Legacy Series

Text: Psalm 71:14-18

Michael Jordan, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther, , Mark Twain,. What do all of these names have in common? Because they are all so vastly different. Normally you don’t compare these people, because they did different things. I mean what could Michael Jordan possibly have in common with Mark Twain, or Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther. Well the one thing that they all had in common is that they left a legacy. Well what is a legacy. It something that someone leaves behind to help future generations. Sometimes its material things, but other times its more than that. Each of the names I said above left a legacy behind. I mean even if you don’t know what they did or who they are necessarily you have probably heard their names before. But what did they leave behind?

Michael Jordan was one of the greatest basketball players to ever play the game. If you grew up watching him play then you probably just sat there with your mouth wide open at the sheer skill he showed every single game. And know when you mention his name he is said to be THE greatest basketball player of all time. His legacy was that of changing the game of basketball. You see before it was a big mans game and Michael Jordan came in and showed that a point guard could change everything.

Abraham Lincoln was one of many presidents of the United states so what makes him special. Well he was president during the time of the Civil War in the US and wrote one of the most quoted speeches of all time the Emancipation Proclamation. He was known for helping turn this country around in a time where we were fighting each other and creating freedom for African Americans living in the US.

Martin Luther is known for posting his 95 theses on a church door. Why is that significant? He was challenging the way religion was doing things back in the 1500s. Specifically the Christian/Catholic church. He knew what they were doing was not right and he stood up and challenged them for what they were doing and broke off which created a domino affect of later people following in his footsteps

Mark Twain which is a name many of us since he is from the state of Missouri. But Mark twain was left behind a legacy of creativity and writing. He wrote things that are required reading in most schools and the stories he wrote promote creativity and are beautifully written. I mean he is known as the father of American literature.

Each of these people left a legacy behind. Something for future generations to look at and be inspired by. Something that is proclaimed to generation after generation. They left behind something that has even changed some's lives.

And I think that is something that we all desire in life. To leave a lasting legacy behind for future generations. Maybe not to the extent that Michael Jordan or Abraham Lincoln left behind, but we still want to have an impact for generations to come. We want future generations to remember us for something. We want to leave behind something that inspires and is positive. Because lets be honest its just as easy to leave behind a legacy that is negative. There are plenty of people throughout history that did not leave a good legacy behind. So how can we just being regular people leave behind a lasting lasting positive legacy. Because you know we are Michael Jordan or Mark Twain or even Abraham Lincoln. So how can we leave a good legacy behind for future generations. Well the Bible kind of gives a clue on what kind of positive legacy we need to leave behind. You see we are going through a series called o my soul and in this series we are going through the book of Psalms and looking at what the authors were going through and how we can relate to what they are talking about. And in Psalm 71 we read a little bit about what kind of legacy we should be leaving behind and how we can leave a positive legacy behind. So if you want to turn their in your bibles to Psalm 71:1-18.

So from reading here we get to know a little bit about the author of this Psalm. He has lived a long life and here in his old age he is once again going through a problem in his life. We get the idea that this problem the author is facing is people coming against him and trying to kill him. People seeking after his life. Which would be terrifying. Our natural response if we knew people were coming after us to take our life we would be fearful right? We would be scared. But the author here doesn't seem to wallow in self pity or give up on God or abandon God. He continually talks about God being his refuge, protection, deliverance, hope, and confidence. How can he do that? How can this author in the face of death still have confidence, still have hope, still believe they can be delivered. Well along with the long life the author has lived they have seen many things. They have seen how God has been faithful to them since they have been born. Read verse 6. The author says that since birth God has been faithful and he will praise God for His faithfulness. We get this repetition of praising God over and over again. The author says several times how they will praise God and praise God and praise God. They can praise God because they know that God is faithful. That God will provide and God will be there no matter what. They have this confidence in God that we sometimes lack. Then in verses 14-18 we read a little bit about the legacy that the author wants to leave behind and what we should leave behind as well.