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• Illustration: May opens with the story of Gene Vance Jr., a man who died defending our nation’s freedom.
• Illustration: May tells the story of a Veteran’s Day assembly, where the young generation of Americans appreciated the sacrifice of our military greater than the Vietnam generation.
• As we acknowledge our debt and our gratitude to those who have served us in the past, I want us also to look ahead to the future—to see what God is calling us to do.
• Matthew 28:18-20
• Just as thousands of Americans have given their lives for freedom, an untold number of followers of Jesus Christ have sacrificed their lives for the gospel.
• Illustration: May tells the story of a man who rescues a boy from a burning building and admonishes the boy to live a life worth saving.
• Big Idea: The best way to live a life worth dying for is to live the Great Commission.

• You don’t wait for success to come to you, you go after success.
• If you want to make a difference in the lives of others, you can’t wait for the world to come to you—you must go to the world.
• Just like the servicemen and women that we are honoring today entered the battlefield for the purpose of saving lives, we need to enter the battlefield of the day-to-day grind of daily living and share the gospel with those who need to hear it—so that we too can save lives.

• Matthew 28:19
• Jesus is talking about a long-term commitment to the people we serve and staying long enough to make long-term change.
• Illustration: May illustrates the difference between hit-and-run evangelism and committed disciple-making through the story of Dawson Trotman, founder of the Navigators, who picked up a vulgar hitchhiker, only to recognize this man as someone he had led to the Lord but hadn’t taken the time to disciple.
• If you’re a parent, the most important you job you have is that of building character in your children—making them into fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ—and that requires a long-term commitment.
• The longer we stay focused on fulfilling the Great Commission, the more effective we will be.

• Matthew 28:20
• Communicating the message of the gospel effectively involves demonstrating the Christian life with our actions.
• Illustration: May quotes Albert Schweitzer: “Example is not the main thing in influencing others. It’s the only thing.”
• Illustration: May tells the story of confronting a professor, arguing that an effective teacher would not rest until all of his students were capable of receiving an A grade.
• Illustration: May quotes Athanasius: “You cannot put straight in others what is warped in yourself.”

• We owe our Christian and American ancestors a debt of gratitude—a debt that is best paid by living a worthy life.
• We can accomplish this by living out the Great Commission.
• Just as we want to honor the sacrifice that all those service men and women made on our behalf, we are challenged to honor the sacrifice that Jesus Christ made for us—we are challenged to make our lives worthy of his death.
• Matthew 28:20