The Final Countdown: Staying Serious About Eternity

[00:00:02] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
Telling the people what to preach when he's gone.
[00:00:04] Repentance.
[00:00:06] Remission of sins.
[00:00:08] To everybody.
[00:00:09] Have you heard that type of thing before?
[00:00:12] Repentance is necessary.
[00:00:14] I say unto salvation.
[00:00:16] Remission of sins happens at the point of baptism.
[00:00:20] We wash away those sins.
[00:00:22] And it says beginning at Jerusalem.
[00:00:24] That's not where it stopped.
[00:00:26] That's just where it started.
[00:00:27] So it's not just for the Jews.
[00:00:36] Today.
[00:00:37] Lord, we thank you today.
[00:00:38] We give you praise, honor, glory.
[00:00:40] Thanks this morning.
[00:00:42] We believe in you and trust in you, God.
[00:00:44] It's in Jesus' name.
[00:00:45] Amen.
[00:00:46] You may be seated today.
[00:00:47] Once again, thank you so much for being in the house of the Lord today.
[00:00:52] I don't know if I'll get much louder than a
[00:00:57] Just a conversational tone today, but we'll see.
[00:01:00] We'll just see how it goes.
[00:01:02] Praise God.
[00:01:03] I almost thought about bringing my podium down on the floor today, but we'll stay up here just because this thing kind of keeps me pretty steady right now.
[00:01:14] It's pretty steady, so I'm going to hang on to that.
[00:01:16] And just if you're keeping track of things, my surgery is January the 20th.
[00:01:22] I don't anticipate missing any services, but I will have some people filling in for me
[00:01:28] For a couple weeks so that there's consistency among that.
[00:01:32] But January the 20th, that's a Tuesday.
[00:01:34] I do anticipate being at church on Sunday.
[00:01:36] My goodness, I go in at 6 and get home by 3 for that surgery.
[00:01:46] The final countdown and I say that and I name it that because we are approaching
[00:02:03] The final month of the year, we are in December.
[00:02:07] And if you're like me, you can't believe it.
[00:02:09] I mean, we were just having December two years ago.
[00:02:12] I still remember, you know, December two years ago.
[00:02:15] I still remember, man, it just seems like time has flown by.
[00:02:20] And maybe the older that you get...
[00:02:23] The faster time seems to go because you look back at your kids and you're like, well, I remember when you were born.
[00:02:28] I remember when you learned to walk.
[00:02:30] And then you look at yourself in the mirror and you're like, where did that gray hair come from?
[00:02:35] I mean, this is crazy.
[00:02:36] I know Trish don't have to worry about that, but some of the rest of us do.
[00:02:39] Praise God.
[00:02:40] Amen.
[00:02:41] But it's the final countdown of 2025 and it's the final countdown of us being here at this
[00:02:55] There are many memories of people being baptized.
[00:02:58] There are many memories of people's tears who stained these particular altars, and we won't forget that.
[00:03:04] But just as memories have been
[00:03:15] Wherever we end up, memories are not isolated to a location.
[00:03:20] Memories are isolated to people.
[00:03:23] And I want to remember that.
[00:03:25] I have shared with you and I'll share again that it was a precious moment when me and my wife were married at our little bitty church that we started off in in Lexington.
[00:03:35] When I say little bitty, we look back at pictures and it was like, wow, that was small.
[00:03:39] It's like the size of that.
[00:03:40] That's how big the church was.
[00:03:48] When we look back on it, it was like, wow, that was a lot smaller than we thought.
[00:03:52] We had mirrors on the walls as opposed to windows.
[00:03:55] We had mirrors, so it made it look a lot bigger.
[00:03:59] You count people in the pews, and then you count people in the windows.
[00:04:03] It's evangelastic.
[00:04:04] It's not evangelistic, it's evangelastic.
[00:04:07] I appreciate you sticking with me today.
[00:04:09] But man, and then we look back at the awful pictures that we had at our wedding.
[00:04:16] And I say awful because we didn't have a whole lot of money and we didn't invest in photography.
[00:04:22] And many people today, that is the thing that you do.
[00:04:25] You invest in good pictures.
[00:04:27] And just to look back at the memories, the day we got married on December the 27th, and it snowed.
[00:04:34] It snowed.
[00:04:34] The Lord said, I want to throw you a party, Jacob.
[00:04:37] And it snowed on our wedding day.
[00:04:41] And so it was just a beautiful thing.
[00:04:43] Memories.
[00:04:44] And to drive by that building now, it looks nothing like what it used to.
[00:04:49] And we moved away from that building in 2008.
[00:04:54] Every time we move forward, we remembered what happened in the past.
[00:05:08] But even within myself at times I think about and get kind of choked up about the fact that of individuals that we prayed through here.
[00:05:17] Individuals that went down in that baptistry.
[00:05:19] People who helped to build that baptistry.
[00:05:21] And so such as it is the people that will help rebuild the baptistry in the future.
[00:05:26] The people that will be baptized in the future.
[00:05:29] The people that will stain the carpets in the future.
[00:05:32] Praise God.
[00:05:33] I look forward and strive for that.
[00:05:35] Praise God.
[00:05:36] And as long as we're moving forward, nothing can hold us back.
[00:05:40] The Scriptures reflect these last things.
[00:05:43] These are some of the last things that Jesus preached while on earth.
[00:05:46] He was trying and He was saying before I go, here's some things you need to know.
[00:05:52] He was saying these are some things I want you to focus upon.
[00:05:55] In Mark, he gives a little slightly different account of some of the last things that he preached.
[00:06:00] He said unto them, Go into all the world and preach the gospel.
[00:06:04] Whosoever believes and is baptized shall be saved.
[00:06:09] Whosoever does not believe shall be damned.
[00:06:13] That's some of the last things that Jesus said according to the book of Mark right before he ascended back up into heaven.
[00:06:21] Why would he say these things as some of the last things?
[00:06:25] Because he's trying to say these are some important things.
[00:06:29] It is oftentimes said that some of the most important things you say are the last things that you say.
[00:06:34] You know that your time is running out, so I need you to lean in and I want you to pay close attention to what's being said.
[00:06:41] So that's why Jesus said, these things are so precious.
[00:06:45] So if you ever wonder why maybe I harp on these things or talk about them on a frequent and routine basis, that is the reason why.
[00:06:54] Because the Lord saw fit to reiterate these things, not just several times, but also at His final hours.
[00:07:02] There was a group called Europe.
[00:07:04] I think they were heavy metal.
[00:07:06] I don't know.
[00:07:08] They had big hair, so they looked heavy metal.
[00:07:11] They wrote a song called The Final Countdown in 1986.
[00:07:15] Now, I was only eight years old at that time, but even then and since then, I've heard that song thousands of times maybe, hundreds of times.
[00:07:26] Anytime something's coming to a conclusion, some event, they may play that song.
[00:07:32] Do, do, do, do, do.
[00:07:33] Has anybody ever heard this song?
[00:07:35] Does anybody know?
[00:07:35] Thank you.
[00:07:36] Praise God, y'all were kind of looking at me funny like, I don't know what he's talking about.
[00:07:39] But if you Google that or if you YouTube that, you'll see what I'm talking, and you've probably likely heard that.
[00:07:44] But I looked up the words to it, and I am fully convinced, Sister Hedrick, that I missed my calling.
[00:07:50] I could have been a songwriter in the 80s and 90s.
[00:07:54] Because these songs in the 80s and 90s, they just ain't hitting on much with the lyrics.
[00:07:58] I'm convinced I could have done better job listen to these lyrics we're leaving together but still it's farewell maybe we'll come back to earth who can tell I guess there's no one to blame we're leaving ground leaving ground they said it twice but it will never be the same again it's the final countdown the final countdown
[00:08:23] so I get it they didn't lean on the lyrics they leaned on the music back in the 80s and 90s I get that because we don't we don't even know these words but we know that we know that part
[00:08:39] and then I don't want it's the final countdown we know that so they're not leaning on the lyrics there's no question I could have helped them with this I could have we we could have got together like man we gotta we gotta fix this because this has got to be better
[00:08:55] And so they wrote that, and I feel that today because it is truly a final countdown.
[00:09:01] Man, there's a lot of emotions attached to it.
[00:09:04] I feel a strong sense of unity.
[00:09:06] I really do.
[00:09:06] With this group right here, I honestly feel a strong sense of unity and excitement among our core group of people, the folks who called this church home.
[00:09:15] I feel a lot of unity and excitement about it.
[00:09:19] If you have another feeling, you haven't let me know that, and you are free to express that to me.
[00:09:26] Praise God.
[00:09:27] You're free to express questions.
[00:09:28] You're free to express maybe a thought.
[00:09:32] I do relay or want to tell you that just because you bring a thought doesn't mean it's going to come to fruition.
[00:09:37] But we do take all things into consideration.
[00:09:41] Praise God.
[00:09:42] Amen.
[00:09:43] And so just to let you know that there will be some that will wax and wane through this process.
[00:09:49] I would hope that you wax more than you wane.
[00:09:53] Praise God.
[00:09:54] I want you to wax more than you wane.
[00:09:55] I visualized it like this this morning.
[00:09:59] If you remember these guys who would pan for gold and they would just get a whole scoop of mud.
[00:10:07] and they would get this sifter this this square box type thing in this sifter and they would begin to shake it side to side and they would run it through water and then lift it up and shake it side to side run it through water shake it side to side until ultimately the most valuable and the biggest things stayed on top
[00:10:29] But all the things that they didn't want, all the things that might have not been, and I don't want to use the word not important, but the things that were not as desirable fell through the cracks.
[00:10:41] Now, I will say this, that I don't want people to fall through the cracks, but I believe that the Lord is doing a sifting process.
[00:10:52] The Lord sees fit to do this from time to time.
[00:10:56] And what we tend to realize is that there is this shaking that happens and the ones that are serious tend to rise to the top.
[00:11:04] I don't want to use the word important but the ones that are serious about serving God tend to be the ones that remain and that stay on top.
[00:11:13] Here's another thing that me and my wife have discussed about our current generation is the fact that it is a fairly, it is a very fluid generation.
[00:11:22] Not with genders, but with where they are, your location, your job, where you live, sometimes who you date, who you live with.
[00:11:38] Generation and so we have seen that within our particular ministry that there are people who have been very fluid come and go and it's not even necessarily wrong it's just we knew that God wanted to deal with them during a certain period of time in our ministry to help them while they were here now listen I want you to stay forever there's no question about it I want you to be here forever until Jesus comes back I want you to be here but the Lord may have other plans for some people
[00:12:06] He may have other directions for some people could it be would it be selfish or what if if I said I want you to stay here at this church forever but yet the Lord called you to be a missionary that doesn't work if the Lord called you to marry a man that was going to start a church or a couple churches but yet I want you to stay here that doesn't work does it so my will is not necessarily
[00:12:33] I want the best for you and that's what I want to see have happen praise God and so whatever the case is for the betterment of God for the betterment of your walk with God and others walks I want the best for that can you say amen to that I want to say a few things today three things Jesus turned panic into peace he turned confusion into clarity and he turned
[00:13:07] He said to the people in Luke chapter 25, if you were to back up and read that, he would say, they looked at him and they didn't even believe it was him.
[00:13:18] This cannot be Jesus.
[00:13:20] We saw him crucified.
[00:13:22] So much so that he said, touch my, stick your finger, now this sounds kind of weird, just sounds kind of odd, stick your fingers in my wounds, touch them and see.
[00:13:34] He's basically saying touch me, touch me and let me prove that I am real.
[00:13:43] So if you hear nothing else that I say to you today, I want you to touch him and absolutely know that he is real and that he is right.
[00:13:52] Go ahead and put your hand on the hem of his garment.
[00:13:55] Go ahead and put your hands in his wounds.
[00:13:57] Praise God.
[00:13:58] And you will see that God is truly real.
[00:14:01] Behold my hands and my feet.
[00:14:03] He said, touch me in Luke chapter 24.
[00:14:05] Touch me.
[00:14:08] He asked if they had anything to eat.
[00:14:11] Interesting conversation.
[00:14:13] One minute we're touching his wounds, the next minute he's saying, do you have anything to eat?
[00:14:18] I want you to be fed.
[00:14:20] Not only do I need you to touch me, the Lord is saying, but I need you to be fed.
[00:14:25] Not just physically, but spiritually.
[00:14:28] If you're going to be able to have this happen while I'm gone, you need to be fed.
[00:14:34] And I would dare say we need to be fed on the Word of God.
[00:14:37] Man, we need to be full and even fat on the Word of God today.
[00:14:43] Because, hey, listen, times and seasons will happen.
[00:14:47] Opportunities and even things that we don't prefer would happen.
[00:14:52] And so I need to be fat on the Word and close to the Lord.
[00:14:56] Here's what happens.
[00:14:58] In Luke chapter 24 verses 41, they didn't even believe Him.
[00:15:02] They didn't even think it was Him.
[00:15:04] And in Luke, in verse 52, he left and they were worshiping him.
[00:15:10] You see what happens when you feed on the word and you touch him?
[00:15:13] You truly believe what he is and what he can do is true.

[00:15:19] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Amen.

[00:15:20] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
He turned confusion into clarity.
[00:15:23] Part of human nature is to question, and that's okay.
[00:15:26] It's only when we allow it to erode our faith and not build our faith that it becomes problematic and it becomes confusion.
[00:15:35] And we literally begin to walk in this circular cycle of questioning, answering, questioning, answering, and yet never moving forward with what we have.
[00:15:46] Luke 24, they questioned whether it was really Jesus or not.
[00:15:49] So they had to touch it and see.
[00:15:52] I want to settle the air today and if there's any unsettlement I want to make sure that I settle this.
[00:16:01] That the church will prevail.
[00:16:04] No matter what happens to me, that lady, or anybody else in the church, the church is going to be okay.
[00:16:11] Because Jesus said, upon this rock, I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail.
[00:16:18] And you can clap to that, that's alright.
[00:16:22] The gates of hell will not prevail against it.
[00:16:24] So the church is going to be just fine.
[00:16:26] Hallelujah.
[00:16:29] Amen.
[00:16:29] If something crazy happens, the pastor-only operating room, the church is going to be just fine.
[00:16:34] If we have to go through some wiggles and some worms to get to where we need to be on the new church property, the church is going to be just fine.
[00:16:42] The Lord will see to it for that.
[00:16:44] Amen.
[00:16:46] I don't think I've ever used the words wiggles and worms in the same sentence.
[00:16:50] So we'll just say that.
[00:16:52] Praise God.
[00:16:53] But however it shakes,
[00:16:56] However it shakes out you see the sifting however it shakes out the Lord's hand is all over it and that's what you need to know that's what you need to know amen it's the final countdown important things that the Lord wanted to share with his people during this time I want to lean on the Lord during this time I want to sharpen each other Proverbs 27 and 17 says iron sharpens iron I want to make you better
[00:17:25] I want you to make me better.
[00:17:27] I want to improve each other spiritually, physically, encourage, lift one another up.
[00:17:35] Praise God.
[00:17:35] I want to sharpen each other.
[00:17:37] I want to lean on the Lord.
[00:17:38] Sharpen each other and stay in the Word.
[00:17:41] Man, stay in the Word.
[00:17:44] Pastor, what translation?
[00:17:45] King James is where you start with.
[00:17:47] Move from that.
[00:17:48] NIV.
[00:17:49] New King James.
[00:17:50] Those are some of the better translations.
[00:17:52] I want you to understand it.
[00:17:55] And none of this even matters if you're reading it and not praying about it.
[00:18:00] Not rightly dividing the word.
[00:18:03] It's extremely important.
[00:18:06] Amen.
[00:18:07] Last, he turned pointlessness into purpose.
[00:18:13] There is a method to this madness, folks.
[00:18:16] I want to reach the lost.
[00:18:18] I want to reach the lost.
[00:18:19] I want to see the drug addict be delivered.
[00:18:23] and here's another thing I'm going to be going back and forth between practical and spiritual here for just a second with our church but being in a better location lends itself to being able to offer more rehab programs because people can get there if that makes sense not that they said they can't get here we just actually tried to do that people were not very consistent to be able to stay to come here but man I would love to have some some sort of a recovery program offered at the church if somebody had a burden for
[00:18:54] I want to see the drug addict to be delivered.
[00:19:01] Amen.
[00:19:04] I want to see moms be able to bring their babies to church
[00:19:13] I want to see kids dedicated to God and those kids grow up in church and stay serving God there's a point to this it's not pointlessness there's a purpose there's a method to this sometimes what seems to be madness amen I want something better for you I want something better for me I want something better for your families is this bad nope it's not bad
[00:19:45] I want something better for families that don't even come to church on a consistent regular basis.
[00:19:50] I want something better for them.
[00:19:52] Amen.
[00:19:53] I can sign up and say it like this.
[00:19:55] We are building for the better.
[00:19:58] Might even make a t-shirt out of it.
[00:19:59] I don't know.
[00:20:00] We're building for the better.
[00:20:02] Amen.
[00:20:04] Just whatever better may look like.
[00:20:07] Praise God.
[00:20:08] Here's what I do know.
[00:20:10] Here's what I understand.
[00:20:12] That in ministry, if you do nothing
[00:20:16] If there's no pushing, if there's no pressing, if you do nothing, the world slowly begins to seep in and take over.
[00:20:24] And ultimately you find yourself sitting and wondering what God is even doing.
[00:20:32] And the church is dead and the church is completely empty.
[00:20:37] And so I don't want either one of those things.
[00:20:41] If you're a church, it's not church.
[00:20:43] You've totally rewrote the definition for that.
[00:20:45] If a church is dead, it's not the church of the living God.
[00:20:49] Praise God.
[00:20:50] And so, I thank God that I have rarely seen anybody fall asleep at church.
[00:20:55] That's a good thing.
[00:20:56] Because we ain't dead!
[00:20:58] Now, there's always kids, man.
[00:21:00] I get it.
[00:21:00] You know, kids, you know, hadn't slept real well.
[00:21:03] They'll sleep underneath the chairs.
[00:21:04] They'll sleep underneath the pews.
[00:21:05] You know, our kids used to do that because, you know, kids have a different schedule.
[00:21:09] But man, I'm glad to say that it's been very rare that we've ever had anybody fall asleep at church.
[00:21:15] And to God be the glory for that.
[00:21:17] Amen.
[00:21:17] We're celebrating God for small things.
[00:21:19] Praise God.
[00:21:20] Yeah, it's a slightly larger sanctuary that we're going to have.
[00:21:24] About 2,000 square feet.
[00:21:26] This is about 1,200 to 1,300 square feet in here.
[00:21:29] So we're going to be able to seat about 100 to 150 people comfortably.
[00:21:33] A welcoming entrance and an entryway for people to feel very welcome as they enter into the building.
[00:21:40] Rentable outdoor space.
[00:21:41] With a grill in an outdoor kitchen for weddings, church celebrations, and birthdays.
[00:21:47] You say, rentable?
[00:21:48] About 50 bucks to 100 bucks, something like that, just so that we can make sure we maintain what we have.
[00:21:55] But man, wouldn't it be awesome to just be able to have something new and nice for those particular things?
[00:22:00] Modern playground with a rubber base.
[00:22:02] But that's just a building.
[00:22:04] That's just a facade.
[00:22:07] I want there to be defined pathways for new visitors, meaning a pathway of what to do next spiritually.
[00:22:13] How do I get plugged into the church?
[00:22:15] How do I get locked into the church?
[00:22:17] Structured discipleship to each person to grow in their relationship with God.
[00:22:22] Then leadership, growth, and enrichment.
[00:22:24] Man, these things, this is the point and this is the
[00:22:30] But literally a complete overhaul of the structure of how we do things.
[00:22:37] Amen.
[00:22:37] You'll see a new website.
[00:22:39] You might see a new logo.
[00:22:40] I don't know.
[00:22:41] Our logo is pretty good.
[00:22:42] It's tough to beat it.
[00:22:44] We even whistled around, do we change the name of the church?
[00:22:47] We're not going to go quite that far.
[00:22:49] We ain't going to go quite that far just yet.
[00:22:52] Praise God.
[00:22:53] but we'll have digital entryway digital uh visitor cards as opposed to just the little cards that we have right now a complete overhaul on many of the things the kids check in check in your kids to sunday school so that we know who we got we know how to follow up with you it's a little bit of an overhaul of how we do things right now amen and you can bet your bottom dollar if you're a betting person i'm not but you might be that as soon as we get the land
[00:23:25] We're going to have tent revival, tent services, tent prayer meetings.
[00:23:29] We might have some tent potlucks.
[00:23:31] I don't know.
[00:23:32] But we're going to put a tent on that property so that we can begin to utilize it before the building's even done.
[00:23:35] Amen.
[00:23:37] And I'm not sure if I'm going to ask the city about it or not.
[00:23:40] I think we just ask for forgiveness as opposed to asking for permission.
[00:23:46] Because most of the time they don't have time to come to you anyway.
[00:23:48] But if you ask, didn't they know?
[00:23:49] But I'd love to put a tent
[00:23:58] Praise God.
[00:24:01] We're not playing games with this.
[00:24:04] We're not playing games.
[00:24:07] And our pastor used to describe it as gospel games.
[00:24:11] We're not playing games.
[00:24:13] We're very serious about it.
[00:24:15] I believe in having a good time.
[00:24:16] I believe in telling jokes as much as possible.
[00:24:18] Sometimes they're funny, sometimes they're not.
[00:24:21] But I believe in that thing.
[00:24:22] But when eternity comes into play,
[00:24:28] We're just not.
[00:24:29] We're serious about eternity.
[00:24:32] I might joke about a lot of things, but not your soul.
[00:24:37] It's too precious.
[00:24:39] Not your family's souls.
[00:24:41] It's too precious.
[00:24:44] Our pastor preached a message one time, and the Lord laughs.
[00:24:47] It's not funny.
[00:24:49] Here's what I mean by that.
[00:24:51] In Proverbs chapter 1, verses, and I'm going to pull this up because I want to read the scripture to you.
[00:24:57] Proverbs chapter 1 and you know right off the bat when we begin to talk about the book of Proverbs we talk about instruction and righteousness and those particular things but he says a lot of other things as well when it comes to the book of Proverbs and in the first chapter verses 25 and
[00:25:20] through 31 it says this it says but you have said it not my counsel you would have none of my reproof you wouldn't listen to me that's what he's saying he says this in verse 26 I will laugh this is the Lord I will laugh at your calamity I will mock when your fear cometh
[00:25:44] And when your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as the whirlwind, and your distress and anguish cometh upon you, then they shall call upon me.
[00:25:52] Did you catch that?
[00:25:54] When you get in trouble, then you're going to call out to me.
[00:25:59] They shall seek me early, but they shall not fear me.
[00:26:10] I will laugh at your calamity so when the Lord laughs it's not funny it's not funny we're serious about this stuff and I want you to be equally serious about eternity so much so that people cannot define
[00:26:42] We're doing all these things because we're extremely serious about our mission and our goals for the Lord.
[00:26:51] Jesus, when he mentioned these things right before his ascension back up into heaven, he mentioned many things.
[00:26:58] Repentance, remission of sins, baptism, all of those things because he's saying, guys, you need to lean in.
[00:27:07] This is serious.
[00:27:10] Amen.
[00:27:11] Let's all stand today.
[00:27:23] In just a few weeks we'll be at a different location.
[00:27:25] This time next year, likely a whole new church if everything works out well.
[00:27:33] I want you to go with the flow.
[00:27:36] I want you to, as Moses did it, a cloud by day and a fire by night.
[00:27:43] But I'm just following the Lord.
[00:27:45] Amen.
[00:27:47] So wherever the Lord is, that's where I want to be.
[00:27:51] Praise God.
[00:27:52] Here's what I'd like to do at the end of the service today for just a few minutes today.
[00:27:55] Just make an altar where you are.
[00:27:57] You can kneel, you can sit.
[00:27:58] Whatever's most comfortable to you.
[00:28:00] But I just want to say, God, thank you for reminding me one more time
[00:28:05] Thank you for the last instructions as we begin to move on and move forward.
[00:28:11] Thank you, God, for the very most important things that are important to you to share with us today, God.
[00:28:20] That's it.
[00:28:20] Just begin to talk to Him.
[00:28:21] Let's just begin to cry out to Him.
[00:28:24] Let's just begin to thank Him today.
[00:28:27] Gracious, gracious God.
[00:28:28] Gracious God.

[00:28:30] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]:
Hallelujah.

[00:31:40] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Woo!