You are the church NOW (We Are CR Students Week 3)

Introduction

What do adults need to know about your generation?

Who are some people that God used in Scripture that was young?

David

David was a young shepherd boy when he, as a teenager, anointed to be the next king of Israel at the age of 15 and defeated Goliath around the same time.

Daniel

In his teens, the Babylonians took him captive and placed him in a three-year Babylonian education. They tried to stamp out any Israelite identity he had. Still, he stood his ground and refused to eat the food presented to him, with the risk of death, and God rewards his faithfulness. He ends up affecting change, and the entire palace diet shifts because of him.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego

They also accompanied Daniel in Babylonian captivity. These three friends show great bravery and faith, refusing to bow down to the statue of King Nebuchadnezzar. They were through into the fiery furnace when they refused to bow to him, but God saved them and miraculously kept them from being burned or even smelling like smoke while they sat in the fiery furnace.

Joseph

he had the coat of many colors given to him by his father Jacob. At age 17 in Gen. 37 God started speaking to Joseph through the dreams that changed his life. Around that age he was sold into slavery by his brothers, was the head of Potiphar’s house, thrown in jail wrongfully, then ultimately became the right hand man to the pharoah later on and saved his family and preserved God’s plan for Israel.

Esther

She became the queen of Persia at a young age, 14, and delivered her people (Israelites) from danger.

The Lunch boy

The boy who gave up his lunch to Jesus without any knowledge of the outcome became the lunch that God used to feed 500 hungry people. This might seem like a small gesture but when God wants to use you, everything about you is significant.

Miriam

She was Moses’ sister in the Bible. Just like the lunch boy, the role she played in Moses’ early life could be underrated. When Moses’ mom put him in the river to keep him from being killed, Miriam watched over him in the basket. When Pharaoh’s daughter took the baby, she was wise enough to suggest the services of a maid for the baby to the princess and then called her mother instead. Moses grew up in the Egyptian palace but not without the tutelage of his Hebrew mother, and later became the person God used to deliver Israel. Miriam did all that, and she was only six or seven years old.

Jeremiah

If there’s anyone I never expected to be a teenager at the beginning of their ministry, it’s Prophet Jeremiah. His age was in between 13 and16 years old, at the time of his call. Jeremiah was known as the “weeping prophet” because, through groanings and anguish, he implored the Israelites to repent and prophesied Jerusalem’s imminent destruction. He continued prophesying in the middle of mockery, beatings and the fear of imprisonment by his own people.

A common factor among these young people who God used is that it was never easy for them to stand for God and be used by Him. Some had to go against their families and friends, stand firm in a foreign land full of sin, and give up luxury and pleasures that they would rather have had. However, in the long run, it’s always worth it.

Read Jeremiah 1:4-8

Jeremiah 1:4–8 ESV

Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth.” But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a youth’; for to all to whom I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, declares the Lord.”

God clearly communicates something with the inclusion of these people in Scripture and the ages that they were. God values young people and wants to use you in His plan to redeem the people in this world that are lost. So guess what? That means something. If you’ve surrendered your life over to Jesus as your Lord and Savior, then you aren’t the church of the future. You are the church NOW!

If you’re a Christian, then You ARE the church NOW.

1 Timothy 4:12 ESV

Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.

So many times we get the idea in our minds because of the language that is expressed in and around churches that the students are the NEXT generation. You guys are the FUTURE of the church. However, biblically that doesn’t make sense. Why? Because being a part of the church and contributing to the mission of the church to make disciples and see lost people saved. This was a requirement for any believer at any age. Look at the example from last week in Acts 2. Those that were sharing their faith and seeing other people surrendering their lives to Jesus is the same people that recently became converted. If you have put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior then you ARE THE CHURCH NOW. Biblically speaking, those that are the future of the church are actually those that have not come to faith in Christ yet.

AT CHURCH:

As a student ministry and as a church, we believe in you to be the church NOW. Personally speaking, this church is one of the most intentional churches at giving students the opportunity to exercise your faith and live it out, serve, and be play a role in the church than I have ever seen before. All staff members are always asking me how they can train students that are gifted and interested in their areas of ministry. IT IS AWESOME! We have students on the kids ministry team, worship team, tech team, first impressions team, and the comms team. As a student ministry and a church we want you to live out your purpose at church

OUTSIDE OF CHURCH:

You as a student here are called to live out your faith from Sunday to Sunday. Your faith isn’t just a Sunday faith, we want you to display your walk with Jesus every day of the week. We want to equip you guys to share about Jesus with your friends, we want you to be an example in your classrooms, extracurriculars, in your homes, and with your friends. Let’s look at 1 Timothy a little bit closer.

There were two distinctions between how Paul urged Timothy to live his life: There was inward and outward displays.

Inward: love, faith, and purity

Outward: Speech and life

Here is the deal, you will never be able to live an outward faith without God working and changing your life inwardly first. Our faith is an inside out faith at it’s core. What do I mean by that? What I mean when I say that is the inward reality of a surrendered heart to Christ that has the Holy Spirit dwelling inside is one that will experience a transformed life in speech and life. Without the inward change in our hearts, our outward lives will never be different.

Don’t let them look down on you: Authority in the community of faith is contingent on character, not on age. Let your character take you where God wants to place you. Most people that fail morally in their Christian walk when they are leaders is because they were placed in positions of leadership that their character couldn’t hold up with.

Land the Plane

We believe in you to be the church NOW if you are a Christian in this room. I believe that a group of students, on fire for Jesus, obedient to His word, bold in the way that they walk, and pure in their private life can change the world.

But it begins with the private life.

But it starts with you.

What does the scripture say? SET AN EXAMPLE. You set the pace. As a