Bridging Generations

DNA Series - Next Gen

Bridging Generations

This morning we’re going to talk about the next pillar that we believe in here at City Church and that’s the Next Generation.

I didn’t just want to talk about the next generation and give you a bunch of stats.

I want to challenge everyone here, young and old.

And I believe if we do this it will greatly affect the next generation.

But I want to start by reading something that I think some of the older people in the room will appreciate.

TO ALL THE KIDS WHO WERE BORN IN THE 1940’s, 50’s, 60’s and 70’s! First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they carried us. They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn’t get tested for diabetes. Then after that trauma, our baby cribs were covered with bright colored lead-based paints. We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, not to mention, the risks we took Hitchhiking. As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags. Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm day was always a special treat. We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle. We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this. We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank soda pop with sugar in it, but we weren’t overweight because WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING! We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on. No one was able to reach us all day. And we were O.K. We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem. We did not have Playstations, Nintendo’s, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 99 channels on cable, no video tape movies, no surround sound, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet or Internet chat rooms..........WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them! We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents. We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever. We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls and although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes. We rode bikes or walked to a friend’s house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just yelled for them! Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn’t had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!! The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law! This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever! The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas. We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL!

The title of my message is “Bridging Generations”.

You see this country is as divided as it has been in a long time.

Not only are we divided by race and politics but also by generations.

When you hear the older generation say the word, “Millennials” it’s usually not in a positive way

Or the younger generation talking about “Baby Boomers” or “Generation X” it’s usually not in a good way.

I have noticed that this mindset has creeped into the church as well.

This morning my goal is to help us bridge the gap between generations so that we can TRULY function as the body of Christ!

I want to talk about 3 people in the bible and how we should use them as examples of how we do life.

My three points I’ll be focusing on with these characters are that we should “Be a Barnabas, Pursue a Paul, and Train a Timothy.”

BE A BARNABAS

In we see the first of Barnabas.

NLT “For instance, there was Joseph, the one the apostles nicknamed Barnabas (which means “Son of Encouragement”). He was from the tribe of Levi and came from the island of Cyprus. 

Barnabas’ real name was Joseph but the disciples changed to Barnabas which means, “Son of Encouragement”

You see Barnabas was an encourager. He saw the best in people.

And there are examples of that in the book of Acts.

In chapter 9 we read about Paul’s conversion and how he wanted to meet with all the believers but they were afraid of him.

Barnabas is the one who saw the GOOD in Paul

The point I want to make with Barnabas that I think will help us “Bridge Generations” is that we NEED TO BE ENCOURAGERS!!

“So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing.”

God calls us to ENCOURAGE each other

How are you doing in this area?

One way to find out is to look at your Facebook or Twitter.

A lot of what I see is DISCOURAGING

When the older generation uses the word “Millennial”, it usually is not in a positive light. (Examples)

They say they’re lazy and entitled.

Same with the younger generations talking about “Baby Boomers”, or “Generation X”. (Examples)

We say, they’re old school

Or they don’t know what it’s like to grow up in today’s day.

We tend to argue over things that really DON’T matter instead of focusing on what’s important.

For example, I could post a question on Facebook like, “Should Pastors preach in suits or dress casual?” or “what should YOU wear to church?” my feed would FILL with comments.

The problem is that we act like WE’RE right and YOU’RE wrong.

I could then post a question like, “How can we come together to reach our community for Jesus?” and I might get a handful of comments.

My point is that the devil has done a great job distracting Christians from what’s REALLY important.

Instead of encouraging one another in Christ and coming to Church and being UNIFIED, we waste our time bickering over man made RULES.

I don’t care what we think about what people should where in church. I care that we come TOGETHER with ONE thing on our mind, and that’s that we worship the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.

And then we take that message from here and bring it into our community.

Young with old!

If we are encouragers we can make this happen.

Because it’s sad that the church as a whole is known more for what they’re against than what they’re for.

Pursue a Paul

In 1 Timothy Paul is writing to Timothy.

Paul was Timothy’s mentor.

He’d traveled with Timothy and has poured into his life.

Paul knew Timothy was battling with leading the church he was at because he was a young man trying to be the spiritual leader in their church.

So, Paul sends him a letter to encourage him.

“Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.” NIV

You see Timothy had someone in his life that was there for him and encourage him when he was frustrated.

Having a Paul (mentor) in your life is EXTREMELY important.

The problem is I think a lot of young people don’t think they need a mentor.

“Fools think their own way is right, but the wise listen to others.”

Young people, I hate to be the bearer of bad news but YOU DON’T KNOW EVERYTHING!

You can’t put a price on the value that someone who is older and has more experience than you can bring.

So, what’s happening is that young people are being easily deceived by new teachings because they don’t have that “Paul” in their life to help them know the truth.

They hear quotes from Pastors saying that the bible is irrelevant.

So, we tend to think that the bible is “old school” and doesn’t apply to us because our culture is different.

We NEED Godly men and women in our lives who aren’t afraid to speak truth to us.

If you want to grow as a person and in wisdom then surround yourself with wise people.

NLT “Walk with the wise and become wise; associate with fools and get in trouble.”

My mentor is Duane Klas and I don’t know where I would be without him.

He was my freshmen bible teacher

Having someone like him in my life is priceless.

I know I can go to him with ANY problem and he’ll be there for me.

We have to put our PRIDE down and be willing to LISTEN to the older generation.

I STRONGLY encourage you to find someone in your life that you can go to and start a relationship with and who can speak into your life.

Train a Timothy

Timothy traveled with Paul and learned from him

Paul took the time to pour into his life.

I feel like could be reversed in today’s day.

It could easily say, “don’t let anyone look down on you because you are OLDER”

Because today we do tend to make the older generation feel like they aren’t very valuable.

We look at them as “old school” and being out of touch with the culture.

So now they feel like they have nothing to offer the younger generation.

As a man or woman of God you are CALLED to make disciples.

NLT “Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. 19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

And for the women look at

“These older women must train the younger women to love their husbands and their children, 5 to live wisely and be pure, to work in their homes, to do good, and to be submissive to their husbands. Then they will not bring shame on the word of God.”

You don’t think that a 23-year-old newlywed could learn A LOT from a woman who’s been married for 30 or 40 years?

Find those young women and get involved in their life.

I bet almost every “” or “Baby Boomer” here could look at their life and see that they have younger people in their life that they could be pouring into.

Maybe it’s someone you work with that’s not even a Christian?

That’s how mentoring/discipleship can start.

But realize it’s a MARATHON, not a SPRINT

I would LOVE to see people start a bible study where the goal is to bring in young and old together to study the word and talk about life while building those relationships.

That’s how I think it’s supposed to be.

INVITE BAND UP

Having a mentor has had proven results.

Psychology Today said this, “A five year study sponsored by Big Brothers Big Sisters Canada found that children with mentors were more confident and had fewer behavioral problems. Girls in the study were four times less likely to become bullies than those without a mentor and boys were two times less likely. In general, young people showed increased belief in their abilities to succeed in school and felt less anxiety related to peer pressure.”

Youthmentor.org said, “Youth who meet regularly with their mentors are 46% less likely than their peers to start using illegal drugs and 27% less likely to start drinking.”

“Seventy-six percent at-risk young adults who had a mentor aspire to enroll in and graduate from college versus half of at-risk young adults who had no mentor. They are also more likely to be enrolled in college.”

“Mentoring reduces “depression symptoms” and increases “social acceptance, academic attitudes and grades.”

You might say, “Well I don’t have much to offer”, or “I’m retired and my time is over to be doing that kind of stuff.”

IF YOUR BREATHING GOD STILL WANTS TO USE YOU AND YOU CAN MAKE AN IMPACT ON SOMEBODY ELSE'S LIFE!!

Think of ways you can help the next generation

Maybe it’s giving to an organization that is reaching young people?

Maybe it’s just changing the narrative when talking to friends and family.

Instead of talking about the problems of the younger generation, how about we talk about the potential of the next generation.

Bottom line church is that Generation Z is the first pure post-christian generation.

Where young people that identify as atheist is double any other generation.

We need Paul’s out there willing to disciple these young people and show them what God has in store for them.

Altar Call

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