago.
Speaker 1:Three weeks ago, my brother died. And the guy said I'm so sorry. He said, yeah, he left me $50,000. Two weeks ago, two weeks ago, my father-in-law died. Man, you've got it bad right now. Yeah, he left me a quarter of a million dollars. And last week, last week, my mama died. My mama died and the guy said and I am so sorry, all this is happening to you. He said, yeah, she left me $700,000. And the guy said I know you've experienced loss, but it sounds like you're being blessed in the middle of it. But he said I told you you wouldn't understand. He said well, what's wrong, man? He said ain't, nobody died this week? God, did you get the joke? Ain't, nobody died this week. Here's the guy. Okay, I need to press on. Here's the guy living into some seasons, who's expecting some other things that, listen, we live into our next seasons. I want you to live into a season of prayerful fruitfulness and blessing.
Speaker 1:Today, we're going to talk about legacy, legacy, what that means. What is a legacy? You know, the idea of a legacy is that you're going to leave behind something of worth to the people that you love and you care about the most. And what I want to challenge you to think about today is how you're living this next season of your life and if you're living in a way that is leaving a legacy to the people that you love the most. Now, here's the reality. Everybody on this planet wants to live a life of significance. There's not somebody, anybody that's walking around, going. I don't want my life to matter. All of us want our lives to matter. All of us want to live a significant life, and when it comes to seasons, when we start talking about legacy, you know how you live a great legacy. You leave significant seasons into their life, back to back to back to back to back to back. You move from season after season after season, living a significant life, and you will leave a legacy. Now, as we share and turn to God's word this morning, I want you to think about your family, think about who's left you a legacy. You've got names, you've got faces, you've got people that you love, who've gone before you and left you an incredible legacy. Think about the people that you want to leave a legacy to in the way that you've lived your life. But I also want you to think about our church. Think about the people who led this church so strongly for 176 years that have left us a legacy, and I want you to think about the fact that now we've been entrusted to this moment, to this period of seasons where we must leave a legacy for the next generation. As we turn to God's word today, I want you to think about what it looks like to leave a legacy and to live a significant life that matters.
Speaker 1:The psalmist was writing and this was the psalmist prayer as he talked to God. In Psalm 39, the psalmist said show me, lord, my life's end and the number of my days. I don't know about you, but when I read that I get a little scared. I don't know that I would have made that prayer. Does any of you really want to know the number of your days? You know how long you have. I think that kind of could be scary, but the psalmist is after something here.
Speaker 1:The psalmist said show me, lord, my life's end and the number of my days. Let me know how fleeting my life is. You have made my days a mere hand breath. Hey guys, if you have your hand and you do right, take your hand and just look at it. It's not very long, is it? Why do I say things like that? Y'all, just look at me. I mean, look at your hand, look at your hand. Your life is that long. That's short, isn't it? The psalmist is saying remind me, god, that I'm just here for a moment. And then he goes on. He says the span of my years is as nothing before you. Everyone, that's everybody, everyone is but a breath, even those who seem secure.
Speaker 1:What the psalmist is onto here is I don't have a lot of time. None of us have a lot of time. So when you don't have a lot of time, how do you make the most of time? How do you make the most of the days that you have? How do you make every season count? You know, what I want to challenge you from this small scripture from the psalmist today is, I think, what the psalmist is saying is listen, listen now.
Speaker 1:Don't overestimate how much time you have. That's not good. You need to remember your life's just a hand breath it's going to be over and the real life's going to begin. Don't overestimate how much time you have. But here's what I want to say to you and don't underestimate the power of just a season or two. Our Savior Jesus began his public ministry at the age of 30. Three years of public ministry that he had. How many seasons is that, by the way? Three years of public ministry and our world was forever changed. So don't overestimate how much time you got, but never underestimate the power of a season that has lived well. You know, one of the most important things that I want to share with you today is just a few ways to think about how I can live a life of significance. So I want to challenge you from God's word around four different ideas this morning and I want to invite you to put it into practice. To put it into practice in your home, in your neighborhood, in your workplace and, certainly so, in this church. So I hope you have your pin. You want to leave a legacy.
Speaker 1:There's just a few simple things that we can turn to the Scriptures and say this is the way we're supposed to live. The first one is this speak life. Speak. There is power in your words. Speak life and say the words that God wants you to say. Every one of us have an incredible power in our words. By the way, nobody likes to be around negative people who are speaking negative words all the time. Can I get an amen? You know I call those people Eeyours. Do you know what an Eeyour is? Anybody know what an Eeyour is? Whoa is me? Times are tough. How you doing not so well. Listen, guys, god has blessed you mightily. If you are living in the sound of my voice, let me just remind you you are in the top 1% of people in this world in the riches that God has blessed you with. If you drove a car on this property today, you are of the richest people in the planet. We don't have time to be Eeyours. Our job should be speaking life and saying the words that God wants us to say. Building one another up. That's how you do it. One of the ways you do it is with your words.
Speaker 1:This past summer, I led my staff through a staff development process. All during the summer, we studied the power of words. Every person on the team did a temperament test, talked about how we communicate. The theme to the staff development was right out of Ephesians, chapter 4, where it says Let no unwholesome talk come out of your mouth. That's a command, isn't it? Let no unwholesome talk come out of your mouth, except that which is useful for the building up of others according to their needs. That's what our words are supposed to do In your home, in this church. Build people up and speak the words that God wants you to say. By the way, church, everybody look up at me. You do this well. You do this well. I've only been at this church for four months, but I see people speaking life. I see people encouraging one another. I see people talking about what God is doing here. You do this well. Keep on doing it. Keep on doing it and speaking life.
Speaker 1:Say the words that God wants you to say. The Bible says in Proverbs, chapter 4, my son, pay attention to what I say, turn your ear to my words, not let them out of your sight. Keep them within your heart, for they are life to those who find them and health to one's whole body. You want to speak life. You get God's word into you and you will f*** find that you start speaking God's word to others. This is what the writer of Proverbs was saying God's words, god's words are beautiful words. Get those in your heart and out of your heart, your words will flow and it will be the words that God wants you to say. Proverbs 18, 21 says it this way the tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit. You have been given power. The very fact that you have the ability to speak, you have power. The Bible says that you were made, in the Greek words immago dei, the image of God, and God speaks and creates, and he gave you the power to speak and create. So make sure you don't leave a legacy. Make sure you're speaking life that the people around you are receiving and being built up from how you speak. You got your pen. Here's another way to leave a legacy you do right, you do right. You live the way God wants you to live.
Speaker 1:I'm leading a Bible study right now in Wednesday nights in the chapel, and it's on the book of Titus, a very small book. Towards the end of the New Testament, in the book of Titus, paul has sent this young helper in ministry, this small Greek island, because the island has got Christians on it. But the Christians are struggling to live like Christians. They're actually living very immoral and Paul sends Titus to go straighten it out. And one of the things that Paul says over and over again is if these people really begin to understand God's grace and get God's grace into their heart, it will result in them doing right, in them doing good.
Speaker 1:In my Bible I told the Bible say this past week I highlighted all the places where Paul says do good, do good, do good, do good. You want to leave a legacy. You do that thing I was doing with the kids earlier today right, you make treasures in heaven. You do what is right, do what is good. Now listen, we are never saved by our works. The only way we're saved is by faith and receiving God's grace, believing that Jesus is the Christ and then receiving His unmerited favor and love, receiving His grace. But what is to flow out of that? One of the fruits of living the Jesus life is that we should be doing right, that we should be doing good. You want to leave a legacy. This is how you live that. The Bible says it this way in James 1. Don't merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. So God wants us to know His word and then to be His people in the world, to do what is right First. John 2.17,. The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever. Do good, do right. That's one of the ways I think we leave a legacy. Everybody, look at me for just a minute.
Speaker 1:Sometimes in the church we use real religious words. Sometimes we use the words I remember as a young person growing up in the church, the pastor and other people would use words that were so high and flutin' that I didn't understand them all right. And so, even as I thought about doing good, doing right, here was one of those words, and I would hear this word spoken about in church over them. I really didn't know what it meant. Now you might consider it a simple word, call me dumb, but I didn't understand the word. And the word is righteous. I would hear that we were supposed to be righteous, that we were supposed to have a righteous relationship. I didn't know what that meant. I didn't understand it. It was, it's pretty simple, but nobody ever really explained it to me. Let me take a moment to explain that word to you, because it's pretty simple.
Speaker 1:Once you really understand, to be righteous with God means that you are in a right relationship. Think about that. I love this cross behind me. Think about that vertical bar. The cross is such a beautiful image. It was such a horrific, painful death for Jesus, but many of us love it. That vertical bar is this beautiful picture of that right relationship with God. You've settled. You've settled it. You know who your master, you know who your savior is, you know who you need. You've asked him to be your Lord. You can be righteous when you've got that right relationship with God. But part of righteousness is this horizontal living where we do right by one another. See, that's what it also looks like to be righteous, to do right by one another. I hope you're thinking that way about the church, but I hope you're thinking about that way with the most important people, the people who, when you wake up in the morning, they're under your roof, right what it looks like to do right by them.
Speaker 1:Guys, I want to challenge you. You want to leave a legacy. You live a life of righteousness where you're seeking every day to be right with God and to live and do right and good with the people that are around you. You speak life, you say the word God wants you to say. You want to leave a legacy, you do good, you do the things that God wants you to do and right this one out, you fulfill your mission. That's easier said than done, but you fulfill your mission. You live on purpose, to fulfill what God puts you here to do.
Speaker 1:I like in the Bible and David, we know David to be this great king of Israel. He was this warrior king. He had many different episodes of his life. He was a worship leader, he was a shepherd boy, but in the book of Acts it says something beautiful about David. In book of Acts Acts, chapter 13, it says David served God's purpose in his own generation. It's this beautiful picture of he lived a lot of different roles in a lot of different places, but when he died he had lived out his purpose that God put him on the planet to do.
Speaker 1:Hey, listen, church, I got some good news for you. You ready. God puts you on this planet to do some stuff, all right, and you? You, there's things that you can do that nobody else can do. There's there's there's lots of billions of people on this planet. Are you sure, pastor Stephen? I know beyond the shadow of a doubt that there are things that you are called to do that nobody on the planet can do like you are called to do it, and that's part of your mission. So what does it look like for you to leave a legacy? It means live to fulfill the mission that God puts you on this planet. There's passions, there's gifts, there's callings that God has placed in you to live out and to fulfill your mission.
Speaker 1:Paul said it this way, I'm sorry. Luke said it this way in the book of Acts no, this is these are polls, these are polls. Maybe I've got that verse, that scripture, wrong. I don't know. Somebody in the Bible said this. That's never happened to me. I've been preaching a long time. Somebody in the Bible said this I think it's both. However, I consider my life worth nothing to me. My only aim is to finish the race and complete the task that Lord Jesus gave me, the task of testifying to the good news of God's grace.
Speaker 1:I'm gonna make sure you're awake now. Are you ready? I'm about to give you a test. Everybody, everybody, wide awake. If you're here this morning, would you raise your hand. I'm looking at everybody. All right, good, you're present, you're here. Just another test, real quick If you're breathing, raise your hand. You know. That tells me. It tells me that you're alive. It tells me you ain't dead yet and tell me God's got more to you, more for you to do.
Speaker 1:I've had some people before look at me and say I'm just Pastor Stephen, my days have passed and I'm old and I'm tired. I don't have. I just ain't what I used to be. Okay, shut up, mr Bob. Can I talk about you for a minute? Mr Bob McCormick, sitting up here on the front row. He walked in here this morning and we I had a chance just to connect for a minute. 92 and a half, that's what you told me, right? Oh, oh, he just said shame on me. Maybe I wasn't supposed to say that, I don't know. I'm proud of that. I'm proud of that. 92 years and a half and he's still got work to do and there's still a mission in front of him and there are still things on this planet that he can do that nobody else can do.
Speaker 1:You want to leave a legacy, especially in this next season. Get real serious about the mission that God puts you on this planet, for he's given you gifts, he's given you passions and he's got a call on your life. I've got to go faster, but real quickly. Let me tell you if you raise your hand and you're here this morning, if you raise your hand and you're still breathing, you know that tells me there's more game to be played. The game ain't over yet.
Speaker 1:Get on the field, because you have a mission. You want to leave a legacy. You speak the words that God wants you to say and you speak life and you build people up. You do right, you live in this right relationship with God and others. You do good. You get after fulfilling your mission what does that look like? And just this fall season coming up for you to give your full effort to the mission God puts you on this planet, to. And finally, finally this is just my encouragement as a pastor, your pastor Be bold, be bold, be bold and leave a robust legacy. And when I say be bold, I mean be courageous, don't be timid, be bold. Tell you a real quick story. And I got to close.
Speaker 1:When I was at the University of Georgia, I was blessed to sing with the Men's Glee Club the Men's Glee Club at the University of Georgia. If you've never heard 100 men just men saying it is glorious, it's powerful, and I was really blessed to be underneath a renowned long director of the UGA Men's Glee Club. I'll never forget it One time as in my very first moments of my first quarter singing with this group, I thought everything we did was glorious and we would sing. And I'll never forget the director just stopping us. He was directing us, standing in front of us. To me it sounded glorious. To him it wasn't what it should be.
Speaker 1:He sat down in his chair, frustrated with us as a bunch of singers, and he just looked at us and he said that sounds like insipid grits. I was 18 years old and I thought to myself I don't even know what insipid means. And what did we sing? That sounded like grits. Insipid means I looked it up insipid means weak, powerless, and then grits. You know what grits are, that's just a southern staple. And as he sat in that chair and everybody on that platform, we revered this director. We were listening. And he looked at us and he said ain't nobody ever left a breakfast meal and said, oh boy, it was the grits. I'm going to remember those grits forever. He said. The reality is, you'll never remember grits. The grits are just grits. And he said you guys were singing in a way that was weak and not worthy of remembering and I expect better of you, boy. We sang our guts out the next notes, don't you know it? If we were going to be anything, we weren't going to be insipid grits anymore. Right, I'll never forget that moment.
Speaker 1:Guys, we need to live bold lives that matter. We need to give our best and give our energy. We need to run hard this race that God has put before us. Jesus' word said it this way I have come that they may have life. He didn't say I have come that they may live this insipid grits thing. Right, I have come that they may have life and have it more abundantly. So, one of our jobs.
Speaker 1:You want to leave a legacy. Leave this bold, courageous, just, powerful life. Go after it, go after it. I remember being in seminary one time we were reading about the coming of the Holy Spirit. One of my professors said never, ever, ever, ever, ever forget. One of the reasons the Holy Spirit was given to you was for boldness.
Speaker 1:Church. We've been left a legacy. There's a lot of people who have paved the way for this church to be in a community for 176 years. Let's go after our next great seasons. Let's speak life, let's do good in this community. Let's live robust, powerful lives, courageous lives. And you know what You've been left a legacy in your family. Don't let that down. Be grateful for it, but leave the next legacy for your family.
Speaker 1:My challenge to you, as your pastor for sure, jesus. Jesus gave you a legacy of life. Do something with it. The game ain't over. The bells hadn't sounded. You're still here. May you live for him and leave a legacy for generations to come. Would you pray with me? Most holy God, we thank you for your life. You truly lived an abundant, fruitful life. You've given life to the world by your death on Calvary and by your resurrection. And here we sit today, the recipients of a legacy of eternal life. God, help us to be a bold people. Help us to be a people who speak your words, who fulfill our mission, who do righteousness and who are courageous. And may we all do it to your glory, to your fame, to your renown and Lord, may this next season of our lives be an incredible, incredible season of fruitfulness. And we pray this in your most holy name, jesus, amen.