What the Bible Really Says About Calling and Legacy | Jonathan Evans

name. Okay. So, all of the young people, some of us older, who are trying to make a name for yourself, and you out here looking like a fool, doing all this dumb stuff on social media, building a legacy of quicksand. You're wasting your life. All that stuff you putting on, all they do is people look at it and they give you three seconds and then they scroll up.

God says, "No, no, no. You don't bless you. I bless you. You don't give you a great name. I give you a great name." Now the Lord said to Abram, "Go forth from your country and from your relatives and from your father's house to the land which I will show you, and I will make you a great nation.

I will bless you. I will make your name great, and so you shall be a blessing." Watch this. I will bless those who bless you and those who curse you I will curse and in you all the families of the earth will be blessed. Okay. Now you read along with me.

But did you really hear it? Abraham, go forth from your country, your relatives, and your father's house to a land that I will show you, and I will give you a great nation. Hallelujah. Your legacy is on me, not on you. I will give you a great name.

You don't have to keep doing the song and dance on your social media platform. I'mma do that. I'm going to bless you. You're not required to be a blessing to yourself. Let me do that. Matter of fact, if you do what I'm asking you to do, I'm going to bless those who are on your side.

And you don't have to go curse anybody cuz I will curse them for you. I'm going to bless you so much that in you a whole lot of other people are going to experience a blessing. Now before we sit down and we jump in, is there anybody in the house that wants to be blessed?

If you're not raising your hand or saying amen, you're lying in church. If you want to be blessed, say amen. Amen. Okay, you may be seated. Cuz now I have to tell you how to go get it. In our 49y year history, we can look back and say that we have been blessed.

But we understand because of the history the real definition of a blessing. In American culture, we have a false definition of a blessing because we tend to be narcissistic when it comes to our faith. We think a blessing is the favor of God to me. No, you missed half.

The blessing is not just the favor of God to you. God is not interested in blessing a culde-sac. That's right. He's looking to bless someone who is going to be a conduit. So today we're going to talk about the real definition and how to go get it because we want to actually have a kingdom legacy.

The real definition of a blessing is the favor of God to you so that it may flow through you. That's why the church is here. That's why God has been a part of 49 years because the church has not just existed for itself but for the blessing of a whole community and even more than that the world.

If you want a kingdom legacy then it can't just be about you. What's the point of being applauded on earth only to be booed in heaven? It's about a kingdom legacy. That's why the church is here and exist is for his kingdom so that it can be on earth a little bit more like it is in heaven.

That is the goal of this life and of your life. Who wants to walk in the sands of life only to look back and see that there were no footprints? Who wants to get a well done on a social media status only to not get it in heavenly places?

If you really want greatness, you live your life for his kingdom. Okay, let me tell you this story. It was 2006. 2006 I was playing with the San Diego Chargers. Yeah, you don't know me for football because everybody was better than me, but who cares? I was there.

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 And in 2006, they didn't have the rules back then that they have now. Now they have rules to protect the person who's in the pads. like you can't practice when it's this hot. You can't go out there and do too many practices. You don't need to wear pads too much.

Like they be kind of babying them now. When I was playing, they could care less about your whole life. So we would go out and be in training camp and there was no light at the end of the tunnel and if there was a little light, it was just an oncoming train.

Training camp was a beast. We would practice two, sometimes three times a day in 100 degree weather. We had coaches back then that said water is for weakness. Like it was just a totally different ball game. We dreaded going out there because of how hard it is. And it was at the time.

And I remember it like it was yesterday. By day four, the veterans started talking about retirement. We're like, "Yeah, dog. We ain't going to be able to keep doing this. This is By day five, the rookies, meaning me and the rest of the boys were calling mom saying, "Get everything ready.

I will be home soon gladly. I'm trying to get up out of here." Because by day six, we had already been through almost 20 practices. You thought you had been there for 3 weeks only to look up to see that you still have five weeks left of this nonsense.

And I'll never forget day six, we went out to practice and everybody was feeling themselves, feeling sorry for themselves. The quarterback was throwing interceptions. Leenian Tomlinson, for you football fans, was the running back at the time. He was fumbling the ball. People weren't tackling. Nobody was hitting anybody.

It was just terrible. I looked at the head coach and saw that he had taken notice, but he didn't say a word. He just watched the catastrophe happen. Then he let us go into the locker room and change clothes and he didn't say anything. So I thought he understands what we're going through and he's letting us get away with one.

That is until day seven, day eight came around when we came into the team meeting room at 6:45 a.m. And I remember vividly being slouched in my chair with my eyes halfway shut just trying to make it through. And you could hear the grumbling, groaning, and complaining go across the room.

And then the door slam closed and all went quiet cuz the elephant had just entered the room. For you football fans, you may know his name was Marty Shottenheimimer. He was a tough coach. Drink water if you ain't tough coach. Those type of coaches. And this day I knew was different because he just paced and he looked for five minutes.

There was no talking. He took the time to look at each individual player right in the eyes almost as if to see what we were thinking. I went to the edge of my seat because I was wondering what he was going to say when he finally started talking.

And then he spoke. He said, "Guys, I did not just cast a net in hopes that the great players that I needed to win a Super Bowl with the 2006 San Diego Chargers would just so happen to by luck fall into it." He said, "That's not the way this works.

You were hand selected, cherrypicked, and chosen by none other than myself." And he said, "I'm Marty Shottenheimer. I don't make mistakes with who I choose. I watched your game tape from beforehand. I knew exactly what you would do to contribute to this team so that we can advance and win like we're called to win.

I've even given you a book that's been tried and tested over the course of my career. I know it works. I've given you a coaching staff that can teach it to you. I've given you a field where you can practice it so you can execute it. And most importantly, I've given you a uniform with your name on it.

Don't embarrass it. He said, "I've given you everything you need to experience this promise, but you got to do something for me. I can give you the book. I can give you the coaches. I can give you the field. I can give you a uniform. But if you're not willing to maintain its integrity, you'll miss out on the promise that I drafted you for."

Now, stop wasting your time and my time. Enough's enough. Stop grumbling, groaning, and complaining because training camp is just a part of the promise. Stand up, strap on your pad, slip on your helmet, and meet me on the 50 yard line because the time for your greatness will start right now.

Man, we went out there with smoke coming out out of our ears and fire coming out of our nose. Not because anything was different other than our perspective. We had realized now why we had been called. That's good. And I want you to understand that God has a kingdom legacy.

He has over 8,000 promises in the Bible. He has given you a book that's been tried and tested. He knows it works. He's given you people who can explain it to you. He's given you a culture where you can practice it in. Most importantly, by the blood of Jesus Christ, he's given you a uniform with your name on it.

Hallelujah. But he can give you all of that and have promises that he's already given and set aside for you that you miss out on if you're not willing to maintain the integrity of what you've been given. So I know there's trials and hardships along the way, but we cannot be a church that continues to whine, grumble, and groan and complain.

We've got to step out on faith to experience his promise. And the last time I checked, he's God. He doesn't make mistakes with who he chooses. So if you're in this room, it's because you're called. And that's when I realized when I had left the NFL in 2009, I was lost.

I didn't know I my whole life was in the game. So I didn't know what was next for me. I saw what my siblings and dad and all them was doing. mom was doing all that, but I was like, "Yeah, but little old me. I don't know what I'm about to do."

And I prayed to God. I said, "God, help me understand what I'm supposed to do. What do you have for me? What do I Why am I here?" And he knocked on the door of my heart. And he said, "You remember that speech Marty gave you back in 2006?"

I said, "Yes, sir." He said, "Haven't I said the same thing to you?" Those that he forneew, he already predestined to be conformed into the image of his son. And those that he predestined, he already called. And those that he called, he already justified. And those that he justified, he already glorified.

So what then can you say? If God is for you, then who in the world can be against you? other than ourselves and a broken perspective on why we're here. He has called you to experience his promise, to experience your greatness, and it goes beyond you if you didn't know.

Amen. So, I got to take you to these three verses if I can have a moment. In Genesis 12, he calls a man to greatness, a person in the Bible who you know well, and he says, "I'm going to give you a great nation. I'm going to give you a great name.

I'm going to bless those who are on your side. Curse those who are not on your side. In you, all the families of the earth will be blessed." That is a monster promise of God. Amen. But first, I need you to leave your country, leave your relatives, leave your father's house, and go to a place you've never been before.

This is why many of us miss out on our promise, because we'd rather be comfortable than be called. 
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 He said, "Oh, no. But first, let me take you through training camp before we talk about all this blessing stuff." Everybody gets excited and flip over pews about the blessing.

But when it comes to the calling, oh, that's where we struggle because Abraham had already settled in a place called Heron in Genesis 11. He had already settled. The word settled is not the same word as camped. Camp means I'm still going somewhere. Settled means I'm done. He was already good with where he was.

He was already good with how his situation was. He had already dropped anchor with no plans to go any further. And there are people in this room, you have dropped anchor in how you operate in your marriage. You have dropped anchor in in what you're going to do in this life, how you perceive things based on your history, what has told you, how you're going to go about life.

And can't nobody tell you nothing because you have already settled in how you're going to do it. Abraham was already settled. And then it says the word of the Lord came to Abraham and said, "Go forth from the place that you just settled. That tells me something about God's voice.

God's voice unsettles those who are settled. So if you ever wanted to know if God is talking, it is not that voice in your head that's telling you what you already want to do anyway. That's your voice. That's why it sounds like you. And many of us are trying to forge God's signature on our desires.

And we go to people and say, "Let me tell you what the word of the Lord told me." And then you blurt out something you've been talking about and want to do for the last two years. No. But when God speaks, he's not thinking what you're thinking. He's God.

As high as the heavens are above the earth are his ways from your ways, his thoughts from your thoughts. He's not thinking what you're thinking. He's uprooting you from what you're thinking. He's actually taking that settled feeling that you desire and he's unsettling you. When God wants to do something big, he tells Noah to build an ark even though he had never seen rain.

When he wants to do something big, he tells Gideon, "We going to go with 300 against these thousands." when he wants to do something big, he says, "Sarah, we going to have this baby, and I know you ain't ready now." Throughout the Bible, when he does something big, he unsettles people.

So, my question is, what has God been saying to you that you've been pushing back on over and over and over again for weeks, months, years, some of you decades, it's been the same thing. He's been telling you, "No, not this job, that job. He's been telling you and speaking to you.

He's saying, "Uh-uh. Uh-uh. You need to rededicate and you need to re uh get your relationship right with that aranged son. No, you got to be a man in your house. You can't be afraid to have devotions. Yeah. You got to talk to your son and your daughters.

You got to spend time with them. You've got to be able to forgive. If you don't forgive, we ain't going nowhere. He's been telling you, you got to relocate. We're going to a place you've never seen before. But why would I do that? I'm comfortable where I am.

You've been talking about it for weeks and months. I'm holding your kingdom legacy, and I'm not going to let it go until you move. And you know what it is? Because it's been years. Same thing. And your logic is trying to justify yourself out of it because you're uncomfortable.

And you start thinking, well, I'm not, you know, I don't have the ability. You start thinking, I can't do it. You start think oh me wasn't Moses who said, who am I that I should go to Pharaoh? Because it's always bigger than you. That's how God builds a dependence in you on him.

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 He says, uh, Abraham, don't jump to these blessings until you're willing to get uncomfortable with my calling. Very good. Go forth from your relatives and from your father's house to the place where I will show you. Um the key word here is the smallest word. It's called go.

Two letters is the hinge. I went to my dad's room and I I was studying the passage. This was a long time ago. Went to my dad's room and I was studying this passage. I said, "Um, dad, let's do a word study on go." You know, because my dad studied Hebrew, Greek, Assyriak, Latin, Spanish, you know, all that.

I was just like, man, I could have skipped DTS. I could have just went to your room and ask questions. I paid all this money. So, we did a study, two hours of exhaustive study on the word go, and it meant go. 
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 It literally rendered, "Don't stay where you are."

In other words, it's not a hard word to interpret. So why is it when God speaks, it's such a hard word for you to interpret? I've been telling you to go. You're 
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 Anybody behind me? Oh, they left. I was about to It'll have messed up the whole thing.

You know, now I need to say something to you that if you don't go when God is speaking, you will miss out on the promises he had for you. God, listen to me. God can make promises you never see. Yes. Ask the first generation of the people of Israel.

They had a promised land and got cut off because they kept talking about Egypt. They didn't have the faith enough to step into what he had for them. He kept his promise and just gave it to the next group cuz he's going where he's going. You have to decide if it's with you or without you.

Jesus go. I know the fear thing. I have it too. But God has not given you the spirit of fear comes from somewhere else. Let me say it again. He kingdom legacy here. You here? If you don't go over here, he not doing this cuz he's not going to waste it.

Go to a land which I will show. Now, in biblical hermeneutics, the study of the Bible at OCBF, just in case you didn't know, we believe the word of God is God breathed. That means not only do we believe it, but we believe that every word is appropriately positioned for your interpretation.

That means when you study this and you see that the word go comes before the word show, that means you think in order for God to show, first I must go. That's how you interpret it. Most people want God to show before they go. But God can't disagree with himself.

So the reason why he's not answering your prayer is because your feet are stuck in the mud. And until you go, he won't show so that he can remain integral to himself. So if you want see too many of y'all from Missouri, you want to know that the grass on the other side of the fence is as green as what you currently are standing on before you move. and you're going to miss your promise.

Okay. Um, let's recount some history, shall we? June 6th, 1976, the church started. But that's not how it started. Tony and Lois Evans were at Carver Bible College in Atlanta, Georgia. He knew that he was going to Indiana to go to seminary, but one of his professors said, "I think you should look at Dallas Theological Seminary."

He said, "But it's too late. I've already registered and it's too late to register for DTS." He said, "Yeah, but DTS is is a big deal, and I think you're going to really learn what you need to learn specific to Dallas Theological Seminary." The professor said, "What I'm going to do is I'm going to pay your application fee.

I feel that strongly about it." So, my dad and mom were already settled on Indiana. But then at the last minute, come on, God. At the last minute, at the last minute, when I'm already settled on what I'm going to do, you come in with a a different word.

And how I know it's you is because I didn't just throw it off. They they didn't just throw it off. They were like, "Man, this is they started struggling with it." And as they struggled with it, my dad said, "Okay, well, if they going to pay for it, why don't I just go ahead and apply?"

When they applied, they got accepted. Oh, that made the struggle worse. And now I got accepted, but they got accepted on probation because they applied late. The professor said, "I still think this is the place." So by faith they changed from where they were going to where we are now to Dallas Theological Seminary.

While he was at Dallas Theological Seminary, I say they because while he was doing the study and Lois was doing everything else, you know, to make it happen, they started a Bible study. This was just because they love to teach the word. They just had friends over. They love to teach the word.

Two men were hearing Dr. Evans teach the word and they kept hearing this kingdom world view. So they came to him. Now mind you, y'all still with me? Mind you, he was already settled again that after he finished seminary, he was going to go back to the east coast to be an evangelist.

Tony Evans was not trying to be a pastor. He was trying to be an evangelist. And he was already settled on that idea. But then while he was doing this Bible study and these two men heard this kingdom worldview, they said, "Dallas needs that kingdom worldview and we believe that kingdom worldview from Dallas will go beyond Dallas."

So they went to him and said, "We think you should start a local church and not go to the East Coast." He said, "Oh, again, y'all y'all keep talking to me. I I already was settled, but now he's unsettled again. Now him and my mom are talking and dealing with this internal turmoil of do we stay here or do we go to the east coast and be an evangelist cuz my dad was just going to Billy Graham it.

You know what I mean? He was going to be out there just teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. And while that's a great thing, God had another thing. So now he's dealing with this turmoil and decides, okay, I'm just going to by faith since I'm in Dallas anyway, I'm going to start a church in our house.

We already doing Bible study. So June 6, 1976, the church started in Dallas, Texas in a house because of these two men who brought an opposing word from where dad was already settled. My dad and mom were already settled. Okay? He started teaching and people started saying, "I ain't never heard it like this."

So then then this is the history. It grew out of the house and they had to go to the bridegate apartment complex. the brideg great great apartment complex. God be to show that this is what he wanted them to do because it kept expanding and growing. People wanted and were getting hungry for the word from the bridegate apartment complex.

Then they moved to the Lutheran church right around the corner, right across the street from the YMCA on Hampton. You can drive by it today. That Lutheran church opened up the fellowship hall so that OCBF can gather there. Then God kept opening his fingers and letting us see the glory of God happening in the church.

So then it kept expanding from the Lutheran church and then we went to this elementary school called Adele Turner. Y'all know that school right around y' don't know Adele Turner. That's where I went to school. Adele Turner right around the school. They opened up their auditorium and said you can have church here.

Now I told you there's struggles and roadblocks along the way. At Adele Turner, the church kept growing. People are like, "Man, this teaching, this kingdom worldview that we now know is the kingdom agenda is a whole another ball game." As the church kept growing and expanding, the board of the school said, "We don't want y'all to meet here anymore.

We didn't have anywhere to go. So now we got Pharaoh and the Red Sea and there ain't nowhere to go." And my dad like all I got is a staff. I what am I supposed to do? I have nowhere to go. So the elders and my dad and mom prayed that if you're sending us this way, we need you to bless those who are on our side and curse those who are not.

We we need you to make a way out of now way. So this is miracle number one. That board had to vote to kick the church out. They were going to lose the vote because there were two members that if they're there, the vote goes negative on OCBF.

On the day of the vote, those two members got stuck in traffic. There was an accident on the road that blocked them from moving at all. So the committee said, "They not here. We got to go ahead and vote." So they voted and won the vote to stay at Adele Turner long enough to find the next place.

After the vote, them two members ran in the door. Too late. The vote is already over. Because when you start going and what God is telling you to do, he will bless those who are on your side. He'll remove those who are not on your side because it's not even about you.

It's his story. and he not going to mess up his story. But that's not all. Once we got to Adele Turner and we started growing from there, not only did he give us that miracle, we outgrew Adele Turner. So now we got to figure out where to go.

Anyway, my dad and mom spotted along with the elders a eight frame building that's on this side. It's on our property now. That little building at the end, we call it the CDC building. They spotted it but couldn't afford it. There was a church called Are y'all still with me?

You There was a church called Faith Bible. Who was in that church right here? They decided all the sudden that they were going to relocate. My dad said, "Oh, y'all going to relocate? How much for that building?" They said that building's going to cost $200,000. Now, back then, $200,000 like saying $2 million.

We didn't have that. We had nothing of the sorts of two mill. I'm talking about we like I was all up in there. I was But we didn't have that. So, the elders, Tony, Evans, Lois, they face another problem to try to figure out. We growing out of this.

We got to figure out where to go. We don't want to be a membership with no home. And so my dad goes and talks to a guy privately in his office and he tells him about the conundrum. They need $200,000 and he's got to figure out how to get that building.

He feels like God spoke to him about that building. While he's talking to this guy, another guy passes the door and then that guy comes back and stands in the door. Now my dad is sitting right here and he would tell you he was evangelically ticked off that this guy was intruding on his conversation with this guy.

He don't know who this guy is. Then the guy takes another posture and leans against the door for him. He says man who are you? Then the guy comes and sits down in the chair security. Who is this dude? Then he starts asking questions about this building that cost $200,000.

So now my dad feeling some type of way starts explaining to him what he was trying to tell him. But I need you to understand that when you go and do what God has called you to do, he will send angels unaware. So this guy was asking questions to Tony Evans.

Tony Evans didn't even really want to answer his questions because he was trying to talk to this guy. But God was moving. This guy said, "So, how much do you need and what are you trying to do and tell me the philosophy?" And he broke down the kingdom agenda, all of this kind of stuff.

This dude took out a check, wrote $200,000, handed it to my dad, and walked out of the door. My dad has never seen this dude since. Because when you go, God will show you where he's taking you and give you the promises of God. 49 years means we have a testimony of God's favor.

Miracle after miracle in order to make this thing work. And then we started over there and then it kept growing to where you're sitting right now because of the faithfulness of God. But if he does not go 
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 This birthday has a testimony. And God made people uncomfortable all along the way.

And I said, I said, when I came of age, I said, "Dad, how did you do that, man? How did you go? You do, you know, tell me how you did that." He said, "Uh, go read Hebrews chapter 11 and tell me what you see." I said, "Man, what is this?

A spiritual Easter egg hunt. Why you just can't tell me?" He said, "No, man. You know how I do it. You go read it for yourself." So, I went to Hebrews 11. It says, "Faith is the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not seen."

Verse four says, "By faith, Abel offered a better sacrifice than Cain." Verse 7 says, "By faith, Noah built that ark." Verse 8 says, "By faith Abraham obeyed even though he had no idea where he was going." Verse 11 says, "By faith Sarah conceived." Verse 22 says, "By faith, Isaac blessed Jacob."

Verse 24 says, "By faith, Moses refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter." Verse 31 says, "By faith, Rahab hid those spies." I closed that book. I said, "Dad, I get it. He did it by faith." He said, "Bingo, boy." That's how it works. It works when the people of God are willing to walk by faith and not by feel.

Whether you feel it or not, he's making you uncomfortable and he's telling you to go. So, I know you're thinking about it. You're feeling it. You've been thinking about it for weeks and you've been justifying why you shouldn't do it. Okay. All right. I will not show if you do not go.

It's on you. Uh free will your choice. You can determine what you do, but you cannot determine what God gives. 
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 Go to a land which I will show you. That's faith. And when you go, I'm going to take care of your legacy. I'll make you a great nation.

I I'm going to give you a great name. Okay. So all of the young people, some of us older, who are trying to make a name for yourself, and you out here looking like a fool, doing all this dumb stuff on social media, building a legacy of quicksand.

You're wasting your life. All that stuff you putting on, all they do is people look at it and they give you three seconds and then they scroll up. God says, "No, no, no. You don't bless you. I bless you. You don't give you a great name. I give you a great name.

You don't position you. I position you." Okay. When I was with the y'all need to hear this. When I was Well, I still am the chaplain of the Dallas Cowboys. This was like 10 years ago. We're about to go play the Cincinnati Bengals. I walk up the steps to get on the plane.

I look around the corner on the plane and all these big dudes are crying and I'm like, "Uhoh, what happened?" Jason Garrett grabs my arm. He's the coach at the time. He brings me back down the step steps to the tarmac and I was like, "What? You going to cut the chaplain?

I'm just the chaplain. You can't cut me." I was confused on what was about to happen. So, he looks at me and he says, um, he it's 10:00 a.m. at the time. He said, "Jonathan, at 3:00 a.m. we had a player get in a car accident and pass away.

These players are are in turmoil because we're on a plane trying to play a football game and their teammate literally just passed away in a car accident." He said, "So, you mean I don't know what to do about this, man? You're the chaplain. You do it." I said, "Me?"

I said, "Tony Evans, how do I handle this? I don't know how to handle this." So, I got on the plane and I I said, "Everybody from I was nervous. Everybody from Jerry Jones to the back of the plane, everybody take a knee." Because when mortality kicks in, your status goes away.

So then we prayed and I went around and hugged people. Just do just just regular ministry. Just love on people. We got to the hotel and I didn't know. I was nervous, man, because I had prepared a message and you can't do that message now. It don't connect and it had nothing to do with that.

So now God put me in a position where I'm just like, you know, you know the feeling standing up in front of a group of people you don't have no idea. That's not a good feeling. But he said, "But you got to go in there anyway. This is why I've called you."

And I said, "But what am I supposed to say?" He said, "Jonathan, man, just give them the gospel. You don't need to you don't need to come you don't need to come up with all that. Just give them the gospel. So I went and we just taught the purity of the gospel in light of what happened.

Now a lot of players who never come to chapel came that day and about 10 of them accepted Christ. It's a great thing. But here's the part that bothered me and gave me perspective that I want you to have. At game time, we took the field. We I was there.

We took the field, put our toes on the line, getting ready for the national anthem. And they said, "Let's give a moment of silence to Jerry Brown Jr. All right. It's time to play football." I said, "What? It's time to play football. Yeah. I looked at Demarcus Wear, who was on the team in town, he's a Hall of Famer, and I said, "So all that Jerry meant to this team, all that he did in college in the NFL, and you know what we just did?

We just gave him 20 seconds of silence and then now we going to play a football game." I said, "So, you're going to be in the Hall of Fame, but you know what's going to happen after you're gone? The people are going to give you 20 seconds of silence, and then they're going to move right along.

Yeah. Or you can go on this field and play for King Jesus cuz he has an eternity. You got to pick one. I went to Dez Bryant that same day. I said, "Who was number 88 before you?" He said, "Michael Irvin." I said, "Was he good?" He said, "Jonathan, come on, man.

He's a Hall of Famer." I said, "He's a Hall of Famer. That means he was good." He said, "Yeah, he's a Hall of Famer. Why are you asking me this?" I said, "You mean to tell me that they just unstitched his name off the back of that jersey and stitched your name onto it?"

He said, "Man, I don't like where this conversation going, bro. I ain't feeling this." He saying, "Because in this world, just in case you didn't know, they're going to look at you and they're going to say, "Thanks for what you did next." 
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 And you out here living for a bag.

You out here living for that legacy. You out here living for 15 minutes of fame. And when you're gone, they just going to say next. People in the next city don't even know you exist. Who are you living for? What are you doing this for? So that you can get 15 minutes of fame so that they can see your social media stuff and just scroll up in 3 seconds.

That's what we're living for. Appreciate you. Next. That's your greatness, huh? No, God was after a kingdom legacy for Abraham. Uh, let me tell you what it looks like. Kingdom legacy. Um, father Abraham had many sons. How many sons had father? Don't act like you don't know it.

And I am one of them. And so are you. So let's just praise the Lord. Arms down. I don't do that part. I'm grown. You mean to tell me after over 5,000 years, we're still singing about Abraham? Well, that seems to be greatness to me. What is this passage really about?

How was Abraham actually great? tell you in you Abraham if you go I will show and I'll bless you and in you Abraham all the families of the earth will be blessed. How in the world is God making a promise in Genesis about all the families of the earth experiencing a blessing?

Because when Abraham goes, God gives him a promised son named Isaac. Then Isaac has a son named Jacob. Then Jacob has 12 sons that become the 12 tribes of Israel. Then from those 12 tribes comes a little bitty Israelite king from the genealogy of Abraham named Jesus Christ.

And when Jesus Christ comes, he dies not just for the Jews, but also for the Gentiles. And the last time I checked, you're a gentile. So without Abraham's obedience, you wouldn't be here. Without Abraham's obedience, you wouldn't have experience the salvation of the Lord. That what God was doing is bringing about the promise of the son through the obedience of Abraham that would genealogically tie him to the Messiah that would make him great.

Therefore, if you want greatness and you ain't connected to Jesus, you missed it. The whole thing is about Jesus Christ, the son of the living God, who would come out of the obedience of a man named Abraham. So, if you want a kingdom legacy, you obey God, and your life is about Jesus Christ, whatever gifts, skills, talents he gave you.

You go to school and you're giving Jesus. You speak at your job, you're given Jesus. You're not just doing it from your mouth. You're doing it from your life. You can't have a contradiction in the two. And you start building a kingdom legacy through the training camp. Through the hardship.

That's why you were drafted. And God doesn't make mistakes with who he chooses. You're here for a kingdom legacy right where you are. It doesn't need to be on a stage. Yeah, that's it. The slaves in Matthew 25 that had the five talents and the two talents got the same well done.

It don't have to do with no stage. You don't have to be on cameras and you certainly don't have to be doing a song and dance on social media. Hopefully, generations from now, people will be able to say so and so had many sons and many sons had father so and so. and I'm glad to be one of them.

You may not see your impact. That's okay. God will show you later. Just be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. And know that it will not go in vain. Happy birthday to Oakliff Bible Fellowship. Stand to your feet. My prayer is that the church continues with the kingdom legacy and that you as an individual continue in it.

Who wants to live for it next? It's no good. Let me pray for us. And after I pray, I have a couple of announcements for you. I'm not going to ask you to come forward. I know you heard it. And I just want to pray for the church.

Heavenly Father, we love you. Pray for those in the room and online. We get so distracted by the things in this world. Help us to stay focused. We don't have to be a preacher. We just need to be alive and focused on doing your will, your way in the sphere of influence that you have given us.

Help us to go. That's what your word tells us to do. Help us to not have more fear than we do faith. To miss out on promises that you have already set out. Our steps are ordered. Help us to walk in those steps as faithful servants to the king.

As the kingdom agenda states and why we're here, the comprehensive rule of God over every area of my life. We give you the glory for what you're going to accomplish in this body in these people in Jesus name. All God's people said, amen. Amen.