What We Leave the Next Generation

Intro: BEFORE you turn there, I want you to look at the kids exiting to their class and I want you to think about this question: What is your greatest hope for them?

If you are watching downstairs, the kids will be coming through shortly… if you are online, just imagine a bunch of elementary age kids getting ready to hear God’s word (or maybe you have some kids watching with you!)

But if you are part of our church... if you care at all about our society... you should have some desire... some hope for the next generation.

Look around the room at our kids and teenagers who are still here. What is the greatest thing that you could imagine happening in their life?

Maybe you could add to those kids your own children or grandchildren if you have them.

What is your greatest desire or hope for the next generation?

Your answer to that question will reveal a lot about your understanding of the cycles of sin in our lives… and how they take root and are perpetuated.

It will reveal a lot about your understanding of how God’s people preserve God’s truth from generation to generation.

We need to understand that the future of the church just walked out that door. Some of you are still in this room.

But the tragedy is that MANY in the younger generation are walking out the doors of our churches… and not going to be discipled… they are leaving to never return.

And the question is, “What will we leave the next generation?” (that’s the title of today’s sermon), “What we leave the next generation.”

The Holy Spirit sort of set this up for us… It’s Mother’s day… and there are some definite applications for Moms and Dads here… but this is for all of us… we ALL play a role in shaping the next generation of the church.

This is for moms, dads, singles, grandparents, those who don’t have children or can’t have children… those who serve in kids and youth ministry and those who are terrified by that idea... if we are part of the family of families that is the church, then we must be concerned to leave the next generation with a clear pattern of following the Lord.

Here’s our big idea:

Big Idea: Leave the next generation with a clear pattern of following the Lord.

We are continuing in our sermon series through the book of Judges called, “Rebellion and Rescue”...

And we are learning to seek the Lord’s merciful rescue to break the cycles of our rebellious sin.

We’ve seen that sin… rebellion... tends to function in cycles...

And in this study we’ve looked at two cycles or patterns: the generational pattern (where sin increases from generation to generation), and the Rebellion and Rescue cycle within each generation.

Most weeks we’ve focused on the Rebellion and Rescue cycle, but this week we are going to focus more on the generational pattern. You can see this all throughout the book, but it’s very clear in our text today.

[show diagram] We first learned this pattern in chapter 2

1) Generation 1 (the generation of Joshua): Fought The Battle, Lived Conviction

2) Generation 2 (the kids of that first generation, they fell into compromise): Observed the Battle, but Lived Compromise

They failed to drive out the Idolatrous nations of the Canaanites who lived in the land God had promised to them...

And while they didn’t give into full-fledged idolatry yet… they also were not fully obeying the Lord.

3) Generation 3 (the kids of generation 2… they were a generation who never SAW God’s mighty works…): Abandoned the Battle, and Lived Corruption

And from there, like a row of dominoes, each successive generation fell to more and more corruption.

The further you get away from hearing God’s word and participating in God’s plan, the more corrupt you become.

We are going to see today that not only did God’s people keep going back to idolatry, but eventually they stopped crying out to the Lord.

They got past the point where they even regretted the consequence of their sin.

That’s what we are going to see today in Judges 12 and 13...

We are going to see how misplaced family values contributed to the increase of sin from generation to generation...

And we are going to consider what that means for breaking cycles of sin today.

You see, breaking cycles of sin isn’t just about your own personal growth... and whether or not you get to be all that God wants you to be as an individual...

Breaking cycles of sin affects whole generations.

Every generation sets a pattern… an example... for the next generation to follow.

And we want to leave the next generation with a clear pattern of following the Lord, Amen?!?!

But first we need to see and understand some patterns that get in the way of that. As we look at the patterns of these next four Judges and their families, I want you to examine your own heart to see if any of these obstructions are there.

What pattern are you leaving for the next generation?

Look at Judges 12:8-15 [explain briefly as it is read]

These are what are sometimes “minor Judges” because we don’t get a lot of detail about their lives or the time in which they lived… we don’t hear about these mighty conquests like Gideon and Jephthah...

And so we could ask all kinds of questions about what’s not there… but whenever you are studying the Bible, you want to focus on what IS there… especially as it relates to the context around it… because that’s what God wants you to know.

The details we do get are there for a reason… These descriptions paint a picture of these Judges’ highest priorities during their reign…

It’s like your Instagram profile… or an obituary in the newspaper… you get just a few words to describe what is most important to that person.

This is what the LORD wants said about these men’s time as judges.

And when we read this in the context of the whole book, it’s not necessarily something that should be celebrated: the judges were tools in the Lord’s hand… but they were not exactly heroes.

Especially after Gideon, they become more and more fleshly in their behavior.

So this section is in that context… we can assume that it demonstrates the priorities and patterns that these judges left the next generation that contributed to their downward spiral into patterns of sin.

Two of these judges in particular are described as having an extremely high number of descendents… they are understood in light of the generational pattern...

They are described by the benefits their descendents enjoyed…

One of them is only described by the place his body was buried.

And tragically, their legacy is not, “Ibzan had thirty sons and thirty daughters as a faithful husband to one woman and he taught them the ways of the Lord...”

It’s not, “Elon judged and broke down the altars to false gods and restored Israel to seeking God...”

No, the scant details of their lives paint a much more tragic… spiritually hollow picture.

What pattern are you leaving for the next generation?

1) A Pattern of Comfort-Seeking? (12:8-13:1)

I believe that’s what we see in these three Judges… three types of comfort-seeking as opposed to seeking the Lord.

For Ibzan - his priority was Relational Comfort… and that had a great impact on the next generation of his family.

We can see that his goal was not being a loving dad to his kids or a loving husband to his wife… he had SIXTY kids, which means probably MANY wives…

No, instead, his wives... or concubines... were tools to get more kids… .

and his kids were his bargaining chips: he used their marriages as ways to secure alliances with other clans in Israel, and perhaps among the Canaanites.

Which probably speaks to the fracturing of Israelite society at this point… the clans didn’t have good relations, and so marital treaties were needed.

The society as a whole is breaking down… mainly because they are adopting pagan family values.

But through these sixty marriages, we can see that Ibzan placed a high value on his own relational comfort… he used the people around him to feel relationally at rest.

And that created a pattern for the next generation.

Their marriages were transactional… what’s in it for me and my clan?

When you read a short sentence like that, do you ever think about how that affects those kids and their relationships?

Now we might think, “How primitive! I would NEVER arrange marriages for my kids for personal gain!”

That’s not exactly a common practice today… but we can teach the next generation to approach relationships in a "what’s in it for me” kind of way...

People often encourage the next generation to pursue relational comfort as a highest value. They’ll say things like:

“Only allow people around you who are going to fill your tank and help you chase after your dreams.” Do you hear how self-centered that is?

“It doesn’t matter who you date or marry… it doesn’t matter if they help you follow Jesus or not… as long as they make you happy.”

“I know that group of friends is a bad influence on my child, but I don’t want my kid to be some kind of social outcast… I want them to fit in!”

Do you ever see those values come out as we interact with the next generation?

Often, relational comfort is a means to get other kinds of comfort such as material comforts or status comforts… that’s what we see in the next two judges...

Elon seems to be remembered for his Material Comfort

Now where do I get that?

All that we know is that Elon is buried in a place called “Aijalon” in the land of Zebulun.

Now Aijalon, in the oldest Hebrew forms, appears as the exact same word as his name, “Elon.” Scholars think that this piece of land was named after him.

So the only information we get about this Judge is that he is buried at a place that is likely named after him.

Now LAND in that culture, was the supreme material possession.

To have land named after you means that you are well-off… you had posterity. You had something to leave the next generation.

And so we don’t know much about Elon or his family… the only thing God wants us to know is that his posterity is in the name of his land.

He had material comfort… his sense of “rest” came from the fact that he could die and be buried with his name on his possession.

So often, the pattern we leave the next generation is a life lived to secure “material comfort.”

We ourselves live for material comfort and think that’s the best thing that we can leave the next generation.

How many dads neglect their kids’ discipleship so that they can work more hours and give their kids more material comfort?

How often do we MODEL for our kids and grandkids that the highest value is to acquire and enjoy MORE… more toys, more stuff, more property, more vacations, more paid time off… just more more more...

Often to the neglect of the things of the Lord: being generous with what God has given us… worshiping with his people on Sundays… building a habit of personal evangelism… prioritizing biblical community.

All of those things get pushed to the margins in the relentless pursuit of material comfort.

And then we join our voice with the culture and emphasize to kids: “Do good in school so that you can get a good job and buy a nice house and drive a nice car and have whatever else you want!”

Or, “Play lots of sports so you can get a scholarship and go to college and then all that other stuff will come...”

Whatever happened to emphasizing what God emphasizes??? Learn to pick up your cross and follow Jesus. Learn to love radically. Learn to show hospitality and generosity. Learn to care for the outcast and the poor.

And listen: there’s nothing wrong with doing well in school or getting a good job or buying a nice home.

But when those things become our highest goal… well… then the only legacy left to tell is that we had a piece of land named after us where they could bury our dead body.

That’s all there is to say about Elon.

Now a lot of times relational comforts and material comforts are used to secure status comfort...

Abdon seems to have used his time as judge to pursue Status Comfort .

He is remembered for his forty sons and thirty grandsons (which would be status in itself)… and they rode on seventy donkeys.

Now a donkey doesn’t sound like much, but like David mentioned last week, these were not just pack mules or petting zoo attractions… they were royal status symbols of peace and prosperity.

You could think of these donkeys as the high-class government vehicle of the day… Today, you would say they rode in 70 Suburban Limousines.

SURELY THIS was a “successful” man with “successful” kids and grandkids… right???

I mean, they had STATUS! Everyone could see their comfort and security!

What a good patriarch for what he left the next generation! Right? Or wrong?

We can often tell that we are pursuing status comfort by what we celebrate in the next generation:

We LOVE to celebrate when our kids do something that makes them local-famous in the Advertiser or Local News Station.

We celebrate when they make a name for themselves in the sports world… or in whatever field they are good at.

We celebrate when they are at the top of their class or graduating with honors.

And listen: I’m not telling you not to encourage your kids in their hard work and the pursuit of the ways God has gifted them:

But let’s make sure the LOUDEST celebration we give is when they follow Jesus. When they embrace servanthood. When they rely on the Spirit and demonstrate character.

That’s what makes heaven rejoice… is it what makes YOU rejoice?

Because for Ibzan, Elon, and Abdon… all of this comfort was a temporary illusion.

A very interesting shift has happened in the writing of the book of Judges. It almost goes without perception.

It actually changed after the narrator recorded the life and death of Gideon.

Up and through Gideon, we read that the land had “rest” for “x” number of years. There was legitimate period of peace that the Lord provided throughout the land of Israel.

After Gideon, as wickedness increases exponentially, the formula changes: no longer are we told about the land having rest… Now we are simply told that the judge reigned for "x" years.

True, God-given Rest is gone. Worldly comforts are all that remain.

Here’s the principle: When we leave the next generation with a pattern of comfort-seeking, we deprive them of true, God-given rest.

When we encourage them to pursue worldly, me-centered relationships, we end up hiding the joy of relationship with God and human relationships according to his design.

When we elevate the pursuit of material comforts, we end up burying the infinitely superior beauty of the treasure of heaven.

When we send them chasing after earthly status, we encourage them to seek the position that Jesus says is LEAST in the Kingdom of heaven (if it finds any home there at all).

The next generation needs more than wordly comfort-seeking: they need the joys of heaven.

All this comfort during the reign of these three judges was a temporary illusion…

They lived… and they died.

And we learn in 13:1 that the people continued to do evil in the sight of the Lord. And the Lord continued to give them consequences in the form of oppressors.

Read 13:1-15

Chapter 13 indicates a deeper plunge into the cycle of rebellion and rescue… when you are reading narrative (stories) in the Bible, it’s helpful to look for patterns… and then variations on that pattern. It’s often part of how the author makes his point.

So after verse 1 (Israel did evil, God gave them into the hands of an oppressor)… after that, we would expect to read about how Israel cried out to the Lord.

But the cry never comes. Israel is so far gone that they don’t even see the Lord as the source of their consequences or rescue.

Even more, in every cycle prior to this, the Lord raises up a deliverer from a person who is already born… already part of Israelite culture… but here, a birth story replaces that part.

Israel is beyond crying out… and the Lord cannot find a man among them whom he can use…

So it’s almost as if, from the readers perspective, we might think, “OK… what if we try raising up a deliverer from the womb. And lets set him apart from the moment of conception… maybe then we can find a holy deliverer.

But we will see that even when the deliverer is identified from birth… and ritually consecrated or set apart... he will still massively fail.

God is showing us that a mere man is an insufficient Savior.

And that's because every child born of Adam… born of the seed of man… is born with a sin nature...

And every child is born into a world FILLED with sin that arouses their temptation.

This deliverer is no different. He will be born with a rebellious sin nature… and he’s born into a home with some serious confusion.

And THAT’S going to contribute to his own downfall.

What pattern are you leaving the next generation? Is it...

2) A Pattern of Confusion? (13:2-14)

Explain: Manoah is filled with confusion about God… confusion about the order of his home… confusion about God’s word… confusion.

He’s no different than his culture… in fact, he’s from the Tribe of Dan, which is portrayed THOROUGHLY CORRUPT throughout the book. He clearly does not know the Lord.

Meanwhile his wife is never named…

It’s a statement of her obscurity…

It’s possibly even a statement of her value in Manoah’s eyes…

You see, to be barren in that culture carried a great deal of shame… it was like you were less than human.

Tragically, sometimes, infertility today can also cause a great deal of shame that it does not need to carry.

Is it painful? Absolutely! Should it be shameful? Absolutely NOT!

And let me just say here on Mother’s day… I am so sensitive to that fact...

This is a day that is often SO HARD on couples facing infertility or who have lost kids at any time from conception and beyond…

...because they see Motherhood being celebrated and they feel left out… and they feel obscure.

But let this story encourage you today: The Lord sees you when your empty hands make you feel obscure or cast off.

Even though you may FEEL nameless in your sorrow, the Lord sees you and he has good purposes for you.

And I can’t promise that what happened to Manoah’s wife will happen to you… I can’t say that the Lord will give you a child...

but I can say that the Lord wants to meet you. He wants to talk to you. He wants to show compassion to you. He wants to be enough for you today.

v. 3 - The angel of the Lord appeared to Manoah’s unnamed wife… when no one else saw her, the Lord saw her… and he consistently appears to HER instead of Manoah.

She seems to understand what Manoah does not… she’s the spiritually perceptive one.

In this chapter, like many chapters in this book before, we have something of a celebration of the value of women, especially in a society that is totally confused about the roles of men and women.

First, the woman understands the order of the home: Manoah does not.

Both times, the Angel of the Lord appears to her without her husband… which in some ways subverts the order of the home...

But instead of getting proud about that, she goes straight to her husband both times. She submits herself to him.

And yet the very fact that the Angel of the Lord does NOT appear to Manoah… not once, but TWICE… suggests his lack of spiritual perception and leadership.

SHE is something closer to a godly woman… no matter WHAT Manoah and society think about her in her barren obscurity…

HE, on the other hand, is an arrogant man who does not know how to handle his leadership of the home.

Instead of listening to his wife in humility, he becomes jealous that his wife received a revelation…

Even the way he talks to the Angel of the Lord reveals some impatience with him... and all throughout the story he demonstrates a spiritual famine in his heart.

Confusion about the order of the home.

Second, The woman understands obedience to the Lord's command: Manoah does not.

The first time the Angel of the Lord speaks to her, she goes back and reports the command almost word for word.

Manoah, on the other hand, doesn’t accept any of it: he asks the Lord to “teach us.”

First of all, Manoah should have understood EXACTLY what the Lord was telling her to do...

In the book of Numbers chapter 6, it describes in detail what the Nazarite vow entailed.

And so if he had just read his Bible he wouldn’t need any further teaching.

But he probably HASN’T read his Bible… and he’s not willing to listen to his wife and simply obey the Lord… and so he demands more.

Ultimately, there was nothing more to say… the Angel of the Lord gave every detail.

That’s confirmed when the Angel of the Lord speaks to him and tells him nothing new.

But that’s part of the problem… Manoah is bent on getting from the Lord that which he does not need.

The woman understands the limit of the Lord's revelation: Manoah does not.

Notice: Manoah asks, “what will be his manner of life and what is his mission.”

According to Daniel Block, the word for “manner of life” implies that he wants some special oracle from the Lord.

It’s the same word used for Deborah’s prophecies that she used to give when she settled Israel’s disputes.

So Manoah wants some secret knowledge about this child or from this child.

But the Lord has told Manoah’s wife all she needs to know: the child, from the point of conception, is to be set apart as Holy to the Lord.

He is going to begin to save Israel from the hand of the Philistines.

That’s all that Manoah needs to know to trust God.

He doesn’t need to know how… he doesn’t need to know when… he only needs what the Lord has already given him.

And that’s so instructive to us…

We only need to know what God has revealed. We simply need to trust.

And then out of that trust, we simply need to obey.

And that starts by obeying God’s order in the home.

Whenever we get off of God’s design for the home, confusion is the certain result.

Men, throughout the Bible, we are called to lead.

And not lead like the world leads… puffing up our chest and citing our title as leader...

We lead like Jesus… laying down your life… nourishing and cherishing your wives and kids… putting the word of God before them and leading in the way of Jesus.

Women, throughout the Bible, you are called to help and submit.

And that’s not some less-valuable role.

The Holy Spirit is called “helper,” and does only what the Father and Son desire, and he is completely equal in his Deity to the Father and Son...

So if the title Helper is good enough for him, I think you can find confidence in it for you.

You see, you aren’t just helping for the sake of helping… You are helping to bring to light God’s purposes for your family. Your role is CRITICAL to passing on the Lord’s ways to the next generation.

Take Manoah’s wife as an example.

As a Spiritually-receptive vessel, she helped her husband see what the Lord revealed and we will see in a few verses that she also helped him understand the Lord’s grace.

Here’s the thing: if we refuse to submit to the Lord’s design for our household and the church, the result will be confusion for the next generation.

There is MASSIVE CONFUSION in our society about what makes a man… what makes a woman… what makes a marriage… what makes good parenting...

Our homes must reveal God’s pattern.

And if you are feeling the weight of this, that’s good… because you need to let that weight drive you to this reality: the Lord’s work in Israel was not dependent on Manoah or his wife or even their son.

The LORD was the deliverer.

And this son of theirs wouldn’t be able to finish the job even against the Philistines… that enemy would plague them until the coming of King David.

And ultimately their son would be a sinful, insufficient savior because he was a mere human.

But the LORD is sufficient…

And just like he told a barren woman, “You will conceive and bear a son… and he shall begin to save Israel from the hand of the Philistines,”

In similar fashion, the Lord told a virgin woman, “You will conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Jesus” [which means “the LORD saves”]

And to Joseph he also appeared, “She will bear a son and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

That Savior… that SON… is your only hope to be freed from the confusion of your sin.

He is your only hope for your family.

He is your only hope for the next generation.

Turn and trust him.

The salvation of the next generation is not based on our perfection of getting our priorities or our household order right… it’s dependent on Jesus.

And the goal of setting our household priorities and pursuing the right order of the home is so that we can lift up Jesus as the Savior we all need.

The next generation needs to see their Savior. Order your home accordingly.

Will we leave them a pattern that helps them see him?

Will we leave them with...

3) A Pattern of Consecration? (13:15-23)

Consecration means to set something apart as Holy… and that’s what Manoah and his wife were SUPPOSED to do for their son… that’s what the Nazarite vow was all about… dedication… consecration... to the Lord.

But first they needed to understand the Lord who called them.

Read 13:15-23

Leaving the next generation with a pattern of consecration starts with US getting a right view of God and viewing him as holy…

If Manoah and his wife are going to consecrate their son, they need to correct their view of God.

That would involve four shifts in their thinking. First, Manoah needed to get a vision of...

Submission to God instead of manipulation for blessing (v. 15-16a)

Manoah says, “Let me detain you… let me prepare a young goat for you.”

This was an act that would put Manoah in the position of benefactor... and the Angel of the Lord in the position of the beneficiary.

If Manoah shows this kindness, the Angel of the Lord is in his debt.

That’s why the Angel of the Lord won’t accept it… “I won’t eat your food.”

If we are going to be consecrated for the Lord, we must see that HE is the benefactor and WE are the beneficiary.

HE is the one in control and cannot be manipulated.

Now there’s a second reason Manoah could have offered this goat… it could have been a sacrifice of worship.

And that would be equally bad because he doesn’t know that this is the Angel of the Lord.

He’s willing to worship without a clear understanding of WHO he is worshiping.

But consecration requires...

Worship with understanding instead of vague spirituality (v. 16:b-18)

If God is a HOLY God, and we are going to be set apart as holy for him, then we CANNOT worship just anything that sounds like it is God.

We must worship the One we KNOW.

Manoah goes on to ask his name. He does not know who he’s talking to.

Vague spirituality runs rampant in our society… we celebrate Presidential Prayer breakfasts where politicians who know nothing of God 364 days of the year pray to a vague concept of God that could equally be Allah as it is Jesus.

We love when our country radio stations celebrate at the altar of “God and country”… when the god of our country is really just Generic Deism and the American Dream (and it always has been).

Vague spirituality says, “I believe in Jesus,” but knows little about who he is or what he accomplished on the cross.

Church, we must leave the next generation with something better than that.

We must teach them the God who we worship.

They need to know his attributes. They need to see who he is and what he has done.

And they must understand how he differs form every counterfeit god.

Manoah doesn’t know who he’s dealing with… but he’s about to.

The Angel of the Lord tells him to make an offering to YHWH. And so Manoah does.

And the Angel of the Lord goes up in the smoke of the offering.

Now this is such a beautiful moment… because remember, the Angel of the Lord is likely a manifestation of the Second Person of the Trinity… the Son of God.

And here, the Son of God goes up in the smoke of a sacrifice that is accepted by God, demonstrating his grace to Manoah and his wife.

What a beautiful foreshadowing of the gospel where the Son of God made the final atoning sacrifice and was accepted by God to show his grace to all of us.

But before Manoah understands this grace, his first response is appropriately...

Reverent Fear instead of flippant interaction (v. 19-22)

So far, Manoah talked to this Angel like HE was in charge… NOW he realizes that he was talking to God himself.

He and his wife fall on their faces, and he says, “We shall surely die, for we have seen God.”

And that’s partially true… the Bible says that no one can see God and live. Except that God would accept a sacrifice to atone for their sin and welcome them in.

Manoah’s flippancy is silenced with the revelation of who God is. This is the HOLY GOD.

That’s consecration. Our words… our responses… are shaped by the supreme holiness and sheer power of our God.

It’s only when we come to FEAR the Lord... that we can truly understand his GRACE.

Manoah is sure that he’s a dead man. But his wife again shows her spiritual perception by saying, “Look… he accepted our offering. And he told us he has a plan for us… we’re not going to die!”

And so here’s the last thing we learn about the pattern of consecration: it’s about...

Dependence on Grace, instead of dependence on performance (v. 23)

As long as we are looking over our shoulder at the Lord wondering when he’s going to kill us for messing up, we will not live a truly consecrated life.

We cannot ultimately consecrate ourselves. Only God in his grace can truly consecrate us.

Only HE can direct the sacrifice that atones for our sin.

Only HE can place his calling upon our lives.

And we must depend on HIM.

Their calling for SURE was not about them and how much they could earn it or maintain it… it as about the Lord.

God’s deliverance through their son was not about how strong he was, but about how strong God was.

We see that in these final two verses:

[Read v. 24-25]

The LORD blessed him… the Spirit of the Lord was upon him.

Samson is one of those characters that has been SO misunderstood in our Sunday school memories...

We think its about his long hair and big muscles… as if Fabio… or Chris Hemsworth (who plays Thor)... would be a sufficient savior...

But really it’s about the Lord’s favor… and the Spirit of the Lord at work to bring the rescue.

We will see next week that’s something that neither Samson nor his parents really understood. They made it all about Samson too...

Which is why a pattern of Consecration needs this last pattern to accompany it...

Will you leave the next generation with....

4) A Pattern of Consistency (13:24-25; ch. 14-16)

Consecration… dedication… is nothing without consistency.

It’s interesting… they name him Samson, which means “Little Sun,” and is likely related to the pagan Sun God, “Shemesh.”

Not only that, we will see in chapters 14-16 that Samson's father and mother only partially instruct him about the importance of his Nazarite vow...

They are not certainly not “careful” as the angel had commanded the woman...

They responded inconsistently throughout Samson’s life.

Manoah especially gives into his son's indulgence.

They had come to know the Lord’s power and grace… but they failed to consistently apply it.

And their son follows in their pattern.

He is self-indulgent… self-centered… only concerned for his own glory.

He is anything but consecrated.

The next generation needs our consistency.

It’s one thing to SAY that we have seen God… it’s one thing to taste his grace...

It’s another thing to live in light of that fact.

If we say we worship Jesus, but point our children to the gods of this world, we can expect that they will not understand how to truly follow Jesus.

Ultimately, we need to consistently point away from ourselves and rely on the greater deliverer if we are going to see the cycles of sin broken from generation to generation.

The next generation NEEDS a pattern of consecration and consistency throughout…

But even more, all of our children need a greater deliverer.

The hope for the current generation AND the next generation is an encounter with the Angel of the Lord: we need the Son of God to visit us again and again… we need to abide in him.

What steps do you need to take… even this week... to create consistent patterns of consecration for the next generation?

Maybe you need to forsake patterns of comfort-seeking, and replace them with patterns of disciple-making.

Singles and those of you who do not have kids… you can have a GREAT opportunity here! You have SO MUCH to offer the next generation as you consecrate your heart and your time and your energy to the Lord.

Our teens would SO benefit from being discipled by you!

Parents, grandparents… what does it look like to order your home and your families in a way that is wholly devoted to the Lord?

What does that look like in your finances? In what you do with your time that you are together? In what you prioritize in your family calendar? What does that look like in your consistency in gathering with God’s people?

Maybe you need to get rid of the patterns of confusion that are in your home...

Husbands… the Lord is calling you to step and lead your home in these things as you rely on him.

Wives… the Lord is calling you to help your household to see God’s purposes for you as you seek him.

Make it personal… make it specific… what steps do you need to take… even this week… to create consistent patterns of consecration for the next generation?

Let’s pray and consecrate our hearts to the Lord right now.

Guided prayer...

Pray for your own heart… that you would be consecrated to the Lord… that you would live a holy life for him. That you would be consistent in your walk with him.

Pray for your own families… and/or the families of our church....

And then if you are near someone who is under the age of 25, would you just stop and say a prayer for them? Pray that they would see the Lord and put their faith in him and be filled with his Spirit.