Tonight is our last night with the book Chase the Lion and I hope that as we've studied this and we've looked at this that God's beginning to reveal to you who you need to partner with and many of you are partnering with us here at Calvary Chase our Lions and maybe revealing to you Lions in your life that God wants you to pursue that seem impossible But are very possible and I want to stress this again. These lines are going to seem impossible to us I was talking with a group of men today and we talked we were talking I just guys I've never known God to give us a pathway that doesn't have challenges in it He gives us pathways where he where at the end of the at the end of the journey. Nobody can sit and say wow you really did it No at the end of the journey. You know what they're supposed to say Wow you couldn't have done that that must have been God Amen So tonight our last speaker for this.
I am a privilege. I've been introducing her since the day She was born and I'm excited to introduce her to you nice He speaks a lot in our youth department areas I don't think she's ever spoke for our adults before and so welcome my daughter Jessica she comes to share with you tonight Good evening Aside from a couple of combined thanksgiving services. This is my first Wednesday night with the grown-ups normally with the kids So hi, did you never see me? So I'm gonna pray and then we'll get started Dear God, thank you so much for bringing us here tonight And I just pray Lord that our hearts and our minds would be open to what you have to say to us And I just pray Lord that the word here tonight would be from you and would draw us near to you in Jesus name amen So I want to start tonight with a story It's true to the best of my knowledge.
I'm trying to get the facts right So sometime in the early 1930s a Sunday school teacher in Kentucky had a dream and His dream was to get as many kids as he could to come to Sunday school every Sunday for a year So he thought about it. He planned he prayed about it And he got an idea and found a way to try to make this happen So he told the kids in his class if you come every Sunday for a year I will give you a gold pin Now in this man's class, there was a little boy and he came from a rough family They didn't go to church very often they didn't have much and he was just kind of there from time to time But he really wanted that gold pin. It sounded really cool So he came to church every Sunday for a year and sometimes I wonder what he acted like in Sunday school I can kind of picture him pulling the girl's hair when they weren't looking I can see him poking fun at the other boys I would imagine that at least one Sunday in a year. He had a frog in his pocket when he came to church That's just how I picture him as a little boy and based on what I know about him I wonder if sometimes the teacher regretted asking him to come every Sunday for a year Maybe he thought maybe this one should miss every once in a while So the year ended and the little boy got his pin and he slowly kind of drifted away from church Didn't think much about it and I wonder if the Sunday school teacher ever wondered if he really made a difference I wonder if he even remembered that little boy remembered his name I don't know the teacher's name and it seems like I should because his dream changed the course of my family Years later that little boy was a young man dying on a beach in the South Pacific He was a Marine and he was wounded and he thought that the end had come But what came to his mind in that moment as he thought he was dying was a song he learned in Sunday school And so he said if this is a song in my head, I better say a prayer and he said God if you get me out of this alive, I will live for you and God really took him up on that offer Because 30 years after the Sunday school teachers dream approximately about 20 years after that salvation prayer that little boy started this church That was my grandpa pastor MC Johnson So I don't know that Sunday school teachers name But his dream planted a seed that became fruitful and became this body of believers praise God So the title of the last chapter of Chase the lion is a hundred years from now That Sunday school teachers dream was about 80 years ago And I think it's safe to say that we'll still coverage church will still be around in 20 years and That dream is becoming a hundred year dream a hundred year legacy.
Just think about that So this chapter opens with a challenging statement The key to dreaming big is thinking long and the bigger the dream the longer the timeline if you're thinking in terms of eternity You should have some dreams that can't be accomplished in your lifetime One of the things that set up Calvary church for fruitful ministry right from the start was that they were immediately Invested in pouring into the next generation So within a year of the church opening the doors There was a Sunday school class for the children because pastor MC felt like Sunday school was important changed his life After the church began to grow my grandma Mrs. Jay started a youth choir because they knew that a song about Jesus could stick in your heart get stuck in your head and change Your life even years later. We have always been a church that pours into that next generation Psalm 78 5 through 7 for God issued his laws to Jacob. He gave his instructions to Israel He commanded our ancestors to teach them to their children So the next generation might know them even the children not yet born and they in turn will teach their own children So each generation should set its hope and new on God not forgetting his glorious miracles and obeying his commands So I'm gonna tell you something sometimes Investing in the next generation can seem kind of thankless it can be frustrating and You don't always get to see the fruit of that labor.
I don't think that Sunday school teacher ever knew about this church or heard about this church So I started volunteering in the junior high ministry back in 2006 And I immediately just fell in love with 12 to 14 year olds, which is really weird I know and after 10 years of junior high ministry I've learned a lot but one of the things I have learned is that puberty turned some kids into jerks And it's usually temporary most of the time So here's how it goes every summer we get this cute all shorter than me little group of six graders And they kind of smell bad But they're really excited to be there and they want to give you a hug and they always want to say hi to you And they come running up to you and they see you and they just love you and they think you're awesome and amazing And you are like I am so cool. Look at how these six graders think of me. I'm so cool And then here's what happens we hit about March of eighth grade This is after about almost three years of working with them and all of a sudden at least three of these kids sometimes more decide You're not cool anymore And they don't want to say hi to you in the hall and they don't want to run up to you and give you a hug and tell you about their day And then the nerve of these kids they go to high school and for their entire freshman year They act like they've never known you like they've never seen you before in their life. You just walk by you I did not spend three years hanging out with you once a week Just walk right by and that can be a little bit frustrating eventually they usually come back and say oh I miss you guys this was so fun, but not during the freshman year freshman are way too cool for me So this happens every year and it would be really easy to get discouraged.
I could say Those kids act like I don't even matter once they go to high school I could say I I must not have made a difference I invested in them and now they don't even make eye contact with me But this is what I do instead I remember that I was set in their life for a season and that I prayed for them And I loved them throughout that season And I think about that Sunday school teacher whose name none of us know and I pray that the time that I spent in that student's life Will return fruitful and I say hi to that kid no matter how many times they ignore me See my dream isn't to have a bunch of high school kids like me because I hung out with them while they were in junior high My dream is to be used to plant a seed that will change their eternity even if I never get to see it happen So in this chapter the author quotes a lesson from dr. Richard Halverson it says You're going to meet an old man Sunday down the road 10 30 50 years from now waiting there for you That old man will be you he'll be the composite of everything you do say and think today and tomorrow his heart will be turning out What you've been putting into it every little thought every deed goes into this man Every day and every way you are becoming more and more like yourself amazing, but true You're beginning to look more like yourself think more like yourself and talk more like yourself You're becoming yourself more and more So think about who you are becoming I think that a big clue to that would would be to ask yourself If I met my future self today, what questions would I want to ask what would I want to know about? So think about that What are some questions you would want to ask your future self if you met yourself 30 years down the road? What would you ask?
So I thought about this and here's some of the questions that I would ask myself The first one is what is star doing and if you don't know who star is about a year ago My husband and I became legal guardians of one of the students from the youth group and her name is star and My dream for her is that she discovers God's calling and lives for him all the days of her life So my first question would be about her because I really hope that we're breaking the chains that have been set in her life throughout generations My second question would be what are the kids from revolution doing that's our junior high youth group How many of those smelly junior high kids are now adults that are faithfully serving God and hopefully showering more regularly? Who in a ministry who do I need to pray for who do I need to maybe invest a little bit more in and my third question would be What does my family look like? Andy and I are expecting a baby in May and we're really excited and I think we'll have more kids the traditional way But I also feel like God has told me that somewhere down the road There's gonna be another child who comes into our life in an unusual and unexpected way And I wonder who that is and when our paths will cross so I would ask about that My questions will be about my legacy. So what will your questions be?
Are you living with your legacy in mind? What are you doing today that will impact tomorrow? Our church is filled with foster parents adoptive parents youth workers children's workers teachers and guess what? There's always a need for more I'm inspired by so many people in this church And I'm gonna name some of them because I think they deserve it Dave and Kathy Reynolds have fostered literally dozens of children I think over 30 children they have fostered over the years maybe more and they've adopted three Dave serves with me in the junior high ministry and the kids love him and he has been doing youth or children's ministry in some form for over 30 years He just loves kids.
I've watched Erin and Ashley Turner go through their journey of adopting a little boy from Korea And then feeling called to become foster parents and bringing a precious little baby girl into their home I Grew up with Jeff and Shannon Graham and now they have adopted five kids out of foster care and then God bless them with two kids of Their own so they really have their hands full but they're doing a great job My parents took in two little girls who desperately needed a loving and stable family and my parents mentored and prayed for Two of my brothers friends who were going through a time where they really need a godly guidance and direction I'm not saying that in order to leave a legacy You have to be a foster parent or you have to be a youth worker Your legacy might be the family of your neighbor or your co-worker your legacy might be a single mom who needs some encouragement Your legacy might be a financial contribution to a ministry that reaches someone you'll never meet Your legacy may be your own children grandchildren Your legacy may be as easy as getting somebody to ride a church every week Your legacy may be prayer said on behalf of the parents foster parents teachers youth workers and others that you know I want to tell you about four women in our church who I just found out about in the last few months And it's really been an inspiration and encouragement to me to know what they're doing their names are Grace Torres Dixie's out Sharon Brown and Terry Austin These women inspire me because on Wednesday nights They gather at the Jefferson Street campus and they pray for our youth services while the youth services are going on They pray that our students will be transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit They pray that our youth workers will have wisdom and show students the love of Jesus and as a youth worker I can tell you that just knowing they're there gives me confidence and peace of mind knowing God's got my back We've got these ladies praying for me behind the scenes and I love that feeling Sharon told a group of our youth leaders that on two occasions She felt God prompting her to actually go and speak to a couple of different students and her interactions with these students ended up being divine appointments So can you imagine your teenager you're at youth group and you're just going about your business and out of nowhere This woman who was old enough to be your grandmother that you've never seen before walks up to you and says How are you doing? Is there anything I can pray for you about? How would you react to that? How do you think most teenagers would react?
I think most of them would be like I'm fine You know walk away might be like who are you? I've never seen you before how I'm doing is not really your business. I don't know who you are But that's not how these two students reacted Both of these students opened up to Sharon and told her that they had been struggling with depression and thoughts of suicide And she was able to pray with them and encourage them and when she sees them She goes out of her way to check in with them and they'll stand there and talk to her for a long time because they like to talk to her And it's exactly what they need. They just needed a nurturing person to be on their side and to know that somebody is praying for them by name See these four ladies.
They weren't called to be youth workers They were called to be prayer warriors They are locked in the battle for the souls of our students Their dream isn't to know a bunch of teenagers and be in touch with the youth Their dream is to fight and win spiritual battles on behalf of every student that walks through our doors They are leaving a legacy. They are proving faithful and I thank God for them The reason that women like this are in our church is because Calvary church lives in dreams with the future in mind We didn't build this building because we needed more room for the adults Everybody who comes on sunday, we could still fit you in at the old sanctuary We built this building because we needed a better space to minister to children Our church needs financial support not our church our school needs financial support from the church because it's not our dream to educate wealthy children who can afford a private education It's our dream to provide a Christian education to any child who wants it regardless of their ability to pay The next step in our building process is not a fellowship hall so we can have parties and big dinners It's not a church office so that our staff can conveniently have their offices where the sanctuary is It's not a wedding chapel that we can rent out and make money on The next step is a youth facility because we want to fill our church with teens and young adults Our church lives with its legacy in mind and we are constantly looking toward the next generation I had the privilege to attend a meeting with several of our youth leaders and just kind of dream about and talk about what that youth facility will be and how we will use it And I've got to tell you this it is absolutely a 500 pound lion Because we don't just want a place to meet on Wednesdays and Sundays so we can do church We want a place that is a destination that's open throughout the week so that we can reach students in our community and be the church to them We want sports programs drama programs music programs art programs counseling programs much much more Just like the plays zone draws in children. We want our youth facility to draw in teens in our own power and given our current resources We cannot do this this dream is exciting, but it's scary and it's huge, but here's what I know God has a plan He gave us this dream and he is going to come through The first line of the lion chaser manifesto says quit living as if the purpose of life is to arrive safely at death run to the roar When our dream for this youth facility comes to fruition. It is not going to be a safe and comfortable endeavor I can tell you right now that at our Jefferson Street campus there are between 40 and 50 junior high kids and it is not exclusively nice church kids Look around the room.
Do you think you see the parents of 40 to 50 junior high kids in this room? No, most of the most of their parents are not here Some of that is because Jessica's daughter brings a million of them with her every week and I love it So most of those kids don't have parents that are bringing them to church. They're coming with friends. They're finding a way to get here Without parents who are following through and coming to a service on their own So 10 years of junior high ministry has not always been comfortable I have called parents to tell them that their child is having cause of suicide I've taken a knife from a student.
He didn't bring it to threaten anybody, but he walked to church and he didn't feel safe without it I told parents that their child was self-harming. I called DCFS and reported abuse and neglect I've left in tears because of something a student said None of these things were fun. None of these things are the reason I love youth ministry But here's what I tell myself after a difficult night of ministry I don't want to hang out with a bunch of nice church kids every week If everyone in the group is being taught about the bible at home, then this is nothing more than a social club I want those nice church kids to build relationships with kids who are weary and burdened I want to look across the room and know that some of these kids would never hear about Jesus if it wasn't for this group I want the misfits the unloved and the lost to feel welcome and loved here We are not a social club for church kids. We're a ministry for the lost One of my favorite quotes from this book is Jesus didn't die just to keep you safe.
He died to make you dangerous The enemy has a plan for the next generation of this church and for the youth of Springfield We have to be a danger to that plan. I shared a lot tonight about my own hundred-year dreams I have a hundred-year dream for a 13-year-old girl who's living in my home I have a hundred-year dream for the youth in our church in our community. I have a hundred-year dream for my future children So what is your what is your hundred-year dream? If you don't have one maybe it's time to get on board with someone else's Our church has a hundred-year dream for this community Our church has a hundred-year dream for your children and your children's children Get on board with those dreams God might not call you to a leading role, but he at least needs you to be a supporting character Be excited when our church invests in young people Be happy to see children in teens in our building Even if their hair is the wrong color, even if their body doesn't smell the right way And even if they're sitting in your seat be happy to see them Be a prayer warrior on behalf of the next generation of our church If you don't have your own hundred-year dream Start telling God that you want one Say God, I want to do something that matters after I am gone.
Give me a hundred-year dream I'm warning you that if you pray this prayer, God might call you to do something uncomfortable When we open ourselves up to be used by God, he usually takes us up on it So when I was six months old my parents took in my older sister Tina she shared last Sunday She was 15 and she needed a safe place to go and 30 years later. She's still a part of our family When I was 16 my parents took in my youngest sister Lydia. She was six. She needed a safe place to go And 14 years later.
She's still a part of the family both of those things were supposed to be temporary But God has a funny definition of temporary So My parents were not looking to add more children to their family and either circumstance But these were just chance encounters that changed the trajectory of these two girls lives And those chance encounters planted a dream in my heart Before Andy and I got married I told him that I hoped that one guy one day God would use me To make a difference in the life of a child the way my parents were able to make a difference in Tina and Lydia's lives And I hoped that God would send a child into my life that I could take in and love like my own And Andy didn't even hesitate to say that he was on board with that that he was good with that So about a month after we got married I felt God prompting me to start praying for whoever that child would be So I started to pray and I prayed for a few months And I met a little girl named star I didn't know much about her. I knew that she came from a rough background and I knew that she had been spending a lot of time with Two of the girls in the youth group who were sisters So one day Andy and I decided to take these sisters out for pizza And star happened to be staying with them. So she came too And as we talked to them we found out that star had basically been living with a family of these two girls So when we dropped them off that day Andy said why is star living with them? And I said I don't know I don't really know what the story is and he goes can we keep her?
She's really sweet And I said I don't know you can't just ask somebody to give a kid how do you ask that question like hey I saw this girl was staying with you can she stayed with me instead um But after that day my prayers for a vague future child who would need a home sometime in the distant future Started to morph into prayers for star And I started to say God if stars that child then bring her to us And four months later she moved into our home So I need to confess something I spent about 10 months praying for this future child. I spent four of those months praying specifically for star But when I got the text asking if she could come stay with us. I almost said no I wasn't ready to run to the roar I put my eyes on all of the problems and obstacles. I was like we're living in a 700 square for the apartment in a retirement home It's not a great place to bring a 12-year-old to live with you Um We haven't even been married for a full year We're trying to save money to buy a house But when I told my husband that started to the place to say to say he was like let's do it We've been saying we want to help kids.
This is our chance So after 10 months of prayer. I wasn't the one who had the faith to take the next step My husband grabbed me by the hand and said let's chase that lion So my hundred-year dream for stars life started as a prayer of openness God sent me a child who needs a safe home and a loving family. I'm willing And that was a prayer God wanted to say yes to Be open to a God-sized dream Be ready for it to turn your life upside down I'm going to close tonight with the final words from chase the lion Jesus didn't die just to keep you safe. He died to make you dangerous Can I tell you who I think you are?
You are a lion chaser. Do what you are destined to do chase the lion. Let's pray Father, I just pray for every person in this room that our hearts would be open To the God-sized dreams you want to give us I pray with you at open doors We never thought imaginable and that you would just guide us to what those dreams are and to leave our own legacy And to have an impact on the next generation father in Jesus name amen. Thank you guys You know, I really I had a revelation here tonight listening to Jessica From time time somebody will come to me and they'll say uh, is there somebody I can invest in my life And is there somebody you know who it seems like a really noble thing and I'll say oh, let me see if I can think of somebody and I never can I never can and I think there's a reason for that.
I think God wants to bring somebody into your life I don't think he wants somebody else to enter for me to go introduce that for some intentional Thing to happen. I think that they're gonna get introduced to you and God's gonna birth something in you And birth something in them. Now, that's just one of the dreams. But whatever your dream is I want to I just want to challenge you don't run from it run to it And as Jessica said tonight if if you don't have one of your own Get on board with ours Amen Let's chase it together Let's go after it together.
Let's make a difference together. The dreams that are out there before us are bigger than what we can do on our own But they're not bigger than what God can do. Amen. Let's stand together tonight Father just in this moment.
I pray you'd fill us with courage But not only fill us with courage father fill us with passion To want to do whatever you would have us to do Touch us and guide us today in Jesus name and let us go out of here and chase our lines in Jesus name Amen. God bless you. I go in the name of the lord