Teambuilding Night

in 2020, 1000 churches will close - and in every succesive year after that

Attendance numbers

1.The Silent Generation – 1925-1945 – 19%

2.Boomers -1946-1964 – 11%

3.Gen-X -1965-1981- 10%

4.Millenials – 1982-1996 – 11%

5.Gen-z – 1997-present – 9%

We don’t need to make more passengers, we need to make more drivers

And this involves teaching people how to drive. We need to learn more how to ‘hand over the keys’, to actually care about and invest in - and pass the reins of the kingdom to - the next generation

MY YOUTH - letting them have control of the music

When we have new people, we need to make sure we know what we’re communicating. Are we communicating, ‘I care first about you and who you are’ or are we communicating ‘I care first about how you make me feel’.

Every single person is a web of history, experiences, and preferences, and if we backseat them and tell them, ‘Sit back, this is mine’, we’re not investing in them. We’re not building them, we’re just chauffering them.

Making more drivers communicates the idea of teaching and passing on wisdom and experience to the next generation for the sake of sending them prepared into their future

What came before now is amazing, and now something else is coming

We are living in what I’ve heard someone call ‘the biggest communication shift in 500 years’. The way people communicate, the way people act, even the way people think has changed.

We are seeing a generation come up that isn’t much like what came before. And one day -we are going to die. What kind of a state are we going to leave them in?

STORY - guy who insisted he was the only person who could drive. got old and grey, died, and passed his car onto his equally old and grey wife - who had to learn how to drive then

Are we going to leave generation of passengers, people who have gotten used to just sitting and watching the time go by? Or are we raising up a generation equipped to taking the wheel?

The church is going to look different - not because something is wrong, but bcause different people are going to fill it

But, let me tell you, we have an amazing opportunity here. We have a massive wealth of theology and history to draw from - the previous generations have done an amazing job of building up a beautiful bride for Christ. But the thing is - they didn’t build the last church. And neither will we. And ask yourself - what is it that the last generation was REALLY good at, if you think about it? They built churches, they built ministries, they built an amazing wealth of music, they built misionary oganizations. What is it they wre good at? Building!

We can’t pass on the finished structure - we need to pass on that skill of building. We can’t just pass on a car - we need to pass on the ability to drive. God told a generation of people to build his church, but we sometimes act like we think we can actually finish the job.

We can’t focus on getting them to fill churches - we need to focus on teaching them to build churches

And then we need to teach ourselves to let go of the reins. We need to let them be different than us, otherwise we’re still the ones in control.

And then we need to teach ourselves to let go of the reins. We need to let them be different than us, otherwise we’re still the ones in control.

And here’s the amazing opportunity we have before us.

Proverbs 22:6 NIV

Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.

So here’s the amazing opportunity. We have the chance to not just raise a generation of builders - we have the chance to raise up a generation of builders who trains more builders. A generation of disciples who believes that the very heart and drive of the body on earth is not just to be disciples, but to make more disciples.

Imagine what the church could look like if each generation thought it was their RESPONSIBILITY to look to the next one and say ‘Hey, I received an awesome gift from God - I need to teach you how to receive yours’. That’s just what church will be for the next generation - a system that raises up the next person, a group that LONGS to give the reins to the next generation so that the church can go even further after the current generation passes on. And again - God is leading the new generations down their own paths. When we pass off the reins - we’re not going to be making the same trip. We’ll be seeing new sights, new routes. But being a building church is about being intentional with our message - are we communicating that church is about ‘sit back and watch while we do our thing’. Or is church about ‘WE are here to teach YOU what God is saying to YOU’.

And here’s my very last point:

Change starts with us. Change starts with the people who get up and actually make the church run. Even Jesus didn’t come and just walk around and talk by himself - he brought along disciples to continue the message. We all need to own this, we all need to live this.

We are the ones who set the tone, who set the character of the church. KIDS COPY WHAT YOU DO I can wah-wah-wah all I want up here, but i’m just one factor. I’m just one person serving in a greater body. We all contribute to the growth of the church. So if we’re all sold on this idea of building builders, making disciples who make disciples - then our church will thrive.

And it will be difficult, there will be conflict and challenge and change. But I want to read a Psalm here, ’m going to not read the whole thing, just portions.

, ,

Psalm 71:1–3 NIV

In you, Lord, I have taken refuge; let me never be put to shame. In your righteousness, rescue me and deliver me; turn your ear to me and save me. Be my rock of refuge, to which I can always go; give the command to save me, for you are my rock and my fortress.

Psalm 71:5–9 NIV

For you have been my hope, Sovereign Lord, my confidence since my youth. From birth I have relied on you; you brought me forth from my mother’s womb. I will ever praise you. I have become a sign to many; you are my strong refuge. My mouth is filled with your praise, declaring your splendor all day long. Do not cast me away when I am old; do not forsake me when my strength is gone.

Psalm 71:15–18 NIV

My mouth will tell of your righteous deeds, of your saving acts all day long— though I know not how to relate them all. I will come and proclaim your mighty acts, Sovereign Lord; I will proclaim your righteous deeds, yours alone. Since my youth, God, you have taught me, and to this day I declare your marvelous deeds. Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, my God, till I declare your power to the next generation, your mighty acts to all who are to come.