September 13, 2026 | Modern Worship | After You: Wk 1

Christians are resurrection people because Jesus Christ was crucified, buried, and raised on the third day. Jesus says, “I am the resurrection and the life,” so death does not get the last word for those who believe in him. Christians grieve, but not without hope; Christians say goodbye, but believe there is more to the story.

The words “after you” press a serious question into everyday life. An after comes after a career, parenting, leadership, influence, and a lifetime. A kingdom legacy asks not merely what happens when life ends, but what God continues to do after a life is gone.

Legacy belongs to everyone, not just presidents, founders, wealthy people, or names on buildings. Legacy is like wet concrete: every life leaves an impression. Deuteronomy 6 places that impression in remarkably ordinary places: at home, on the road, at bedtime, and in the morning. Everyday conversations, decisions, priorities, generosity, work ethic, sacrifices, and worship are already shaping what remains.

Worship reveals what receives worth. An earthly legacy can include money, property, a successful business, a good reputation, scholarships, or a charity, and many of those things can be good. An earthly legacy, however, asks, “What will people remember about me?” A kingdom legacy asks, “What will God continue to do through me after me?”

Psalm 145 turns the focus away from human accomplishment and toward God’s mighty acts and God’s power. Kingdom legacy does not extend a name; kingdom legacy extends his kingdom. Children and grandchildren can receive stuff without receiving faith, and communities can remember accomplishments without anyone knowing Jesus because of a life that loved him.

Jesus describes the source of lasting fruit in John 15. A branch cannot bear fruit when it is severed from the vine, and Christians cannot build kingdom legacy apart from dependence on Christ. Marriage, family, influence, skills, resources, discipleship, and calling all need to be placed back into God’s hands.

A relay baton pictures the need for surrender. A runner can run a great leg of the race, but the race stops if the baton is never passed on. God gives the gifts, Christians control faithfulness, and God controls the fruitfulness. God can multiply faithful surrender beyond a lifetime, even through trees whose shade a person will never sit under.

God is not finished with a life that has regrets about earlier years. The after-you question finally becomes this: what was faithfully placed in God’s hands for him to continue using? Kingdom legacy builds something that reminds the world not that a person was here, but that God is here.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Everyone leaves an everyday legacy [49:01] Legacy is not built only in big moments or at the end of life. Deuteronomy places it in ordinary rhythms: conversations at home, travel, mornings, and nights. Every repeated priority teaches someone what is worthy of love, sacrifice, and worship. [49:01]
• 2. Not every legacy is kingdom legacy [51:35] Success, reputation, property, and charitable accomplishments can all outlive a person without carrying faith into the next generation. An earthly legacy can preserve a name while leaving no disciples. Kingdom legacy measures whether God’s life and truth keep moving through what was left behind. [51:35]
• 3. Place entrusted gifts back in God’s hands [56:38] Jesus makes dependence on the vine the condition of fruitfulness. Influence, family, money, skills, and calling gain kingdom power only as they remain connected to Christ. Something can last for decades and still lack the fruit that only God can produce. [56:38]
• 4. Surrender releases kingdom multiplication [59:11] Control keeps the baton in human hands, but surrender puts it back into God’s hands. Faithfulness does not require seeing every result or receiving credit for every outcome. God can carry forward what has been entrusted to him long after a life is finished. [59:11]
• 5. Build proof that God is here [01:04:02] The world urges people to make sure they are remembered. Kingdom legacy seeks a different result: that others know God more clearly because of a faithful life. The lasting question is not how impressive a life appeared, but what God was able to continue using through it.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [41:52] - Resurrection People and Hope After Death
• [42:47] - The Question of “After You”
• [44:03] - Earthly Legacy or Kingdom Legacy
• [46:05] - Everyone Leaves a Legacy
• [47:20] - Deuteronomy 6 and Ordinary Faithfulness
• [50:14] - Not Every Legacy Is Kingdom Legacy
• [53:23] - Extending God’s Kingdom Beyond a Name
• [54:27] - What Is Placed in God’s Hands
• [56:12] - Remaining in the Vine
• [57:39] - Passing the Baton Forward
• [58:31] - Surrendering Influence and Resources
• [60:39] - God Multiplies Faithfulness Beyond Life
• [62:27] - God Is Not Finished Yet
• [63:28] - The Question That Remains

1. In Deuteronomy 6, what everyday settings are named as places where God’s words are to be discussed and passed on to children? [48:19]
2. What kinds of repeated choices and habits are described as already shaping a person’s legacy—whether or not that person intends to leave one? [49:15]
3. What examples are given of good things that can outlive someone but may not, by themselves, become a kingdom legacy? [50:40]
4. In John 15:4-5, what does Jesus say a branch cannot do when it is separated from the vine? How does that image connect to lasting fruit? [56:38]

1. Deuteronomy 6 begins with wholehearted love for God before it speaks about teaching children. Why does faith need to be on a person’s own heart before it can be passed along in daily life?
2. Psalm 145:4 calls one generation to tell the next about God’s mighty acts. How does this keep a family, church, or community from making legacy mainly about human accomplishments? [54:03]
3. Jesus says that apart from him believers can do nothing. How does this challenge the idea that a successful career, reputation, generosity, or influence automatically produces spiritual fruit? [57:13]
4. A kingdom legacy is described as faithfully placing what God has entrusted into his hands for purposes beyond one lifetime. What is the difference between controlling an outcome and being faithful with what God has given? [59:11]

1. Think about your normal week—at home, in the car, at work, during meals, or before bed. What do your conversations and priorities currently communicate about what has the greatest worth in your life? [49:15]
2. Is there someone in your life—child, grandchild, friend, neighbor, coworker, or younger believer—with whom you could more intentionally talk about God and his faithfulness? What could one simple, natural conversation look like this week? [48:23]
3. What are you most tempted to build that might end with this world: comfort, recognition, financial security, a successful reputation, or control? How might that good desire become too central? [52:16]
4. What has God placed in your hands right now—relationships, abilities, influence, time, finances, experience, or a particular opportunity? What would it look like to place one of those gifts back into God’s hands this week? [01:00:04]
5. Where do you find it hardest to surrender control of the “baton”? Is it a family member, a future plan, a ministry role, finances, or the desire to see immediate results? [58:39]
6. Is there a faithful step you have been avoiding because you cannot see what result it will produce? What would trusting God with the fruitfulness look like in that situation? [01:01:18]
7. If regrets about earlier years make kingdom legacy feel too late, how does the truth that God is not finished bring hope? What faithful step can still be taken today? [01:03:02]