Principles To Prevent Generation Loss Judges 2:6-13

Before the text... This is our 4th message out of the book of Judges. This really is the last message of the how’s and why’s, the introduction to the meat of the book. I was really planning on Sunday to go on to the next section of the book and talk about the cycle of sin that the Israelites were in, that we so often find ourselves struggling with and how we can break that cycle, with the Lord’s help. But, I could not get past these couple verses and so this may be a little scattered but I do believe this is where God wants us to be. We won’t necessarily go verse by verse like we have been but more looking at the warning that is given here in these few verses. There may be some things that are repeated tonight that we’ve already discussed so bear with me, but I really do believe this can be a help to us tonight.

Read the text…

Judges 2:6–13 “And when Joshua had let the people go, the children of Israel went every man unto his inheritance to possess the land. And the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the Lord, that he did for Israel. And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died, being an hundred and ten years old. And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnath-heres, in the mount of Ephraim, on the north side of the hill Gaash. And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the Lord, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel. And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served Baalim: And they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, which brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the people that were round about them, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked the Lord ton anger. And they forsook the Lord, and served Baal and Ashtoroth.”

Wow, what a sobering and even scary passage…With the youth rally last weekend, the Patch program tonight, and Camp rapidly approaching, my mind and heart has been on the youth of our church. There is so much potential in this group, I love this group very much, but if we are not careful as Eastside Baptist Church and as parents and the older generation here at Eastside, if we are not very intentional with our involvement and investment in our young people, we will lose them and not just them but the generations after us. Teens, if you are not very serious and very intentional about your faith then you could find yourself in a completely different place than you were raised and in a place that you never thought you could be. Both generations here tonight need to be reminded that in order for this church and these families to remain faithful to the Lord and to know Him for generations to come, each must fulfil their own responsibilities.

Introduction- I am about to age a whole lot of you here tonight. How many of you have made copies of cassette tapes? How about making copies of VHS? I was talking to my brother and we both remember trying to make copies of old Cathedral Quartet tapes or Patch the Pirate tapes and getting down to the copy and realizing that the quality is awful! How many of you experienced that? Some of you probably still have pirated copies of homeschool videos, or old movies…

That was always so disappointing! Well, that phenomenon is called… Generation loss. I believe Pastor has talked about this before from the pulpit... This is the definition of generation loss: “Generation Loss refers to the loss/reduction of quality that occurs when making subsequent copies of copies rather than getting a direct copy of the original recording, image, or video.”

With each copy, each generation that comes there is potential for loss of quality. While that can be very frustrating when it comes to an old Adventures in Odyssey tape, generation loss can be devastating when it comes to generations of families and churches. Generation loss isn't just a problem for reproducing cassette tapes, it is a problem for individuals, families, and churches, even Eastside.

Barna Research group says that 64% almost 7/10 young people who grow up in church will leave church for an extended period of time or they may never return. Almost 7/10... I would like to think that those numbers would be a bit exaggerated for our church. But, you've seen it here, kids that grew up at Eastside are no longer here, not just at another church, but not in church at all. And it's not just an Eastside thing, it's churches across the country! This is a big problem!

This was also a big problem for the Children of Israel… This next generation of Israel, two generations removed from one of the greatest if not the greatest miracle in the OT in the Red Sea crossing, two generations removed from water coming out of a rock to satisfy a million people, ONE generation removed from seeing God bring the walls of Jericho down without even touching a sword, one generation later, these people don't know God, don't remember what He has done and have completely forsaken God. Even from just one generation there has been some MAJOR loss.

If we are going to be able to prevent generation loss from happening in our families and in our church, it is going to take a very intentional effort from the older generation AND from the new generation both. If we want a legacy of love and passion for the Lord to be passed on, it requires specific action to be taken by parents and church members of this older generation and also specific action to be taken by the teens and children of this new generation. As the Israelites found out, it doesn't happen on it's own...

If the next generation is going to know God, the previous generation first, has to show God.

I understand that not every saved person had parents who knew God or were Christians themselves. But, every Christian had SOMEONE who showed God to them. So, whether you are a parent or not, we all have a responsibility to show God to the people around us, without that, the next generations won’t know God.

-I’ll be honest, it is really easy to point fingers at the generation coming up and think “wow they are making some crazy decisions” “this generation is a whole nother animal”. And we almost have a fatalistic view of the next generation. We think that they are beyond our help. Sometimes, maybe as parents or others that invest in the next generation, we can think, “well, they are going to have to come to the this decision on their own. They have to come to God on their own, I am not going to force it, I don’t want to push them away.” While they do need to make their own decisions (we’ll get to them in a second), we often pendulum swing to the other side and take a hands off approach to the spiritual lives of the next generation, we leave it all up to them to come to it on their own, we expect it to happen through osmosis and that’s just not how it works. We as the previous or older generation have to show them.

I’ll go ahead and say this. Each person has to make their own decision. That means that parents, you could do everything in your power to show your child God and they could still reject Him. And that can be a very grieving thought. You can either let that thought drive you to wipe your hands clean of the situation or let that thought drive you to do everything you can to invest, show, and point your child in the right direction.

So, before the next generation can know God, there has to be a generation that shows God.

How can parents and investors show God to the next generation?

Joshua 24:15-16 You must make a conscious decision to serve God.

This may seem obvious but if you are going to show God, He has to know you, you have to be saved. I don’t ever want to take for granted that everyone here is saved tonight.

You may be here and I think you would all agree that you want what is best for your child, you want God to bless them, you want them to grow up to know God and live lives that please Him. It’s great that you bring them to church, it’s great that you put them in Patch Club, but the best decision that you could make, that could have an impact on your child’s future is that you make sure that God knows you. Make sure that you’ve asked Jesus Christ to forgive you of your sins.

If you don’t know that you have ever done that then please please come find one of us after the service and we would love to show you how you can be saved.

You must make a daily decision to serve the Lord.

I think you know, if you’ve been saved for any length of time, that you don’t just one day decide to serve the Lord and then every day after that you just automatically serve Him and do what you are supposed to do. No, it takes a conscious effort, every morning to wake up and say, okay God, today I am going to serve you, I am going to put aside my own thoughts, my own ideas, my idols, and choose to serve you, I am going to put you first. That means you put His Word before your sleep or your phone in the mornings. That means you communicate with Him prayer before you make it a priority to communicate with others.

Can I just say as a side note, let your kids know about it too. Obviously you don’t want to make your walk with God a thing of pride, but especially to your children, let them see you putting the Lord first, having a relationship with Him. Let them know that you prayed for them that morning, let them know what God spoke to you about in your Bible reading.

You can’t expect the next generation to serve the Lord if you are not putting Him first in your own life. So, make a daily decision that you are going to serve the Lord and don’t be afraid to show and tell your children about it.

The same goes for church members. I am so thankful for my parents and their influence but I am also equally grateful for the other men of Bible Baptist Church that invested in to me spiritually, people like my youth pastor, now Pastor Jason Jett, George Scott, Tony Andrews, Dusty Rutherford, and many more. I would not be where I am now if they had not invested in me spiritually, not just my parents…

If you want to show the next generation God then you must take serious the idols and sin that you allow in your life.

I don’t think the majority of us have literal idols in our homes, if you do then we need to talk and probably get rid of those… But we all have things that we make in to idols that we put before God, things that we allow to remain in our lives that ought not be there. We talked about that last week so I am not going to repeat too much of it…

But, if you allow sin, habits, a spirit that God does not approve of to remain in your life, not only do you open yourself up to resistance and distance from God but you also open the next generation up to a whole slew of problems. All because of this truth… What you allow in moderation, your children will practice in excess.

This became all too true for the Children Of Israel…

Joshua 13:1–2a “Now Joshua was old and stricken in years; and the Lord said unto him, Thou art old and stricken in years, and there remaineth yet very much land to be possessed. This is the land that remaineth…”

When Joshua and the generation with him was old, there was still land to be conquered, they hadn't necessarily taken care of everything that they really needed to.

Joshua 24:23–24 “Now therefore put away, said he, the strange gods which are among you, and incline your heart unto the Lord God of Israel. And the people said unto Joshua, The Lord our God will we serve, and his voice will we obey.”

Apparently the previous generation were still holding on to some strange God and idols and Joshua commands them to get rid of them.

Now, I don’t know if they did or didn’t get rid of them, the Bible isn’t clear on that, they could have put them away after that command or could have held on to it for a time, whatever the case was, the damage may have already been done…

The land they did not conquer in moderation, the idols they had in moderation turned in to their children’s excess…

Judges 2:11–13 “And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served Baalim: And they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, which brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the people that were round about them, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked the Lord to anger. And they forsook the Lord, and served Baal and Ashtaroth.”

The next generation didn't destroy and drive out the people of the land, they didn't just dwell with the people, they fully embraced their pagan worship and forsook the God of their fathers.

What you allow in moderation, your children will practice in excess…

Church attendance- If your view towards church is that it is sometimes optional when it gets busy or that it is okay to consistently be late, that view may turn in to complete dismissal of church from your kids. They may only attend church when it is convenient or stop going altogether.

Respect for authorities- If you sometimes talk bad of your pastor or others in the church in front of your kids, you start dismissing what is being preached from the pulpit, what may start small with you could turn in to no respect for spiritual authorities for your kids, no respect for the pulpit or preaching of God’s Word.

Bitterness- That little bit of bitterness that you hold against a certain family member or a certain family in the church that doesn’t seem like a big deal now, it’s just a little comment here or there could turn in to anger or hatred in your kids or you foster an environment where they don’t trust anyone and they are so jaded towards other people that it affects every relationship in their life.

Spirit of complaining- What starts in your life as little complaints here and there about church, about family, about a job, about your spouse, could turn in to complete negativity in your children. Complaints about your spouse can turn in to a lack of respect for their authority. Complaints about church could turn in to an apathy towards the things of God. There is no telling where it could lead!

Entertainment-The entertainment you allow in moderation, your children will practice in excess. They will never stop with what you allow. So if you allow edgy movies and tv shows now, they will jump over the line with their entertainment later, allowing all kinds of contamination in to their lives.

Sin- That sin that you allow in moderation, that bad habit that you don’t think your children see, could turn in to a full blown addiction.

Church-As a church we have to be careful about the standards that we set. What you may see as a little exception here or there could turn in to a big problem down the road.

For me in the music ministry, I know that there are probably songs that we could get away with doing that some people would be really enjoy and may appeal to a larger crowd. But, if we allow a little contemporary music in now, where is that going to lead in 10 or 15 years? What started as a little lean could turn in to a whole different style of worship that God is not pleased with down the road. That is why we don’t allow every new and popular song that is out there. We can’t just think about what we want in the moment, we have to think of how it may impact the next generation. That goes for every decision made around here. You may think Pastor is too strict, too stubborn, too old school, but you know what, he is just trying to protect the future of Eastside Baptist Church. I am thankful that we have a Pastor that is not just concerned about what people want in the moment, but he is concerned about what those decisions could mean 10, 20, 30 years down the road.

What we allow as a church now could turn in to a completely different church with the next generation.

If you want the next generation to know God, you must make God’s Word a priority.

This is what God told Israel that they needed to do if they wanted to prevent generation loss. Deuteronomy 6:4–9 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.”

God’s Word ought to be the priority in your home.

We already talked about this but if you want your kids to know God and His Word, they need to see you knowing God and getting to know his Word. You have to set the example, it has to be a priority in your life.

Make God’s Word a priority to your children.

Help them do their devotions. Kids don’t come out of the womb understanding the KJV. It’s not in a kids or teens DNA to sit down and read the Bible but, it is essential to their spiritual growth so help them learn, teach how they ought to pray and how often they should pray.

Prioritize every opportunity they have to be in church.

Get them involved in Patch and PeeWee.

Bring them to SS, ask them about their SS lesson.

Prioritize being in church every time the doors are open. That may mean saying no to certain family activities, saying no to certain sports tournaments, saying no to the flesh. but hearing God’s Word is absolutely essential for all of us, not just the next generation.

Prioritize them paying attention in church, taking notes, even responding at invitation.

I am very thankful for the way that our youth have been responding at invitation almost every message, they are an example to all of us. I believe every message we hear ought to bring us to a decision about something that we need to change in our lives or something that we should be thankful for.

Prioritize their involvement in the youth group (I promise this is not a shameless plug) I know there are times where it’s not possible to go to College Days, Camp, YouthCon, or youth rallies, but when it is possible then let them go because those weeks can be incredibly impactful if they will let it.

Make God’s Word the center of your home, make it a priority. It has to be intentional or else it won’t happen.

So parents, those wanting to invest in the next generation, if you want the next generation to know God then you must show God to them by: 1. Making a conscious daily decision to serve God with your life. 2. Take serious the things you allow in moderation in your life. 3. Make God’s Word a priority in your own life but especially in the life of your children.

But kids and teens, the burden of responsibility does not just lie on your parents, your spiritual life, your knowledge and relationship with God is ultimately up to you. Your parents won’t stand before God and answer for your life or your spiritual life, only you will stand before God and answer for you… I won’t spend a long time here because we will actually be getting to some of this on Sunday.

Kids and teens, if you want to have faith that lasts beyond your parents, beyond this generation and live a life that God blesses then you have to…

Just like your parents, make a deliberate choice to know God.

A relationship with God does not happen just because you are a church kid or just because your parents know God. You have to decide on your own to have a personal relationship with God.

You need to know what God’s Word says for yourself, you need to know what God expects of you for yourself,

Joshua 24:15 “And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

You have to choose to serve God on a daily basis because if you don’t choose to serve God, it is a choice to serve someone or something else. If you don’t choose to serve God on a daily basis, your days will quickly become filled with other priorities like school, friends, social media, work, making money, and before you know it you have lived months and maybe even years without God and your life looks nothing like it did before.

If you want to live a life of faith, of God’s blessing, your faith has to be dependent on your personal relationship with God not on your parents.

Don’t get me wrong, it is a good thing that you parents make you come to church, that’s what you need right now. But, if you are only coming to church because your parents make you then that decision is not going to last long and as soon as you graduate, you probably won’t last long.

If your Bible reading is only dependent on your parents it won’t last beyond your teen years…

If your standards and convictions are only there because of your parents, it’s not going to last long and your life could look completely different…

There are so many ways we could apply this, and I hope to continue this in SS but if you want your faith to last beyond your parents, if you want to be blessed in the way that God has blessed your parents, you have to daily choose to serve God and your faith has to be attached to god and His Word not the standards and rules that your parents have set for you.

Conclusion- So, if we want to prevent generation loss, if we want to see God’s continued blessing on our families, on Eastside Baptist Church, it is going to take intentional effort from not just this young, up and coming generation, there has to be intentional investment from the adults in this room, from this older generation. Adults and kids a like, make a conscious daily decision to serve the Lord. Parents, be careful what you allow in moderation because your children will practice it in excess. And again, to everyone here tonight, to see our faith continue, to prevent generation loss make a relationship with God and His Word your top priority.