(Start with family background and no words)
(display the attached newspaper article when I ask for it)
1. Our Tribute
(Psalm 145:1-7) I will exalt You, my God the King; I will praise Your name for ever and ever. Every day I will praise You and extol Your name for ever and ever. Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; His greatness no one can fathom. One generation will commend Your works to another; they will tell of Your might acts. They will speak of the glorious splendor of Your majesty, and I will meditate on Your wonderful works. They will tell of the power of Your AWESOME works, and I will proclaim Your great deeds. They will celebrate Your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of Your righteousness.
A. God is AWESOME!
B. God has done awesome things!
2. Our Tower
A. It will draw people to Christ’s Gospel.
(Proverb 18:10) The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.
B. It will remind people of God’s greatness.
(Joshua 4:4-7) So Joshua summoned the twelve men selected from the Israelites, one man for each tribe, and said to them, “Go across to the ark of the Lord your God in the middle of the Jordan. Each of you lift a stone onto his shoulder, one for each of the Israelite tribes, so that this will be a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’ you should tell them, ‘The waters of the Jordan were cut off in front of the ark of the Lord’s covenant. When it crossed the Jordan, the Jordan’s waters were cut off.’ Therefore these stones will always be a memorial for the Israelites.
C. It will encourage people to trust in God’s care.
(Psalm 48:12-14) Walk about Zion, go around her, count her TOWERS, consider well her ramparts, view her citadels, that you may tell of them to the next generation. For this God is our God forever and ever; he will be our guide even to the end.
3. Our Testimony
(Psalm 44:1-3) We have heard with our ears, O God; our fathers have told us what You did in their days, in days long ago. With Your hand You drove out the nations and planted our fathers; You crushed the people and made our fathers flourish. It was not by their sword that they won the land, nor did their arm bring them victory; it was Your right hand, Your arm, and the light of Your face, for You loved them.
A. God built the new worship center – not us!
B. We were absolutely sold out to Christ!
We are the fellowship of the unashamed. The die has been cast. We have stepped over the line. The decision has been made. We are His disciples. We won’t look back, let up, slow down, back away or be still. Our past is redeemed, our present makes sense, and our future is secure.
We’re finished and done with low living, sight walking, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tamed visions, mundane talking, cheap giving and dwarfed goals.
We no longer need preeminence, prosperity, positions, promotions, applause or popularity. We don’t have to be right, first, tops, recognized, praised regarded or rewarded.
We now live by faith, lean on His presence, walk by patience, lift by prayer and labor by love. Our faces are set, our gait is fast, our goal is heaven, our road is narrow, our way is rough, our companions few, our guide reliable, our mission clear.
We cannot be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, turned back, deluded or delayed. We will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of the adversary, negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity or meander in the maze of mediocrity.
We won’t give up, shut up, or let up, until we have stayed up, stored up, prayed up, paid up, and preached up for the cause of Christ. We are disciples of Jesus and the power of our lives is His Holy Spirit. We must go until He comes, give until we drop, preach until all know, and work until He stops us. And when He comes for His own, He will have no problem recognizing us – OUR BANNER WILL BE CLEAR!
First Baptist
Church Pflugerville
Sunday, September
23rd, 2007