Watch List: Top Gun
Message Summary: In Top Gun, the character Maverick is known for one thing, always pushing the limits. This is his legacy. Legacy is the long-lasting impact of a person’s life. Ecclesiastes reminds us that life is short, but our legacy has a lasting impact. In the book of Acts there was a woman named Dorcas known for “always doing good and helping the poor.” This was her legacy. The writer of the book of Acts remembers her this way, even though she was raised from the dead. Her legacy of doing good and helping the poor left a lasting impact.
Maverick is asked to teach others, to pass on what he has learned. Legacy can feel really big. Maybe you think you’ve made too many mistakes or are too old. God used lots of people who were older too: Moses, Abraham, Daniel, Paul, Boaz, Elijah, Joshua, and Noah. If you are still breathing, God is still working. God cares about legacy because what we are known for is what He is known for. We show the world that God is a generous, forgiving, loving God, by being generous, forgiving and loving.
It may seem impossible to leave a legacy because we feel like we are not good enough or we compare ourselves to others. We are responsible to steward what God has given us with the time we have. With God all things are possible. We don’t have to live in fear. God wants to remind you to not live in fear. You cannot walk in fear and also steward what God has given you.
1. What are you going to be known for? What will your legacy be? What kind of impact will you leave on this life?
2. What would others say you are always doing? What do your kids say you are always doing?
3. What can you do today to begin building a legacy that outlives yourself?
Ecclesiastes 1:2 TVB – Teacher: Life is fleeting, like a passing mist. It is like trying to catch hold of a breath…
Acts 9:36-43 NIV – In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (in Greek her name is Dorcas); she was always doing good and helping the poor…
2 Corinthians 5:20-21 NIV – We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Deuteronomy 4:9 – “But watch out! Be careful never to forget what you yourself have seen. Do not let these memories escape from your mind as long as you live! And be sure to pass them on to your children and grandchildren.”
Matthew 25:14-30 – 14 “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. 15 To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag,[a] each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. 16 The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. 17 So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. 18 But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. 19 “After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. 20 The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.21 “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness…Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25 So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’ 26 “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? 27 Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned, I would have received it back with interest. 28 “‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. 29 For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. 30 And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
Matthew 19:26 – Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”