Tell the Coming Generation | Psalm 78:1-8

Scripture reading

Here’s a statement that I’ve been pondering all week:

“No one has more influence in your child’s life than you.”

Here’s why this statement matters: [Jars illustration]

There are 168 hours in a week.

1 ball represents the one hour or so your child is at church each week. Very important hour

167 remaining hours each week - “No one has more influence in your child’s life.”

Some of you thinking, “I don’t have any kids.” This message is also for you. “It takes a village.” Parents and the church need to work together to see students grow up to know and love Jesus.”

Our mission: Investing in people to experience Christ’s transforming power together.

The best place to start investing in people is in our own children.

Where does this idea of investing in our children comes from?

Psalm 78:3-4 “things that we have heard and known, that our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation...” [sermon title]

I want to share with you two observations from this morning’s text.

Parents are Commissioned With the Task of Passing the Torch of Faith to Their Children

Psalm 78 makes it clear that parents are the ones commissioned with the the task of passing of the torch of faith to their children.

V.3, What our parents have told us.

V.4, We will share it to the coming generation.

V.5, God commanded our parents to teach to their children.”

V.6 “That these children will teach their children.”

You can see a total of four generations: grandparents, parents, children and grandchildren.

What are we supposed to pass on to our children? Tell the coming generation the works & the word of God

V. 7, states that the next generation is at risk of forgetting the works of God and the Word of God. Terms for “remember” and “forget” run through the psalm (Ps. 78:7, 11, 35, 42, ESVSB)

Tell them about the works of God. V.4, “Tell the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might and the wonders that he has done.”

Exodus 13:8, God says, “[When you practice the feast of Passover,] You shall tell your son on that day, ‘It is because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt.’”

Tell them about the Word of God. V.5, “He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel.”

Deuteronomy 6:6-7 “And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.”

Ephesians 6:4 “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”

How have previous generations drop the torch? The answer is found in v.4: by hiding the works of God and the Word of God to the coming generation.

I found it very interesting that Asaph says in v.4, “We will not hide them from their children.”

Notice it doesn’t say, “our children” which would be correct to say.

Instead it says, “what my parents taught me, I will not hide them from their children, that is their grandchildren.”

Why? Because they are also their descendants. We have a responsibility not only to the upcoming generation, but also to the generation that has gone before us: our parents and grandparents.

A little girl called out, “Mommy, you know that vase in the china cabinet - the one one that’s been handed down from generation to generation?

Yes, dear, I know which one you mean, what about it?

"Well, Mommy, I’m sorry, but this generation just dropped it!"

Now some earthly possessions have sentimental value, and to break them is great loss, but how much more tragic it would be for a new generation to "drop it" spiritually - to fail to pass along the Godly heritage they have received! That would be an eternal loss.

The Goal is to Raise a Generation of Committed Followers of Jesus

V.7 reveals reveals the why of the passing of the torch of faith.

V.7 begins by stating, “so that.” As a result… The goal is...

“So that they should set their hope in God.” We are to tell the coming generation about the works & the word of God not simply for the sake of information but for the sake of transformation.

Three areas of transformation:

1. They know God in their minds

V.7 speaks of the importance of passing the torch to our children so that they don’t forget the works of God. They way for children to know about God and his works is through his Word, the Bible.

The world wants to teach and disciple our children through their lies.

Bible Thinker Podcast: 7 Lies your kids will believe unless you do something (w/Elizabeth Urbanowicz)

They are man- centered. (True north activity)

If I feel it, it must be true

Follow your heart

Love is affirming everything I feel

Faith is the opposite of knowledge

Humans are the product of blind, unguided, evolution

You are the one you’ve been waiting for

A good God wouldn’t judge.

Another area of transformation is that

2. They obey God in their lives

The last sentence in v.7 speaks of the importance of our children to keep God’s commandments.

3 John 4 “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.”

A final area of transformation:

3. They love God with all of their heart.

V.8 states (NLT), Then [the coming generation] will not be like their ancestors— stubborn, rebellious, and unfaithful, refusing to give their hearts to God.”

This a reference to the generation of Israelites in the dessert. They were a generation whose hearts were marked by unbelief and hardness of heart.

We don’t want that for our children. We want to see a generation that believes that God is good and trustworthy. Amen?

What’s the big takeaway this morning?

Main Idea: Parents, God has entrusted you with the wonderful task of raising committed followers of Jesus because no one has more influence in your child’s life than you.

Conclusion: Any parent here feels overwhelmed with the task? I have some encouraging news.

Keeping the Faith, (First Things Magazine)

Christian Smith | Sociology Professor | University of Notre Dame

Author: Handing Down the Faith: How Parents Pass Their Religion on to the Next Generation

The good news is that, among all possible influences, parents exert far and away the greatest influence on their children’s religious outcomes.

So, what can committed, religious parents do to increase their chances of raising children who, as young adults, believe and practice some version of their religion? The first answer is simply to be themselves: ­believe and ­practice their own religion ­genuinely and faithfully. Children are not fooled by performances. They see ­reality. And when that reality is authentic and life-giving, they just may be attracted to something similar.

A second trait of parents who successfully pass on religious faith and practice to their children is that, as a normal part of family life during the week, they talk with their children about religious things—what they believe and practice, what it means and implies, and why it matters to them.

Religious Channeling. The idea is that parents channel their children into [activities] and relationships that reinforce (not replace) their more direct parental influence. (MEFC comes alongside, AWANA, Bridge 56, Thrive, Sunday School, Winter Wipe Out).

It bears remembering that nothing about this process is guaranteed. Life is complicated, and children are finally the agents of their own development. Parents do have a major influence on their children religiously, but that influence is never complete, controlling, or surefire. What parents can do—really, all they can do—is practice in their own lives the faith they hope their children will embrace; build warm, authoritative relationships with their children; be mindful and intentional about steering children into relationships and activities that can help personalize religion internally; and then pray and hope that the divine forces in which they believe will lead their children into lives of truth, goodness, and beauty.

Main Idea: Parents, God has entrusted you with the wonderful task of raising committed followers of Jesus because no one has more influence in your child’s life than you.