Well, it's an honor and privilege to be with you this morning. And I tell you, every time they bring this out, I realize that I need like a step stool.

Like, this was not designed for a short guy. So. But it's an honor to be with you this morning. And we are continuing our series that Pastor Jamie started last week. Last week was the legacy of a mother.

We. But today is the legacy of faith. And it's all about passing that on. And you're going to hear the word baton a lot. Okay.

Because today we're going to look at what it means to pass the baton spiritually to the next generation. This is talking to grandparents. This is talking to parents. This is talking to every generation that is represented in this room today. This message is, is designed for you.

And when I was thinking about this, you know, you think about track and field, you think about all these things. But I'm going to take you back to 2008, to the Beijing Summer Olympics. Now, that may sound like it's a few years ago, but I was 14. Okay, so it's been a while, right? But out of those 2008 Olympics, there were three big stories in those games.

The first of was Michael Phelps, who completely dominated swimming by winning eight gold medals. Even one of those races, he won by 0,100th of a second in the 100 meter butterfly. The next one is Usain Bolt, who was running away with track and field headlines. He shattered the 100 meter and 200 meter world records and it was nothing that anyone had ever seen before. The third story connected to this Olympics was the men and women's 4x100 relay.

The US had dominated this event over the years. Both teams were favored to bring home the gold again. But for the first time in the history of the modern Olympics, neither team even made the finals. The reason why was they both dropped the baton on the exchange during their preliminary heats. So today I want to look at what it means to pass the baton well in our spiritual lives.

Because I mostly work with students, my mind immediately goes to graduation, to high school graduation. It marks a significant transition moment in their lives. And in many ways, it marks the end of one leg of the race and the beginning of another. It also marks a significant moment of empowerment. Reaching the age of 18 and graduating both marks major moves into adulthood for many students to move to college, the workforce, or even military service.

It's a transitional moment that's marked by independence. So. So I think back to when I was 18 years old and when you graduate high school you think, man, I'm an adult now. There's two milestone events in your life as a teenager. First you become 16, right?

You start driving. That's that independence, right? You want to get in the car, you want to drive and you want to control the radio. And your mom and dad to tell you they want the radio off, they're like, oh, that's a distraction. Now we got cell phones that are distraction, right?

But all these different things, right? And so you're like, no, I just want to get in the car and drive by myself and not be told to do while I'm driving. Same thing. 18 years old, you get to that stage of life and you're like, hey, I'm 18, I'm independent, I'm an adult. And then you get to college and you're like, I got all this freedom.

And then you get to the stage of life where I'm in, where I wish I could go back to those days, right? Because being adult is not what it was all talked about being. Okay, alright. I mean, I have four kids, okay? It's a circus, right?

I mean, life, being an adult is not easy, okay? My precious daughter is in here today and she broke her collarbone and so she's embarrassed because she's got this little sling on. But that's hard, right? Raising kids is not easy. It's hard.

And so today's message is all about investing in the next generation and raising them up, like I said earlier, to be an arrow against the enemy. And, and as a kid growing up, my grandfather, he's 92 years old and he's a pastor and still pastoring to this day. And there are my newborn baby, I think he marks like 40 something great grandchildren now. Okay, like we have a big family, but my grandfather has prayed for each one of us that we be raised up to be an heir against the enemy. And as a kid, I never really understood what that means.

But let me tell you, as a parent, that means so much more now because I have four kids that I want to raise up to be an arrow against the enemy. I want them to be able to go out and to have that faith that they know, they understand why they believe what they believe and they own their faith and they're able to carry that out and, and pass that on to the next generation. So when we think about this moment of transition for us adults, this is a season where we get to pass the baton of adulthood and independence to these young up and coming adults. It's really our opportunity that we get that The Lord has blessed us with to look at them in the eye and say, hey listen, go for it. You got this.

This is similar to what happens in the books of first and second Timothy with the apostle Paul and his protege Timothy. You see these two letters written from a seasoned veteran who's Paul to a young and up and comer whose name is Timothy. In the first verses of second Timothy chapter two, Paul even uses a relay race, a metaphor. So if you got your Bibles, turn to second Timothy chapter two. Starting in verse one it says this, you therefore my son, be strong in grace, that is in Christ Jesus.

What you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, commit to faithful men who will be able to teach a others. Also verse 3 it says share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. So we see this passage and I love the picture that's created this because in many ways it's actually what the core of youth ministry is all about. That our church and our team wants to join you as parents and grandparents and aunts and uncles of the of the goal of seeing students move past seeing Christianity as just another religion, but into an authentic relationship with Jesus. We want to see them carry that relationship beyond these church walls and we want them to share it with others.

We want them to understand why they believe what they believe and are able to go and share that. As I was sharing earlier in the first service, I've seen this modeled before in students lives where, where they're passing on. I had a student one time that they were going through a struggle and they said, listen, the Lord has blessed me to be able to walk that person through that struggle because I know where I am in Christ now. I'm able to pass that on. I get to see this in real life being modeled by students.

I get to see students saying, hey, you know what? I've gone through a situation in my life, but you know what? God has taken me from that situation, rescued me and I want to pass that on to, to somebody else who I know is going through the exact same thing. Listen, the next generation, if we don't do a good job or a better job of raising them up, guess what? The pews will be empty on a Sunday morning because there will be nobody here.

Because there will be no generation pouring in to the next. They'll just disappear. The other day I was at the Christian Learning center and, and it was Gospel Week and so I was sharing the gospel with students. And the students that I talked to, there was three students in that class that had never heard who Adam and Eve was. That's right down the road.

Had never heard about Adam and Eve. And it just blows my mind that we've got a church on every corner, but yet there's three students that had never heard who Adam and Eve was and they didn't know what sin was.

That's crazy. But listen, that is the world that we live in. And so today is all about passing that baton to the next generation.

I've also seen a lot of times working with young people that there are far too many bad handoffs and drop batons over the years. But thankfully, the burden of the passing baton, well, doesn't just fall on the shoulders of the students in youth ministry. But listen, church, it's a group effort. It takes parents, it takes grandparents, it takes small group leaders, children's ministry, volunteers, teachers, bosses. It takes everybody.

And I want you to hear this. This is very significant right here. If you are a believer and follower of Jesus Christ and if you're an adult passing the baton to these graduates and to other people, it is our responsibility to do that. And I would even take it a step further, that helping these graduates, helping students, helping kids, all that, it's also our calling to pass that on to the next generation. So how do we do that?

Well, how do we pass it on to the next generation? How do we make sure that we don't fumble or drop the baton and that we're able to do this? Now, this might sound a little odd, but in order to help you understand what Paul is really talking about here in Second Timothy, about his protege Timothy, and how Paul is really passing the baton. Because here's the deal. Paul's suffering.

He's gotten arrested again, and he's like, not going to make it this time. So this letter that I'm writing you is very sincere. It's an emotional letter because I'm passing on the knowledge that you've seen. You've witnessed this. Faithful men who will be able to teach others, share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.

As we see this for you to understand, I want you to look with me at the United States official track and field rule book, okay? Now in your bulletin, you've got your first point, which is it has to be the right baton. So when we look at our lives spiritually, how do we know that we're doing the right thing? Well, first of all, it has to be the right baton. Rule number 25 in the track and field rule book says the baton shall be a smooth, hollow, circular Tube made of wood, metal, or other rigid material made in one piece.

Its length shall be between 28 and 30 centimeters, its circumference shall be 12 to 13 centimeters, and it shall weigh less, not less than 50 grams. No material substance may be applied to the baton. Now, if you're running a track and field relay, this is important information. But what does it have to do with us? What does it mean for us?

What is our baton that we're passing down to the next generation? What is it? It's the gospel. Our baton that we get to pass to the next generation is the gospel. And what Jesus has done for us by paying the ultimate sacrifice, by dying on the cross, the good news that we get to hear and we get to see, it's the gospel.

That's why it's our job as adults, as parents, grandparents, is to pass that on. Because there are going to be students one day that are asking the same question as those three did the other day that say, hey, you know what? I don't even know what sitting sin is, and I don't know who Jesus is. If we don't do a better job of passing that baton of the gospel of Jesus, then we're gonna live in a world where there is no Jesus because nobody knows him. And we're gonna be gone hopefully when that happens.

Right? But that's what's gonna take place if we do not continue sharing the good news, the gospel, and passing that baton to the next generation. If we don't do that, we're in trouble.

Number two is the space to pass the baton is limited. Rule number two, it says, each takeover zone shall be 20 meters long, of which the scratched line is the center. The zones shall be. Shall start and finish at the edges of the zone lines nearest the start and the running direction. Okay, now, in case you're like me and get confused by long sentences that include numbers, okay, basically, in a nutshell, what this says is there are lines in each other's lane marked the takeover zone.

The area marks the area where the incoming runner must pass the baton to the next runner. And if they fail to do so, the race is over. There's no do over. So let me talk to families of kids, and I'm even talking to myself in this, of who aren't graduating.

This might be tough to hear, but every graduation season, there's a statement that people use which is they grow up so fast that right there marks the space. And why this rule right here is so important in our lives is because the time that we have with our children and to train them, to equip them, to raise them up is limited. It's this big, right? Like on a track and field. On that track, that space to pass the baton is very narrow and it's very tight.

It's a tight window. Listen, we have a tight window to raise up the next generation. Our time is limited. We've got to make the most of our time. When I got here at Ebenezer, my son was 2 months old.

He's 7. I have a 5 year old, a 3 year old and a 1 month old and I can't even believe it. He's already a month old, right? Like blink of an eye. They're on the stage graduating.

I mean, I think about how close Jackson is to being in middle school. Oh, right. If you got a middle schooler, you know, you know, that is a struggle. Okay? When they get to high school, you're up here going, whoo, we made it.

Okay. Praise the Lord. They're standing on the stage, right? They're gonna get a diploma, hopefully. You know, that's what my parents said about me.

They were, they were open and praying. But just thinking about that, that time that we have. Listen, you might have grandkids that you're, that you're pouring into. Your time with them is limited. That space to be able to pass that good news, to equip them and train them and raise them up to be those errors against the enemy, that is limited.

Because here's the deal. Once they get out on their own, you can't do that anymore. They have to learn and make those decisions. And you can sit back and go, man, I'm trying to help you. But that space and time that we have with them is precious because there's a date coming when your children are going to head out on their own.

And that time is going to be here before you know it.

But make the most of your time with them. There may be nothing more spiritual valuable to your kids lives than the presence of in their lives. Did you hear me? The presence in their lives. Whether you're a grandparent, an aunt and uncle, a mom and dad, whatever role that you play at home, your presence in their lives matters by you making the most of that time that you have with them to be present.

Because that window is so narrow. Now. Not all of you have kids living at home. So this truth isn't just limited to our kids, but we have the opportunity to invest in others. We have the opportunity to invest in other people.

God regularly brings people across our path for a season of life. So that way we can, as Paul says in Ephesians, make the most of every opportunity. But those seasons don't last forever because that time is so limited. The third thing is a dropped baton is not the end of the race. Rule number 12 says, the baton shall be carried by hand throughout the race.

If dropped, it shall be recovered by the athlete who dropped it. He or she may lead the assigned lane to retrieve the baton. Provide no other runner is impeded, and provided that by doing so, the distance covered is not lessened. That is, as long as there's three things. The one who initially dropped the baton picks it back up.

That the runner doesn't obstruct the race of the other runners, and they don't cut the distance of the race short as they grab the baton. You're probably thinking, what does that have to do with spiritual transitions? Well, it has to do with a lot. So there's a lot of research books and blog posts out there that are telling us that faith is being abandoned by youth group kids during their college years. This is a legitimate concern, and it's really personal for me because I deal with teenagers every day that look at me and say, Crosby, I don't understand what God has for me.

I don't understand what my purpose is. And they get to college not knowing that. And so instead of turning to God, they turn away from God and they say, I don't know what to do with my life and I have no purpose.

These are not just people that haven't been in church. These are kids that have been raised in church their whole life that get to a campus and they say, you know what? They get away from church during those college years.

During that time, from 18 to 22 years old, they're walking away from their faith because students are either dropping the baton or something is going wrong on how the baton is being passed. Listen, passing the baton is so important in our lives. Passing that baton, and if we mess that up, that can mess that up for them, because they look at it and say, well, it wasn't passed the right way. So I'm gonna just do my own thing and I'm gonna, you know, go my own path, and I don't need that baton. What we're talking about here is the gospel.

I had to realize when I was 19 that my faith had to be my own. It couldn't be my parents faith. I had to own my faith. It couldn't be something, you know, I thought, hey, my dad's a pastor, my grandfather's pastor. You know, all these things coming together like I'm good.

No, that's not how that works.

I had to own my faith. I had to realize that I was lost, in need of Jesus and what he did for my life. And I had to ask for that forgiveness and go to him. That's not something my parents could do for me. But listen, you can think about that all day long and raise them up and do that, but until they pick up that baton, you can walk beside them, you can help them, but they have to be the ones to pick it up.

But it has to be the right type of baton to pass down to them.

At the end of the day, it doesn't matter whose fault for the drop baton is. The key is that the baton simply is gets picked back up and the race continues.

It is the same way with the kind of spiritual baton pass. Exactly what we're talking about today, that what if we stopped talking about a drop baton and started walking towards so that way we could pick it up. What if we started walking towards that baton and say, you know what? It's my responsibility and I'm going to own that. I'm going to pass that baton to, to the next generation.

Listen, you might be in here and your kids, you're an empty nester. You have no kids, you have no grandkids. Listen, you can pick up the baton and pass it to the next generation. They don't have to be your children. Like I said earlier, there was three kids a mile down the road that had never heard the story of the gospel before.

They didn't even know what sin was. We can pass that on to them. You can pick it up and pass that to them. As Paul continues to write this to Timothy, he says, share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in the concerns of civilian life.

But he seeks to please the commanding officer. Also, if anyone competes as an athlete, he is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. The hard working farmer ought to be the first to get a share of the crops. Consider what I say, for the Lord will give you an understanding in everything. But remember Christ Jesus, risen from the dead and descended from David according to my gospel, for which I suffer to the point of being bound like a criminal.

But the word of God is not bound. This is why I endure all things for the elect so that they may also be able to attain salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. This saying is trustworthy for if we died with him, we will also live with him. If we endure, we will also reign with him. If we deny him, he will also deny us.

If we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny himself.

Listen, our responsibility and our job is to do exactly what that says right there.

He's saying to Timothy, he's saying, listen, be strong in grace. You're going to go through suffering as a good soldier. They don't worry about those things, but they live in that moment. An athlete doesn't want to be crowned unless they followed the rule book in the same way that Christ was risen from the dead. For us to be able to go out and to pour into the next generation.

Just like Paul's writing to Timothy, he's saying, listen, I'm about to be gone. Paul's at the end of his road and he knows that. So he's passing that on to Timothy. The fourth point today is finish the race. We're going to show you this clip from this video.

Tom Hammond and Craig Masbach back at Oliphic Stadium in Barcelona. Coming up to the men's 400 meter semifinals. Here are the lane assignments. Steve Lewis in lane three. Top four to Wednesday's final.

Steve Lewis in lane three. Roberto Hernandez out quickly in four. Now down the back stretch. Ismail on the left of the screen is running very, very quickly. And inside of Lewis.

Sunday, Bada Nigeria.

And Derek Redmond of Great Britain has pulled up with an injury. Redmond is out. Derek Redmond, the British record holder and an important member of that British 4x400 meter relay team. As he doesn't want anybody to help him, it'll be Lewis to win in 44.50.

Look at this. He's going to try to finish his semifinal race.

The British have a certain tradition of running, which you have to respect.

A bizarre finish to this first semifinal in the men's 400 meters. Derek Redmond of Great Britain pulled up with an injury halfway down the back stretch. He's fighting off those trying to help him to finish the race in his lane.

And now the pain too much.

The applause swelling throughout Olympic stadium as Redmond, with assistance this time, approaches the finish line he had wanted so desperately to reach.

That is the Olympic spirit.

That's a powerful video because that young man right there had trained his entire life for that moment. And as he's coming in that back stretch, he snaps his hamstring in half. And as you can see the pain on his face, the suffering that he's going through, you start to see that his father comes running out of the stands. And I wish that I knew what he said to them security guards because he helped his son finish the race. Church.

It's our responsibility that when this next generation, when we see them drop the baton or when we see them going through suffering, we see them going through hard times and struggling, just like in that video, we. We come alongside them, we pick them up and we help them finish the race. We get them across the finish line to where they have the gospel, they own their faith, and they're able to go out and carry that on to the next generation and pass that on, that we are coming alongside of them and partnering with them. Listen, discipleship is a core value here at Ebenezer. What that means is to multiply.

We don't want to add to. We want to multiply. We want to keep on going and keep on discipling. Keep on. But here's the deal.

We got to walk alongside of them to get them to the point where they're ready to go, to help them finish the race, for them to be able to own their faith and to go out there and to share the good news of the gospel to a broken world. Our motto here is we are leading the broken to hope in Christ. But if we don't equip them on how to lead the broken, then how do we expect them to do that outside these walls? We have to walk along side of them. Listen, we're going to enter into our time of invitation as Caleb is coming up here to play.

I just want to challenge you. We had a lot of graduates on this stage this morning. Listen, if you're a parent in here, this altar is going to be open. We're going to have pastors down here, all this during this time. But listen, if you're a parent in here, bring your child or your graduate down here and you pray over them.

You take this time to say, hey, you know what? Because here's the deal. That's a moment right there of time that you won't get back because they're going to go off to college. And right now you get the moment to sit down with them and to grab them alongside and hold their hand and to pray. Pray over them.

Pray that God will impact their college campus. Pray that your students can be an arrow against the enemy, that they will be able to pass the baton to somebody else. I challenge you, if you've got a graduate or a grandchild or anything in here that you need to pray for, maybe you've got somebody in Your life, that's a family member that is struggling right now. And you need to come down this altar and say, lord, I need to know how to help them. I need to know how to come alongside of them and to be able to wrap my arms around them and to carry them.

I got to figure that out, Lord. So I need you.

Just like we were talking about in that song earlier, speak Jesus over their life, that we're raising them up and equipping them so that way they can do it for the next generation that's on the rise. I want you to think about this. My kids could learn from your kids. You think about that. That my generation of children could be learning from the ones that are your generation of children.

Maybe you're in here today and Jamie's been talking about calling and all that. Maybe it's time for you to say, hey, you know what? I've been sitting on the sidelines for a long time, but I've realized I gotta get back in the game. I need to teach kids. I need to lead a small group.

I need to lead a life, whatever it is, young adults. I need to serve. I need to get off the sidelines, because even though I'm at a stage of life where I'm enjoying life, but I realize that my purpose is I need to teach. So listen, Caleb's going to play this. Altar's open.

Pastors are down here. But I challenge you to lock arms with your graduate, with your students, with your children, and bring them down here to the feet of Jesus.