The Pastor’s Piece, Pastor Kevin Cernek – FCFI Chaplain

FCFI

March 2, 2025

Psalm 119:90 says: “Your faithfulness endures to all generations; You have established the earth, and it stands fast.”

When you’re young, you’re always looking ahead and asking yourself ways you can accomplish goals and milestones in your life. You’re not necessarily thinking about a legacy at the time, you’re just living life, going from one day to the next trying to keep up with the demands of each day. 

When I was a bit younger and fairly new to the ministry, I had a dream one night about our church. In the second chapter of Joel, we are given permission to dream dreams and have visions. That’s not meant to be weird – it’s simply an invitation from God to expect Him to do great things, which He has been doing ever since I’ve known Him – both personally and corporately. Our church, much like many other churches, has a rich history of God’s faithfulness. It all started with a man named Nathaniel Martin, who is my wife’s great, great, great grandfather. He was a man with a vision and he loved the Lord. His obituary, printed in 1905 which hangs on the wall of our Fellowship Hall says this about him:

He believed in the inspiration of the Scripture and the Lordship of Jesus. He repudiated the creeds of men for Christianity. He died in the hope of everlasting life at the age of 88. Verily, his works do follow him. The Scripture text for the funeral was Revelation 14:13: “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from henceforth yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors; for their works follow them.”

This is a man who had a vision and left a legacy. He built a dam on the Pecatonica River and opened a saw mill and a grist mill. He and his wife Hannah had 14 children, of which only eight survived childhood. On the wedding day of each of their eight surviving children, he gave them 80 acres of land. Today, none of that real estate remains in the family. There is scant evidence there ever was a dam, or a grist mill and saw mill on the river. But, 120 years after his death, and 146 years later, the church Nathaniel and his 18 year old son built still stands overlooking the town with his namesake and the gospel of Jesus Christ is being proclaimed from inside and outside its walls several times a week and tens of thousands of times a year in the lives of God’s people who attend there.

When I was younger, I worked with my dad and mom and my siblings on our dairy farm, first in Indiana, later in Wisconsin. Mom and dad were married in 1953 in Chesterton, Indiana and they honeymooned in Wisconsin. They saw the beautiful countryside, the rolling hills, the picturesque farmsteads and their dream was to own a farm in Wisconsin someday. Eventually, 19 years after they were married, God opened the door and their dream came true.

Along the way, they taught us to love Jesus. Dad read us devotions every single day after breakfast at the kitchen table and then prayed with the whole family. He and mom sought out a Bible-believing church and took us 7 sons and 1 daughter to church and Sunday school every single Sunday. But that in itself was only part of the story. Dad and mom were consistent examples of morality, steadfastness, and dedication to God. They were also farmers. But the real legacy they made is generation after generation of offspring who are following in their footsteps of loving and serving God first and foremost. (8 kids, 30 grandkids, 70 great grands – (or something like that).

The fundamentals of our faith are not complicated. It’s not about the church we attend, or the translation of the Bible we read, or how we dress or what impresses people. Fundamentally our faith is founded on a Person, and our lives are built on the foundation of that Person – and His name is Jesus – the incarnate Son of God. What you believe about Jesus, how you interact with Jesus, how you relate to Jesus, the position of authority you give to Jesus determines how you live, and where you spend your eternity. And it will be a tremendous determiner on your journey through time, and the obedience demonstrated in your life will be what determines the legacy you leave behind.

The choices we make each and every day are what define us. And your life makes a difference. Your little, insignificant life, that hardly anybody even notices makes a difference. If nothing else, and this everything – how you live and what you do matters to God. Acts 13:36 says: “When David had served God’s purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep; he was buried with his ancestors.” God put you here now to serve His purpose in the life He gave you!

I came across this the other day from breakpoint.org:

New research shows how taking God’s word seriously adds to life’s meaning. Researchers found that those who read their Bibles once or twice a week experienced no benefit over those who never read their Bibles. At three times a week, minor gains were detected, but with at least four times a week, everything seemed to spike. Sharing their faith skyrocketed 200%. Discipling others jumped a whopping 230%. In contrast, feelings of loneliness dropped 30%. Anger issues dropped 32%. Relationship bitterness dropped 40%. Alcoholism plummeted by 57%. Feelings of spiritual stagnancy fell 60%. And finally, viewing pornography decreased 61%. 

God is there, as Francis Schaeffer loved to say, and He is not silent. Crack open a Bible today and hear your Maker speak.

(Kevin Cernek is Lead Pastor of Martintown Community Church in Martintown, Wisconsin).