Lead With Your Legacy
Understanding How To Lead With Our Legacy Through The Church
James Greer
Mar 28, 2021 31m
In today's message, we learn how to lead with our legacy through the church. You see, being the church is essential to creating and living our legacy. We need to know the Word of God so we can make the right choices; choices that lead to a legacy that will last for eternity. Video recorded at Pineville, Louisiana.
TranscriptionmessageRegarding Grammar:
This is a transcription of the sermon. People speak differently than they write, and there are common colloquialisms in this transcript that sound good when spoken, and look like bad grammar when written.
This is a transcription of the sermon. People speak differently than they write, and there are common colloquialisms in this transcript that sound good when spoken, and look like bad grammar when written.
James Greer (00:01):
Did you know that we, we had the attendees to hand out also invite people next Sunday. Ken and Terry, they handed out 1,500, 1,500 of those bags. Let's hear it for them. So man, we appreciate that. So I think we can each give out 10. Amen? Don't just come to church but lead with your legacy. When I say lead with your legacy, I mean so many people spend so much of their time, some people spend their whole life wondering what they should do. The real question should be not so much what should I do, but what do I want to be? What do you want to be remembered for? What do you want your legacy to be? What do you want them to say at your funeral? You know, I've done hundreds if not thousands of funerals. I don't do as many as I used to. If I would have done them all last week, would've had what? Four. And I did two. One of them was so sweet. Tony, I see you and Kayla here. I love y'all and praying for you. But you know, I did one about two months ago and y'all know who and I asked the staff to come. And I think it was the staff and one member of the family. And that was all that was at the funeral. I did Janet's. Couldn't hardly get in here. They had so many flowers that it was unbelievable because she already lived her legacy.
James Greer (01:35):
See, I think that if you will decide what you want your legacy to be, it works backwards. And then you just start living it. Now it's so much simpler. It doesn't matter if you want to be a teacher or a welder or salesman or saleswoman. It doesn't matter. Whatever you want to be, you just say, hey, I'm going to do it for the glory of God. See, I don't, I don't want to be remembered for my career though my career may help me get there. I want to be remembered for my character. I don't want to be simply remembered for my career but my contribution to further the kingdom. I don't want to simply be remembered for my career but the choices I made to further of the kingdom. What happens is if you don't learn to lead by your legacy, you might not have one at all or you might end up alone. Number one, I want to do what's your legacy to be? What do you want your legacy to be? What I want to do is I want to share you what I want my legacy to be with you. And I hope it'll help you kind of define what you want your legacy to be.
James Greer (02:57):
I learned if I can live out Matthew 6:33, I get to enjoy Philippians 3:20. And so Matthew 6:33 says, but seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added. The wonderful thing about Matthew 6:33, you'd also get to enjoy Matthew 6:34. And in the it, it simply said, therefore, I don't have to worry about tomorrow. Why don't I have to worry about tomorrow? Because I'm doing Matthew 6:33. I'm seeking ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. So I don't have to worry about tomorrow. They got enough things to worry about themselves. See, I want my legacy to be lived out that I want to further God's kingdom. I want to get as many people in the kingdom of God as possible. I mean that's what I want to do. But when I say, I want to seek ye first the kingdom of God, it means I've got to come to a point that I depend upon Jesus for the ultimate source of meeting every need in my life. Who's the source of meeting all my needs? Jesus Christ is. Anything and everybody else is just a conduit. Why should I worry if Jesus is my source in life? It's not my job. It's not my boss. It's not my company. Jesus meets my needs. So why do I worry?
James Greer (04:08):
So part of living out my legacy is Matthew 6:33. So if I live out 6:33 because 6:33 has helped me further God's kingdom to help to get as many people in the kingdom of God as possible. I don't have to worry about tomorrow. Not only I don't have to worry about tomorrow because I get Ephesians 3:20, I get to do exceedingly abundantly above all that you can ask or think. Unbelievable new translations of Philippians 3:20. I just found it. I want to read it for you. Never doubt God's mighty power to work in you and accomplish all things. You ready? He will achieve infinitely more than your greatest request, your most unbelievable dreams. He can exceed your wildest imaginations. He can outdo them all for His miraculous power constantly energizing you. Man, isn't that great to be able to live that out? Amen? See, because my legacy, I want my legacy to be, I want to start living it out now. I want it to lead me as Matthew 6:33. Because of 6:33, I don't have to worry about tomorrow. And because of Matthew 6:33 at 6:34, I get to live out Ephesians 3:21. In other words, listen, you're not going to believe it. That's my favorite verse. That's my life verse. Every area of my life is exceedingly abundantly above all I could dream, all I can imagine.
James Greer (05:36):
I'm telling you when I'm talking about furthering the kingdom of God, about a week ago or so, we went to Jackson Hole. And me and my wife went on this one tour. And a young guy, sweet guy, nice guy. And he's touring us. I got through. I got back to the house. I mean to the hotel. I told my wife, man, I'm convicted. She said, what are you convicted for? I said, I didn't witness to him. The next morning, I got up early. Didn't get a hold of him so I set the phone up. And he wasn't married and he's single. And I said, man, I'm going to have to do my own video. And I said, hey, so-and-so, I really enjoyed it. You're such a sharp guy. I said, yo, in the beginning, there was Adam and Adam didn't have a wife either. And God gave him a wife. And I pray one day, God sends you a wife. But Adam and Eve sinned and it separated them from God. And I'm a wordless book. And I said, we've all sinned. And it's separated from God. And I told him about Jesus dying on the cross. You know? I went this whole thing and it was out in the snow. And I said, and you know what? I love you. And I hope you, if haven't invited Jesus, you invite Him in. And I was going to send it. I couldn't figure out how to send it. Then I had to get Josh. Josh was telling me, well, your file's too big. I swear, man. So my conviction's there. I finally get Josh. I finally sent it to him. I just can't wait. Can't wait. He said, you're a good man. Thank you, sir.
James Greer (07:00):
But I finally felt that I had done it. I don't always witness like I should and you might either. But I do know that that's my ultimate calling, that I want to do as much as I can to further God's kingdom. I want to live out Matthew 6:33 where I get to enjoy Ephesians 3:20. And man, 3:20 is my life verse. I get to live it out. God's doing so much more than I could imagine, so much more than I ever dreamed. I mean in every area of my life. Can you imagine, my marriage? I mean God is so good. I've been married almost 50 years. And can you imagine, have y'all ever seen my wife? God just blinded her when she married me. I'm just blessed. Not only that, we love each other. I see so many people, they don't even like each other. I mean we still sleep in the same bed. I mean we don't like each other. We can go on trips together. All kinds of stuff. I mean you get exceedingly, abundantly above what you could ever dream about. Amen? And it's okay. I mean I'm living my verse out. That's my legacy. How about finances? Oh man. Did you know, growing up, I never went on a vacation. I didn't even know what it's like. I can't really remember ever going out to eat.
James Greer (08:10):
Dude, I go on vacation all the time. I'm going to go on more. Right now I'm thinking I'm going to spend up all my money where the kids don't get it. I don't know. But I'm just saying, I mean He's blessed me more than I can imagine. Never gone out to eat, never went on vacation. I'm going to go every three months. Now we've got a staff that can handle it. Y'all do better when I'm gone than when I'm here. I'm going to go. I'm just saying I could never dream to imagine going places I've gone now and doing the things. I'm talking about after I was grown, I just couldn't imagine doing that. But you know, my legacy leading me getting to live it out. Matthew 6:33 and 34. I'm enjoying living out a Ephesians 3:20. Church, can you imagine? You have 25, 30. Now look what we have. I mean who could ever imagine that we would have what we're having now? I mean next Sunday, y'all, we're probably going to have 800 people. Maybe more. Amen? Huh? Especially if y'all invite your people like you're supposed to. Amen? Tommy, can you imagine having 800 people? And we used to have 30, 35. I mean one time I had this vision. I wrote it down. I told Josh, I said, one day we're going to have 500 people. He brought it back to me one day, said, you're not dreaming big enough.
James Greer (09:22):
He's right. And I'm dreaming bigger now. We're going to have 1,000, maybe 2,000. Let's rock the house. Amen? I mean a spiritual life. We baptize people every Sunday. Who can imagine that? I mean we're so blessed, it's unbelievable. I mean I used to say, man, if we could baptize 25 people a year, that'd be great. Now if we baptize a 100, maybe 200. I mean God, I mean He's doing exceedingly, abundantly above all I could dream. And I just need to ask for more. Amen? Amen? But what are you doing? How are you living your legacy? Do you even know what it is? And preaching, can you imagine? Oh, I can't read. I can't spell. And I mean when I first started, I mean this is almost unbelievable. I cannot imagine being able to read and spell like I can now. Still can't. But now just skip the words and y'all don't even care. Can you imagine preaching to a church, to people like y'all and you skip a word and they just say, oh, he doesn't know it? I'm living it out. My question is this is, do you know what you want your legacy to be? Are you allowing it to lead you? Are you going to come to the end of your life and not have one? So how do you do that? How do you lead with your legacy? I can tell you one verse tells you this. Colossians 3:17, it tells you.
James Greer (10:48):
And whatever. Say whatever. Whatever you do in word and deed. Whatever you do. Tony, what do you do? Coffee. So whatever you do, you sell coffee. Amen? So what did you do? Jeff, what do you do? Huh? Okay. You're in the military. So whatever you do. Cecil, what do you do, Cecil? Cut trees. Bug me. Huh? And visit old people. Well, let me read it to you. Whatever you do in word and deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. It didn't say you had to do this. It didn't say you had to do that. Whatever you do in word and deed. Let me tell you, not only where you work but it's how you do it. Uh-oh. It helps to have a good attitude if you're going to be a good Christian. Amen? So when you're on the job, do you make a difference? They say, hey, there's something different about him. Every place Tony goes, they all know he's a Christian. They all know he loves Lord. All these people where we go, we invite them to church. We do different things. So whatever you do in word and deed, do it all on the name of the Lord, giving thanks to God the Father through it. It doesn't matter where you go. If you lift weights, that's good. If you sell cars, tires, real estate, whatever you do, all in the name of the Lord. But do it with the right attitude. Amen? That's how you start getting your legacy. Where you at, what you do. Darrell, where you teach. Library. Took you a long time to get that job, buddy.
James Greer (12:29):
But listen, once you know what you want to be remembered for, you no longer have to worry so much about what you do. You start developing what you're going to be. See, it's not so much about your career then. Your career simply helps you. It helps you with your character. It helps you with your contribution. It helps you with the choices you make. All of it leads back to furthering God's kingdom. You use your career to further God's kingdom to build your character to have the right contributions and make the right choices. Too many people keep worrying about what to do instead of what to be remembered for, instead of whatever you do, just do it to the honor and glory of God. Amen? You got to remember what's going to last in your legacy. So much of what you're spending your time, your energy, and your money for, it won't even last. No, there's only a few things that are going to last. There's only a few things you can bring to Heaven. There's only a few things going to last for an eternity. And all the rest of it is going to be burned up. There's a few things when you go before the judgment seat that you're going to, everything has to be burned up. There's few things that's going to last. Isaiah 48 tells us one of the main things that's going to last. The grass withers, the flowers fade away, but the Word of God stands forever. Word's gonna last forever.
James Greer (13:58):
You don't want to be remembered for your career but your choices. To know God's Word, you got to make some day-to-day choices. You have to choose to come to church. I'm so glad we got a house full. Amen? Downstairs, upstairs, online. I mean but you had to choose to get, by the way, that was a good choice. To make the right choices, you got to go the right places, be with the right people, do the right things, and do it at the right time. Our choices greatly determine our blessings and curses. For me, I have to choose day to day, almost every single day to choose to spend some time with God. Sometimes it's a little, sometimes it's a lot. But that would be a good choice for you. Choose. Say I'm going to be at church. Choose that I'm going to spend some time with God. Deuteronomy 30:19, it tells you how important your day-to-day chores are. I call Heaven. I call earth as a witness today against me and you. What did he call heaven to earth to be a witness for? Because I set before you life and death. That's pretty important. God said, you're here today at Journey Church. You're not by accident. He said, I want you to know, I'm setting before you today, life and death, blesses and curses. Blessings and curses. Therefore choose life. God said, every one of your choices determine your life, your death, blessings, and curses. God says, I'd rather you choose life, that both you and your descendants may live. In other words, God's saying by the choices you make on a day-to-day basis is going to affect you by your blessings and curses. But not only you, but your children and your grandchildren. Amen? Your choices are pretty important. Amen? It greatly determines the rest of your life, how you're going to live.
James Greer (15:49):
And what do you do? That you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey His voices and that you may cling to Him, surrender to Him, love Him. Why? For He is your life and the length of your days. You want some extra days? Well, then by the choices that you make. What are the choices? You love God and you obey His Word. That brings blessings and lengthens your days. You got to make the right choices. You've gotta go to the right places. You gotta be with the right people. You gotta do the right things and you gotta do them at the right timing. But let me tell you, Matthew 22:37 says this. Jesus said, you should love the Lord thy God with all your heart, all your mind, and all your soul. You know that that's the first and the greatest command. The second is like that. Love your neighbor as yourself. These are the two greatest laws. But you can't love and obey somebody you don't know. I've never met somebody and you say, just go love them. I don't even know him. To love somebody, you really need to know them. You ready? The more of God's Word you know, the more you know His will and the more you'll love Him. John 1:1 tells us this. In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God. And the Word was God. You want to know God? You got to know the Word. Word's always been, always will be. Word is God. The father way you get from God's Word, the further away you get from God. Let me give you a few insights about God's Word while you're here on earth.
James Greer (17:34):
Number one, God's Word leads to salvation. If you're here and you're safe, it's because of God's Word. 1 Peter 1:23, it tells us this. Having been born again, everybody here, you've been born one time. You know your birthday. Mine's 2/27/53. That's when I was born one time. But I had to be born a second time. Until you've had your second birth, you won't go to Heaven. But it says having been born again, not by corruptible seed but by incorruptible through the Word of God, which lives and abides forever. So you have to be born again. In other words, by the Word of God. Number two, it's God's Word that guides our steps. Maybe you're here today and you need some guidance, direction. You don't know what decision to make. I just wonder who you've been going to? Who do you go to for guidance and direction? Is it God's word? If it's not, if it's not God's Word and God's will or people with wisdom, no wonder you don't know where you're going and what you're doing. The Psalmist said in 119:105, it says, the Word is a light unto my feet. It's a light into my path. Isaiah 9:6 said, Jesus is a wonderful counselor, a mighty God. I mean do you need guidance? You need direction? Go to God's Word. How about if your burdened? I guarantee between this many people downstairs, upstairs, online, there's somebody that came that was really burdened today. Do you know what the Psalmist said in 119:28? I wept with grief. My heart was heavy with sorrow. Encourage and cheer me with your words.
James Greer (19:17):
Do you know different people respond different ways? Tony just lost his wife, the love of his life. And Kayla, your mama and the rest of the family. You know where they're at the other day? They're in church. You know why you in church? Because you hear the Word of God. They're still weeping. They're still grieving. Their hearts are still heavy and it still will be. But the only way you're going to get encouragement and the only way you're going to have a time that you cheer up is continue to hear God's Word. And they're doing that. And there's some other people here today that you're here and you're heavy burdened. And you're trying to go to the wrong people and the wrong places and to the wrong things to get help. Even in Matthew 11:28, God says, come unto me all that are heavy laden and you find rest. And I'm going to encourage you today at the end of the service, quit going to the wrong people, the wrong places, and the wrong thing. If you're really heavy burdened, come today. In fact, if you're really listening, God's Word is already trying to give you rest. He's already trying to give you peace if you're taking it in. He's already trying to relieve your burden. Number four, God's Word brings joy. I mean this kind of joy you can't get anywhere else. Jeremiah 15:16. I like this verse, man. It's good. When I discovered your Words, I devoured them. I ate them. I took them in.
James Greer (21:01):
I mean, man, when you come to church and you're preaching God's Word, I hope y'all are just taking it in. I hope you're devouring it. I mean it's better than food. Amen? You just devoured it. You ate it. And they're my joy. What is God's Word? It's my joy. My heart is delight for I bear your name. And then I love the last part. And the Lord God of Heaven's armies. I tell you that all the time. He said not only can God's Word bring joy, listen, God's my greatest confidant. You know, why should I worry about it when I have the God, the Lord God of all Heaven's armies? I tell you all the time, the capital LORD, man, He's in charge of the whole host of army. Three-fourths of all angels. He can just say one thing and He's in charge of them. My goodness, what do you have to be afraid of? Amen? So He relieves burdens. He can bring joy. He gives guidance and direction. That's how you need to live your life. That's how you leave a legacy. You evaluate your legacy. You evaluate it by John 15:16. You didn't choose me anyway. I chose you, God said. I appointed you. It really means I appointed, I anointed you. That you should go and bring forth fruit. And then that fruit should remain. Not only that you bring it, but it should remain. And whatsoever you ask of the Father in my name, I'll give it to you. I love that because He's telling you that He wants your fruit to remain.
James Greer (22:30):
You know, I can tell you the fruit that remains before I even finish. There's only about three fruits that are gonna remain with your legacy that you can bring to Heaven with you. It's God's Word, God's people that you help influence, whether you witness to them, prayed for them, or use your money to get them there, and the way you use God's money. I loved 1 Timothy 6:18, and 19. It says this. I tell you to use your money to do good. They should be rich in good works. That's a good work, the way you use your money. You should give happily to those in need. Always being ready to share with others whatever God has given you. By doing this, you ready? They're going to be storing up real treasures for themselves in Heaven. It is the safest investment for eternity. And they're going to be living a fruitful Christian life down here as well. In other words, God's saying, when you learn to spend your money the right way, when you use it to further God's kingdom, you know what he's saying? You're going to be fruitful here on earth and you're investing in Heaven. He said, it's the best investment you could ever make in your whole life. Everything else, you take a chance. You make an investment, you buy a piece of property, buy a house, buy a car, you're taking a chance. But when use it to further God's kingdom, it's the safest investment. Man, we ought to be excited about furthering God's kingdom. Amen? I'm excited every time somebody gets saved. We're going to have baptism next service. Amen? And man, we're going to have three or four next Sunday too. Amen? I want to be part of that. Do you? Okay. You should. So there's basically three things that you should have part of your legacy.
James Greer (24:06):
But first of all, number one, let's get ready to close. You're ready? You've got to know what you want your legacy to be. Why wait till the end of your life? Man, did you see these young people already? They're already starting to live out their legacy now. Do you know what you want your legacy to be? Number two, maybe you need to add one of these three or all three. Maybe you need to start spending time with God's Word. You saw what the power of God's Word, it lifts burdens, it brings joy, brings salvation. Maybe you need to be in God's Word more. Maybe you need to help influence God's people for God, to further His kingdom, whether that's witnessing, maybe through prayer, maybe that's through money, whatever it is. So it's God's Word, God's people, God's money. Three things, they'll last. Remember it's by the choices you make that bring both blessings and curses to you, your kids, and your grandkids. Go the right places. You're at the right place. Be with the right people. You're with the right people. Do the right things. Do it the right time.
James Greer (25:19):
Guess what? You're at the right place. You're with the right people. It's the right time. Today's the day you need to make the right decisions. The best way to make any decision ever is based on God's Word. I can give you three or four that we just talked about. Maybe the first decision you need to make is salvation. You need to be born again. 1 Peter said, you need to be born again. Maybe you're here and you're not sure if you died that you'd go to Heaven. Today is today. Or you can do it online. We have people, Darrell get saved online came and got baptized. But you're here today, downstairs or upstairs. If you're not sure, today is the day you come to the front and one of the people will be at the altar. And you come give your life to Jesus Christ. Be born a second time. God's Word says so. Maybe you need guidance and direction. Maybe you've been going to the wrong people. Maybe you need to make a major decision. God's Word wants to be a lamp unto your feet. He wants to give guide. He's a wonderful mighty counselor. Mighty God. Let's go to God's Word. Let's go to God's people. They'll be here. They'll help you. They'll guide you into God's Word. Maybe you came with a burden.
James Greer (26:46):
Did you know if you came with a burden, if you're really listening today, if your heart is cultivated, your burden should already start being lifted. Matthew 11:28 says if you're tired and you're carrying a heavy burden, come to me and I'll give you rest. You're here. Don't be just here at this building. Be here spiritually and receive the spirit of the living God. Let Him give you rest. He says He wants to. He says, He knows you're tired and you grieve and you're hurting. Let Him encourage you, He says. Some of y'all that are burdened, whether you're here or up there, you allow the Holy Spirit right now, He's gonna start giving you some rest. He can even bring some joy. He says, when I discovered your Word and I devoured it, when I took it in. Did you know it all depends on your heart?
James Greer (27:48):
How you receive the Word when I'm preaching the Word. Because it's all God's Word today. I've been preaching the Word. If you took it in, if you devoured it, they're gonna bring joy, going to bring some delight in your heart. You're going to remember then my Lord God of the heavens, all the armies, not only is He gonna bring some joy if I devoured His Word, He's gonna bring some security in my life. Because He's the Lord of all armies, the host. He's going to take care of me, He's going to protect me, and He's going to provide for me. So I mean I don't really have anything to worry about except for did not take it in. I mean I hope you listened to God's Word today. I pray you let Him have His will and His way. Would you stand and let me pray with you and pray for you?
James Greer (28:42):
God, I thank you for your Word. God, I love it that your Word has been, is, and is you. First of all, God, for those that may need salvation, it comes through your Word and your Word has been preached. So those not sure they'd go to Heaven, I pray today that they would come to the front or take their next step card or mark online. Just simply say I know that I want to make sure I'm going to Heaven. I believe Jesus died on the cross and rose on the third day and they make sure. Those that have never been biblically, publicly baptized, wouldn't it be great next Sunday, it's Easter Sunday, to celebrate the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ? Come. Say, hey, I want to be baptized. I want to be baptized on Easter Sunday. Man, that's going to be fantastic. We've already got some and you can join with them. Maybe you've been watching online or you've been here upstairs and you want to join the church, you want to become part of the family, you can do it with your next step card or you can come down front or you can do it online if you know this is where God wants you. Hey, how about you've lost your joy?
James Greer (29:50):
Maybe it's because you've gotten away from God's Word and you want to come back. You want to come back to church. Want to get back into God's Word. Maybe you're heavy burdened. And you say, hey man, I need God to release some of this burden. I need a rest. He said, come unto me and let me give you some rest. See, God relieves burdens. He brings joy. He brings salvation. But He also leaves the choice up to us. He said today, life and death, blessings and curses, depends on the choices we make. God I pray for our people. I pray that we can make the right choices, that we have your blessings and extended life. It's in your name we pray. Amen.
Bruce Goulart (30:41):
On behalf of Pastor James, I just want to say thank you for joining our online experience today. Wasn't that just a great a message about leaving your legacy? Now, if you need someone to pray with you, we have a link down in the description right now that you can click on and someone will get with you right away. Hey, y'all, next week is Easter and I am super pumped about it. We're having an Easter event here at Journey Church at all three services. So I would love to see y'all here. But if you can't make it, we'll still be having our online experience. So I hope to see y'all there. And I hope that you'll have a great week leading up to Easter. Thank y'all.
Recorded in Pineville, Louisiana.
Did you know that we, we had the attendees to hand out also invite people next Sunday. Ken and Terry, they handed out 1,500, 1,500 of those bags. Let's hear it for them. So man, we appreciate that. So I think we can each give out 10. Amen? Don't just come to church but lead with your legacy. When I say lead with your legacy, I mean so many people spend so much of their time, some people spend their whole life wondering what they should do. The real question should be not so much what should I do, but what do I want to be? What do you want to be remembered for? What do you want your legacy to be? What do you want them to say at your funeral? You know, I've done hundreds if not thousands of funerals. I don't do as many as I used to. If I would have done them all last week, would've had what? Four. And I did two. One of them was so sweet. Tony, I see you and Kayla here. I love y'all and praying for you. But you know, I did one about two months ago and y'all know who and I asked the staff to come. And I think it was the staff and one member of the family. And that was all that was at the funeral. I did Janet's. Couldn't hardly get in here. They had so many flowers that it was unbelievable because she already lived her legacy.
James Greer (01:35):
See, I think that if you will decide what you want your legacy to be, it works backwards. And then you just start living it. Now it's so much simpler. It doesn't matter if you want to be a teacher or a welder or salesman or saleswoman. It doesn't matter. Whatever you want to be, you just say, hey, I'm going to do it for the glory of God. See, I don't, I don't want to be remembered for my career though my career may help me get there. I want to be remembered for my character. I don't want to be simply remembered for my career but my contribution to further the kingdom. I don't want to simply be remembered for my career but the choices I made to further of the kingdom. What happens is if you don't learn to lead by your legacy, you might not have one at all or you might end up alone. Number one, I want to do what's your legacy to be? What do you want your legacy to be? What I want to do is I want to share you what I want my legacy to be with you. And I hope it'll help you kind of define what you want your legacy to be.
James Greer (02:57):
I learned if I can live out Matthew 6:33, I get to enjoy Philippians 3:20. And so Matthew 6:33 says, but seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added. The wonderful thing about Matthew 6:33, you'd also get to enjoy Matthew 6:34. And in the it, it simply said, therefore, I don't have to worry about tomorrow. Why don't I have to worry about tomorrow? Because I'm doing Matthew 6:33. I'm seeking ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. So I don't have to worry about tomorrow. They got enough things to worry about themselves. See, I want my legacy to be lived out that I want to further God's kingdom. I want to get as many people in the kingdom of God as possible. I mean that's what I want to do. But when I say, I want to seek ye first the kingdom of God, it means I've got to come to a point that I depend upon Jesus for the ultimate source of meeting every need in my life. Who's the source of meeting all my needs? Jesus Christ is. Anything and everybody else is just a conduit. Why should I worry if Jesus is my source in life? It's not my job. It's not my boss. It's not my company. Jesus meets my needs. So why do I worry?
James Greer (04:08):
So part of living out my legacy is Matthew 6:33. So if I live out 6:33 because 6:33 has helped me further God's kingdom to help to get as many people in the kingdom of God as possible. I don't have to worry about tomorrow. Not only I don't have to worry about tomorrow because I get Ephesians 3:20, I get to do exceedingly abundantly above all that you can ask or think. Unbelievable new translations of Philippians 3:20. I just found it. I want to read it for you. Never doubt God's mighty power to work in you and accomplish all things. You ready? He will achieve infinitely more than your greatest request, your most unbelievable dreams. He can exceed your wildest imaginations. He can outdo them all for His miraculous power constantly energizing you. Man, isn't that great to be able to live that out? Amen? See, because my legacy, I want my legacy to be, I want to start living it out now. I want it to lead me as Matthew 6:33. Because of 6:33, I don't have to worry about tomorrow. And because of Matthew 6:33 at 6:34, I get to live out Ephesians 3:21. In other words, listen, you're not going to believe it. That's my favorite verse. That's my life verse. Every area of my life is exceedingly abundantly above all I could dream, all I can imagine.
James Greer (05:36):
I'm telling you when I'm talking about furthering the kingdom of God, about a week ago or so, we went to Jackson Hole. And me and my wife went on this one tour. And a young guy, sweet guy, nice guy. And he's touring us. I got through. I got back to the house. I mean to the hotel. I told my wife, man, I'm convicted. She said, what are you convicted for? I said, I didn't witness to him. The next morning, I got up early. Didn't get a hold of him so I set the phone up. And he wasn't married and he's single. And I said, man, I'm going to have to do my own video. And I said, hey, so-and-so, I really enjoyed it. You're such a sharp guy. I said, yo, in the beginning, there was Adam and Adam didn't have a wife either. And God gave him a wife. And I pray one day, God sends you a wife. But Adam and Eve sinned and it separated them from God. And I'm a wordless book. And I said, we've all sinned. And it's separated from God. And I told him about Jesus dying on the cross. You know? I went this whole thing and it was out in the snow. And I said, and you know what? I love you. And I hope you, if haven't invited Jesus, you invite Him in. And I was going to send it. I couldn't figure out how to send it. Then I had to get Josh. Josh was telling me, well, your file's too big. I swear, man. So my conviction's there. I finally get Josh. I finally sent it to him. I just can't wait. Can't wait. He said, you're a good man. Thank you, sir.
James Greer (07:00):
But I finally felt that I had done it. I don't always witness like I should and you might either. But I do know that that's my ultimate calling, that I want to do as much as I can to further God's kingdom. I want to live out Matthew 6:33 where I get to enjoy Ephesians 3:20. And man, 3:20 is my life verse. I get to live it out. God's doing so much more than I could imagine, so much more than I ever dreamed. I mean in every area of my life. Can you imagine, my marriage? I mean God is so good. I've been married almost 50 years. And can you imagine, have y'all ever seen my wife? God just blinded her when she married me. I'm just blessed. Not only that, we love each other. I see so many people, they don't even like each other. I mean we still sleep in the same bed. I mean we don't like each other. We can go on trips together. All kinds of stuff. I mean you get exceedingly, abundantly above what you could ever dream about. Amen? And it's okay. I mean I'm living my verse out. That's my legacy. How about finances? Oh man. Did you know, growing up, I never went on a vacation. I didn't even know what it's like. I can't really remember ever going out to eat.
James Greer (08:10):
Dude, I go on vacation all the time. I'm going to go on more. Right now I'm thinking I'm going to spend up all my money where the kids don't get it. I don't know. But I'm just saying, I mean He's blessed me more than I can imagine. Never gone out to eat, never went on vacation. I'm going to go every three months. Now we've got a staff that can handle it. Y'all do better when I'm gone than when I'm here. I'm going to go. I'm just saying I could never dream to imagine going places I've gone now and doing the things. I'm talking about after I was grown, I just couldn't imagine doing that. But you know, my legacy leading me getting to live it out. Matthew 6:33 and 34. I'm enjoying living out a Ephesians 3:20. Church, can you imagine? You have 25, 30. Now look what we have. I mean who could ever imagine that we would have what we're having now? I mean next Sunday, y'all, we're probably going to have 800 people. Maybe more. Amen? Huh? Especially if y'all invite your people like you're supposed to. Amen? Tommy, can you imagine having 800 people? And we used to have 30, 35. I mean one time I had this vision. I wrote it down. I told Josh, I said, one day we're going to have 500 people. He brought it back to me one day, said, you're not dreaming big enough.
James Greer (09:22):
He's right. And I'm dreaming bigger now. We're going to have 1,000, maybe 2,000. Let's rock the house. Amen? I mean a spiritual life. We baptize people every Sunday. Who can imagine that? I mean we're so blessed, it's unbelievable. I mean I used to say, man, if we could baptize 25 people a year, that'd be great. Now if we baptize a 100, maybe 200. I mean God, I mean He's doing exceedingly, abundantly above all I could dream. And I just need to ask for more. Amen? Amen? But what are you doing? How are you living your legacy? Do you even know what it is? And preaching, can you imagine? Oh, I can't read. I can't spell. And I mean when I first started, I mean this is almost unbelievable. I cannot imagine being able to read and spell like I can now. Still can't. But now just skip the words and y'all don't even care. Can you imagine preaching to a church, to people like y'all and you skip a word and they just say, oh, he doesn't know it? I'm living it out. My question is this is, do you know what you want your legacy to be? Are you allowing it to lead you? Are you going to come to the end of your life and not have one? So how do you do that? How do you lead with your legacy? I can tell you one verse tells you this. Colossians 3:17, it tells you.
James Greer (10:48):
And whatever. Say whatever. Whatever you do in word and deed. Whatever you do. Tony, what do you do? Coffee. So whatever you do, you sell coffee. Amen? So what did you do? Jeff, what do you do? Huh? Okay. You're in the military. So whatever you do. Cecil, what do you do, Cecil? Cut trees. Bug me. Huh? And visit old people. Well, let me read it to you. Whatever you do in word and deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. It didn't say you had to do this. It didn't say you had to do that. Whatever you do in word and deed. Let me tell you, not only where you work but it's how you do it. Uh-oh. It helps to have a good attitude if you're going to be a good Christian. Amen? So when you're on the job, do you make a difference? They say, hey, there's something different about him. Every place Tony goes, they all know he's a Christian. They all know he loves Lord. All these people where we go, we invite them to church. We do different things. So whatever you do in word and deed, do it all on the name of the Lord, giving thanks to God the Father through it. It doesn't matter where you go. If you lift weights, that's good. If you sell cars, tires, real estate, whatever you do, all in the name of the Lord. But do it with the right attitude. Amen? That's how you start getting your legacy. Where you at, what you do. Darrell, where you teach. Library. Took you a long time to get that job, buddy.
James Greer (12:29):
But listen, once you know what you want to be remembered for, you no longer have to worry so much about what you do. You start developing what you're going to be. See, it's not so much about your career then. Your career simply helps you. It helps you with your character. It helps you with your contribution. It helps you with the choices you make. All of it leads back to furthering God's kingdom. You use your career to further God's kingdom to build your character to have the right contributions and make the right choices. Too many people keep worrying about what to do instead of what to be remembered for, instead of whatever you do, just do it to the honor and glory of God. Amen? You got to remember what's going to last in your legacy. So much of what you're spending your time, your energy, and your money for, it won't even last. No, there's only a few things that are going to last. There's only a few things you can bring to Heaven. There's only a few things going to last for an eternity. And all the rest of it is going to be burned up. There's a few things when you go before the judgment seat that you're going to, everything has to be burned up. There's few things that's going to last. Isaiah 48 tells us one of the main things that's going to last. The grass withers, the flowers fade away, but the Word of God stands forever. Word's gonna last forever.
James Greer (13:58):
You don't want to be remembered for your career but your choices. To know God's Word, you got to make some day-to-day choices. You have to choose to come to church. I'm so glad we got a house full. Amen? Downstairs, upstairs, online. I mean but you had to choose to get, by the way, that was a good choice. To make the right choices, you got to go the right places, be with the right people, do the right things, and do it at the right time. Our choices greatly determine our blessings and curses. For me, I have to choose day to day, almost every single day to choose to spend some time with God. Sometimes it's a little, sometimes it's a lot. But that would be a good choice for you. Choose. Say I'm going to be at church. Choose that I'm going to spend some time with God. Deuteronomy 30:19, it tells you how important your day-to-day chores are. I call Heaven. I call earth as a witness today against me and you. What did he call heaven to earth to be a witness for? Because I set before you life and death. That's pretty important. God said, you're here today at Journey Church. You're not by accident. He said, I want you to know, I'm setting before you today, life and death, blesses and curses. Blessings and curses. Therefore choose life. God said, every one of your choices determine your life, your death, blessings, and curses. God says, I'd rather you choose life, that both you and your descendants may live. In other words, God's saying by the choices you make on a day-to-day basis is going to affect you by your blessings and curses. But not only you, but your children and your grandchildren. Amen? Your choices are pretty important. Amen? It greatly determines the rest of your life, how you're going to live.
James Greer (15:49):
And what do you do? That you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey His voices and that you may cling to Him, surrender to Him, love Him. Why? For He is your life and the length of your days. You want some extra days? Well, then by the choices that you make. What are the choices? You love God and you obey His Word. That brings blessings and lengthens your days. You got to make the right choices. You've gotta go to the right places. You gotta be with the right people. You gotta do the right things and you gotta do them at the right timing. But let me tell you, Matthew 22:37 says this. Jesus said, you should love the Lord thy God with all your heart, all your mind, and all your soul. You know that that's the first and the greatest command. The second is like that. Love your neighbor as yourself. These are the two greatest laws. But you can't love and obey somebody you don't know. I've never met somebody and you say, just go love them. I don't even know him. To love somebody, you really need to know them. You ready? The more of God's Word you know, the more you know His will and the more you'll love Him. John 1:1 tells us this. In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God. And the Word was God. You want to know God? You got to know the Word. Word's always been, always will be. Word is God. The father way you get from God's Word, the further away you get from God. Let me give you a few insights about God's Word while you're here on earth.
James Greer (17:34):
Number one, God's Word leads to salvation. If you're here and you're safe, it's because of God's Word. 1 Peter 1:23, it tells us this. Having been born again, everybody here, you've been born one time. You know your birthday. Mine's 2/27/53. That's when I was born one time. But I had to be born a second time. Until you've had your second birth, you won't go to Heaven. But it says having been born again, not by corruptible seed but by incorruptible through the Word of God, which lives and abides forever. So you have to be born again. In other words, by the Word of God. Number two, it's God's Word that guides our steps. Maybe you're here today and you need some guidance, direction. You don't know what decision to make. I just wonder who you've been going to? Who do you go to for guidance and direction? Is it God's word? If it's not, if it's not God's Word and God's will or people with wisdom, no wonder you don't know where you're going and what you're doing. The Psalmist said in 119:105, it says, the Word is a light unto my feet. It's a light into my path. Isaiah 9:6 said, Jesus is a wonderful counselor, a mighty God. I mean do you need guidance? You need direction? Go to God's Word. How about if your burdened? I guarantee between this many people downstairs, upstairs, online, there's somebody that came that was really burdened today. Do you know what the Psalmist said in 119:28? I wept with grief. My heart was heavy with sorrow. Encourage and cheer me with your words.
James Greer (19:17):
Do you know different people respond different ways? Tony just lost his wife, the love of his life. And Kayla, your mama and the rest of the family. You know where they're at the other day? They're in church. You know why you in church? Because you hear the Word of God. They're still weeping. They're still grieving. Their hearts are still heavy and it still will be. But the only way you're going to get encouragement and the only way you're going to have a time that you cheer up is continue to hear God's Word. And they're doing that. And there's some other people here today that you're here and you're heavy burdened. And you're trying to go to the wrong people and the wrong places and to the wrong things to get help. Even in Matthew 11:28, God says, come unto me all that are heavy laden and you find rest. And I'm going to encourage you today at the end of the service, quit going to the wrong people, the wrong places, and the wrong thing. If you're really heavy burdened, come today. In fact, if you're really listening, God's Word is already trying to give you rest. He's already trying to give you peace if you're taking it in. He's already trying to relieve your burden. Number four, God's Word brings joy. I mean this kind of joy you can't get anywhere else. Jeremiah 15:16. I like this verse, man. It's good. When I discovered your Words, I devoured them. I ate them. I took them in.
James Greer (21:01):
I mean, man, when you come to church and you're preaching God's Word, I hope y'all are just taking it in. I hope you're devouring it. I mean it's better than food. Amen? You just devoured it. You ate it. And they're my joy. What is God's Word? It's my joy. My heart is delight for I bear your name. And then I love the last part. And the Lord God of Heaven's armies. I tell you that all the time. He said not only can God's Word bring joy, listen, God's my greatest confidant. You know, why should I worry about it when I have the God, the Lord God of all Heaven's armies? I tell you all the time, the capital LORD, man, He's in charge of the whole host of army. Three-fourths of all angels. He can just say one thing and He's in charge of them. My goodness, what do you have to be afraid of? Amen? So He relieves burdens. He can bring joy. He gives guidance and direction. That's how you need to live your life. That's how you leave a legacy. You evaluate your legacy. You evaluate it by John 15:16. You didn't choose me anyway. I chose you, God said. I appointed you. It really means I appointed, I anointed you. That you should go and bring forth fruit. And then that fruit should remain. Not only that you bring it, but it should remain. And whatsoever you ask of the Father in my name, I'll give it to you. I love that because He's telling you that He wants your fruit to remain.
James Greer (22:30):
You know, I can tell you the fruit that remains before I even finish. There's only about three fruits that are gonna remain with your legacy that you can bring to Heaven with you. It's God's Word, God's people that you help influence, whether you witness to them, prayed for them, or use your money to get them there, and the way you use God's money. I loved 1 Timothy 6:18, and 19. It says this. I tell you to use your money to do good. They should be rich in good works. That's a good work, the way you use your money. You should give happily to those in need. Always being ready to share with others whatever God has given you. By doing this, you ready? They're going to be storing up real treasures for themselves in Heaven. It is the safest investment for eternity. And they're going to be living a fruitful Christian life down here as well. In other words, God's saying, when you learn to spend your money the right way, when you use it to further God's kingdom, you know what he's saying? You're going to be fruitful here on earth and you're investing in Heaven. He said, it's the best investment you could ever make in your whole life. Everything else, you take a chance. You make an investment, you buy a piece of property, buy a house, buy a car, you're taking a chance. But when use it to further God's kingdom, it's the safest investment. Man, we ought to be excited about furthering God's kingdom. Amen? I'm excited every time somebody gets saved. We're going to have baptism next service. Amen? And man, we're going to have three or four next Sunday too. Amen? I want to be part of that. Do you? Okay. You should. So there's basically three things that you should have part of your legacy.
James Greer (24:06):
But first of all, number one, let's get ready to close. You're ready? You've got to know what you want your legacy to be. Why wait till the end of your life? Man, did you see these young people already? They're already starting to live out their legacy now. Do you know what you want your legacy to be? Number two, maybe you need to add one of these three or all three. Maybe you need to start spending time with God's Word. You saw what the power of God's Word, it lifts burdens, it brings joy, brings salvation. Maybe you need to be in God's Word more. Maybe you need to help influence God's people for God, to further His kingdom, whether that's witnessing, maybe through prayer, maybe that's through money, whatever it is. So it's God's Word, God's people, God's money. Three things, they'll last. Remember it's by the choices you make that bring both blessings and curses to you, your kids, and your grandkids. Go the right places. You're at the right place. Be with the right people. You're with the right people. Do the right things. Do it the right time.
James Greer (25:19):
Guess what? You're at the right place. You're with the right people. It's the right time. Today's the day you need to make the right decisions. The best way to make any decision ever is based on God's Word. I can give you three or four that we just talked about. Maybe the first decision you need to make is salvation. You need to be born again. 1 Peter said, you need to be born again. Maybe you're here and you're not sure if you died that you'd go to Heaven. Today is today. Or you can do it online. We have people, Darrell get saved online came and got baptized. But you're here today, downstairs or upstairs. If you're not sure, today is the day you come to the front and one of the people will be at the altar. And you come give your life to Jesus Christ. Be born a second time. God's Word says so. Maybe you need guidance and direction. Maybe you've been going to the wrong people. Maybe you need to make a major decision. God's Word wants to be a lamp unto your feet. He wants to give guide. He's a wonderful mighty counselor. Mighty God. Let's go to God's Word. Let's go to God's people. They'll be here. They'll help you. They'll guide you into God's Word. Maybe you came with a burden.
James Greer (26:46):
Did you know if you came with a burden, if you're really listening today, if your heart is cultivated, your burden should already start being lifted. Matthew 11:28 says if you're tired and you're carrying a heavy burden, come to me and I'll give you rest. You're here. Don't be just here at this building. Be here spiritually and receive the spirit of the living God. Let Him give you rest. He says He wants to. He says, He knows you're tired and you grieve and you're hurting. Let Him encourage you, He says. Some of y'all that are burdened, whether you're here or up there, you allow the Holy Spirit right now, He's gonna start giving you some rest. He can even bring some joy. He says, when I discovered your Word and I devoured it, when I took it in. Did you know it all depends on your heart?
James Greer (27:48):
How you receive the Word when I'm preaching the Word. Because it's all God's Word today. I've been preaching the Word. If you took it in, if you devoured it, they're gonna bring joy, going to bring some delight in your heart. You're going to remember then my Lord God of the heavens, all the armies, not only is He gonna bring some joy if I devoured His Word, He's gonna bring some security in my life. Because He's the Lord of all armies, the host. He's going to take care of me, He's going to protect me, and He's going to provide for me. So I mean I don't really have anything to worry about except for did not take it in. I mean I hope you listened to God's Word today. I pray you let Him have His will and His way. Would you stand and let me pray with you and pray for you?
James Greer (28:42):
God, I thank you for your Word. God, I love it that your Word has been, is, and is you. First of all, God, for those that may need salvation, it comes through your Word and your Word has been preached. So those not sure they'd go to Heaven, I pray today that they would come to the front or take their next step card or mark online. Just simply say I know that I want to make sure I'm going to Heaven. I believe Jesus died on the cross and rose on the third day and they make sure. Those that have never been biblically, publicly baptized, wouldn't it be great next Sunday, it's Easter Sunday, to celebrate the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ? Come. Say, hey, I want to be baptized. I want to be baptized on Easter Sunday. Man, that's going to be fantastic. We've already got some and you can join with them. Maybe you've been watching online or you've been here upstairs and you want to join the church, you want to become part of the family, you can do it with your next step card or you can come down front or you can do it online if you know this is where God wants you. Hey, how about you've lost your joy?
James Greer (29:50):
Maybe it's because you've gotten away from God's Word and you want to come back. You want to come back to church. Want to get back into God's Word. Maybe you're heavy burdened. And you say, hey man, I need God to release some of this burden. I need a rest. He said, come unto me and let me give you some rest. See, God relieves burdens. He brings joy. He brings salvation. But He also leaves the choice up to us. He said today, life and death, blessings and curses, depends on the choices we make. God I pray for our people. I pray that we can make the right choices, that we have your blessings and extended life. It's in your name we pray. Amen.
Bruce Goulart (30:41):
On behalf of Pastor James, I just want to say thank you for joining our online experience today. Wasn't that just a great a message about leaving your legacy? Now, if you need someone to pray with you, we have a link down in the description right now that you can click on and someone will get with you right away. Hey, y'all, next week is Easter and I am super pumped about it. We're having an Easter event here at Journey Church at all three services. So I would love to see y'all here. But if you can't make it, we'll still be having our online experience. So I hope to see y'all there. And I hope that you'll have a great week leading up to Easter. Thank y'all.
Recorded in Pineville, Louisiana.
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