Passing On The Baton

Drama…

Slide #1

Welcome to Vista Pointe...

For those here today who call Vista Pointe home…welcome…

I hope you all had a great week serving God the past week in your community.

If you are a guest with us today...We are thrilled to have you with us!

Thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule to let God know that He is first in your life. (INFO CARD)

PRAYER....

Slide #2

This past week as I was preparing for the last message that God desired for me to share with you...

A familiar word continued to pop into my mind... transition.

Transition is a word that is not new to the church herself...

Matter of fact it has been around the church and the world for generations.

When most people hear the word transition…they immediately become concerned because transition represents change.

But change is not always a bad thing. Change can be good if it’s handled correctly.

Every Christian knows that the Bible is full of transition stories.

I believe that when God wrote the Bible...

He did it with the mindset of creating situations and stories that would help us through the transitional times in our lives.

And if I were asked to pick a favorite Bible Transitional story…I don’t know if I could narrow it down to a single character or story.

Slide# 3

But when I do think about the word transition...I cannot help but find myself thinking about the man name Moses

Moses lived his entire life around transition.

He was a man known not only for his desert survival expertise...but also his leadership characteristics.

Moses life was sort of divided into 3 time periods.

–The first period was from his birth until he reached the age of 40...during which he lived in Egypt and learned under Pharaohs’ Law.

-Then at age 40... God instructed him to leave Egypt and journey out towards the land of Midian… in what he soon learned to be… (God’s personal training ground)

-Then when he was 80 yrs...After 40 years of biblical training in the desert.....God instructed him to place his training into motion by…

God instructed Moses to return to Egypt to begin the process of speaking with Pharaoh and demand that the children of Israel be freed and allowed safe travel to the Promise Land.

After Pharaoh agreed to release the slaves we find Moses traveling around the desert for 40 more years...

And as life always does…40 more years of Moses life had slipped away and now Moses was 120...

It was then that God let him know that it was time to pass the baton off to Joshua...his faithful ministry companion.

Moses was a great leader…and God worked alongside of him to do incredible things.

Slide #4

Today I kinda feel like Moses in a way...not that I am 120...but that it’s time for me to pass on the Baton.

When God first shared with me His plans of having us move to Sesser Illinois and start a church ...believe it or not...my first concern was this ministry.

We have ministered alongside of you for the last 2 ½ rebuilding this ministry...and just like many of you…we all have invested a lot of sweat equity.

So I realize that7 short weeks ago...when I shared with you about God’s next plan.

You were all as surprised...as I was when I first heard myself.

As I previously mentioned…transition is uncomfortable…

And the only thing I knew to do about God’s request was to pray.

And that’s exactly what I did...I went to God in prayer...and asked...

God since you are calling me too take these steps of faith in Ministry...Clearly…My family and I are willing to follow.

But......please watch over this church…and its people and give them a passion to continue serving you in this community.

Slide #5

Last Sunday morning…this community saw evidence of what can happen when God’s people place Him first in their lives…

This is the very reason why transition is so difficult…

For the past 2 months I have spent extra time in prayer…

I shared with God how much I love each of you...and how important it is for all of you to understand that WE are in control…But God Is.

God always knows best...

It was at that very moment that God laid on my heart...the life of Moses.

In Numbers 27...We find Moses at a turning point in his life...

For the past 80 years of his life…he had shared in the joys and the sorrows of the people that God had called him to Sheppard.

And now God was telling him it was time for a new journey.

Being a leader is not easy…But one thing that I have found to be true is this…God knows best.

Slide #6