3 Ways To Talk About Legacy With Your Church
Legacy—it's a word we throw around a lot, but it can be hard to talk about. Building a legacy requires vision, intentionality, and planning, but how many of us really think about the legacy we're building? Often, it takes a big life event or milestone to pull us out of our day-to-day micro perspective into a broader macro perspective of our entire life. But by then, sometimes, it is too late to begin thinking about legacy.
When we created the short film "For Generations To Come," our goal was to inspire people to think about one question: "How would considering the long-term impact of our decisions change our teams, churches, families, and companies?" The short film offers a glimpse into the story of Frederick Omsted as he was designing and creating Central Park. When setting out on this task, he understood that his work would touch the lives of people he would never meet, shaping their experiences and perhaps even changing their lives.
Here are 3 types of legacy-themed sermons that can be paired with "For Generations To Come"
Inspire people to give toward a vision campaign:
Whether it's a vision to meet practical needs within your community, to buy a building for your rapidly growing church plan, or to upgrade your kids ministry space so it's more friendly for first-time parents, helping people catch the vision is key to seeing it come to life. When people feel INSPIRED to give because they catch a vision of the potential future, they will make the necessary sacrifices to reach the goal.Inspire people to take a next step to serve:
A key next step in everyone's faith journey is to put that faith into action through serving. Whether it is volunteering in your youth ministry, being a small group leader for newlyweds, or greeting people, everyone has a contribution to make in building the Church. Each contribution, no matter how small, is an investment made into someone else's faith journey.Encourage parents to make the most of the small moments:
A common phrase that we hear when it comes to parenting is "the days are long, but the years are short." And it's true---those everyday moments can feel exhausting, and sometimes we forget that our kids won't be kids forever. Time moves on, and one day, those chances to pour into them, to really be there, will grow fewer. But right now, in these small, often overlooked moments, we have the chance to guide them, to plant seeds that might one day grow into something far beyond what we can see today.
Takeaway
For each of these sermons, hand out a packet of seeds for people to plant in their homes. May they serve as a reminder that legacies, like these seeds, take time and investment to come to fruition.
We hope this film inspires people to make the necessary sacrifices in pursuit of a grander vision and legacy.
