The Need To Bridge The Gap

Welcome

This is how it should be right? A bunch of men, sitting around doing manly things, eating manly food, just being men.

All we need are some cars to work on and some sports to watch right?

Did anyone catch the Liverpool game today though?

Turn to with me tonight

Why Are We Here

Quite simply, because we need each other....young men, middle aged men, older men....we need each other

tells us this, “ 12 Take care, brothers, (that’s us) lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. 13 But exhort (urge) one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we have come to share (partner, to be companions) in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.

Because we are in Christ, we are called to come together, to build each other up, to encourage, to help each other to follow God’s Word, right?

Why? Because sin is sneaky…and we are always susceptible

And the psalmist tells us this in , “ 1  Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity (community)!”

1  Behold, how good and pleasant it is

Even though we are a wide array of ages of men in this church, we’re like the body that Romans talks about, we may have different roles, different functions, different ages, but to function properly, we need each other don’t we?

when brothers dwell in unity!

We really really do

It’s the same reason older men coach high school teams instead of having a teen coach....experience, wisdom, respect, etc....

But likewise, they need the younger men to step up and set an example for the team

And for others as well.

Teens/College Group

For our younger men, yes, it’s true....the times may be different than when some of the rest of us grew up…technologically, socially, morally (or so we think) and so on....the truth of the matter is this:

There is nothing new under the sun as Ecclesiastes tells us

And so for those of us here that are younger…by coming alongside an older Christian, a hopefully more mature Christian, you can find wisdom in how to handle circumstances, you can learn from their past mistakes and victories, and you can be encouraged in the faithfulness of a God who has seen them through

gives us a picture of that role that an older Christian can play in our lives, “ 6 Likewise, urge the younger men to be self-controlled. 7 Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, 8 and sound speech that cannot be condemned”

It is my honest belief that a big issue in today’s modern church is that we segment ourselves from each other

Now, don’t get me wrong…I think we should have youth group…not trying to talk myself out of a job here

But we need to have times and opportunities for us to come together because there is so much to be gained from it!

Because when we don’t do that, we miss out on the vital community and discipleship that God designed us to need

See, tells us the dangers of segmenting ourselves too much, of not passing on the truths of God’s Word:

“And there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel.”

The stakes are high men…and we’ve got to battle

And so older men in here, the younger generation needs you. They need to hear from you about struggles and victories, they need to see how the grace of God played out in your life, and how it is still playing out in your life.

Older Men

And so older men in here, the younger generation needs you. They need to hear from you about struggles and victories, they need to see how the grace of God played out in your life, and how it is still playing out in your life.

But don’t think you can’t learn from the younger generation too, because you can. And younger guys, we (notice I joined myself to you) don’t get off easy here. We don’t get a pass because we are just young

One of the greatest lies in culture is that you can just live however you want until you get to a certain age, then you can decide to live the right way.

It’s garbage. Men, these younger guys are awesome.

tells us that the youth, the younger men, have the ability to see an example in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity

And so I hope you as the older men find this time to be just as encouraging to you as I hope the younger generation finds as well

Because, I’m not just saying this because I’m a youth pastor, but they’re pretty cool. And some of them really want to live for Christ…so I hope you will be encouraged, built up, and even learn something from them

Our youth love to serve. The nights we serve are some of our most well attended nights in youth group....so imagine what can happen when we partner their serving attitude with the desire to glorify Jesus Christ

Great things

The Goal

And that’s really the goal of this study, to bring multiple generations together with God’s Word as the foundation and the glue that brings and holds us together so that we can encourage and embolden each other to glorify God more than when we got here.

And as we move forward throughout the next seven weeks, and as we look at some characteristics of what Godly men should be:

That we can learn from God’s Word together

That we can learn from each other

That we can encourage each other to become more Christ like in our individual lives

“And there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel.”

The stakes are high men…and we’ve got to battle

So I hope you’re excited about the next several weeks, I know I am.

I think it’d be fantastic if after this Bible study, some of us feel led to continue meeting together as disciples of Christ

If I could paint (which I can’t) a perfect picture, it’d be that

The Format

So here is how the next few weeks are going to go.

1. Video Segment

Good Men

Watch Out

Stand Firm

Be Strong

Let All Be Done In Love

2. Teaching Segment

3. Discussion Groups

And these discussion groups will only be as effective as you allow them to be, and will only be beneficial if we’re willing to discuss openly about struggles, victories, questions, concerns, topical issues and so forth

See this is where the mix of generations will be phenomenal…because we are going to be able to get different angles of perspective

But the key is to always come back to this, God’s Word

So these discussion groups we have everyone kind of mixed together

Our youth and college leadership will be acting as “leads”, but don’t make them the only ones talking!

Tonight

We are going to get into our groups, get to know each other, and spend some time praying for and with each other, and really just praying over this time in the Word these next few weeks