Praying God-Sized Prayers; Ephesians 3:20-21

I'm sure my count is off, but by my records, I've now preached something north of 1,500 sermons. The vast majority of those were written for the Kansas Christian Church, a church that challenged and encouraged a young man to preach again and again. I was in junior high when the youth minister recruited three of us to help him preach a sermon one Sunday morning. I read my portion as fast as possible, knowing that the sooner I got done, the better for me and everyone else. Then, as a freshman in Bible College, I was asked to come home to preach for a Youth Sunday. The night before, I tossed and turned and preached the sermon repeatedly in my head. That Sunday morning, the sermon took all of seven minutes, and I swore I'd never preach again! Before we get to the messy goodbyes today, I can't help but commend Kansas Christian Church. Serving my home church for over two decades has been an honor, but our bond goes back further than that. We would be hard-pressed to name every soul who put us on this course together. We could point to lessons learned in VBS fifty years ago, relationships built through youth groups, and families who brought an extra plate so the kid who came to church alone would have a place to sit during potlucks. We would point to those who thanked a nervous young preacher at the door thirty-eight years ago and assured him he did a fine job and they'd listen to him again. And, from eternity's perspective, we would see the prayers of faithful saints who believed God could do more with a young man's life than he ever thought possible. And I know God continues to answer those kind of prayers. In this, my final sermon at Kansas Christian Church, we'll pray a prayer we've been praying together for at least twenty-one years. I'm eager to share a message and a prayer with you.