God's Challenge To Graduates

Baccalaureate – Fort Supply 2010

God’s challenge to you

Text: Proverbs 3:5-6

By: Ken McKinley

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Well let me begin by saying that I am honored to stand before you this morning. I know that some of you I’ve never met, so I’ll introduce myself. My name is Ken McKinley. I’m the pastor here at FSBC, and again it is a real honor and privilege to me to be able to give the 2010 baccalaureate address this morning. So thank you all so much for allowing me to be able to do this, this morning.

Today marks a milestone in my life. It’s been almost 20 years to the day that I graduated from high school. To be honest with you, I don’t remember ever having a baccalaureate, but I do remember my high school graduation. Here’s what I remember about it: some old geezer stood up and rattled on for what seemed like forever, and again I don’t remember a thing he said.

I joined the U.S. Army in 1992, served six years with the Army Rangers, then I went to college in 2003 and graduated in 2007 and at that graduation, we had another old geezer stand up and rattle on for about 45 minutes and I can’t remember what he said either, and that was just three years ago. And so, when I was asked to do this, I was excited, but in all honesty I was also filled with dread, because I couldn’t help but think, “Oh man, I’m going to be THAT GUY. That guy who spoke at your Baccalaureate, that guy who none of your remember what I said in 20 years. And as I was thinking about it, I realized that most of you are 17, 18, or 19 years old. You were probably born in 1992, the same year I went into the Army. For us “old geezers” we can remember what the world was like back in 92. We can remember the Washington Redskins beating the Buffalo Bills in the Super Bowl. We probably remember the First President Bush, throwing up in the lap of the Prime Minister of Japan. That was the year that Jay Leno replaced Johnny Carson on the Tonight Show. It was also the year that 4 LAPD officers were acquitted for beating Rodney King and the LA riots broke out. And it was the year that Brett Favre made his first start for the Packers. To make it more relevant to our soon to be graduates who are here today; 1992 was also the year that Taylor Lautner – who plays Jacob from Twilight, and Miley Cyrus were born.

The reason I’m telling you all this, is because you may not remember what I say today, but throughout life, what we often remember, are events and occasions. For instance there are occasions of joy, or sadness, occasions of remembrance, and reflection. And believe it or not, today and the next few days, up until graduation, marks one of those types of occasions. This is a time in your life that you’ll never forget. You may not know it now, but your parents do. And I would bet that over the next few days your parents are going to be doing some of that remembering and reflecting. Remembering the day you were born, or your first loose tooth, or maybe your first day of school. They might be remembering how their hair began to show a bit more white or grey as you went from tween to teen and began to practice your independence more and more frequently.

Also, I understand that some of your teachers are here today, and they’re remembering as well… how over the last few years, they’ve poured their lives into you, and taught you, and hopefully inspired you to be life-long learners.

So this is a time of reflection. It is for them, and trust me… it will be for you. Some of you might reflect on what’s about to happen, and how your lives are going to be changing, some of you may not do that right now, but in the years to come you’ll look back at this time and reflect on it.

And so there’s three things I want to stress to you all today, and I hope and pray that you will remember them, and that I won’t just be THAT GUY who said something you don’t remember. Three things; and they come from that passage of Scripture that I just read to you, Proverbs 3:5-6, and these are three things that will help you succeed in life. They will help you thrive in life and not just “get by.”

You see; in just 5 short days you guys & gals are getting ready to go out into life and hopefully do something awesome! But the thing is; none of us know what the future holds. When I sat where you all are sitting, if someone would’ve told me that I was going to be a pastor, I would’ve laughed in their face and called em’ a liar. If someone would’ve told me that in 20 years that I would’ve traveled to 7 different countries and, survived 3 military engagements, been married with two daughters and living in Fort Supply Oklahoma, I would’ve told them they were crazy. WE don’t know what tomorrow holds. But listen… make sure you get this. God does. God knows your future. He knows what tomorrow holds. He knows where you’re going to be, not only Friday night after graduation, but in a year, and in 5 years, and in 10 years, and in 20 years. Trust Him with your future. With all of your heart, trust Him. That’s the 1st thing.