Serving Your Generation

Acts 13:36 NKJV

“For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell asleep, was buried with his fathers, and saw corruption;

SONG: “Turn! Turn! Turn!” (The Byrds)

Released on October 1, 1965 BY Columbia Records. Music by Pete Seeger (1959). Adapted from Ecclesiastes 3:1-8.

To everything turn, turn, turn There is a season turn, turn, turn And a time to every purpose under Heaven

A time to be born, a time to die A time to plant, a time to reap A time to kill, a time to heal A time to laugh, a time to weep

To everything turn, turn, turn There is a season turn, turn, turn And a time to every purpose under Heaven

A time to build up, a time to break down A time to dance, a time to mourn A time to cast away stones A time to gather stones together

To everything turn, turn, turn There is a season turn, turn, turn And a time to every purpose under Heaven

A time of love, a time of hate A time of war, a time of peace A time you may embrace A time to refrain from embracing

To everything turn, turn, turn There is a season turn, turn, turn And a time to every purpose under Heaven

A time to gain, a time to lose A time to rain, a time to sow A time for love, a time for hate A time for peace, I swear it's not too late

[Source: Musixmatch / Songwriters: Pete Seeger / Turn! Turn! Turn! lyrics © Melody Trails Inc. C/o The Richmond Organization, Melody Trails Inc.]

There is a time to be Born! There is a time to Die!

God determines the generation in which we are born and the time we die.

Psalm 139:16 NKJV

Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them.

We are here for a Season!

Ecclesiastes 3:1 NKJV

To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven:

We are here for a Purpose!

We are living in a generation disconnected from God’s purpose.

It is a selfish generation.

It is a self-centered generation.

It is a self-absorbed generation.

It is a self-seeking generation.

It is a self-promoting generation.

It is a self-excusing generation. (“I am a victim. I am not to blame.”)

God had a purpose for David to be born.

God had a purpose for Noah to be born.

God had a purpose for Abraham to be born.

God had a purpose for Moses to be born.

God had a purpose for Esther to be born.

Esther 4:14 NKJV

For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

God had a purpose for Mary and Joseph to be born.

God had a purpose for Jesus to be born.

God has a purpose for YOU to be born.

You are born for such a time as this!

God has a purpose for WHERE you are born!

Acts 17:26–27 NKJV

And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us;

We were here to accomplish God’s purpose in our lifetime.

A life lived for anything else is a wasted life that will end in ruin.

Mark 8:34–38 NKJV

When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”

We are here to serve our Generation!

We are born into a generation that needs Jesus!

Luke 17:26–30 NKJV

And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed.

Acts 2:40–41 NKJV

And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation.” Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.

Philippians 2:14–15 NKJV

Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,

We are called to SERVE GOD in our generation.

We are here with an assignment from God.

We need a VISION for this generation and the one to come.

Seeking success in your lifetime is simply ambition.

Seeking success for the generations to come is VISION.

We are called to PRAY for our generation.

“Prayer puts God in full force in the world. To a prayerful man, God is present in realized force. The man who has prayed many acceptable prayers has done the truest and greatest service to the incoming generation. To a prayerful church, God is present in glorious power. The prayers of God’s saints strengthen the unborn generation against the desolating waves of sin and evil. Woe to the generation of sons who find their own censers empty of the rich incense of prayer, whose fathers have been too busy or too unbelieving to pray, and who have inexpressible perils and untold consequences for their heritage! They whose fathers and mothers have left them a wealthy legacy of prayer are very fortunate, indeed.” ---E.M. Bounds [E.M. Bounds, E.M. Bounds on Prayer (New Kensington: Whitaker House, 1997), p. 13]

We are called to REACH our generation.

Matthew 28:19–20 NKJV

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.

We are called to TESTIFY to our generation and the one to come.

Psalm 71:15–18 NKJV

My mouth shall tell of Your righteousness And Your salvation all the day, For I do not know their limits. I will go in the strength of the Lord God; I will make mention of Your righteousness, of Yours only. O God, You have taught me from my youth; And to this day I declare Your wondrous works. Now also when I am old and grayheaded, O God, do not forsake me, Until I declare Your strength to this generation, Your power to everyone who is to come.

Psalm 78:4 NKJV

We will not hide them from their children, Telling to the generation to come the praises of the Lord, And His strength and His wonderful works that He has done.

Psalm 79:13 NKJV

So we, Your people and sheep of Your pasture, Will give You thanks forever; We will show forth Your praise to all generations.

1 Peter 2:9 NKJV

But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;

We are called to PREPARE the next generation.

Psalm 102:18 NKJV

This will be written for the generation to come, That a people yet to be created may praise the Lord.

Abraham prepared Isaac

Moses prepared Joshua

David prepared Solomon

Elijah prepared Elisha

Jesus prepared His apostles

The apostles prepared Elders to oversee the churches

“Success without a successor is failure”

We are called to BLESS the next generation.

Hebrews 11:20–22 NKJV

By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come. By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff. By faith Joseph, when he was dying, made mention of the departure of the children of Israel, and gave instructions concerning his bones.

Blessing is the impartation of spiritual empowerment to succeed.

Response to the Word

You were born to serve your generation.

Will you choose to serve God or to serve yourself?

Will you choose to serve your generation or to be served by your generation?

Your generation needs you.

Your generation needs you NOW.

The next generation is depending on your answer.