Preparing the Next Generation

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Intro

Text - Psalm 145.4
Psalm 145:4 NKJV
4 One generation shall praise Your works to another, And shall declare Your mighty acts.
Title - Preparing the Next Generation

Background

Growing old is a reality of life on earth
living things grow old
one generation passes away to be replaced by a new generation
Church people grow old
the generation of those who started a local congregation will soon be gone
Is the next generation ready for the work of God?
Our congregation is growing old
You are the next generation of our church
are you aware of it?
are you prepared for what’s to come?
what will you do with what’s left to your care?
will you improve them?
will you lose them?

The future is built “today”

how you will live tomorrow is determined by what you are doing today
Israel in the wilderness learned the importance of today the hard way
Psalm 95:7–11 NKJV
7 For He is our God, And we are the people of His pasture, And the sheep of His hand. Today, if you will hear His voice: 8 “Do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion, As in the day of trial in the wilderness, 9 When your fathers tested Me; They tried Me, though they saw My work. 10 For forty years I was grieved with that generation, And said, ‘It is a people who go astray in their hearts, And they do not know My ways.’ 11 So I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest.’ ”
the present situation does not always guarantee the future
Israel learned this after the days of Joshua
Judges 2:8–10 NKJV
8 Now Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died when he was one hundred and ten years old. 9 And they buried him within the border of his inheritance at Timnath Heres, in the mountains of Ephraim, on the north side of Mount Gaash. 10 When all that generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation arose after them who did not know the Lord nor the work which He had done for Israel.
the next generation is built up and prepared today
Psalm 145:4 NKJV
4 One generation shall praise Your works to another, And shall declare Your mighty acts.
Isaiah 38:19 NKJV
19 The living, the living man, he shall praise You, As I do this day; The father shall make known Your truth to the children.

Your time is coming

How does the next generation prepare for their time?
Know your heritage!
Deuteronomy 4:9–10 NKJV
9 Only take heed to yourself, and diligently keep yourself, lest you forget the things your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. And teach them to your children and your grandchildren, 10 especially concerning the day you stood before the Lord your God in Horeb, when the Lord said to me, ‘Gather the people to Me, and I will let them hear My words, that they may learn to fear Me all the days they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children.’
who are your people?
where did they come from?
what happened to them in the past?
where did they fail? succeed?
who is their God?
what do they believe?
what has God done in their time?
Psalm 78:1–8 NKJV
1 Give ear, O my people, to my law; Incline your ears to the words of my mouth. 2 I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings of old, 3 Which we have heard and known, And our fathers have told us. 4 We will not hide them from their children, Telling to the generation to come the praises of the Lord, And His strength and His wonderful works that He has done. 5 For He established a testimony in Jacob, And appointed a law in Israel, Which He commanded our fathers, That they should make them known to their children; 6 That the generation to come might know them, The children who would be born, That they may arise and declare them to their children, 7 That they may set their hope in God, And not forget the works of God, But keep His commandments; 8 And may not be like their fathers, A stubborn and rebellious generation, A generation that did not set its heart aright, And whose spirit was not faithful to God.
Build you character today
Be faithful today
Be patient today
Participate in the life of the church today
learn the hard works today
be aware of what’s happening today
Know your gifts and calling today
are you a man or woman?
are you single or married?
what are you empowered to do today?
Listen to what God is saying to you today
Hebrews 3:12–15 NKJV
12 Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; 13 but exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end, 15 while it is said: “Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”
Learn the hard works today
don’t put off till tomorrow what you can do today
Ecclesiastes 12:1–6 NKJV
1 Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth, Before the difficult days come, And the years draw near when you say, “I have no pleasure in them”: 2 While the sun and the light, The moon and the stars, Are not darkened, And the clouds do not return after the rain; 3 In the day when the keepers of the house tremble, And the strong men bow down; When the grinders cease because they are few, And those that look through the windows grow dim; 4 When the doors are shut in the streets, And the sound of grinding is low; When one rises up at the sound of a bird, And all the daughters of music are brought low. 5 Also they are afraid of height, And of terrors in the way; When the almond tree blossoms, The grasshopper is a burden, And desire fails. For man goes to his eternal home, And the mourners go about the streets. 6 Remember your Creator before the silver cord is loosed, Or the golden bowl is broken, Or the pitcher shattered at the fountain, Or the wheel broken at the well.
Habakkuk 2:2–4 NKJV
2 Then the Lord answered me and said: “Write the vision And make it plain on tablets, That he may run who reads it. 3 For the vision is yet for an appointed time; But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; Because it will surely come, It will not tarry. 4 “Behold the proud, His soul is not upright in him; But the just shall live by his faith.

Conclusion

Begin to set your mind for tomorrow, today.
There is no other way to be ready.
what will you do now that you have heard these words?
when will you give your lives to the service of God?
is there a better life than serving God?
is there a better time than today?
Song - Kailan Pa
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