I guess I have to say something about the building too, right?
from a fairground to a place where people have had their faith grounded for almost 70 years. You just think about all this already been said. Think about the generations and lives that have converged in this place from charter members like Barbara Garrett and Jim Taber to our newest Christians, Jaston Proctor and Dylan Garrett. All lives forever friends literally brought together, yes, because of God, but also because in his providence and in his sovereignty, he's allowed lives to converge together in this place.
We sometimes say, and rightfully so, it's just the building, but if you actually think about the things that have taken place at this location, the holy, eternal, and special things that have taken place, it could never be just the building. How many people have stood in this baptistry and confessed his name and will look on his face forever because they just so happened to come to this building?
How many sermons have been preached? How many prayers prayed? Song, song, class is taught. How many people have to the best of their ability? Walk down that aisle and try to get their lives together on this front pew as they have confessed that they're struggling and need help. We can't escape place. God has made us embody people on purpose. In fact, every memory that you have.
or maybe the first house that you lived in as a child or as an adult your first job in a nutshell they're all places but if you think about them every one of those places has memories and you think about yourself and how you were back then things you worried about fears that were yours and the kind of person you were becoming because place matters that's also true in scripture
It's not just our last time worshiping as the Lehman Avenue Church of Christ in this building, but as was mentioned in the prayer, it's our last worship service of 2024. We're leaving one year behind and going into another time period, another year when we will be God's people, but worshiping at a different calendar year. And so it's right on a morning like this one to think about legacy. To think about where we stand, legacy is based on events in the past that impact individuals and events ultimately in the future.
And God has his people do this throughout Scripture. God notes places like Mount Sinai, Exodus 19 and 20. Here's the place where God's people receive the law. Or Mount Moriah, where Abraham walks Isaac up and is about to sacrifice him in Genesis chapter 22. And then there are different memorials where God says in places like Joshua chapter 4 verses 1 through 9, I want you to put 12 stones here so that you never forget that I brought you out of Egyptian bondage and now you're entering the Promised Land.
Or the altar erected on Mount Ebo and Joshua 8, 30 through 35, where he says, I want you to read them every word of the law of Moses. And remember that true success comes from keeping my commands. It's that misfoot in 1 Samuel chapter 7 and verse 12, that the people erect what they call their Ebenezer, their stone of help. And Samuel says, we will do this to remind us that up to this point, God has been our help.
And in our lives, we leave memorials, we leave legacy. I don't know what you want the relics to be hung in people's mind about you when your life is over. We need to be thinking about this as a congregation, but also as individuals. What things do we want to be true about us when our time is over, not just at this place and this year, but ultimately with our lives?
For almost 70 years, people have wrote past this building. And maybe when they hear Lehman Avenue Church of Christ, they have positive ideas and they think about things that have taken place at this building. Maybe when you think about 2024.
and all the memories and all the milestones but also the hurts and the hang-ups you can't wait to see this year pass whatever the case may be those things are done in the past and there's nothing you can do about those things because see that's how legacy works once you do what you do in the present you can never alter how it transpires and how it's going to be viewed in the future and so every one of us is leaving a legacy
And there are things that need to be true about us as God's people, about our legacy, no matter where we live, no matter where we worship, and no matter what time here we find ourselves in. We can learn from the past, but we can't live there. We won't be able, the future won't allow us to look back to the past. No, the past is a one-seater vehicle that won't allow us to hitch a ride and ride on his coattails. We won't be able to say all the great things we did here when we were there. We won't be able to get heavenly credit in 2025 for the things we've done in 2024.
We've got to stand in our own moment and leave a legacy of God's people wherever we are and be people pleasing to Him. There are three things that need to be true of every Christian. No matter what, no matter when we serve God, three things that need to be typical about us and things that we need to be sure are included in the legacy that every one of us will leave behind. And here they are, the first, we need to leave a legacy of love.
You know, the Bible teaches us in Matthew 22, 37 through 40, Jesus was asked by that lawyer, by that Pharisee, what's the greatest command in the law? And Jesus told him, love the Lord your God with all of your heart, soul, mind and strength, and be sure to love your neighbor as yourself.
I don't know what you think about when you see these men on the screen. You think about John Wayne, Sylvester Stallone, Clint Eastwood, maybe John Wayne, all of these men, they have this sort of persona. They've developed this sort of tough guy bad boy mindset from roles that they played in movies. Chuck Norris, you hear those names and what do you think about people that could hurt you or kill you simply by blinking, right? Or snapping their fingers. They've developed this mindset that they don't take anything from anybody. You know that's great for the big screen?
But it's pretty sad that there are some people who live their whole lives with that same mindset. Sometimes Christians that want to let you know what they won't take from anybody. What they wouldn't dare let anybody do to them or say or that they're not to be mess with. We kind of want this tough guy persona. That's the legacy we sometimes want to leave. But scripture says, no, instead we should desire to leave a legacy concerning things we wouldn't dare do because our lives have been fashioned by the one who was capable of literally doing anything but instead chose to be remembered for his love.
John 13 and verse 1, it says about Jesus that he loved until the end. At the grave site of Lazarus, John 11 and verse 36, the multitude said, behold, how he loved him. Jesus was known for love, and every one of us should desire to leave a legacy of the very same thing.
Throughout Scripture, Jesus has asked this question. What's the most important thing in the Bible? What's the greatest command? And every time that question is posed, Jesus comes back to the answer. You see in Matthew 22 37 through 40. Love God with all of your being. Love your neighbor as yourself. He says the same thing in Mark 12 29 through 31. If Jesus says above all else,
This is the most important thing. We have better make sure that that's a part of our legacy. We need to make sure that's what people are going to say about us when all is said and done. We were individuals that were known for our love, biblical love. A gape love is about far more than butterflies in our stomach that give us a warm, fuzzy feeling about other people. Biblical love is about a decision that is determined to hope the best for other people no matter what.
1 Corinthians 16 and verse 14 says, let everything that you do be done in love. Romans 13 and verse 8, oh no man nothing but to love one another, for in loving one another you fulfill the entire law. Every Christian in every place, every congregation of God's people needs to leave a ripple effect in the world, a legacy that says we were known for being loving people.
First and foremost, Jesus says, love God with all of your what? Heart, soul, mind, and strength. Heart and soul, that means you love God passionately. Paul would say the love of God constrains us. 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 14. Love God with all of your mind. That means you love God intellectually. Set your affections on things above Colossians 3 and verse 2. But then you love God with all of your strength, and that's vigorously.
Romans 12 and verse 1 says that we're not to be lazy or slawful in business, but fervent in spirit, serving the Lord. Love God with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength when the record books close on your life, on your service. Let it be said about you. I left a legacy of love. Here are five questions to ask yourself so that you might know whether or not you really are leaving a legacy of love, especially in your relationship to loving God. Number one.
How much time do I spend with God? You spend time with the people that you love. How much time do I spend with God in prayer and public and private worship and silent contemplation? David says three times a day, so I'm 55-17. Evening, morning, and at noon. Will I pray and cry aloud and God will hear my voice? Do I love God with all of my being? Will I leave a legacy of love? Well, that depends. How much time am I spending with God? But number two, do I still love God when he disciplines me or corrects me or do I ghost him?
When God doesn't give me what I want, do I love Him still? Revelation 3, 19, as many as I love, I rebuke and I discipline. Hebrews 12, seven through 11 says, if you really belong to God, a part of that is seen in the fact that God disciplines His own children. It's a mark, it's a sign of your familiar relationship with God. And if I love God with all of my being, while I might not enjoy His discipline, I readily receive it. Am I interested in knowing about God?
You can tell if you really love somebody when you're just interested in everything about them. You want to know things about them. Philippians 3 and verse 10, Paul says, I want to know him and the power of his resurrection. I want to unite with him in the fellowship of his suffering and be made like Jesus in his death. You should ask yourself, am I bored with God or blown away with God?
Do I just want to know more details? Am I just interested and curious about who God is, a person that loves God with all of their heart, soul, mind, and strength is deeply interested in God and things concerning Him and who He is? Number four, how much am I willing to sacrifice for God? I know the Christian, the Sunday school answer to this question is what? How much should we do willing to sacrifice? Everything, but nobody's going to sacrifice everything who hasn't at least already sacrificed something.
It's easy to say, well, I wouldn't give up anything for God, but a better question would be, what have I already given up? Jesus says likewise, who so ever there be a view that doesn't abandon everything that he has, can't be my disciple, Luke 1433. One of the marks that I truly am going to leave a legacy of somebody who loved God is, I'm willing to sacrifice for him, and then fifth and finally, is my life structured in a way that makes love and God possible?
Have I built margin in my life in such a way that I actually have time to love God the way that He wants me to? Or is my life so cluttered and compact that all I have left to give God is the scraps because I'm so bombarded and overwhelmed with everything else? Jesus says, put the kingdom first and then everything else will fall into place. Luke 12 and verse 31.
He says, I want you to put my mission above all else. And these are the signs. These are the indications that an individual truly loves God. We need to be individuals that leave a legacy of love, not just the legacy of love for God. Jesus also says in this passage, leave a legacy of love that you love your neighbor just like you love yourself.
Leviticus 1918, Jesus is quoting from this passage where Moses says in the Old Testament law, you are not to begrudge an individual, but you are to love your neighbor as yourself. A legacy of love involves first and foremost a love for God, but then it also includes loving your neighbor.
This statement is found over and over again in the New Testament and the passages in which we find it kind of make it a summary statement which says, you want this on your spiritual resume when you stand before God. You want God to say, you love me, but you also love your neighbor just like you loved yourself. Galatians 5, 14, Paul says the whole law is summed up in one word. Love your neighbor like you love yourself.
James 2 and verse 8, James says, you fulfill the royal law according to scripture. If you do this, if you love your neighbor, just like you love yourself. 1 Timothy 1 and verse 5, the aim or the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart, a good conscience and a sincere faith. Every one of us is going to leave a legacy, but we need to leave a legacy of love. Love for God, yes, but also a love for our neighbor and our fellow man.
I'm a preacher, so I go to lectureships and gospel meetings in a different place, and it just so happens that in most of these places before an individual gets up to speak, there's normally a bio read about the person that's going to do the speaking. And I guess a part of the reason why you read a bio before somebody gets up to preach, especially if they're a guest speaker, is to say, hey, we want to introduce you to this person.
But there's another reason it appears that bios are read, especially if you listen to them as they're read, is supposedly to say to the people that are listening, this person is worthy to be heard. And so in bios, people include things like where they're from, all the places they've preached. The education, he went to these schools and he's written these books. It's a way of trying to endure the audience to say, hey, this person is worthy of being heard. And while there's nothing wrong with any of those things, what if a man had none of those accolades at all, but he had a deep reverence and love for God and for neighbor?
What if he had all of those things that he had none of the others? Would he be worthy to be heard? What if he had all of the other things and he didn't have this? God prefers the former above the ladder. You see, knowledge puffs up, but love builds up 1 Corinthians 8 and verse 1. That's what God's after and it should be true about every one of us. That we leave a legacy that says we belong to Jesus because we love God with everything in our heart, soul, mind, and strength. And we also love our neighbors just like we want to be loved ourselves.
You know, near the end of Jesus's ministry, he says, love for neighbor is important, but love for brethren is paramount. Turn your Bible to John 13, John 13, 34 and 35. Jesus says love for neighbor is important, but love for brethren for other Christians is paramount. And it has to be a part of our legacy. John 13, 34 and 35, Jesus says a new commandment I give to you that you love one another.
as I've loved you, that you also love one another. By this, all men will know that you are my disciples if you have love one toward another. Jesus says, above all other things, and there are more things in the New Testament than just this that make us as disciples, but we couldn't be affiliated with Jesus without this. If we are going to belong to Jesus, we need to leave a legacy of love that says, I love God above all. I love my neighbor, but then I love my brethren and we should start with the brethren that are in our local congregation.
We should love our neighbors, but we should make sure that we love Christians. If the Bible says something one time, it's worthy of our attention and also our obedience. But when you consider this command to love your brethren, to love one another, that statement, you just do a search in your Bible software, go to the back of your Bible, pull up your concordance and all of these verses that have this phrase, just by sheer volume of how many times this is said, you see how important this is.
this isn't all of the references but in every one of these passages you find this phrase I want you to love one another like I've loved you John 13 34 and 35 this commandment I'm given to you love one another John 15 and verse 12 no no greater love has a man than this that he would lay down his life for his friends
Ephesians 4 and verse 2, bear with one another and do it in love. Love covers a multitude of sins. Love one another, 1 Peter 4 and verse 8, over and over and over. God's saying through the Holy Spirit in these passages, this is not a drill. This is for real. You love or be lost, that's the end of it. God is serious and He says, I want in your legacy, it to be said of you, that you love one another well. Somebody says, okay, Jesus, love the brethren, which ones?
all of them, the talkative and the irritable, the stuck up and the silly, the frustrating and the angry, the new and the old, the weird and the confident.
the worrisome and the patient. Love them all. No excuses allowed. Jesus is serious when he says, I want you to be individuals who are known for loving one another. I want this to be a part of your legacy. You want people to say about you when your story is written. One of the monuments you want in your life is that's one of the most loving people I've ever met. They took 1 Peter 2 17 seriously. They honored all people. They feared God. They served well.
And perhaps God emphasizes this over and over again because as the one who is fashion and made the human heart, he knows that there isn't one individual or community who's immune to the spell of Christian love that can fall on a person without changing them. Everybody doesn't respond favorably, but nobody ever forgets this kind of love. And so if we're going to be God's people, one of the things we need to make sure we leave behind is a legacy of love. Here's number two, a legacy of service.
It must be true about us, not only that we have loved well, but also that we have served other individuals. Romans 2 and verse 13, Paul says, it's not the hearers of the law that are justified before God, but those that are the doers. We want to leave a legacy in our lives as individuals and collectively as a congregation that we were people who actually got out and that served.
In 1 Corinthians 15 and verse 58 Paul says, therefore my beloved brethren I want you to be steadfast, unmoved, always abounding in the work of the Lord for as much as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. That's this idea of I want you to be a person that serves. I want you to find the line of mediocrity and then I want you to leap past that. In your life leave a legacy where people say this person didn't just feel all of the right things but they actually got out and did those things.
In Philippians chapter 2 of Pat for Titus, it's said about him that he nearly died for the work of Christ risking his life to minister to Paul the things that the Philippians had failed to do Philippians 2 and verse 30. He was a man that was known for service. And this idea of leaving a legacy for service has to be while Paul over and over again refers to himself as a slave of Jesus Christ.
He does it in Romans chapter one and verse one, Philippians chapter one and verse one, Titus chapter one and verse one. He says, I'm a slave, a bond servant of Jesus Christ. The word slave in our New Testament means an individual who is totally dedicated to the ministry and life of another. They've given themselves over to living for somebody else. And so Paul can say, you know what? I'm Jesus's slave. Would anybody look at your life and say, this person lives in such a way that they must be a slave?
They must be under compulsion, serving Jesus Christ by their own free will. They must be individuals who have dedicated their lives to living for Jesus, so much so that you could say about their relationship to Him. It looks like willful slavery. In Galatians 1 and verse 10, Paul says, do I now seek to please God or men or am I still serving men? Because if I was, I couldn't be the servant or the slave of Jesus Christ. Galatians 1 and verse 10, Paul says, I have left a legacy of service and God wants everyone of us to do the same thing.
Turn your Bible to Acts 9. In Acts 9, 36 through 43, this is the only passage in the New Testament that tells us about a woman by the name of Dorchus, also named Tabitha.
What we learned about her life is that she was a disciple. That's Acts 9 and verse 36. She was a person who served the Lord, but one day she became sick and she died. Verse 37 and verse 38 says that the disciples sent individuals to litter where Peter was. It was near Japa and they called for Peter that he might present Dorcas and raise her from the dead. As you know, Peter goes there. He goes within the Japa. He eventually raises Dorcas from the dead. But what I want you to see is when Peter gets there, there are these widows there. Acts 9 and verse 39.
And they come out and they start showing Peter these tunics and these garments that Dorkus had made and they said, hey, this is the kind of things that Dorkus did. We can't let her stay in the ground. Think about all the people that died in the first century. They didn't raise Stephen from the dead. They didn't raise James from the dead. In fact, later on Paul and Peter will both be killed for being Christians. None of them were raised from the dead, but Dorkus, when Dorkus died, they said, we need Dorkus to stick around.
If you're going to leave a legacy of service, you've got to read Acts 9, 30, 6, through 43 and ask yourself, if that were me, what would people be holding up?
With Dorkas, they've got her evidence in their hands to say, hey, she was a person of service. She was a person who gave her life to other people. If that were me, if I dropped dead today and somebody says, hey, this person claimed to be a Christian, when I've left the legacy of service, what would people hold up? What people hold up their Bible and say, hey, he helped me to learn the Bible better. She taught me the scriptures, and I know more about God's Word because of her influence.
What people hold up before can say, you know what? She made me a lot of meals. This was a person that was serving hearted and submitting themselves in the kitchen to try to help other people be fed. What people hold up their ears and say, you know what? She listened. She was a friend there for me and times of need. What would people hold up about our lives and say, you know what? This person left a legacy of service. They're unforgettable because of the things, not simply that they said.
but that they actually did. Galatians 513, Paul says, brothers, you've been called to freedom. Only don't use your freedom as an opportunity to serve the flesh, but by love, serve one another. Picture as a 32-year-old Dora Manu Nyambi.
32 years old, she died this week suddenly. The man pictured with her is Joseph Schmidt. He wrote a book about the work that she was doing in Zambia. 32 years old, she died suddenly. Nobody knows why or how she died just yet. But here's what we know. She was a famous influencer on TikTok and she went viral for the work that she was doing in the rural towns of Zambia.
She was an individual that on her own volition, no government help, no financial assistance from others, at least not initially, and she housed over 200 children. She built a school there and taught over 500 children. She raised $58,000 to go into a project of boreholes in her area so that water could be pumped into her village. Now that she's died, those 500 plus children, they'll be avoiding their hearts in their lives because she door gave herself over to serving. She'll never be forgotten for the things that she's done. But what about us?
Can the same things be said about me? You know in 2021, December the tornadoes came through and we have talked for a long time about the disaster relief that was done by this congregation and it was a great thing. We came together with our resources help from other congregations and we poured into this community. You could hardly go anywhere without people saying things like the Lehman Avenue Church of Christ helped me. I received the generator. Hey, you guys are giving away clothes. You all are feeding people and that's great.
But you see that was 2021. And while those were special circumstances that provided a special opportunity at a certain time, we can't continue to lean on the past and say, look at what we did back then. 2025 has its own needs and her own opportunities for us to rise up and serve. And if our legacy won't die in 2021, known as being known as a church with dirt under her fingernails, not just because we say the right things, but because we actually get up and do those things. We've got to leave a legacy of service.
Paul will say present your body as a living sacrifice unto God. Holy and acceptable to him, which is your spiritual worship. Romans 12 and verse one, that means you lay your life on the line. You develop a persona that says, I want to be known about actually getting out and serving. Doris different from other influencers. A lot of influencers get on TV or get on technology and they say on their phones, they say, hey, here's the things you ought to do, but she showed people what they ought to do. We don't want to be known for what we say. We want to be known for how we serve.
And we need to make sure that we're people that leave a legacy of service. Here is the third and final thing. We need to make sure we leave a legacy of faith. This brings us as a congregation full circle. We started the year by saying our theme for 2024 is living by faith. But that shouldn't just be the theme for this year, it should ultimately be the theme for our lives. Paul says in Romans 1 and verse 17, the righteous or the just person will live by faith.
And 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 7, he says, we walk by faith and not by sight. Faith is the victory that overcomes the whole world. 1 John 5 and verse 4, we need to be people that leave a legacy of faith, that people that follow behind us will say those people believe the things that they profess and it changed the way they lived as a result.
Psalm 78 is a historical psalm. The psalmist is walking through the things that God has done for his people. And in Psalm 78 and verse 4, he says, we won't hide the things that God has done for us. We want future generations to know about the works of the Lord in our age and in our generation. And verse 5, he says, we want them to know the decrees and the laws of God.
And Psalm 78 and verse six, he says, even those that are unborn, God has them on his mind through the way that we live so that they won't reject his commands, but actually obey and not be like the disobedient generations before them, verse six down through verse eight. Every one of us needs to do the best that we can to leave a legacy of faith, to be known as individuals who yes, love, who also serve, but who also believed and then behaved like we believe that there was a true and living God.
Paul says this about Timothy and 2 Timothy 1 and verse 5. He says, when I'll call to mind the sincere faith that dwells in you, I'm reminded of your grandmother, Lois and your mother, Eunice. And I'm persuaded that that same faith is in you as well. Every one of us will leave a legacy. Well, we leave a legacy that says this person was an individual faith. When I was in school, that was the front cover in every book just about you know that some of you are getting flashbacks PTSD right now. We're not going to give you an assignment.
You open up that book and what you would normally see is people that had the textbook before you. It was always fun to open up that book and see, do I know any of these people from the previous years and are any of these people friends or family members of mine, you wouldn't really know all the time some of the people in that book, but here's what you would know. You open up that textbook, you see those names and then you just start flipping through the book and it wouldn't take you long to figure out was this school book ever read or studied? Anything highlighted in it? Did they ever take this book home? This book looks brand new. It says, 10 people had this book before me. Listen, life is like that.
There will be people that will come into our communities, sit in our pews long after our time has expired. History will mark us present. We have been here.
And the question is, will there be any marks, any evidence that we actually did anything or did we just simply show up? May it be said of every one of us far more than we took God's talent and laid it up in a napkin, Luke 19, verse 20. At the end of our lives, may our legacy be far more than simply he was here. Every time the doors was opened, she was always present. Perfect attendance is great, but an act of faith is worth far more to God. He says, faith is the victory that overcomes the world, but that faith must also be active.
We wanted to be said of us. He trusted in God with all his heart and didn't lean on his own understanding, Proverbs 3 and verse 5. My mom always read her Bible and then she lived like she actually believed the things that were written in his pages. I know whom I have believed and I'm convicted about the things that he's promised to do in that day, 2 Timothy 1 and verse 12. We want our coworkers and our neighbors to say, I never believed a word of what he taught. I never followed her faith, but she did. And it made a difference.
is James 2 and verse 18, you show me your faith without your works and I'll show you my faith by my works, investigate my life. Yes, I was present, but I was also involved and my life has the evidence that shows as much. We need to be people that leave a legacy of faith that says, yes, we believed, but because of what we believe, we ultimately behaved. Bible says a lot about faith. Faith can be taught. We can be instructed by other individuals.
Faith can be encouraged. Jude 20 says, build up, be built up in your most holy faith. Faith can be modeled. You can have faith modeled for you by other people. Follow me as I follow Christ. 1 Corinthians 11 and verse 1, but faith can never be borrowed.
You can't borrow it from this building. You can't borrow it from the people who occupy these pews before us. You can't borrow it from your parents. Your legacy of faith is just that. It is your legacy. Luke 18 and verse 8, Jesus says, when the son of man comes, will he find this kind of faith on the earth? And the question I've got to ask myself is, will he find it with me? And have I been the kind of person that will leave a legacy of faith behind? Because I actually practice what I believe.
Rebecca Billingham is an elementary school teacher who gave a TED talk eight years ago. Her TED talk was about why it's profitable to read to children out loud. She says reading the children out loud is different from saying to your son or daughter, no matter how old they are, you go and read.
She said, no reading out loud invites people into the story. She told a story about the first time she did this as a school teacher. And one of the students at the end of the reading out loud session, his name was Joey. He walked up to her and he said, Ms. B, you changed my life. I've never gotten into a book like that before. You were reading those lines and I actually felt like I was there. It was as if the characters were going to jump out and grab me. She said that's your responsibility when you read to children.
She says, some children are like people on the outside of a door or a building and they can't get in. Listen, they can read words. They can decode what the page says. But this has happened to you even as a grown person. You've read some long thing and you said at the end, read all those words. Got no clue what I read. She says, it's your responsibility as a reader to invite children in and show them, unlock the door so that they can see inside. And we're Christians. And our responsibility as people of faith is to take this book.
and live it out in such a way that people come up to us and say, the way you live the passages is finally come alive for me. I've heard people quote the Bible all my life, but I finally can see myself inside the story. Those passages have come alive for me in ways they never have before. I'm changed because you actually took the Bible.
and you actually lived it. We believe, and therefore we speak, 2 Corinthians 4, 13, it's our responsibility to make a difference, to leave a legacy of faith that invites people in. Our godly life is not just about us. It's a way of leaving a sort of key under the mat, a sticky note with the door code in for other people to find their way in. Now we live because you stand fast in the Lord, 1 Thessalonians 3 and verse 8. Our legacy of faith is not just about us. It's not even just about our families or our little corner of the world.
It's a way just like reading aloud to children to let the whole world read our faith out loud and see themselves inside. As they stand outside beating on Heaven's door just simply trying to find their way in. We all leave a legacy. Every one of us does. So we should make it a good one. The truth is we don't really leave places or years behind once they happen there ever with us.
The work done at Lehman Avenue will never be forgotten. The things done in 2024 for good or ill. There's a sense in which you just can't get away from it. But we can go forward in such a way that the things that have happened for good are continuous with us and the things that have happened for bad can be forever removed from our record in Jesus Christ. We want to live in such a way as individuals and as a congregation that the ghost of Lehman Avenue won't haunt us in the future, as individuals with better facilities, better resources,
more opportunities, but that came up short. But as the Hebrew writer says in Hebrews chapter six and verse nine, beloved, we're persuaded of better things concerning you, things that accompany salvation, though we speak in this way.
And so let us all leave a legacy of love, a legacy that serves and a legacy of faith that ultimately believes. And David's gonna lead us in a song to encourage us. And if you need to begin that step of faith, that will ultimately end up in a legacy for others that come behind you. If you believe Jesus is the Son of God and you're ready to turn away from your sins, confessing Him before individuals as the Son of God, we'd be happy to immerse you in water for the forgiveness of your sins. He'll add you to His church, you'll become a member of the body of Christ in your life.
will eventually be the story that lets other people in as you live out the things you believe in this book. If we can pray with you or pray for you, if we can help you in any way, come now as together we stand in as we sing.
