06/15/2026
Flag Day 2026 message from Tony Batts
Welcome to this place. Holy Spirit, thou art welcome in this place. Omnipotent Father, have mercy and grace. Thou art welcome in this place.
Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ. It is a blessing to be back in the Lord's house one more time. Amen.
Some things that I am thankful for, I'm grateful for. I'm thankful for the prayers, the visits, the meal trains, all of your acts of kindness shown to my family, more specifically my wife. She had surgery, as you know. She's recovering quite nicely. And she's recovering so well. And she missed you so well. She wanted to come to church this morning. And so I'm grateful that my good thing is here with me this morning. Yes, she's blushing. Amen. I'm also grateful, and he doesn't know I'm about to do this, but while he's trying to be all slick about it, I'm thankful for our little Uber driver this morning. Yep, yep, he got his temps. We're proud of him, continue to be proud of him, and all of our children.
I want to start off by asking a question. Does anybody remember a basketball coach by the name of Jim Valvano? I saw one hand, one person remembers. All right, let me help all of those of us that may not know who he is. Jim Valvano was the men's basketball coach of the North Carolina State Wolfpack. Side note, I am a Carolina fan. Yes, but you never would have guessed. Yes, I'm a Tar Heels fan. But while we're talking about Coach V, in 1983, his Wolfpack entered the NCAA National Basketball Tournament. And they were considered to be heavy underdogs. They went on this postseason run that most people think was a miracle because they were underdogs. And the last game, the championship game, ends in this buzzer be**er when they beat the Houston Cougars, 54 to 52. In addition to coaching, Jimmy V was his nickname. He was the university's athletic director from 1986 to 1989. He stepped down from coaching in 1990, and he became a broadcaster for ESPN and ABC Sports. In June of 1992, Jimmy V was diagnosed with metastatic adenocarcinoma, which is a type of glandular cancer that can spread to the bones. On Thursday, March 4, 1993, he spoke at the ESPY Awards at Madison Square Garden. While he accepted the inaugural Arthur Ashe Courage and Humanitarian Award, he announced the creation of the V Foundation for Cancer Research, an organization dedicated to finding a cure for cancer. He announced that the foundation's model would be, don't give up, don't ever give up. Valvano died at age 47 on April 28, 1993, less than two months after that speech, and almost 10 years to the month of winning that national championship. He's buried in the Cedar Hill section of Oakwood Cemetery in Raleigh, North Carolina. His tombstone reads, take time every day to laugh, to think, and to cry. Did anyone catch the foundation's motto? Did anyone catch the advice from Coach Jimmy V? He said, don't give up, don't ever give up. Sounds a little bit like Galatians 6-9, doesn't it? For a little while, I want to preach from the theme, don't give up. Let's pray together. Gracious God, our Heavenly Father, I pause to give you thanks. We thank you that we are able to meet here and worship you in the beauty of holiness. We thank you most of all that you began the plan of salvation in the life and death and resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Lord Jesus, we can't thank you enough for taking our sins onto yourself on an old rugged cross. We're thankful that that's not the end of the story, because on that third day, you rose. And when you ascended to your Father, you left us a comforter, you left us a guide and encourager, the Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit, I pray now for preaching power. Control my mind and my speech. Anoint the ears of the congregation here in this room and worshipping at home or online. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. So before we begin, I wanted to give you a little bit of context. Because a text without a context is a pretext for a proof text. I've heard that somewhere. So the book of Galatians is a letter. The apostle Paul wrote the book of Galatians sometime after AD 49. Galatians was written because the churches of that region were facing theological crises. The essential truth of justification by faith rather than by human works was being denied by legalistic Jews who insisted that Christians must keep the Mosaic law. In other words, they were telling them, the legalistic Jews were telling them, in order to be Christians, you had to be circumcised, which was one of those Jewish traditions, in order for them to be saved. Now, I'm not going to go too deep into circumcision. I think we've heard about it a time or two in health school, in class. I think we know what that is. So Paul learns of this, and he tells the Galatian churches, and he composes an entire letter. And this letter emphasizes our liberty in Jesus Christ to counter this perverted gospel that they were promoting, that the Jews were promoting. Galatians was Paul's first letter. The book of 2 Timothy would be his last. Now, before we get to the verse in chapter 6, please allow me to briefly summarize Galatians chapters 1 through 5. In chapter 1, Paul defends his divine apostleship and the purity of the true gospel. In chapter 2, which is a foundational New Testament chapter, he defends the core Christian message of salvation by grace through faith, rather than by obedience and adherence to the law. In chapter 3, he argues that salvation comes through faith in Jesus Christ, not by following the law. In chapter 4, he explains the believer's transition from spiritual slavery under the law to freedom as an adopted child of God. In chapter 5, he has a passionate call to stand firm in the freedom of Jesus Christ, rejecting the idea that salvation is earned through religious rituals. You're starting to see a pattern here. Paul is urging the believers to avoid legalism, to fulfill the law through love, and to allow the Holy Spirit to guide your daily lives. In chapter 6, he outlines this practical way of Christian living, emphasizing mutual care, personal accountability, and perseverance in doing good. For today's message as the Holy Spirit guides, I wanna walk through Galatians chapter 6, a few verses, and I wanna give a word of encouragement to those of us that are just downright tired this week, because the young people might have, they have a saying, life keeps on lifing you. And I wanna give a word of encouragement. Don't give up. Are you ready? Walk with me around the text. Before I give you a word of encouragement, I have to give you this warning. I have to warn us. Galatians chapter 6, verse 7 says, do not be deceived. God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. This verse is what is known as the universal spiritual principle of sowing and reaping. Everyone will experience the natural and inevitable consequences of your choices, of your actions, of your character. And then he goes on in verse 8 to say, whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction. Whoever sows to please the spirit, from the spirit will reap eternal life. Now the key words in this verse are flesh and spirit. Wanna know the difference between the two? The Bible says in Galatians chapter 5, verses 19 through 21, and you don't have to turn there, but allow me to read the text. The acts of the flesh are obvious. Sexual immorality, impurity, and debauchery, idolatry and witchcraft, hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfishness, ambition, dissensions, and factions, and envy, drunkenness, or**es, and the like. I warn you, this is Paul talking now, I warn you as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. The Bible also goes on to say in Galatians chapter 5, verses 22 through 25, but, and when we see this word in scripture, it's a contrast, it's a shift, it's a change coming. But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things, there is no law. And then in the later verses, he says in verse 24 and 25 in this fifth chapter, those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with his passions and desires. Verse 25, since we live by the spirit, let us keep in step with the spirit, which causes me to raise this question. How can I ensure that I am sowing to please the spirit rather than the flesh? And right away, we're already at our first point, folks, and it's this. If you don't like your current harvest, change what you're planting. Gotta get a witness. If you don't like, let me give you that one for those that were online. One more again, side note, my country comes out when I get excited. Let me give you that one one more again. If you don't like your current harvest, change what you're planting. What's in your bag of seed, folks? The text continues. Verse nine, let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time, we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. I love to look at the Greek translations of New Testament verses. The Greek translation sounds like this. And in well-doing, let us not grow weary, for in due time, we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. That's the Greek translation into English. Let's unpack this verse for a little bit. The Greek word for weary, and I'm gonna spell it because I can't say it, e-g-k-a-k-e-o. Translated, it means to lose heart, to lose faith, to become disheartened. It literally means to be cowardly or faint in the face of a challenge. Family, can I let y'all in on something? And some of you may be able to bear witness to this. Sometimes, doing good is exhausting. Can I get a witness from anybody in the room? Amen. Sometimes it can wear you out, whether it's serving your local church, whether you're caring for others, whether you're serving in ministry, or standing up for the word of God. Watch this. In a world that seems like it's lost its mind, there are times where we get exhausted. But the Apostle Paul and the word of God encourages us to not give up. When Paul wrote this, he was writing this to a Galatian church that was struggling, and there were some internal conflicts and confusion over the message of the gospel. Some internal conflicts and confusion over the message of the gospel. That doesn't happen around here, does it? Well, not recently. Here's the thing. And this is another warning that I have to let us know. False teachers, brothers and sisters, they are everywhere. They're everywhere. And they lead people astray. And there's a very real pressure by these false teachers to confirm to worldly practices. Jesus said, be in the world, but not of the world. There's supposed to be a light in us that's distinctive and separate. In other words, when people see us, they're supposed to see Jesus. Can I get a witness? They're supposed to see the man we claim to worship and serve. Paul is writing to them to remind them to remain faithful to the true gospel and to persist in doing good. That was the first phrase, let us not become weary in doing good. The next phrase is for at the proper time. Just out of curiosity, does anybody know what time it is? I mean, you can look at your watch or phone, it's fine. Somebody can say it. You can say it. 11, 11. It's 11, 11, that is correct. Now, by what he said, he is accurate. But let me ask you this way. Does anyone know what the proper time is? The Bible says in Ecclesiastes chapter three, verse one, there is a time for everything and a season for every activity under the heavens. Right away, this lets us know that the eternal God sovereignly determines all of life's activities. In other words, the proper time, also known as the due time, is known as divine timing. The Bible also says in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, 58, therefore, I was waiting for it. I knew somebody would ask. The therefore means that everything I'm about to say is conditional on what was said before. What was said before is leading into what happens next. My brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Now, here's the verse. Here's the part of the verse. And when I read it, I almost shouted. Here it is. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. I don't know who this is for this morning, but I stopped by to let you know that your labor, your work for Jesus Christ is not in vain. I want to let you know in a different way. And my pastor down South, his name's Richard Battle, he said this phrase a little bit, and I remember it. He says, what you do for Christ lasts, amen? The next phrase, we will reap a harvest. There's that word again, it's reap. The Greek word for reap, again, I gotta spell it because I can't say it, T-H-E-R-I-D-Z-O. This verb literally translates into gathering in crops. Gathering in, it's used metaphorically in this passage to describe the ultimate reward or outcome of one's actions. Now, most of you know I'm originally from Rocky Mount, North Carolina. Our family has lived in both sides, the suburbs and the country. When we lived in the country, we would drive to different places and we would see sweet potato fields. Sweet potato fields and sweet potatoes give us sweet potato fries and sweet potato casserole and sweet potato casserole and yams and pie. And that's my favorite, sweet potato pie. If you wanna catch Tony Bass on a good day, bring a piece of sweet potato pie. I'll be quiet for a little bit because I'm working on that pie. But here's the point I wanted to make about that phrase. The time for harvest can also be known as a season. It's a season. So God has an appointed time for you to gather in what you have sown. I stopped by to let somebody know that when you trust in God's time, we can rest assured that the harvest will come even if we don't see it right away, even in the waiting, he's working. I remember reading something online. I think it was in one of the Bible studies.
In the way that I say it right he does his best work in the way there's the next phrase if We do not give up in Galatians 6 9 the phrase give up Literally means to loosen up to collapse to grow exhausted to lose spirit family. I gotta be honest. I gotta be honest That phrase if we do not give up it's the hardest part of the verse for me Have you experienced a season in your life where as soon as you got out of one storm you wandered into another one? Has that ever happened to anybody? Now there may be some times where you want to quit There may be some times where you want to throw in the towel, but I want to encourage you today To not give up There's another word I want us to consider Not giving up Equals to perseverance The Bible says in James chapter 1 verses 2 through 4 consider it pure joy my brothers and sisters whenever you face trials of many kinds because You know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance anybody's faith been tested this week Let perseverance finishes work So that you may may be mature and complete not lacking anything and then verse 12 comes and I love this verse it says Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because having stood the test That person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him I've heard this many times in my life that the Christian race Is not a sprint It's a marathon and it requires perseverance and faithfulness Perseverance leads to blessing folks when we endure trials and temptations God rewards our faithfulness Let me finish this with a quote from John Wesley. He said do all the goods you can By all the means you can and all the ways you can and all the places you can and all and all the times you can to all the people you can as Long as ever you can this brings us to the last point and I'm through Don't give up Don't give up Even when life throws you a curveball and you were waiting for a slider Don't give up When the doctor comes by and gives you a report you weren't expecting Don't give up When your friends walk away from you and look at you and call you everything But the name your mama gave you don't give up When things don't go well at work Don't give up Don't give up if you have sickness in your family Don't give up if you have a child that you've been praying for for a long time And some of us are grandchildren or grandparents in here If you're praying for your children and your grandchildren, and the only thing you want for them is to know Jesus Don't give up Don't give up folks I've been around for 52 years. I'm getting ready to go off script for just a hot second. I've been around for 52 years And I feel like David I would have fainted Unless I had seen the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living As I look out in the congregation, I see plenty of faces and I know most of your stories But I want to tell you don't give up You've heard me say this before and I'm so glad that Jesus never gave up Do you remember when he was in the garden and he was praying? He said father if it's possible, let this cup pass for me What that tells me is he knew what he was facing. He knew his crucifixion and death was coming He knew and that stressed him out But he also finishes this prayer he says Not my will But your will be done He surrendered to his father Folks don't give up don't give up So to summarize what we've talked about this morning My first point was if you don't like your current harvest change what you're planting and my second point Don't give up as Jimmy V said “Don't ever give up”. Let's pray together. Gracious God of heaven. I thank you for your word. I Thank you that your word goes forth and it doesn't come back empty. I'm thankful that you are God and I'm not. I'm thankful that you continue to bless us that you look beyond our faults and you see our needs and I thank you most of all for the finished work of Jesus Christ on Calvary's cross in his name. We pray Amen
