Next Generation
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Intro
Intro
One thing I love about our church is the fact that we focus on our kids. God has put into our care children of all ages, from the cradle to high school. For such a time as this we as the church have an opportunity to reach the next generation for Jesus Christ.
When we look at the kids that are here today, we don’t see the church of tomorrow, but we see the church of today. Too often children get put to the side when it comes to church (not here), often seen as in the way or a distraction. But if we take the time to listen to them, we will begin to understand that they are a blessing and they can actually teach us adults some things about God.
In the Bible, God tells us that children are a blessing and a gift! Their spirits are filled with innocence, joy, and laughter.
Jesus actually tells us to be like children and to come to Him full of faith and trust.
The popular children's song "Jesus Loves the Little Children" reminds us that "all are precious in His sight" and no matter your race, gender or nationality, God wants to see all children come to Him. Jesus died on the cross for all people!
Building with Children
Building with Children
There is an interesting Scripture that some may have heard before or some portion of it at some point in time.
1 Unless the Lord builds the house, They labor in vain who build it; Unless the Lord guards the city, The watchman keeps awake in vain.
We know that the Lord must build the house. We know that it is Jesus who builds the church and if we try to build it on our own, we are laboring in vain.
This word VAIN in Hebrew means: DESOLATE.
Desolation is a place of emptiness. Desolation is a place where there is no life. God is saying when we build in our own strength, our own ideas, our own agendas…there will be no life.
I find it interesting that in this short chapter, just a few verses later God makes this statement:
3 Behold, children are a gift of the Lord, The fruit of the womb is a reward.
4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, So are the children of one’s youth.
5 How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them; They will not be ashamed When they speak with their enemies in the gate.
In the midst of God building something, He makes sure to include the children. I believe that children are a part of the building blocks of the church.
It is as if God is saying, “I will build the house and children must be included. If not, the house will not have any life.”
The Problem
The Problem
Unfortunately, it does happen when the children are not included. This is what happens when they are not of importance to the people of God. When one generation doesn’t reach the next, tragedy takes place.
There is a story in the bible where this actually happened.
In our Scripture today, there was an entire group of people who did not know God. Joshua was a good leader, but he wasn’t without flaws. He had his own issues that he dealt with, and one affected an entire generation.
Joshua did some amazing things for God!
He did a great work for the Lord and everyone seen it. He was one of the twelve spies who went into the Promised Land and brought back a good report. The Promised Land was everything was as God said it would be.
He took the lead after Moses died and lead the Children of Israel to the Promised Land.
It seems at the beginning of his leadership Joshua was on the right track, especially when it came to the next generation.
While crossing the Jordan River upon entering the Promised Land:
4 So Joshua called the twelve men whom he had appointed from the sons of Israel, one man from each tribe;
5 and Joshua said to them, “Cross again to the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan, and each of you take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Israel.
6 “Let this be a sign among you, so that when your children ask later, saying, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’
7 then you shall say to them, ‘Because the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord; when it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off.’ So these stones shall become a memorial to the sons of Israel forever.”
While he was a great leader, he wasn’t with out flaws. He did great things for Lord, but at some point it seems the people he was leading forgot about the next generation.
Just after Joshua dies, the Bible says:
10 All that generation also were gathered to their fathers; and there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord, nor yet the work which He had done for Israel.
It seems at some point one generation didn’t see the kids knowing about who God was and what He has done as important. So they failed to pass it on to the next generation.
To put it in words today, the church didn’t see kids ministry as an important part of the church.
Before they knew it there was a gap between generations.
If we are not careful church, we too can see the same happen in our lifetime.
Studies have proved that we are on the verge losing the next
generation. Barna research group has made the following findings:
• Only 2 in 10 Americans under 30 believe attending a church is important or
worthwhile (an all-time low).
• 59 percent of millennials (1981-1996) raised in a church have dropped out.
• 35 percent of millennials have an anti-church stance, believing the church does more harm than good.
• Millennials are the least likely age group of anyone to attend church (by far).
I am seeing this today all over social media. I am friends with some millennials and their view on the church, God, Jesus, and the Gospel is not always good. These results are heart breaking. These results should be alarming to church.
The results of these findings should cause the church to take notice and see that if we do not do SOMETHING, we can lose and entire generation that won’t know God or the things of God.
The Solution
The Solution
So what’s the solution? How can we as parents and the church keep a generation from slipping away from God.
4 “Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one!
5 “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
6 “These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart.
This command was to the people of God. In this text we can see how we as the church can make sure the next generation know who God is.
Parents, church, we are to model before the kids our love for God. That we make God the forefront of our lives. That we include Him in every aspect of our lives.
Include Him in our marriages
Include Him in our finances
Include Him in our relationships
Include Him on our jobs
Include Him in our homes
If we don’t live it out in front of our children, they won’t believe it.
You see, God doesn’t stop there. He says teach it.
7 “You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.
8 “You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead.
9 “You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
Parents, grandparents, church, we are responsible for teaching our kids the Word of God.
We can teach our kids the Word of God, but it needs to go beyond that…there needs to be action.
Faith without action/works is dead - James 2:26
We can tell them how to receive Christ, but without going with them through the process, discipling them, it does no good.
Maybe this is where Joshua failed. He put up the memorial to remind the next generation of what God did, but failed to come along side them.
When it comes to the Word, we can tell them about God (which is good), but we also need to be living it out in front of them.
This generation wants to see it before they believe it!
When we walk in what we talk, it shows our kids that what we believe is not just a bunch of rules or regulations…but we reveal to them the POWER of God in our lives!
Our kids need to see us put to action what we believe…
Our kids need to learn that when someone is sick we can lay hands on them and pray for healing…
Our kids need to learn that when we are in need we can call upon God our Jehovah Jireh…
Our kids need to learn the POWER that God has and what He can do in and through them.
They want more than just empty words and empty faith…they want the finished product of putting to action what we believe!