Closing Song – “Our God”
Water, You turned into wine; Opened the eyes of the blind

There’s no one like You; None like You.

Into the darkness, You shine, Out of the ashes we rise There’s no one like You, None like You.

Chorus: Our God is greater, Our God is stronger
God, You are higher than any other, Our God is healer, Awesome in power, Our God, our God.

Into the darkness, You shine, Out of the ashes we rise There’s no one like You, None like You [Chorus 2x]

And if our God is for us, Then who could ever stop us And if our God is with us, Then what could stand against

And if our God is for us, Then who could ever stop us And if our God is with us, Then what could stand against Then what could stand against [Chorus 2x]

And if our God is for us, Then who could ever stop us And if our God is with us, Then what could stand against

And if our God is for us, Then who could ever stop us And if our God is with us, Then what could stand against Then what could stand against

 

*Special thanks to Epsilon Theta Sorority for providing the refreshments, Celebrations In Bloom for table centerpieces.

 

Baccalaureate Message, Pastor Michael Hale

Jeremiah 29:11, “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’” 

It has been 45 years since I graduated from South High School in Bakersfield, California.

Much has changed since I graduated in 1967, but some things remain the same.  Graduation can be an exciting time of hopes, dreams, and anticipations of new experiences; but it can also be a time when you experience a fear of the unknown, as you have to consider what comes next.

Some of you are going to college, into the military, to a job, or perhaps you are staying home to try to figure out just what you are going to do.

This 21st century is both an exciting time and a tough time to be a teenager, as you venture off into independent living and adulthood.

As a child of the 1950’s, I watched TV shows like Twilight Zone, The Lone Ranger, Leave it to Beaver, Ozzie and Harriet, Father Knows Best, My Three Sons, Dick Van Dyke, Andy Griffith… and I still do.

As a teenager of the 1960’s, I listened to groups like Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Fleetwood Mac, Jefferson Airplane, The Doors, Iron Butterfly, The Mama’s & Papas, The Beach Boys, The Byrds, The Beatles, The Monkeys, The Turtles… and I still do!

Along with the TV shows and music of the 50’s and 60’s that seem to transcend time and culture, another prominent mark of the 60’s was a concerted effort by the liberal media and government to try and remove God from schools and workplaces.

The cover of Time magazine dated April 8, 1966, was all black with red trim, in the middle of the page were large red capital letters, “IS GOD DEAD?” Princeton Theologian Paul Ramsey made mention that “ours is the first attempt in recorded history to build a culture upon the premise that God is dead.”

But you know, the fact that we are gathered here today, in this church, and the fact that I have the freedom and the privilege to tell you without restriction or reservation that God is very much alive, is evidence that God hasn’t been removed.

Of all the countries in the world, I am very thankful to have grown up in America; but, although America began as nation under God seeking liberty and justice and safety for all, it is far from that today, as the following statistics reflect:

Every day [every 24 hours] in America:

• 4,200 teenagers contract an STD
• 3,600 teenagers are assaulted, 80 are raped
• 2,200 teenagers drop out of high school
• 1,000 unwed teenage girls become mothers, another 1,100 teenage girls get an abortion
• 7 teenagers are murdered, 7 teenagers commit murder, 7 teenagers commit suicide

A world represented by those statistics, is very hard on young people who are forming their own core beliefs about right and wrong, true and false, good and evil, while they are also considering:

• Why am I here? What am I supposed to be doing?

• Is what I see all there is to life, or is there more?

• Is there a God, and if so, can I know Him?

I’m not sure what you think about God, the Bible, Heaven, Hell, Sin, Salvation, Jesus Christ, or Christianity; but I do know that when I was your age I didn’t think too much about those things.  I was much more concerned with and interested in trying to get what I wanted to make me happy, so that I could continue feeling good, or as we said in 1967, feeling groovy.

Maybe that is why it took me 10 long years of struggle, pain, chaos, confusion, drug and alcohol abuse, sexual promiscuity, the Viet Nam War, jail, the occult, broken relationships, lonliness, and homelessness… until 8.01.78, when I called out to God, believing to be absolutely true, that which I had been taught as a child:

John 3:16, “God so loved the world that He gave His One and Only Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish but will have eternal life.”

John 8:32, “Only then will you know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

John 14:6 Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

Do you know that the sum total of what God expects of you is summed up in Mark 12:30-31, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength… and, Love your neighbor as yourself.”

There is no better way to live and enjoy life on earth, while also trusting God for eternity in heaven.

There is a story told of an old theologian who invested his whole life in the study and teaching of God’s Word; he had written some 26 volumes of theology explaining the truths revealed in the Bible!

One day, a young student came up to him and asked, “what is the most monmumental truth that you ever realized?”

The theologian smiled, looked deeply into the student’s eyes and said, “The most important truth I have ever heard or experienced is this, ‘Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so.'”

In the coming years you will form beliefs and convictions that will direct your decisions about career, marriage, parenting, politics, and religion.

As you continue your journey along the marvelous yet often treacherous road of life, you will have good times and bad times, successes and failures, times when you’re on your game and in your zone, and times when you experience fear and doubt and you won’t know where to turn…

When those times come, remember this simple yet profound truth: Jesus loves you and He wants to provide for and care for you forever.

Romans 10:9-10 says, “That if you confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.”  And 13, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

You see, God turns no one away; He is watching and waiting to be invited into your life, but you must ask Him from your heart, for it is there that He enters and takes up residence when you confess your need as a sinner to receive the forgiveness that only He can provide (Romans 3:23; 6:23; 5:8; 8:1).

It is my deepest prayer that each one of you will personally know the grace of God that has come through Jesus Christ, so that you might venture off into the future and experience God’s plan for you.

Jeremiah 29:11-13, “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.’”

“Jesus loves you, this I know,  and the Bible sovereignly tells you so.” 

May God bless you, protect you, and provide for you, as you seek to follow and obey Him in your life.

Pastor Mike <‘(((><