Bridgeway Community Church

Kevin Turpin II

Series: Next Gen Faith

December 5, 2021

Next Gen Faith: LEGACY

“You have an assignment from God. Are you brave enough to accept that assignment?”

Ephesians 2:8-10 NIV
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

“The title of my message is ‘Same Legacy, Diﬀerent Purpose.’ ”

Verses 8-9: We all have the same gift to receive, Jesus Christ

Same Legacy

Verse 10: We all have good works to do

Diﬀerent Purpose

“When we think about legacy today, I don’t want us to think about legacy in the traditional sense. Actually, I want us to think about legacy about leaving a God- honoring legacy.”

God Honoring Legacy: A life made fully available to God for Him to use it to accomplish His purposes.

“Once we make the decision to live a life to serve God, one of the things that our minds goes to is ‘How do we keep this going?’ That’s what God would want us thinking about. How can the people that follow us also live their lives to serve God so we have this continuous chain going down from generation to generation of people serving God and doing great works to make his Son’s name great.”

Legacy Transfer:

A biblical picture of legacy transfer: King David to his son Solomon

“King David in his interactions with his son was hyper focused on one thing: making sure he transferred his heart to serve God to his son. That Solomon would serve God as he did and that’s the only thing he seemed to care about.”

3 ways that David sought to transfer a God-honoring legacy to his son

1) Teach our children how to honor God

1 Chronicles 29:10-20: David leads consecration service before Solomon is anointed King

1 Chronicles 29:10-20 NIV
David praised the Lord in the presence of the whole assembly, saying, “Praise be to you, Lord, the God of our father Israel, from everlasting to everlasting.
11 Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, Lord, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all.
12 Wealth and honor come from you; you are the ruler of all things. In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all.
13 Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise your glorious name.
14 “But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand.
15 We are foreigners and strangers in your sight, as were all our ancestors. Our days on earth are like a shadow, without hope.
16 Lord our God, all this abundance that we have provided for building you a temple for your Holy Name comes from your hand, and all of it belongs to you.
17 I know, my God, that you test the heart and are pleased with integrity. All these things I have given willingly and with honest intent. And now I have seen with joy how willingly your people who are here have given to you. 18 Lord, the God of our fathers Abraham, Isaac and Israel, keep these desires and thoughts in the hearts of your people forever, and keep their hearts loyal to you.
19 And give my son Solomon the wholehearted devotion to keep your commands, statutes and decrees and to do everything to build the palatial structure for which I have provided.”
20 Then David said to the whole assembly, “Praise the Lord your God.” So they all praised the Lord, the God of their fathers; they bowed down, prostrating themselves before the Lord and the king.

2) Share our faith stories with our children

1 Samuel 17:34-36, 39: David tells story of killing a lion and bear before defeating Goliath

1 Samuel 17:34-36, 39 NIV
But David said to Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried oﬀ a sheep from the flock, 35 I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. 36 Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God.
39 David fastened on his sword over the tunic and tried walking around, because he was not used to them.

“That testimony and the many other testimonies of miracles and healing and blessing that our families have experienced, those are the things that the following generations are seeing and makes them want to serve the God that their parents serve, that their mentors serve, that their youth leaders serve, so share your faith stories with your children.”

3) Pray and prophesy our children into their destiny

1 Chronicles 22:11-13: David prayed blessings of wisdom and success over Solomon

1 Chronicles 22:11-13 NIV
“Now, my son, the Lord be with you, and may you have success and build the house of the Lord your God, as he said you would. 12 May the Lord give you discretion and understanding when he puts you in command over Israel, so that you may keep the law of the Lord your God. 13 Then you will have success if you are careful to observe the decrees and laws that the Lord gave Moses for Israel. Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged.
Proverbs 18:21 NIV
The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.

“May we choose to speak life over our children. May we choose to pray our children and the next generations that follow us into a destiny where they will serve God and do great things for his kingdom.”

Venmo1 as a metaphor for God-honoring legacy transfer

“The generations that are seeking to make the transfer, can only make it in faith. You send everything you’ve done, everything you’ve lived out, everything you’ve taught – that gets sent up to God in faith…He keeps it in a holding account for the following generation…they have to hook into God for themselves…and receive that transfer into their own account, their own lives.”

Once the legacy transfer is made, you now have a responsibility. A responsibility to expand that legacy! Generation after generation.

“The grace that God gives us, that’s free. However, once you receive the grace, the favor that comes with it is not free. That God expects a return on his investment and that return comes through us operating with what he’s given us, those special assignments…we are expanding his kingdom in souls won.”

Matthew 28:18-20 NIV
Then Jesus came to them [his disciples] and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

1 Venmo is an American mobile payment service…Account holders can transfer funds to others via a mobile phone app. Wikipedia

Matthew 25:14-30 NIV
[Jesus teaching a parable] “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them.
15 To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey.
16 The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more.
17 So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more.
18 But the man who had received one bag went oﬀ, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.
19 “After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. 20 The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’
21 “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’
22 “The man with two bags of gold also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.’
23 “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’
24 “Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25 So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’
26 “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? 27 Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.
28 “‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. 29 For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. 30 And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
Matthew 25:16 NIV
The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more.

“What’s interesting about this is the master had nothing to do with the multiplication. The master simply gave the gifts and the talents and the man put it to work immediately and he gained five bags more.”

Matthew 25:21 NIV
“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’
Ephesians 3:20 NIV
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us

Question: How can God bless us with things that we can’t imagine if he can’t trust us to work for the things that we can imagine?

“We have a responsibility to do good works for God and to use what is in our hand, what he’s given us – he has given us all special gifts and talents to use for the kingdom.”

Question: What is in your hand?

“You better work that thing! God expects you to work it.”

“It matters HOW we do the work of God…The Bible is very clear…that God does care deeply how we do our good works.”

Titus 3:6-8 NIV
Whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. 8 This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone.

3 practical applications on how we can be profitable for the kingdom

1. Be profitable in love

Galatians 5:6 NIV
For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.

“Our currency is love and God wants us dispensing an unlimited amount of it around the world.”

2. Be profitable in generosity

2 Corinthians 9:11 NIV
You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.

3. Be profitable in truth

“We live in a period where there is lies and there’s delusions, there’s false prophecies, there’s false teaching all around us. God is looking for a generation that will stand up for his truth.”

1 Chronicles 12:32a NIV
from Issachar, men who understood the times and knew what Israel should do

Conclusion:

I close by making a couple of appeals. There are people under the sound of my voice that are living on credit. You had parents, grandparents, mentors, or friends put Jesus into a holding account for you, but you have not yet transferred him into your own account.

The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 6:2 that today is the day of salvation. Do not put this oﬀ any longer. Let’s get rid of the debt that you are living with right here, right now. You have been searching for your purpose in this world, let’s get you connected to it today.

2 Corinthians 6:2 NIV
For he [God] says,“In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.” I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.

Sinner’s Prayer

Second appeal: There are some people that have Jesus, but have not been getting to the good works that he prepared in advance for you for whatever reason. You have not been multiplying the gifts he has given you. I want you to raise your hand if this is you. You have worked assigned to you that is going to save someone’s life. That is why the enemy is trying to keep you from it.

Sermon in a sentence: The only legacy in life that matters is if you become a part of the legacy of Christ, however once you do that you have a unique purpose to complete for the glory of God.