The Baton

May 30, 2023

I am still recovering from Sunday. And it's Wednesday. I have said this over and over again to our staff team- Sunday just really moved me. At one point during the youth-led worship set, I couldn't hold back my tears. I am so incredibly proud of our students and it's been such a gift to see them step into their gifts with such passion. Having recently wrapped up a series on Mental Health, as we've partnered with youth organizations and local families to surround students, the crisis of struggling teens is ever-present on my mind. There is a constant prayer for this generation to know their worth, feel their value and step into a relationship with Jesus.

As Pastor Jason was talking through 2 Timothy, it made me think about when I was in high school. During my freshmen year, I took a Spanish class and absolutely loved my teacher, Hillary. Within a few months, she invited a group of us girls from each grade to a morning Bible study where her goal was to help us build Paul/ Silas/ Timothy friendships. Each of us would have a mentor, mentee and peer, and you would be someone's mentor, mentee and peer. It was incredible! Throughout high school and even into my early college years, those morning Bible study friendships turned into some of my strongest. We've attended one another's weddings, have held each other's babies, celebrated each other's joys and cried with one another's trials and grief. Many of these women helped direct me and re-align me, to which I am incredibly grateful.

In the last few days, I've thought on Pastor Jason's sermon. In so many ways, each and every day, we pass some sort of metaphorical baton. Our kids listen and learn from what we say, how we react or respond, and how we choose to learn. This is my last week as a school board member and I have become especially aware that people have watched how I conduct myself, not only at board meetings but also at school pick up or in the community at large. There are constant batons that I'm passing along, sometimes just barely making it, sometimes dropping it and sometimes not even realizing I'm in the race. 

I am so appreciative of Pastor Jason to remind us that the window of time that we are currently living in, is a short one and we must always learn to pass well, pick up our baton if we fumble, and try again, keeping our eyes on the goal that God has set before us.


You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also (2 Timothy 2:1-2). 

Have you fumbled today? Maybe this year, or this season of your life is not quite how you expected it to be. It's not how you planned it or prepared for it. Now what? Get up. Set your eyes on Jesus and pick up that baton. 

Watch May 28 sermon here.

Announcements:

• SERVICE TIME CHANGE, beginning on Father's Day (June 18). Service times will now be 9:00 and 10:45. 
• Kids Ministry at BOTH services, beginning June 18. Contact Rachel Tidwell, rachel@sierrabible.com, if you'd like to help. 
• New To Lunch on June 4 after the 10:30 service in the Music Room. Email Emily Turner, emilyt@sierrabible.com, if you're new or newer to the SBC community and if you'd like to attend.