[0:00] But before Brother Kevin comes up and preaches and teaches for us tonight, ask Andrew, we get a chance to see him to give us an update. They are co-laborers. Andrew's in Langwood School, headed to Bolivia.
[0:11] And so it's nice that we got to have them both here on the same day. And were you a kicker at college when you came to camp? Reinhardt? All right. He was, I remember that.
[0:22] And we came to camp and then now he's here in Langwood School and headed to Bolivia. And Andrew, just give us an update what's going on. And Brother Kevin, if you would just come right after Andrew. I appreciate it, Trent.
[0:33] And, yeah, so we've got a lot of white folk right now in Peru actually learn the language. And so it's great to be able to learn with them. We've got a good group in Langwood School.
[0:44] I think we've got, what, Stephen and Ashley Underwood. We've got Lauren. We've got Chase and Mitch and Jackie. And so it's a fun day every day.
[0:55] We get up, we go to class, and ain't no telling what they're going to say. You know, in Spanish. What do you say? Let's hear a little. It's a little something. Well, I mean, I can say a few verses.
[1:07] I'll say Juan 14 says, And so what that simply says, That's John 14, 6.
[1:24] It just says, And it's just so sad to see, as I've gotten to live there in Peru, what they need is Jesus. And as I'm going to Bolivia as well, what they need is Jesus.
[1:39] And just like people here in the States, what they need, they just need Jesus. And it just breaks my heart to see, as I've gotten to travel, I've gotten to even go to Ecuador. And you see the big Catholic steeples, and I've gotten to talk with nuns.
[1:52] I've gotten to talk with just people out in the community. And they just believe in just all kinds of random stuff. And they just need the Bible taught to them. They just need to know that, Hey, Jesus is the only way.
[2:03] He's the life. He's the only person that you can come to and truly fulfill your life and give you eternal salvation. And so that's what they need to hear. And so I'm excited. God's doing a work in my life.
[2:14] He's continuing to grow me each and every day. I enjoy being over there working with David. And they got a lot going on right now. I think they've got a more group coming from here at the church. And so y'all just continue to pray for the ministry there in Peru, also for the ministry there in Bolivia.
[2:30] I know Kevin's going back very soon, right? Here in the next few weeks. And so I'm hopefully ready to get this language down. I still got a long ways to go. I'm finishing up book number two. So I've been through the present tense and I'm finishing up the past tense.
[2:45] Now I got to go to the future tense, you know? And I'm talking about the verb uses, if you don't know what I'm talking about, the verbs. In Spanish, there's all kind of verbs, okay? You got to learn all that. And so I don't speak English too well.
[2:57] So I don't know how to explain it to you in English, but I know how a little bit in Spanish. But anyway, I'll just give the microphone over to somebody else who can speak better. All right. Amen. Well, we're very thankful for Andrew, proud of Andrew, all that the Lord's doing in his life and through him.
[3:11] There's never a dull moment with Andrew, that's for sure. And so it's always exciting. We're looking for some exciting times there in Bolivia when he gets over there. And I'd just like to say, and Andrew would say the same, is we still need more laborers.
[3:21] One of the few countries in South America that has very few laborers and still so much area that needs the gospel. And so one of our prayers this year on our furlough was that God would continue to call laborers to go to Bolivia and help us reap the harvest there.
[3:34] Just in our city of Cochabamba, city of a million and a half people, neighborhoods of hundreds of thousands of people and not one church preaching the gospel to them. And so there's a tremendous need there and we need a lot of help.
[3:45] And so continue to pray for Andrew, pray for us, pray for Courtney, that's also coming to work with us, Courtney Mathis. And so we're excited about getting there and those guys getting there so we can continue to do the work of the Lord.
[3:56] And so tonight, if you open your Bibles with me to 2 Timothy chapter 4. 2 Timothy chapter 4, it's really a privilege for me to be able to share with you guys tonight.
[4:07] And it's just to be able to share the Word of God and be able to spend some time with you. Everything we've heard already has been a blessing during this time. And tonight, just want to share something brief with you tonight, maybe encouraging, especially as men and men of God.
[4:22] But the importance and the message title tonight is Don't Drop the Baton. Don't Drop the Baton. Now, there may be two different definitions or ideas of that. Now, there is a baton that you kind of spin like this, you know.
[4:34] Maybe some of you are more familiar with that baton. But that's not the one we're talking... Any of you ever gymnastic throw a baton, spin a baton? Be honest. Did you? As a kid, I did because I thought it was fun.
[4:45] But I would spin it and usually hit myself in the head and that was the end of it. But no, this baton that we're talking about is not one of those kind of batons. But in a relay race, you have the baton that you pass from one person to the next.
[4:56] Matter of fact, I looked up a few videos this afternoon watching and about how a lot of times that is what makes or breaks the race. It's how smoothly they can pass the baton from one person to the next.
[5:08] And I didn't know it, but they only have a certain amount of space on the track that they can actually pass the baton. If they go past that, they can't... And there was one group, one team that went past that and they had to turn around and come all the way back and of course, by then, the race was already over and it was done.
[5:24] And so when we talk about passing on the baton here, it's interesting that we look in 2 Timothy chapter 4 because these are pretty much what we would say the last words of Paul to Timothy, his son in the faith before his death.
[5:37] And so this might be his last opportunity to speak with Timothy, to share a message with Timothy, to try to help prepare him because if you read 1 and 2 Timothy, you know his goal and his desire is to prepare Timothy, help him for what?
[5:49] To continue on in the race that God has given him. To continue on in the ministry that God has given him. And so in essence, we can see Paul here passing on the baton to Timothy.
[6:02] And these are his last words to encourage him to continue in that race faithfully. Take that baton, continue to run, continue to do the work that God was doing.
[6:12] And so when we see that, you know, obviously Paul and Timothy, where Paul is passing on his ministry baton. But each and every one of us, we have an opportunity, a great opportunity. We all have a ministry.
[6:23] And we'll maybe talk a little bit about that more in the lesson. But each and every one of us have a ministry. And I talked about this in Spanish church Thursday night, that the Bible says in 2 Corinthians chapter 5, that each and every one of us that have been reconciled to God through Jesus Christ have been given a ministry.
[6:39] And what is that ministry? Reconciliation. So it's not a matter of I'm in the ministry, I'm not in the ministry. We've all been given that ministry. And really above everything else that we do in our life, that is our responsibility.
[6:52] That should be our priority. And so in that, not only in that ministry mindset, that we're all in reality part of the ministry and doing the ministry that God has called us to do, but especially as men and as fathers and maybe even grandfathers, the opportunity that we have to do that same thing.
[7:07] So if we're going to pass the baton on to the next generation, the first and foremost place we do that is in our own family. That we're able to pass that baton on to our children, and then the other maybe young men that we can influence in our lives to be able to also pass that baton on to them, so that our race, when it's done one day, will have others that take that baton and continue running that race that the Lord's allowed us to run in, and the race that we've started.
[7:32] So the question then is, how are we carrying our baton, and are we preparing to pass that baton on to others after us? And so here in 2 Corinthians, I always want to say 2 Corinthians, 2 Timothy chapter 4, we're going to look at verse 1, and I'm just going to look at three things real quickly.
[7:50] The first thing we see here is the importance of our race. The importance of our race. So it's interesting, the first words he says here to Timothy, as he gets to this chapter, he's kind of changing subjects, and he says, I charge thee.
[8:03] So he's given Timothy a charge. He's given Timothy a challenge. He's given Timothy basically a commission. And so we can see that as us being involved in this race, that we have also been given a charge.
[8:16] We've also been given a responsibility. And he's showing the importance of that responsibility, because he's charged Timothy. And in that, of course, in the context in our lives, he's charged us. He's given us that.
[8:27] And so two things. Number one, there's no way that we can deny this charge that is given to us. And we've talked a little bit about that. But I think one of the greatest dangers that we see in churches today, and even in the Christian life, is the danger of apathy.
[8:42] Because apathy is probably one of the greatest enemies, and one of the silent enemies that we face every day in our life. And so apathy, what is it? Apathy basically is a result of lack of sensitivity.
[8:54] Now, you've heard of people who have the disease, I don't even know what it's called in English, but where they don't feel pain. And they talk about how dangerous that is, because why? When they can't feel pain, then obviously they don't know when they've been injured.
[9:06] And when they don't know they've been injured, they have injuries, and those injuries continue. And they can actually die from that, because they get infections. And then, you know, they have even internal injuries that they don't feel, because they're not sensitive to that pain.
[9:17] They're not sensitive to it. And it's a great danger. There's also a great danger in our spiritual lives, when we're not sensitive to the things of God. We're not sensitive to the need that's around us, and the need that is around the world.
[9:28] You know, I always, one of my favorite passages, I always talk about it, is Acts chapter 17, where Paul went to Athens. And the Bible said that his spirit was stirred within him. And it's interesting, because the idea is there, that there was a fire building within him.
[9:40] Why? Because he looked around that city, and saw it completely given to idolatry. And he said, you know what? We got to do something. Something needs to be done in this city. And so it's very easy. It's very easy for us to, to maybe have that lack of sensitivity, and we're not careful.
[9:53] That can lead to apathy. And then we forget about the race that we're in, and the responsibility that God has given us. Right? And it's interesting, this verse, because he gives us two witnesses.
[10:04] Notice what he says. He says, I charge thee therefore, and then what does he say? Before. Before. So this is, the charge that he's giving, it's like he's got two witnesses there with him, to make sure that this charge is, he understands the charge, he accepts the charge, and that he realizes that there's no way to deny it.
[10:21] He says, I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ. And we know that a witness, what is the purpose of a witness? The purpose of a witness is to hear, and to guarantee, that the agreement that was basically arrived to, is something that person fulfills.
[10:37] And so the witnesses here, that he has received this charge, are the same witnesses for us that we have. God is our witness. We have the Lord Jesus Christ. We have his word that has commanded us.
[10:49] And so really, there's no doubt. There's no way to deny it. There's no way really to get out of it, because why? Before God, each and every one of us, according to his word, have been handed a responsibility, and a ministry, and a race that we're all in, that we must continue to run faithfully.
[11:05] Right? Not only, not only is there no way to deny it, but there's no way to escape it. Because look what he says in the second part of this verse. He charged before the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom.
[11:21] And so there's basically two ideas or things that can keep us from maybe doing what the Lord wants us to do. I think the first one is maybe not believing or thinking that it is our responsibility.
[11:31] Now we've already talked about that, and I hope that that's clear. If not, you're welcome to ask questions and kind of try to clarify that. But I think that the Bible is clear, you know, in the responsibility that he's given us. But sometimes people think, it's not my responsibility.
[11:43] That's the pastor's responsibility. That's the missionary's responsibility. That's someone else's responsibility. But it's not our responsibility. And the second thing that can affect that also is waiting and saying, basically, I realize it's my responsibility, but I'll worry about that later.
[11:59] Right? I'm busy now. I've got things going on now. One day, I'll get to that, and I'll actually take care of the responsibility that God has given me. And often that leads to what? Apathy.
[12:09] It leads to unconcern. It leads to, we get so busy and everything else that it's maybe even good things that we're not doing or we're not running the race that God has given us. And we're definitely not preparing to pass that baton on to the next generation that can also continue in that race.
[12:25] You know, it's interesting there in Bolivia, the time that we've been there, of course, you know, a lot of our preaching and teaching is challenging the people to surrender to God, to live for God, to follow His Word. And I've had many people come to me throughout the years, believe it or not, and they come to me and they say, you know, Brother Kevin, our pastor, you know, they say, I really feel like God wants me to really surrender to Him.
[12:45] And they'll say, I've got a couple of things that I really need to take care of first, and as soon as I do that, I'm going to sell out 100% to God, I'm going to come back and I'm going to serve God 100% with all my life.
[12:56] And out of the many people who have told me that over the ministry, how many of them do you think are serving the Lord 100% in the ministry today? Not one of them. You can imagine, right? Because it never happens. Because when we allow other things to take priority and distract us, then too often, we never complete that task that God has given us and we never run that race and pass the baton off to someone else.
[13:18] And so there's a challenge here, but there's also a realization that we're all going to stand before the Lord one day. That's what He says in this verse. He who shall judge the quick and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom.
[13:29] And so one day we'll stand before the Lord. And obviously we're not going to be punished for our sins and things like that, but we will give an account for the opportunities that God has given us. The opportunities that He's given in our hands to serve Him, to do something for Him, to share with others, and we have not done it.
[13:43] So in other words, the idea here is it's important, right? And we must realize the importance of the race that we're running and we must realize the importance of being able to pass that on to the next generation.
[13:54] The second thing we see here not only is the importance of our race, but the focus of our race. What is the focus? You know, because in reality it doesn't do us a lot of good. So if I were to say, Thatcher, if you can help me for a minute.
[14:07] Yeah? Min Thatcher's going to have a race. Now, how many of you think Thatcher can outrun me? Thanks a lot, guys. I appreciate it, yeah? I know I'm old and fat, but now, he probably would beat me to be honest with you.
[14:18] Maybe five or six, eight years ago, I'd say no, but now he probably could have beat me pretty easily. But if I would say, okay, ready, Thatcher? One, two, three. I won. Why?
[14:29] He had no idea where the race was to or where the finish line was. Right? Thank you. You can sit down. So the idea there is, how can you run a race if you have no idea where you're going?
[14:40] If you have no idea what the goal is? If you have no idea what the finish line is or even how to get there? And so it doesn't make much sense and nor does it make much sense that we're running this race, but we have no idea where we're going.
[14:50] We have no idea what our finish line is. We have no idea how to even get to where God has put us in this race. And so in verse two, he tells us, he keeps us and helps us see the focus of our race.
[15:01] So obviously, the first thing he says there is that we're to preach. He says, I charge thee before God and the Lord Jesus and realize that one day we're all going to stand before Him and give an account.
[15:11] What is the charge? That He preach the Word. So our main focus in this race, obviously, is to preach the Word. Preach the Word. Teach the Word. Share the Word. Get the Word to other people who have never heard it.
[15:24] And so the goal is that all the earth may know, may know through the Word about the Savior. And so we must preach the Gospel. We must teach the Gospel. We must take the Word of God because the Word of God is really the only thing that can truly make a difference in their lives.
[15:39] You know, we see the problems we're facing here in America. Go to other countries, you see all the problems, political problems, financial problems, economic problems, just everything that's going on there and it breaks your heart. You're thinking, man, we've got to do something.
[15:51] You start thinking, okay, well maybe I can get involved in politics. Maybe get good candidates or maybe I can do this or maybe I can do that. But the reality is the only way, the only thing that can truly make a difference in their lives is the Word of God.
[16:04] Starting with the Gospel and then getting the Word of God to those people. So that's why Paul says to Timothy, I charge you, I charge you, I give you this commission, this race, which is number one, to preach the Gospel.
[16:16] You know, because basically the Christian life is obviously hearing the Gospel, being converted and then living the Gospel in our everyday lives. You know, maybe we'll talk about that here in just a minute in the lesson.
[16:28] But the idea is that the Christian life really is basically boiled down to living the Word of God. That's it. I mean, it's simple. It's not easy, but it's simple, right?
[16:39] And so, that's the idea that he's to preach the Word, teach the Word, pass the Word, not only to those who have never heard, but then also to pass that on in the sense of a baton to others. So how can they continue on with the race if they haven't received the baton?
[16:53] If they haven't received the Word of God, they don't know the Word of God, they don't understand the Word of God. So as godly men, godly fathers, maybe first, we have the opportunity and the responsibility to pass the Word of God on to our children.
[17:06] And not only that, but the other men, the young men that come here to the church that maybe don't have a father figure or someone that can help them, maybe they do, but you still can have an influence in helping them learn the Word of God, teaching them the Word of God.
[17:17] The second thing, not only in our focus is to preach, but is to persevere. Because he says, preach the Word, be instant in season, out of season. So like any race, the goal of the race is to what?
[17:30] To finish. And so it really doesn't do us much good. And it's always interesting because I can remember when I was in high school, I can still remember that, it's been a long time ago, but when I was in high school, I can remember, I was on the soccer team, and so there was also the cross-country team that would be practicing.
[17:46] And I remember how that when they would go out to practice, they would all get together and they would count down and they would take off sprinting. Right? Any of you ever do cross-country? And they're sprinting.
[17:57] And I used to think, they're not going to make it anywhere. We're running like that, they're probably not going to make it one lap. But that's something they had to train themselves to do because it really throws, I guess it throws the opposition off because you think a long-distance race, you've got to start out slow.
[18:09] But the idea is here that in reality, we have to be willing to persevere. Because there's so many things in our life that can hinder us from what God wants us to do.
[18:19] There's so many things that can get us off track. Right? And so the idea is here that we preach if it's popular or if it's not popular. We preach if we feel like it or we don't feel like it.
[18:30] We make up our mind that we're going to continue preaching the Word of God, teaching the Word of God, running the race that God has given us no matter what comes our way. So in other words, we can't allow anything to hinder us. Look, I'll tell you what, not for a time, I'll just read it for you.
[18:45] Earlier in this book, 2 Timothy chapter 2, many of you probably already know it, Paul talks about that we are to be good soldiers of Jesus Christ. And then in verse 4 there, he says, No man that woreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.
[19:00] So any soldier, any person that's preparing for the battle has to be careful to not allow anything that would entangle. It's interesting, he uses that term entangle to get you tied up, to get you burdened down, to get you hindered so that you can't do what you have to do.
[19:16] And that's the idea that he has here that we need to be ready. We need to be ready in season, out of season, when there's opportunity, when it doesn't seem to be like others' opportunity. We have to persevere. We have to continue.
[19:27] Then the third thing we see there, not only to preach and to preserve, but to prove. Now we won't spend a whole lot of time on verses 2 through 4, but he has the idea there, he gets a little more specific in what our race is and how we're supposed to share this word to other people.
[19:41] And so the first thing he says there is that we are to reprove, which has the idea of revealing incorrect doctrine, then to rebuke, which is obviously to reveal incorrect actions resulting from that doctrine.
[19:55] And by the way, this is kind of just a side note, but too often today we hear preachers say or we hear churches say, doctrine's not important. Right? What people need is not doctrine, but they need to know how to have a happy family or how to handle their money or how to do all these other things.
[20:12] That sounds good on the surface, but the problem with that is our doctrine determines everything that we do in our lives. Our doctrine determines how we have a happy family. Our doctrine determines how we handle our money.
[20:23] Our doctrine, so doctrine is of utmost importance. And so to reprove, to rebuke, and then he says to exhort, which is to give instruction and encouragement to change.
[20:34] And so basically what I was saying before, the Christian life can really be boiled down to understanding the word of God and applying the word of God to every area of our lives. That's a huge task and something we'll never really accomplish or finish maybe in our lifetime, but that's all it is.
[20:52] And so how can we run the race as we should and how can we pass that baton on to others if we're not applying, learning and applying the word of God and then teaching others that we are allowed to influence to do the same thing?
[21:05] Right? And so that's why he says you need to, first of all, reprove. You've got to show them where things are wrong. You have to understand that foundation, that root of why they're having the problems they are and why that's resulting in the action, but then you have to turn around as chapter 3 and verse 16 says and you have to be willing to teach them what is the truth and how that applies in their life.
[21:25] And of course that goes into discipleship and mentoring and spending time with them, walking with them in their spiritual lives, helping them to grow. And so I thought about this just recently. You know, no one likes it as a parent when their children mess up.
[21:39] Right? It's not fun. It's not enjoyable. You're kind of like, man, you know, this, that, I'm having this problem. But in reality, it shouldn't bother us that much. Why? Because we have to look at every problem, situation, as an opportunity to teach.
[21:53] Because if we don't have those problems, guess what? We'll never really know what's going on inside of them. That's just a show of what's on the outside. And so when we see that, we're like, ah, I've got something I can work on.
[22:04] I've got something I can help. I've got something I can teach. Because if we don't have that, we'll never be able to teach. And we'll never be able to invest in them and show them how the Word of God applies in their life. And so we have to be willing to just go through that process and teach them and teach them the Word of God and show them how to apply it.
[22:19] And of course, that requires a lot of patience and a lot of persistence. Look what he says. Reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.
[22:30] And then, not only that, very quickly, not only do we see the importance of our race and the focus, but we see the opposition to our race. In verse 5, he says, But watch thou in all things and do reflection, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of that ministry.
[22:46] So obviously, in the race, we know that there are going to be things that come against us, things that hinder us. And so Paul finishes up at least this little section showing Timothy and encouraging him with the opposition that he might face in this race that he's running.
[23:01] So the first thing that he tells him is to be vigilant. Verse 5, he says, But watch thou in all things. Why? Because we know Satan would love nothing else more than for us to drop the baton.
[23:14] Satan would love nothing else more than us to quit the race. Or maybe not even quit the race, but maybe just take a little break from the race. Maybe rest a little bit from the race. I'll run the race again later, but I'm busy right now.
[23:27] I'm tired right now. I've got a lot of things right now. And so Satan would love nothing more than that. And we know, the Bible says that he is as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. And we know that the lion always looks for the one that is separated from the group and he always looks for the one that is the weakest of the group to attack because it's easy prey.
[23:52] And so too often we put ourselves in the position of being easy prey for Satan. And I want to say, especially when it comes to when we make a decision to do something for the Lord because Satan knows that that is the key moment that he has to do everything possible to stop us right there because if we begin to take steps, he'll never stop us or at least it'll be difficult.
[24:13] But if he can stop us before we ever take that first step, then he's got us. And a lot of times we won't get back up. And so we have to be vigilant. We have to be always attentive because there's nothing worse than not looking or not paying attention and then something happens.
[24:26] Have you ever been walking downstairs and you missed a step? That's like the worst feelings in the world. It's like you're separated from your soul, right? It's like, because you're just expecting this step and all of a sudden it's like, you know, it's like, oh, you know, sometimes you fall, whatever.
[24:40] Or when you're walking or doing something and you're looking the other way and you turn around and you hit something. Have you ever been playing a sport and you got hit when you weren't looking? I mean, it's like, there's nothing worse because you're not expecting it.
[24:52] So the same way Satan works many times in our lives. He waits for that moment we're not looking and we're not paying attention and he hits us and he causes us to fall or trip or get discouraged and he stops us in our tracks.
[25:03] So we got to be vigilant. Number two, we got to be valiant because he says, watch thou in all things, endure affliction. You know, affliction, here speaking of opposition or persecution that we might face in this and, you know, is something that can be very difficult.
[25:19] It can be very burdensome. It can be heavy to carry in our lives that, you know, we have to realize Satan usually doesn't worry with us unless we do decide to do something for him. So if we're not facing opposition in our life and difficulties, we ought to praise the Lord but then we might not ask the question, am I really seeking to do something for God?
[25:35] Because usually when we seek to do something for God, there's going to be opposition. There's going to be challenges. There's going to be difficulties in our life and so Paul here, he tells Timothy, he says, you need to be willing to endure. You need to be willing to step up and say, you know what, there's going to be difficulties, there's going to be afflictions but I'm willing to tough it out.
[25:51] I'm willing to continue faithfully doing that. Then he says, be a visionary. He says, do the work of an evangelist. So the idea here is Paul once again, if you read 1 and 2 Timothy, we just studied it with the training center students, it's really interesting to see it as a group and how Paul just kind of goes over the same things over and over, encouraging him against false teachers, encouraging him to continue faithfully, encouraging him to continue to work in the church and the race that God has given him and so he once again tries to bring his focus back to what's the most important.
[26:21] He says, watch in all things, endure affliction, do the work of an evangelist. In other words, take the gospel to those who have never heard. Preach the gospel because as we've said, that's the only way that we'll ever see the world impacted.
[26:35] And not only that, but how can we pass the baton on to someone if we're not actually making disciples? And how can we make disciples if we're not actually seeing people saved through the gospel? Right? And so that could even be our own children, right?
[26:46] Our own families and those around us. And then number four, be victorious because he says at the very end there, make full proof of thy ministry. So as we said once already, the key to any race is to continue until the end, to continue faithfully.
[27:01] So when he says full proof there, make full proof, he's basically talking about finish the ministry that God has given. And so there'll be moments when we want to quit.
[27:12] There'll be moments when you just feel like I need to take a break or there'll be moments when it's very easy for us to get distracted, but I want to beg you to continue running the race that God has given you. Continue running faithfully the race that God has given you and realize how important that race is because there's a world that's lost and dying and needs the gospel.
[27:31] Starting right here and spreading all around the world, there's so many people that still need to hear the gospel. And we're not eternal. We know that. Our life is coming to an end and will come to an end one day.
[27:44] Maybe even our ability to do what we're doing or what God has given us to do might be hindered by, you know, at some point in our lives. And the question is, who's going to take our place to continue on?
[27:55] Who will continue on faithfully? Who can we pass that baton to that will be able to continue running the race and taking the gospel to those who have never heard? Maybe you're tonight and you'd say, you know, maybe you feel like you've dropped the baton.
[28:09] There's no problem. Why? You have to just pick it back up because it's right there and God will let you continue running the race that He's given to you. Maybe you haven't, you don't have someone yet in your life and I would just say, start now.
[28:21] Teaching, preaching, reaching, investing in the lives of others, starting with your family and then those that are around you that God gives you the opportunity to invest in and begin to work to be able to pass the baton onto those people.
[28:33] Why? Because the race that God has given us is one of the most enjoyable things that there is in life. A physical race can be challenging, tiring, you know, but I think when you get to the, and I've never actually raced in a race so I can't tell you, but you know, I think getting to the end of it, you always see, how do people respond when you get to the end of the race?
[28:52] Man, well they pass out, yeah, but usually they raise their hands and they celebrate, right? Why? Because it just feels great that they finished the race. And how good is it going to feel one day when we stand before the Lord and we're able to say just like Paul, I've run the race, I've finished my course, I've fought the fight that God has given me.
[29:12] Let's not drop the baton, let's pass it on to those who come after us. Let's pray. Father Lord, thank you so much for your word. Thank you Lord for the privilege that you've given us to serve you. I pray Heavenly Father, Lord, that you would help us to take your word to the next generation, to those that are around us, to pass that baton off so that we can continue to see that race run that you've given us to run and we'll thank you for all you do in Jesus' name.
[29:33] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.