09-26-10 AM - Leaving a Lasting Legacy

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1)There is no success without a successor -

1 Kings 19:19-21

2 Kings 2:1-15

A)Lessons from Elijah

-Elijah didn't wait until the day he was to leave before he called or trained Elisha.

-Elijah didn't know at the time he called Elisha that he would one day be whisked away in a fiery chariot. He had the end in sight from the beginning. THAT is a Kingdom mentality!

-The difference in being a man or woman of the Kingdom is do you guard yourself from building YOUR kingdom?

-If Elijah was all about what HE accomplished, he never would've consented to giving Elisha a double portion of his anointing. He would've said something like “I worked hard for this anointing – go get your own.” That would've been terrible...but how often do we hold back from those who would look to us to pass on a blessing?

-One of two monuments can be left to represent your life.

-After you're gone, your life can be defined by a statue that sums up your accomplishments, or it can be     carried on in the lives of those you've influenced. The difference being that a statue is merely an idol made in the image of who you thought you were, and the lives of those influenced is a living testimony of who you really were.

While I was at Youth Advance with our teens on Labor Day weekend, I penned this following paragraph in my journal:

“The true sign or mark of a leader is NOT in how far they traveled or how many accolades they've acquired! The true sign is found in the fact that they were able to bring others with them on the journey!”

B)Lessons from Elisha

-The anointing didn't happen by accident

-Elisha chose to serve Elijah. To follow him. To find someone to whom he could look up to, learn from, and some day be like!

-We have to choose and chase the ones we want to be influenced by. If we wait for them to come to us, regret will be our only teacher, and bitterness will be our only anointing.

2)In a world void of role models, choose to be a spiritual father-

1 Cor. 4:15
1 Cor. 4:17
1 Tim. 1:2
1 Tim. 1:18
2 Tim. 1:2
Php. 2:22
1 Tim. 6:11
1 Tim. 6:20

-It was evident that Paul wanted people to know that Timothy was his son. He was PROUD to call Timothy his son.

-But we also know that Paul wasn't simply doing this for show. Paul poured into Timothy's life – he took him along on the journey!

A)Lessons from Paul

-Be the kind of father Paul was

-1 Cor. 4:15 he says, “Even though you have ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many     fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel.”

Quick Word Study

-The word guardian in Greek is paidagogos which means “a tutor i.e. a guardian and guide of boys. Among the Greeks and the Romans the name was applied to a trustworthy slave who was charged with the duty of supervising the life and morals of boys belonging to the higher class. The boys were not allowed so much as to step out of the house without them before arriving at the age of manhood. (almost like a fancy babysitter)

-The first time father is mentioned in the verse, it is the Greek word pater, which is a progenitor, a father, a male ancestor. The one who gives the seed to make the child.

-The second time father is mentioned is in reference to Paul, and it is not the same word as pater. It is, in fact, gennao (sounds like generation, huh?). It means to begat, bear, bring forth, to father.

So this verse could be adequately read this way, as we understand the verbiage Paul is using, “Even though you have ten thousand guardians/tutors/babysitters in Christ, you do not have many fathers, progenitors, men who have given you life or seeded you, for in Christ Jesus I became your father, the one who brought you forth, the one who actually fathered you through the gospel.”

-What does this have to do with being a father in the same vein as Paul? Simple

– don't just guardian or tutor or babysit those God gives you as spiritual sons. Be a father, and not just one that seeds them and leaves them

– be a father who brings your sons forth, nurtures them, and really fathers them.

-Pour into and invest in the lives of your spiritual sons!

-See how Paul fathered Timothy? 1 Tim. 6:11, 20

B)Lessons from Timothy

-Be worthy sons!

-“Timothy has proven himself”; “my son whom I     love...who is faithful”

-Live so your spiritual fathers can be say of you “you     served well – you are valuable to me”
-Lead by following

-Like Timothy, you cannot lead until you learn to follow.     You cannot come INTO authority until you can learn to come UNDER authority.

Remember – “The true sign or mark of a leader is NOT in how far they traveled or how many accolades they've acquired! The true sign is found in the fact that they were able to bring others with them on the journey!”

3)Set others up to be more successful than you are-

Want to end today by talking about Jesus and His disciples.

John 14:12
John 17:9, 15-19

Jesus' words were ones of lasting legacy. His heart and goal was for the disciples to do greater things than He had accomplished on this earth.

Look at His final words to the disciples in Acts 1:8 to see that this truly was His heart.

Acts 1:8

Where? Jesus was here to primarily reach the Jewish people. The disciples? They would be Jesus' witnesses EVERYWHERE!!!

Live a live that puts your spiritual sons in a position to accomplish more than you ever could have accomplished. And do this – speak that to them! Jesus let them know – I WANT you to do more than I did.