DATE: 03.16.03
SPEAKER: Pastor Ray Martin
TEXT: 1 Timothy 4:12
Footprints On The Sands Of Time
INTRODUCTION:
A. -There is a generation that is passing away
I have had many funerals since I’ve been here in the last 13 months
Leona Lanier
Jim Johnson
Irene Tyler
John Blackburn
Minnie Ridener
What an example they have left for us...
The path has been made clear.
There was no wavering in their steps...
B. They marked out a path for us to follow.....
ILL:
Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time.
Longfellow- A Psalm of Life
C. GOD’S PLAN IS THAT ONE GENERATION WOULD BE AN EXAMPLE FOR
THE NEXT
Exodus 3:15
This is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to
generation.
Psalm 78
3 what we have heard and known,
what our fathers have told us.
4 We will not hide them from their children;
we will tell the next generation
the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD ,
his power, and the wonders he has done.
5 He decreed statutes for Jacob
and established the law in Israel,
which he commanded our forefathers
to teach their children,
6 so the next generation would know them,
even the children yet to be born,
and they in turn would tell their children.
7 Then they would put their trust in God
and would not forget his deeds
but would keep his commands.
Psalm 145:4
One generation will commend your works to another; they will tell of your mighty acts.
Joel 1:3
Tell it to your children, and let your children tell it to their children, and their children to
the next generation.
39 times God speaks about the “GENERATIONS TO COME”
D. JESUS SET AN EXAMPLE FOR US TO FOLLOW....
John 13:15
I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.
E. PAUL SET AN EXAMPLE FOR TIMOTHY TO FOLLOW....
1 Corinthians 11:1
Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.
Philippians 3:17
Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live
according to the pattern we gave you.
F. He Now challenges Timothy to carry on the faith and set an example for others
that will come after him
Timothy, I am leaving Footprints in the Sands of Time For you to follow...
1 Timothy 4
12Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for
the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.
1) IN SPEECH
Proverbs 21
23 He who guards his mouth and his tongue
keeps himself from calamity.
Luke 6
45The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil
man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his
heart his mouth speaks.
Ephesians 4
22You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which
is being corrupted by its deceitful desires;
25Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for
we are all members of one body.
29Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful
for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.
Colossians 4
6Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may
know how to answer everyone.
What does salt do? It preserves, It keeps, Brings out the best in what it touches!
James 1
19My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak
and slow to become angry,
26If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his
tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless.
James 3:2
We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect
man, able to keep his whole body in check
2) IN LIFE
Ephesians 4:1
As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have
received.
Ephesians 5:2
and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant
offering and sacrifice to God.
Colossians 1:10
And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him
in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God
3) IN LOVE
Philippians 1
9And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and
depth of insight,
Colossians 2
2My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they
may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the
mystery of God, namely, Christ,
Colossians 3
12Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with
compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13Bear with each other and
forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord
forgave you. 14And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in
perfect unity.
1 Thessalonians 3
12May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone
else, just as ours does for you.
Hebrews 10
24And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.
1 Peter 4
8Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.
1 John 4
God’s Love and Ours
7Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves
has been born of God and knows God. 11Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also
ought to love one another. 12No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another,
God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. 20If anyone says, "I love God," yet
hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has
seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. 21And he has given us this command:
Whoever loves God must also love his brother.
4) IN FAITH
Psalm 22
4 In you our fathers put their trust;
they trusted and you delivered them.
5 They cried to you and were saved;
in you they trusted and were not disappointed.
Psalm 27
Of David.
1 The LORD is my light and my salvation-
whom shall I fear?
The LORD is the stronghold of my life-
of whom shall I be afraid?
5 For in the day of trouble
he will keep me safe in his dwelling;
he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle
and set me high upon a rock.
6 Then my head will be exalted
above the enemies who surround me;
at his tabernacle will I sacrifice with shouts of joy;
I will sing and make music to the LORD .
10 Though my father and mother forsake me,
the LORD will receive me.
Psalm 37
25 I was young and now I am old,
yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken
or their children begging bread.
2 Timothy 1:5
I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois
and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also
2 Timothy 3
Paul’s Charge to Timothy
10You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith,
patience, love, endurance, 11persecutions, sufferings--what kinds of things happened
to me in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, the persecutions I endured. Yet the Lord rescued
me from all of them.
5) IN PURITY
ILL: Ivory Soap - 99.99% Pure
Psalm 24
3 Who may ascend the hill of the LORD ?
Who may stand in his holy place?
4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
who does not lift up his soul to an idol
or swear by what is false. [1]
5 He will receive blessing from the LORD
and vindication from God his Savior.
Isaiah 1
18 "Come now, let us reason together,"
says the LORD .
"Though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red as crimson,
they shall be like wool.
25 I will turn my hand against you;
I will thoroughly purge away your dross
and remove all your impurities.
Malachi 3
2 But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he
will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap. 3 He will sit as a refiner and purifier of
silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the LORD will
have men who will bring offerings in righteousness,
Matthew 5
8Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
1 Timothy 5
22Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands, and do not share in the sins of others.
Keep yourself pure.
CLOSING:
Timothy, I am leaving Footprints in the Sands of Time For you to follow...
THAT SAME CHALLENGE IS NOW OURS!
1 Timothy 4
(WE ARE TO) set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in
purity.
You are a living epistle!
2 Corinthians 3
2You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everybody
ILL: Brother Zach Outlaw- He preached the sermon by the way he lived!
He left footprints on the sands of time.....
WHAT ARE YOU LEAVING BEHIND?
WHERE ARE YOUR FEET STEPPING?
IF THE NEXT GENERATION FOLLOWS YOUR EXAMPLE...WILL THEY MAKE IT?
WHAT FOOTPRINTS ARE YOU LEAVING IN THE SANDS OF TIME?
