Last Sunday I had the privilege of ministering at my home church here in Mt. Morris. I find that my preaching style changes a bit when I preach at home because my heart beats more like a pastor. My heart also pumps more rapidly when I minister at home because when I stand behind the pulpit I look out into the faces of a lot of people that have known me my whole life and taught me a large portion of what I know as a Christian.
However, despite my shortcomings I spoke in the morning to my home congregation about passing the generational baton. We are at a crossroads in my home church and I believe, in our denomination, the Assemblies of God, that is crucial to the further building of the Kingdom of God.
Here's an interesting article I came across that refers the 1996 United States Men's 4X100 Olympic team that lost their race because they mishandled the exchange of the baton.
We have incredible heritage at my home church and in our denomination, however, momentum is teetering as the older generation hesitates and the younger generation speculates during this transitional time. I challenged the older generation to father and release the younger generation, and I challenged the younger generation to follow and respect the older generation. My message was based upon 2 Kings 2 and 2 Timothy 1:13-14.
Here's a great sermon delivered by Bryan Jarrett at the 2005 General Council of the A/G in Denver, CO. I used it in my preparation for this last week's message. Just click here and you can choose to listen the an audio version or watch a video version of the message (hint: It was the Friday evening service.).