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Moody Presents - 2026-11-07 Founders Week Mini Series: From Generation to Generation part 1 · WPGM On Demand

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  S1: From the Moody Bible Institute. This is Moody Presents welcome
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  S1: to a special three part series bringing you highlights from
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  S1: Moody Bible Institute's Founder's Week 2026. Known as the largest,
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  S1: longest running Free Bible Conference in the United States, Founder's
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  S1: Week was originally called Founder's Day. It was a time
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  S1: off of school to take a sleigh ride with the
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  S1: president and founder of the Moody Bible Institute, D.L. Moody himself,
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  S1: the evangelist. Well, today, of course, it's different, and several
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  S1: thousand guests gather from all across the country to join
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  S1: us for several unforgettable days on the Moody campus. This
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  S1: past year, we heard from speakers like Tony Evans, Joe Stowell,
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  S1: and many others. We also enjoyed worship, music workshops, class
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  S1: reunion events, and more. We're about to share with you
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  S1: what it's like as we share the Founder's Week teaching
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  S1: of our new president at Moody Bible Institute, Doctor Rick Nelson.
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  S1: Also later on in the broadcast, I'll let you know
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  S1: how you can listen to all of Founders Week 2026
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  S1: again at your own convenience. Maybe you missed some messages
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  S1: you wanted to hear, and you'd like to connect again
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  S1: with Priscilla Shire or Crawford Lauritzen of Moody Radio's Living
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  S1: a Legacy program along with his son, Brian. We have
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  S1: it all, and I'll tell you about a great resource
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  S1: that will take you into the Christmas season as well.
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  S1: All ahead on Moody Presents. But for now, let's head
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  S1: back to the first week of October to hear excerpts
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  S1: from Founders Week. Our theme was based on the biblical
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  S1: phrase generation to generation. Now, in this excerpt coming up,
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  S1: you'll enjoy a focus on our correspondence school, which of
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  S1: course is now called Moody Online. It's a story that
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  S1: celebrates God's faithfulness.
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  S2: In the late 1930s early 1940s. My grandparents were farming
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  S2: in western Illinois, and the community members came and encouraged
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  S2: them to try to get a church started there in
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  S2: the middle of nowhere farming land. And my grandparents were
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  S2: young and yet they said, okay, I think God's calling
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  S2: us to do this.
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  S3: In 1901, decades before the Beatty family began, that church,
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  S3: Moody Bible Institute, was already working to address a similar need.
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  S3: Not everyone called to ministry could leave their work, their
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  S3: family or their community to study in Chicago. So Moody
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  S3: began bringing the education to them.
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  S2: And so they started this church that's thriving still today,
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  S2: all of those decades later. But after they got things started,
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  S2: they realized, oh, we don't know what we're doing. And
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  S2: they were able to start taking moody correspondence courses to learn.
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  S3: The correspondence school was announced at the turn of the
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  S3: century and launched in January 1901 under the supervision of
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  S3: RA Torrey. Its first course is focused on Bible doctrine
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  S3: and practical Christian work. Students receive lessons by mail, studied
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  S3: at their own pace, and sent their work back to Chicago.
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  S3: It was a new way to approach theological Education not
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  S3: limited to those who could be physically present on campus,
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  S3: but available to people wherever the mail could reach them.
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  S2: That it's that businessman who can't come to Chicago. It's
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  S2: that mother who's working with raising her kids, who doesn't
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  S2: have time to come down to the Chicago campus, its people,
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  S2: wherever the mail can go that we want to reach
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  S2: and to equip them.
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  S3: Two years later, Moody expanded its reach in another direction.
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  S3: In 1903, the evening school opened for people whose jobs
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  S3: kept them busy. During the day, they could study the
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  S3: Bible and prepare for Christian service while continuing to work
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  S3: and support their families. Then radio created another opportunity. WMI
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  S3: began broadcasting in 1926 through the Radio School of the Bible.
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  S3: Listeners could follow Bible lessons, receive study materials by mail,
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  S3: and complete graded exams without traveling to Chicago. Education was
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  S3: no longer confined to a classroom or even to the
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  S3: printed page. Moody was finding new ways to reach people
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  S3: where they lived, worked, and served. Over the following decades,
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  S3: Moody continued to expand its educational reach through regional classrooms
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  S3: and extension sites across the country. Students could access instruction
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  S3: closer to home, while correspondence and other forms of distance
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  S3: learning continued to serve those who couldn't attend in person.
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  S3: In 2000, Moody began offering online classes, creating another path
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  S3: for students balancing education with work, family, and ministry. By 2002,
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  S3: these efforts were part of the Moody Distance Learning Center,
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  S3: bringing multiple forms of learning together to serve students beyond
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  S3: the Chicago campus.
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  S2: We want students to to know the word better, to
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  S2: love Jesus better, to become better disciples, that they're able
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  S2: to impact the world that God's placed them in.
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  S3: The methods have changed over 125 years, but the purpose
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  S3: has stayed the same. Moody has continued to equip people
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  S3: to understand God's Word and serve him faithfully wherever he
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  S3: has placed them.
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  S1: And did you know that you can sign up to
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  S1: take classes at the Moody Bible Institute? That's right. Just
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  S1: go to our website for more information. Moody presents.au. Moody presents.org.
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  S1: Let's continue now with highlights from Founder's Week as we
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  S1: join with the group Free Worship. Listen.
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  S4: All my life you have been faithful. And all my
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  S4: life you have been so, so good. With every breath
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  S4: that I am made. Oh, I will sing of the
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  S4: goodness of God. Sing all my life. And all my
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  S4: life you have been faithful for All my life and
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  S4: all my life you have been so, so good. With
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  S4: every breath that I am able. Oh, I will sing
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  S4: of the goodness of God. Sing I love, I love you, Lord. Oh,
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  S4: your mercy never fails me. And all my days I've
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  S4: been held in your hand. From the moment that I
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  S4: wake up. Until I lay my hand. Oh, I will
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  S4: sing of the goodness of God. I will sing all
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  S4: my life, all my life you. I've been faking all
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  S4: my life and all my life. You have been so,
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  S4: so good. With every breath that I am able. Oh,
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  S4: I will sing of the goodness of God. And I
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  S4: love your voice. I love your voice. You bless me.
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  S4: You have led me through the fire. In darkest night
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  S4: you are close like. I've known you as a father.
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  S4: I've known you as a friend. I have lived in
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  S4: the goodness of God. My life. And all my life
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  S4: you have been faithful. All my life and all my
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  S4: life you have been so, so good. With every breath
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  S4: that I am made. I will sing of the goodness
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  S4: of God. Come on, let's sing it out and say.
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  S4: Your goodness is running out. It's running out after me.
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  S4: Your goodness is running out. It's running out after me.
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  S4: With my life laid down, I surrender now. I give
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  S4: you everything. Your goodness is running out. It's running out
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  S4: after me. Your goodness, your goodness is running after. It's
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  S4: running out after me. Your goodness is running after it's
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  S4: running out. We say with my life laid down, I surrender. Now.
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  S4: I give you everything your goodness is running after. It's
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  S4: running after me. Yes it is. Yes it is. Come on,
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  S4: you say. All my life. I can look back and
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  S4: still sing. All my life you have been so, so good.
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  S4: With every breath that I am made. All Oh, I
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  S4: will sing of the goodness of God. And all my
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  S4: life you have been faithful. Oh, all my life you
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  S4: have been so, so good. With every breath that I
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  S4: have made. Oh, I will sing of the goodness of God. Oh,
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  S4: I will sing of the goodness of God. I will
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  S4: sing of the goodness of. The Lord. I will praise God.
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  S4: you're so good. Yes, he is God. Your soul. Your soul.
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  S4: Your soul. Good to me. God, you're so good. God
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  S4: your soul. So good. God your soul. Good. God, you're
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  S4: so good. Your soul good to me. Come on, let's
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  S4: lift him up in this room. Say, God, you're so good. God,
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  S4: you're so good. He's good. God. Your soul. God. Your soul.
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  S4: Your soul. God is good. He's good. Yes. Come on.
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  S4: Can we say I love him so? I love him so.
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  S4: I love him so. I love him so. And I
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  S4: love him so. He's so good. He's so good to me.
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  S4: Thank you God for your faithfulness in every generation. You
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  S4: have been so good to me. I can look at
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  S4: my past and I can stand in my present and
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  S4: still say, you have been so good to me. I
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  S4: could sing a song like all my life you have
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  S4: been faithful. All my life you have been so, so good.
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  S4: So we thank you for your goodness and your faithfulness.
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  S4: And we honor you tonight in Jesus precious name and
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  S4: the people of God say Amen. Amen. Amen.
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  S1: And now let's move to Doctor Nelson's keynote message from
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  S1: Founders Week 2026. Here's our newly appointed 11th president of
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  S1: the Moody Bible Institute, introduced by Doctor Tim Sisk.
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  S5: Last Friday, we opened a new chapter in the remarkable
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  S5: story of Moody Bible Institute as we inaugurated the 11th
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  S5: president of MBA Doctor Rick Nelson. Doctor Nelson has given
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  S5: more than 35 years to Christian higher education and church ministry,
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  S5: and he's done it side by side with his wife, Tammy.
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  S5: They've been married for 38 years. They have three grown children,
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  S5: a daughter in law and a grandson who will soon
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  S5: be one year old. I've had a front row seat
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  S5: for Rick's first ten weeks as president. I can attest
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  S5: to you that he has hit the ground running. He's
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  S5: visited Moody Aviation out in Spokane. He's connected with numerous
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  S5: ministry partners. He's been a repeated guest on Moody Radio
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  S5: in our Chicago campus. Students have loved having him right
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  S5: here with them, whether he's. Whether he's eating in the
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  S5: SDR or the Commons with him, he's chatting on the
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  S5: plaza with them, or even cheering at a White Sox
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  S5: game alongside of them. I have to confess that I
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  S5: think Rick already knows more students by name than I do,
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  S5: and I've been here 22 years. Would you please welcome
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  S5: our closing speaker for Founder's Week 2026? Husband. He is.
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  S5: He is husband of Tammy. He is grandfather of Weston.
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  S5: And by the way, he's also the 11th president of MBI.
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  S6: Thank you, thank you.
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  S5: Well.
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  S6: Thank you, thank you, thank you. Please be seated. That
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  S6: is incredibly kind and generous. We love you too. We
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  S6: love you too. Oh my goodness. You know, we have
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  S6: been so. Incredibly and warmly welcomed here when we were
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  S6: walking in for our inauguration. A few students opened their
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  S6: window and yelled out to us, congratulations, doctor! And Mrs.
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  S6: Nelson and I began to cry and I thought, oh
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  S6: my goodness, if I start crying now, I'll cry through
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  S6: the whole inauguration. And that is exactly how I feel
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  S6: right now. Just an overwhelming sense of gratitude. So thank you,
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  S6: thank you. It should not surprise you that my title
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  S6: today is From Generation to Generation The Unstoppable Gospel. This
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  S6: is the closing message of Founder's Week, and it is
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  S6: truly a privilege to stand before you and open God's Word.
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  S6: It's been a remarkable week, a remarkable week. We've worshiped together.
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  S6: We've opened the word together. We've celebrated many milestones together.
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  S6: We've highlighted individuals whose life and service have impacted this place.
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  S6: And it stems from the Psalm, Psalm 78. And I
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  S6: just want to read all of the words from Psalm 78,
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  S6: verses four through seven. To give context for this entire
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  S6: Founders week, the psalmist declares, we will not hide them
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  S6: from their children, but tell them to the coming generation,
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  S6: the glorious deeds of the Lord and his might, and
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  S6: the wonders that he has done. He established a testimony
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  S6: in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which he
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  S6: commanded our fathers to teach to their children, that the
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  S6: next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and
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  S6: arise and tell them to their children, so that they
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  S6: might set their hope in God and not forget the
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  S6: works of God, but keep his commandments. The psalmist wasn't
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  S6: just concerned about his own generation. He was concerned about
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  S6: the next generation and the generation yet to be born,
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  S6: and even their children. Do you see the concern there
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  S6: that the psalmist had? He's concerned about the next generation
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  S6: and the next and the next. Why? So that they
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  S6: might set their hope in God and not forget the
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  S6: works of God, but keep his commandments. Oh, how I
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  S6: love the law of the Lord! And oh, how I
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  S6: want the next generation to love the law of the Lord.
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  S6: And oh, how I want the generation after that, and
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  S6: the generation after that, and the generation after that. And
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  S6: my friends, that is the unstoppable gospel. Amen. What incredible vision.
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  S6: Just think about that. The faithfulness of one generation has
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  S6: implications for the generations they may never live to see.
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  S6: If you're investing in someone's life right now, you're having
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  S6: impact in their life that will affect and impact someone
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  S6: that you will never see. Tonight, I want to turn
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  S6: our attention to Second Timothy, and we are going to
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  S6: dovetail where Doctor Crawford began this morning. And we're going
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  S6: to continue on on that same theme in Second Timothy.
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  S6: So if you have your Bible, please open your Bible,
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  S6: open God's Word together to second Timothy chapter one. As
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  S6: Doctor Lauritz told us that this is Paul's final letter
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  S6: to his young protege Timothy, and he's speaking to his
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  S6: to his spiritual son, young Timothy. Now, we know Timothy's
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  S6: relatively young because he still has young children at home.
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  S6: Paul has been with Timothy. He's now pastoring a church
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  S6: in Ephesus, and Paul is now imprisoned in Rome. And
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  S6: as we open these pages in Second Timothy, we discover
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  S6: a remarkable picture of what it means to pass the
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  S6: gospel from generation to generation. You can just imagine the
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  S6: scene here. Paul is in prison. He knows he is
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  S6: nearing the end of his earthly life. He suffered greatly
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  S6: for the cause of Christ. He is faithfully preached the gospel.
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  S6: He's planted churches. He's discipled believers. He's endured opposition, and
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  S6: now he's imprisoned in Rome. Paul knows his earthly ministry
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  S6: is ending. Yet there's something incredibly remarkable about this letter.
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  S6: Paul is not consumed and even concerned about his own legacy.
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  S6: He doesn't say young Timothy. Make sure they remember the
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  S6: apostle Paul. Don't forget to call me the Apostle Paul. No,
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  S6: he's concerned about the gospel and he's concerned about Timothy.
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  S6: And he's also concerned about those that Timothy will teach
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  S6: and even those others. In essence, Paul is saying this, Timothy,
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  S6: I've carried the gospel. Now I am entrusting it to you,
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  S6: guard it, preach it, and pass it on. And I
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  S6: think that is precisely what we need to hear right
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  S6: now at the end of Founders Week. Guard it, preach it,
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  S6: and pass it on. For if we're going to have
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  S6: an unstoppable gospel, the gospel must not stop with us. Amen.
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  S6: The gospel must not stop with us if you're taking
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  S6: notes and if you just remember one thing from tonight's message,
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  S6: I encourage you to write down those words. The gospel
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  S6: must not stop with us. We are the means and
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  S6: mechanism that God continues His word. If you have your Bibles,
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  S6: second Timothy, chapter one verse three. I thank God, whom
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  S6: I serve, as did my ancestors, with a clear conscience.
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  S6: As I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day.
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  S6: One phrase and one word. Remember. Remember, Paul is saying,
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  S6: remember the faith you have received. If you're taking notes.
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  S6: That's my first point, Paul simply telling us, remember the
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  S6: faith you have received. Even as Paul is thinking of
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  S6: young Timothy and praying for him and thinking about him,
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  S6: he is reminded of his own spiritual ancestry, as did
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  S6: my ancestors, Paul saying, I thank God whom I serve,
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  S6: as did my ancestors. He's recalling and remembering his own
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  S6: spiritual journey, how God used his ancestors, and the faithfulness
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  S6: of those who came before him, that he might have
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  S6: the faith. And then, as he remembers Timothy, he says, remember,
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  S6: remember the faith you have received. Like many of you
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  S6: in the room, I had the privilege of growing up
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  S6: in a Christian home. And I know that's not everyone's story.
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  S6: And I know that there's some intersection that someone in
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  S6: your life, if you're here, is a believer in Jesus Christ,
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  S6: someone in your life met you and shared the gospel
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  S6: with you. For me, that person was my mom. I
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  S6: had the privilege of growing up in a wonderful home.
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  S6: My mom, who's still living today, she's early 80s. She
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  S6: was a faithful, faithful servant of the Lord and continues
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  S6: to be so. I still remember the night that I
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  S6: prayed to receive Christ. I remember bowing down and kneeling
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  S6: down beside her bed. And this was 1978. So for
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  S6: those of you who remember 1978, I remember the blue
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  S6: shag carpet. Remember blue shag carpet. I remember the bright
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  S6: yellow bedspread. And it's like, I can see it right now.
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  S6: But more important than those things, I remember how I
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  S6: felt as a sinner in need of a savior. Even
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  S6: as a nine year old boy, I recognized I was
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  S6: a sinner in need of a savior.
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  S1: Thank you, Doctor Nelson. And there's more from Founders Week 2026.
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  S1: Over the next few weeks, you heard Doctor Nelson reference
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  S1: Doctor Crawford Leavitt's message, which was presented at a Founders
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  S1: Week morning session. In a truly memorable moment, he shared
• 24:42
  S1: the pulpit with his son, Brian. You've got to hear
• 24:44
  S1: it and you can. When you go to Moody audio.com
• 24:49
  S1: to hear that message or any of the other speakers
• 24:51
  S1: from Founders Week, that's moody audio.com. And here's something you'll
• 24:56
  S1: want to take advantage of for a gift of any size,
• 24:59
  S1: We'll send you a short novel by Doctor Gary Chapman
• 25:02
  S1: of The Five Love Languages and Chris Fabry. It's called
• 25:05
  S1: A marriage Carol. With a nod toward Charles Dickens and
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  S1: a heaping helping of truth, this surprising tale will take
• 25:12
  S1: you through twists and turns and lead you on a
• 25:15
  S1: journey into the power of Christ centered love. Hey, if
• 25:18
  S1: your heart needs rekindling, if you long for unconditional love,
• 25:22
  S1: this story will bring warmth and hope. Get your copy
• 25:26
  S1: by going to our website, Moody Presents dot moody presents.org,
• 25:31
  S1: or phone in your gift to (800) 400-7022. Next week, more
• 25:38
  S1: highlights from Founder's Week. More gifted teaching from our president,
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  S1: Doctor Rick Nelson. I hope you'll join us then. I'm
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  S1: John Gager and Moody presents is a production of Moody Radio,
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  S1: a Ministry of Moody Bible Institute.