FBCPS
Sermons, teachings, and podcasts from First Baptist Church in Powder Springs, Georgia.
FBCPS
How to Disciple the Next Generation | Luke 24:44-47
Parenting chaos aside, we dive deep into the essential task of discipling the next generation. With the world getting more complex by the day, we emphasize that it's not just a parental duty but a collective responsibility of all believers. By exploring the biblical foundation for discipleship, we offer practical strategies and resources for parents to teach their children about Jesus. From discussing Luke's account of the Great Commission to highlighting Bible resources like The Jesus Storybook Bible, we underscore the importance of integrating God's word into everyday life.
Finally, we shift our focus to the critical role of the church in guiding the next generation toward a relationship with Jesus. From organizing youth camps to partnering with community organizations, we stress the importance of preaching the gospel through youth activities. We also extend an invitation to those feeling spiritually empty to consider giving their life to Jesus, guiding them with a heartfelt prayer. Whether you're a parent, a ministry partner, or someone seeking spiritual guidance, this episode offers valuable insights and inspiration for everyone.
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Thank you for being here this morning, everyone who's here, everyone who is watching online. Would you put your hands together for our worship team, our production team? Wilbert does such a great job leading our worship team, grayson Barton does a great job leading our production team, and we are fired up about KVX this week because this is our opportunity just to have in so many children from our community. From what I understand, we're about 50% more in registrations this time this year than we were this time last year. So we had about 90 or so registered last year around this time. We've got around 130, 140 this year. So it's just amazing what God is doing year over year. We're so thankful, as we have many KVX families who are with us today, that maybe you're not yet a member or a part of our church. We pray that you will, but we want you to be where God wants you to be. But maybe you're here today as our special guest. We want to give you a special welcome, a special invite. We truly believe that it's going to be a blessed week and that God wants to change your child's life by his power. So we're just super thankful. We're super excited. I do want to recognize just a few things, some amazing things that God is doing in our church. First of all, I want to ask Cindy Smith just to come and just stand right here front and center If she would. Y'all give Cindy a big round of applause and she'll be right here. And Cindy, as you know, she's been our kids' ministry director and so, because the ministry has grown so much, she came to me and she said it's a lot, pastor Chip, it's a lot. And so she said here's what I'd like to do. She said I would like to just kind of step back and focus on the preschool and then help whoever it is that God's going to call to be our elementary directors, help them to learn the ministry and all of that. And so we know that God has used Cindy in a great way, and so she is going to now be leading our preschool ministry, and so we're super thankful for that. And Evan and Anna Lewis are going to be leading our elementary ministry. So Evan and Anna come on up. So we are super thankful for that. And Evan and Anna Lewis are going to be leading our elementary ministry. So Evan and Anna come on up. So we are super thankful for them and as they have been a huge part already under Cindy as a part of our kids' ministry, and so they'll be leading our elementary. We are just incredibly thankful for the Lord calling them and I'm so excited about these three. Within the Godhead there's three. Within the kids ministry, there's three, and so I'm so thankful about these three that are going to be leading the next generation for the gospel of Jesus. We praise the Lord.
Speaker 1:Also, I want you to know where is Nick and Laura Mendenhall? Are they here? Nick and Laura, come on up. Nick and Laura there, she is Great. Nick and Laura there, she is Great. Y'all. Come on up here, stand on the right side of Cindy Y'all can stand in the middle over here. And Nick and Laura, they are volunteering to now lead our young adults ministry. Would you put your hands together for Nick and Laura Mendenhall? We are so thankful for them and we just wanna give some more attention, some more focus to our 18 to 29 year olds 18 to 29. So, if that's you, if you're here, or if you know someone that is looking for a place to land to be a part of a ministry, we have a brand new young adults ministry. It's made up of weekly groups and a monthly gathering. So there's a Nick and Laura now lead a 9.30 group here every single Sunday and Clay Brown leads a college group at 9.30. Evan and Anna lead a group for young adults as well, on Thursday nights at 6.30. And then they're all gonna come together monthly. Our next monthly gathering is gonna be June 20th Thursday, june 20th, at 6.30, out behind the CLC here, and it's gonna be a young adults cookout. So we're super thankful for what the Lord is doing in our young adults ministry.
Speaker 1:I wanna introduce you to one more person, luke Brandl. Come on up here. This is Luke Brandl. Put your hands together for Luke. I've known Luke Brandl, the gentle giant, for about five years now and Luke was a part of my previous church and he is coming here to be our summer intern for eight weeks and so he's going to be in local missions and city evangelism. He was one of our teenagers there. He turns 21 this month. He's a student at Liberty University, about to go into his third year, I believe, at Liberty, and he's studying to be a pastor at Liberty. So we're super thankful. Would you put your hands together for Luke and Nick and Laura and Cindy and Evan and Anna and all that God is doing. We are so incredibly thankful. Y'all can have a seat. Unless you want to stand here the whole sermon, that's fine too. Whatever it is that you would like to do, all right, I want you to open up your Bibles to Luke, chapter 24. Luke, chapter 24.
Speaker 1:First of all, I just want to say thank you for being such a great host of receiving one of my good friends last week, john Dickerson. My friend, my twin, my lookalike, my doppelganger, john Dickerson. So it was like I never left, I know, but I'm so thankful. In fact, john listens every single week. So would you mind just thanking John right now and thanking God for the way that he used John? Put your hands together, as he's gonna be listening and watching and all of that.
Speaker 1:And thank you for your grace as we are away, as we had our third, eliana Joy Dean. She was born Monday May 20th. She was nine pounds, nine ounces, 20 inches long. We make big babies, I guess, and so just pray for my wife is all I can say. Pray for my wife. We just had, just this past Monday, we had her one-week doctor's visit and they said she was the first baby that they ever had in 15 years of their practice that had made up and surpassed their birth weight in one week. And I said that's because my wife is a protein shake dispenser. That's just what she does. Look at our son. And so we're just so thankful for what God is doing in our life. I kind of feel like we've gone from having two kids to I have two kids and my wife has a baby, and it's kind of divide and get conquered. But pray for my wife, because having a baby is like having 10 kids, amen.
Speaker 1:And so Michelle and Eliana are at home today as they're just continuing to recover and all of that. So just continue to pray for my wife and for our baby girl and, again, just so thankful for all that God is doing, let me pray, heavenly Father, we love you. God, you're so good and, father, we just pray in Jesus' name, lord, that you would have your way this morning. God, I pray, as I believe, lord, that you have a word for every single person that is here today, that none of us are here by accident. God, you're a God who does everything by your purpose and everything is on purpose. And so, god, I pray that you would just reveal your purpose to everyone's presence here and God, we recognize your presence most. So, father, speak to our hearts, change our lives through your word, which is truth. We pray in Jesus' name. In all God's people said amen.
Speaker 1:Well, this morning I just wanna tell you a quick story about our baby girl, eliana. So she's already got a story. She's only been alive for almost two weeks. She's already got a story. And so Michelle and Eliana, they were in the hospital Monday, tuesday, wednesday. I got to go and see them. I didn't get to stay the night because I had to come back home and take care of our other two, but it was probably Thursday or Friday night, it was probably day four, day five. Michelle and Eliana had come home and it was in the evening, probably about nine o'clock.
Speaker 1:I walked into her bedroom and Michelle is just, she's conked out on the bed, she's wore out, right, no-transcript. Just to pick up this sleeping baby. You know it's our third, I know what I'm doing. Pick up this sleeping baby and just cuddle my baby and just spend a moment with my newborn baby girl, and maybe my wife will wake up and just look over and think I've hit the jackpot. Look at this man just holding my baby, my husband, my baby daddy, all this kind of stuff, right. And so I'm thinking what a great opportunity. So I pick up Eliana. She's sleeping so peacefully and she's just so amazing.
Speaker 1:My wife's asleep and Eliana, I pick her up on my arms and she just starts screaming her head off, just screaming for no reason whatsoever. Right, I'm a good dad, I know what I'm doing, and so I'm holding her and she's screaming and my wife just kind of opens one eye, like what are you doing? Right now? I'm like I'm a good dad, I'm a good husband, I got this right. So I'm holding her and as she's screaming above the screams, you can hear her start to poop. She's just pooping like crazy, okay, above the screens. And so my wife just looked at me. Now she's kind of like bug-eyed, like are you serious? And so I'm like, hey, babe, I got it, I got it. This is our third baby. Good dad, good husband, I got it.
Speaker 1:So I go and I start changing her diaper on the little changing table. And but little did I know she wasn't done pooping yet, right? And so I take her diaper off and now she's pooping on her fresh jammies and her swaddle and all that. And now my wife's just shaking her head, like you've got to be kidding me, like I've got this, I've got it. It's not my first rodeo here. So I take her diaper off and I take her jammies off and I go to change her diaper and she just pees all over the whole changing table. I mean just on everything, on everything like the new changing table cover and of stuff. And now my wife's just like, are you serious? Like she's watching this dumpster fire spiral downward right in front of her face. It's not even. It's like a movie, it's not even real life, right?
Speaker 1:And so finally I get her changed and I get everything cleaned up and I put on a fresh jammy, I put her in a fresh swaddle and I take her. And I take her bottle of freshly pumped breast milk and I start feeding Eliana and she takes it. She takes half the bottle like a dream. No noises, no, nothing. I mean it's just perfection. Why? Because I know what I'm doing. I'm a great dad, I'm a great husband. So I put her on my shoulder about half the bottle through and I start burping her like I've always done with the other two, and then she just throws up all over me, spits all over me all over herself, her new jammies, her new swaddle. My wife just says can I have her back now? Can you please just stop? Can I have her back? Yes, take her. And so, uh, she looks so cute and so, but she's already playing tricks on me. She's playing games with her dad, um.
Speaker 1:And so I just want to remind you this morning, as we have KVX that is starting tomorrow, raising up, raising the next generation, is not easy. It's hard, it's complex, it's exhausting. And even when we think about this culture and this society, this world that we're raising them up in, and we're wondering, like, how am I supposed to do it? How are we supposed to do it as a church and as so much of the world has gone the way of sin and not the way of the Savior, like, how do we do this? How do we raise, how do we disciple? The next generation is what I want to talk to you about this morning, because I believe that God gives us answers to all of our questions, that God gives us clarity into all of our confusion, and I want you to know that this is not just for parents of kids, this is not just for parents of teenagers. I want you to know that this is for all of us, because I believe that we all play a part in the next generation, but also we all play a part in discipleship. I want you to open your Bible to Luke, chapter 24.
Speaker 1:Typically, when we talk about discipleship, we think about Matthew 28, when Jesus said go into all the world, go and make disciples of all nations and baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything that I've commanded and I'm with you always, even to the end of the age. And typically when we think discipleship, we think the Great Commission, we think Matthew 28. But did you know that the Great Commission was written down a little bit differently? It's the same Great Commission but it gives us a different perspective in Luke's account of the Great Commission. And that's what I want to study with you this morning, because it's interesting to me how the Great Commission, or how to make disciples, is the last thing that Jesus said to Christians. But to be honest, we see by statistics and by research, to be honest, it's typically the last thing that Christians ever do See.
Speaker 1:Pastors aren't just called to make disciples, churches aren't just called to make disciples. The Bible actually gave discipleship to believers. The Bible actually gives. Jesus actually gave discipleship to Christians. And so what I need to remind us of here is when it comes to disciple making, when it comes to parenting, when it comes to raising up the next generation and even helping other people to understand how to follow Jesus, I just want you to know that you and I, we will never be perfect at it. So sometimes we think, because I'm not gonna be perfect at it, I'm not gonna do it, because I'm not gonna be good at it, I'm not gonna try it. But Jesus said that that is actually what he saved us. To be is to be a disciple maker, and in fact, it's not by our own effort, it's not by our own power, it's not by our own skill, but it's by the power of the Holy Spirit within us. All we do is we make ourselves available, and God is the one that makes us fruitful. It's not about perfection, it's about direction. God is not after your flawlessness, he's after your faithfulness.
Speaker 1:The word in the Bible disciple literally means you can write this down. The word disciple simply means follower, follower who is a disciple of Jesus, someone who follows Jesus. Another word for disciple is student or learner, someone who's not just learning about Jesus, but we point people to Jesus so that we can teach them how to learn directly from Jesus that relationship that they have with him in his word. And so this is about discipling the next generation. It's about discipling anyone and everyone. This is about being a disciple.
Speaker 1:What I'm trying to say is this is for you. This is for you because I believe what God has for us today is to show us this purpose that he has for our life. Because let's be honest here in this room this morning, that living in this world is a little bit confusing, right, as the world is confused about faith, the world is confused about truth, the world is confused about identity and gender and sexuality, and the world is confused about which bathroom to use. If you're confused about which bathroom to use, you're confused. Can I get an amen? That's just where we are, but it says here and it's not on the screen, but you'll see 1 Corinthians 14, verse 33, says that God is not the author of confusion, but listen, but of peace. So I want you to know that if you are worried about the next generation today, if you're worried about children in this world, teenagers in this world, college students in this world, grandchildren in this world. If you're worried about how and where the world is going, I just wanna remind you that Jesus says that he has overcome the world and that Jesus gives you peace. I wanna remind you that if you're afraid for the next generation growing up in this world, your parents were afraid for you growing up in the world that you grew up in and their parents were afraid of them, and their parents were afraid for them too, that there's always been a fear about raising the next generation in the world. But yet God orchestrated your life to who you are and where you are, right here right now, today. He has you in his hands and he has the next generation in his hands too.
Speaker 1:The Bible has promised Ephesians 3, 21,. You can write it down throughout all generations, jesus will be glorified through the church. Jesus will be glorified through the church in every single generation. Let me show you a couple things here real quick. I want to show you five quick stats about discipling the next generation. Did you know about 82% of children who regularly attend church with their parents continue to practice their faith into adulthood? Regular church attendance God gave us the church. Regular church attendance is important to the discipleship of the next generation. Secondly, when fathers attend church regularly, 66% of their children attend church as adults, and so we celebrate dads.
Speaker 1:We've got Father's Day coming up in a couple of weeks. We gave out flowers for all females for Mother's Day. What are we going to do for dads? We're going to give out a piece of bacon to every single male. Can I get an amen? We're going to have bacon stations for all of our men. So you invite dads here and they're going to get bacon at church and all God's men said amen, let's go See. They're excited about it. Ladies, it's crazy. It's crazy. I've always thought, if you get a bouquet on Mother's Day, that dad should get an edible arrangement on Father's Day. I think it's only fair. I think it's only fair.
Speaker 1:But fathers the importance of the father in the family or a father figure in the family very important. Families who practice faith together praying, reading the Bible, attending services are more likely to have children who retain their faith. So living it at home is so important. Parents who actively guide their children on media and cultural consumption have children who are more likely to uphold Christian values. In other words, don't just hand them a ticking time bomb called a cell phone. Give them wisdom, give them guardrails, give them discernment on what to guard themselves from. Grandparents who are involved in their grandchildren's religious education positively impact their grandchildren's faith. So, grandparents, you have a very important relationship with your grandchildren, with your grandchildren. Go over to your kid's house, let them go out on a date and take care of your grandchildren and just talk a lot about Jesus. Can I get an amen? All right.
Speaker 1:Next, I want to show you five verses. We're going to talk about the New Testament, luke 24. We're coming back. Let me give you five verses from the Old Testament on discipling the next generation. I want you to see that it's always been the heart of God. Genesis 17, seven. God says I will establish my covenant between me and you, your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant to be God to you and to your descendants after you. In other words, god is promising that he is going to be there for every single generation to come. He's always been there, he's always gonna be there and his covenant is going to be there for every single generation to come. He's always been there, he's always gonna be there and his covenant is going to remain.
Speaker 1:Deuteronomy 6.6,. These commandments that I give to you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them to your children. In other words, as a parent, as a grandparent, as a disciple of the next generation, your heart must be for Jesus and you just impress your heart to them in what God wants to do in their life. Joshua 24, 15,. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. In other words, discipling the next generation is a personal decision. It takes intentionality. We will serve the Lord as a family.
Speaker 1:Judges 2.10,. And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers and there arose another generation after that generation who did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel. In other words, if you don't make that personal decision, if you're not intentional, the next generation will be raised by someone other than disciples. Satan is always after the next generation. Satan wants our children to follow him and not to follow Jesus. It is possible that the next generation does not know the Lord, but it is our call as Christians, as churches, as families, to raise the next generation to know Jesus is Lord, psalm 78, 4. We will not hide them talking about the truths of God from our children, telling to the generation to come the praises of the Lord and his strength and his wonderful works that he has done. In other words, it takes every generation to raise the next generation. It takes every generation to raise the next generation. It takes every generation to raise the next generation.
Speaker 1:Cindy Smith told me that we have all of these generations that are raising up Generation Alpha, just in our kids' ministry, just at KVX. The silent generation from 28 to 45,. We have those from that generation who are going to be serving in KVX. Baby boomers from 46 to 64, who are gonna be serving our children. Gen X, from 65 to 79, serving our children. Millennials, 80 to 95. Gen Z, 96 to 2014. And Gen Alpha this is the generation, and Gen Z as well, that we are raising, and it takes every generation to raise the next generation.
Speaker 1:If you're following me, say amen. It is so important that we all play our part in raising the next generation so that they will be disciples of Jesus, who follow him, who believe the gospel, who obey him, who worship him. Why? So? That then, they will be disciples of the generations to come after them. That we continue to disciple the next generation, so they will disciple the next generation after them. So you might be wondering so how is it that we can do that in this world, in this culture, in this society, to raise up, to disciple children and teenagers to follow Jesus in a courageous, bold kind of a way? Well, I thought you'd never ask, so I'll go ahead and share that with you right now. Three steps to disciple the next generation. Number one is Bible. Everybody say Bible. Three steps to disciple the next generation. Now, let me just say this Sometimes we think that children, that teenagers, are different today than they've ever been before.
Speaker 1:In some ways, that is true. In other ways it is a lie by the evil one. Yes, it's true. Are they experiencing more? Are they exposed to more? Have they seen, have they witnessed more, maybe, than other generations? Sure, but are they still created in the image of God? Does God still have his eyes on them? Is God still working in their life? Does the Holy Spirit continue to minister to them? Did he die for them? Is salvation available to them? Is the church there for them? Yes, so we don't have a new way to disciple a new generation.
Speaker 1:The way that Jesus gave us to disciple works throughout all generations. Are you following me? So, number one, what do we do? Is the Bible? The Bible isn't old. The Bible isn't antiquated. The Bible isn't dusty. The Bible isn't from the former. No, the Bible says that the scriptures are God's living and active word. The Bible is just as true. The Bible is just as powerful today than ever. In fact, it is the word of God that does the work of God, because it is the voice of God. It is the word of God that does the work of God because it is the very voice of God. That's why Jesus said this is right after he raises from the dead. He raises from the dead and Jesus is looking at his disciples right before he ascends to heaven. This is his great commission. He is giving his final instructions.
Speaker 1:Now, this is what you go do, not to turn the world upside down, but to turn the world right side up again, for it to become what God had intended. Jesus said these are my words, that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled. In other words, here's what Jesus saying. He's saying just remember everything that I told you, or everything that is written down about me. He he's saying I don't ever want you to forget the word of God, because it is the word of God that does the work of God, because it is the voice of God and it always points to he says about me. It always points to the son of God. See, I believe that whenever we get into the word of God, the word of God gets into us, and so what we need to do is to be able to speak the word of God into and over our children, our grandchildren, the next generation, as much as possible, because it is the word of God where the spirit of God does the work of God.
Speaker 1:This is not a dead book. This is a living, active, holy, powerful, life-changing book. It's the only truth, true truth in the entire world that changes lives. And Jesus says look how everything is about me In the law of Moses. The law of Moses is Genesis to Deuteronomy, the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible, the law. Jesus is saying it's all about me. He goes on to say the prophets, from the minor prophets to the major prophets, all the way to Malachi. Jesus is saying, even though it never mentions my name, it's all about me. He's saying the Psalms, the poetic books, job Psalms, proverbs, ecclesiastes, song of Solomon. He's saying look at how all of this is ultimately about me. In other words, when we get into the word of God, we get the son of God, we get the spirit of God. We see that it's all about Jesus.
Speaker 1:In Deuteronomy, chapter six, he says to families he said these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children. You shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down and when you rise. In other words, there's never a time that we're not giving some type of attention to God's word, to God's word, to God's truth, to God's way, and so, as parents, it can be really difficult Because the Bible's really complex, and so sometimes the Bible can be a little difficult for kids to understand if you're just straight reading Scripture, even though I believe that that is very important. But in terms of parenting, I think there's three parts that everybody plays in discipling the next generation. Either you're a parent, which includes parents and grandparents, or you're a partner, which includes that you are volunteering, you're serving here in our kids or student ministry, raising up the next generation. You're either a parent, a partner, or you're praying. You're parenting, you're partnering or you're praying for the next generation Parenting.
Speaker 1:There's some great Bibles out there for those of no matter what age of children or teenager. My Good Night Bible is a great one. We started reading that one very young to Brooklyn and now reading it to Cruz. The Rhyme Bible this is one of Brooklyn's favorites. It's the whole Bible, all the stories of Scripture all condensed down and everything rhymes together. It's like a lot of poems and everything fits. They've done it really well. The Jesus Storybook Bible for a little bit of an older child and it shows every story from Scripture and how it all relates to Jesus. The ESV Student Study Bible a great study Bible for a teenager.
Speaker 1:Today we see that there are parenting resources out there or there are videos out there. We have a discipline in our home that Brooklyn can't watch any other YouTube videos until she watches her Bible videos. In the morning we watch Bible Adventure, which has all these different Bible stories. You can write these down, take a picture. We'll put it on social media. This week, minnow Kids is a great channel on YouTube that takes kids through the stories of Scripture. Takes kids through the stories of scripture. Superbook is incredible, a little bit more mature for older children. That takes kids through the stories of the Bible and then for students, the Bible Project is just an incredible collection of videos that teaches them how to study God's word. There's all kinds of parenting resources that are out there, or maybe just in terms of partnering.
Speaker 1:I want you to know, if you are serving in our children's ministry, serving in our student ministry, or maybe God is going to call you to do that today that we have a weekly kids ministry for in our babies and preschool and and then our elementary programming. So they meet Sundays at 930 and or 11. So they can stay from 930 through the 11 o'clock program or just come to one or the other and they will get the word of God. We don't just do childcare amen, we're not just babysitting them. We want them to come in so parents can come and get the word of God and kids can go to our kids' ministry and get the word of God, because it is God's word that changes lives. Starting back in August, our kids ministry will have their programming at 630 on Wednesday nights. Our student ministry meets. This is our brand new student room, right up there on the second floor of our CLC middle and high school meeting up there at 930 or 11 am. Wednesday nights at 630. They meet here for all of our teenagers, sixth through 12th graders, right here in our gym.
Speaker 1:If you're partnering our ministry or if you're just saying, look, man, I can't partner, I'm not parenting, but I'll pray, but I'll pray. I want you to pray for the next generation Whenever the Holy Spirit prompts you as you read God's word. You can't read God's word almost for a day without coming across passages that talk about the next generation and the importance of passing down the Christian faith, discipling the next generation. I just want to encourage you to pray. Everybody say pray, we are all called to pray. So number one is Bible. Everybody say Bible. Number two is gospel. Everybody say gospel. Cause here's the deal If we just study the Bible without the gospel, then we just make religious people. If we just study the Bible without this interpretive key, the interpretation of the gospel of the Bible, then we just make Pharisees, we make moralists, we make legalists, we make people who are just doing right and not doing wrong and they're literally trying to earn their own salvation or earn God's love in their life. That's why the gospel is so key, so incredibly important.
Speaker 1:In Luke 24, the next verse, verse 45, it says that then Jesus opened up their minds to understand the scriptures. Now, time out. Wouldn't that be nice for Jesus to do that for you, be great for Jesus to do that for me. I go through Leviticus, numbers, numbers and Deuteronomy where devotions go to die and I get tripped up and I don't know what they're saying. I don't know what all that means. Why shouldn't you boil a baby goat in his mother's milk? All these different laws. I mean it's crazy what all is in there. It's nuts. It's a devotional graveyard, it's where people and.
Speaker 1:But there's something about, when you get into God's word, that Jesus just opens up your mind to the scriptures all the more to just understand it a little bit more, little by little, day by day, more by more. And Jesus says if you just get into my word, I will open up your mind to understand what I'm saying. So what does that mean To have our minds open? I've heard people say if you really want to understand the Bible, then you've got to know the original languages, greek and Hebrew. Those are helpful, but that's not what Jesus said. Some people say if you really want to understand the Bible, then you've got to go to the Holy Land. That's really helpful, but that's not what Jesus said. Some people say if you really want to know the Bible, then you've got to go and you've got to study systematic theology. It's really helpful, but that's not what Jesus said.
Speaker 1:Jesus said in verse 46, he opened up their minds and then he said to them thus it is written that the Christ should suffer and on the third day, rise from the dead. In other words, here's what he said to them. Thus it is written that the Christ should suffer and on the third day, rise from the dead. In other words, here's what he said. He opened up their minds to understand the Bible, to see that the Bible is interpreted through the gospel, through the death and the resurrection of Jesus. In other words, adam is not about Adam. Adam is about Jesus. Moses is not about Moses. Moses is about Jesus. The story of Abraham is not about Abraham, it's about Jesus. In other words, adam is not about Adam. Adam is about Jesus. Moses is not about Moses. Moses is about Jesus. The story of Abraham is not about Abraham, it's about Jesus. The story of David is not about David. It's ultimately about Jesus.
Speaker 1:God is not calling us to be like any of these people, these men or women in the Bible. He's calling us to see Jesus through them, so that we can live our life like and for Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. That's the gospel that we're seeing all throughout the scriptures that Jesus has died for our sin so that we can be forgiven, and he has risen from the dead so that we can have new life. Can I get an amen? That is the gospel of Jesus Christ. And so what are we doing? We're giving the next generation the Bible, but we're also teaching them the gospel. We're teaching them about God's grace. We're teaching them about God's love. We're teaching them about God's son. Jesus came and he lived a perfect life and he did miracles and he spoke truth and he loved everyone and he was suffered and he died for all of our sin and he was buried for three days and he rose from the dead triumphantly and he ascended to heaven and he's coming back again. So your life is worth living for him. That's what we're impressing upon the next generation that the only life worth living is the life that is lived for Jesus Christ. That is what Jesus said. He opens up their eyes and they're able to see the gospel throughout all of the Bible.
Speaker 1:It would be like if I had up here three balloons where I just blew them up myself and I called one of you up and I said I need you to just keep these three balloons where. I just blew them up myself and I called one of you up and I said I need you to just keep these three balloons in the air. And someone's just up here. They're running all around you have the balloons spread apart. You're trying to keep all the balloons in the air and I gave someone over here balloons as well, these three balloons to keep in the air. But these balloons were filled with helium and all you have to do is just hold the ribbon and the balloons suspend themselves.
Speaker 1:When we're living our life by religion, we keep trying harder and harder and harder and harder and harder to keep up in our spiritual, religious life. But when we live our life by the gospel, the Holy Spirit fills our life and he does the work through our lives. Can I get an amen? That is what Jesus wants to do in our life through the Holy Spirit. That's why the apostle Paul said I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel that I preached to you. What do we do?
Speaker 1:We keep telling people the gospel, he says, which you received Notice, even though they got saved. He keeps telling them the gospel. Why? Because that's how the saved person lives. He said it's the gospel in which you stand, in which you're being saved If you hold fast to the word that I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. Check it out.
Speaker 1:He says I deliver to you as of first importance. In other words, we're teaching the next generation, we're discipling people. There is nothing more important than the gospel of Jesus. What is it he said? I've also received it. We can't give what we do not already have. We're sharing what God has already done in our life so that they can have what we have, what Jesus has done for us. What is it? That Christ died for our sins, in accordance with the scriptures. That he was buried. That he was raised on the third day, in accordance with the scriptures. That is the gospel of Jesus Christ. So how do we do it? Parenting, grandparenting in the family. I wanna encourage you. How do you disciple the next generation.
Speaker 1:Just read about Jesus a lot, from his word. Just read about him a lot. They need to see you reading the word of God for your own and then you can just read it to them. Hey, look what I just came across. You gotta hear this. Pray to Jesus a lot. Pray together as a gotta hear this. Pray to Jesus a lot. Pray together as a family a lot. Worship Jesus a lot. We love to just put on worship music in our home, worship music in our cars, and just talk about Jesus a lot, because he's worth talking about and we don't need to separate home and church and life and spiritual, because Jesus is Lord of it all. Amen. Partnering. These are just in the next two months. These are gospel opportunities that we have for our community, not even counting what we do weekly.
Speaker 1:Kvx this coming week preaching the gospel. Speaking the gospel to kids Summer camp for our student ministry. Preaching the gospel to our teenagers Basketball camp. We're still looking for coaches and volunteers to preaching the gospel to our teenagers Basketball camp. We're still looking for coaches and volunteers to be a part of our basketball camp June 24 to 28. If you have a skill in basketball, we would love for you to come and to volunteer and to help us to train these kids not just in basketball but in the gospel Wind shape camp. Chick-fil-a is coming here on our campus doing a camp camp July 1 through 5, and it is our opportunity to serve during that week and to help get the gospel to the kids in our community. Summer nights, july 15 to 18, through our kids ministry where kids are just coming in and again it's an opportunity to share the gospel. That's who we're called to be as a church and that's what you're called to be as a Christian. I encourage you partnering and parenting and if you just need to pray, we're praying for a gospel revival in the next generation.
Speaker 1:And then our third step, personal. It says in that repentance Jesus said that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses in these things. Just to land the plane. This is the way that we're to live before the next generation, that we're just to show them that God has called us to repent. And here's things I've had to repent from. Here are things that God has had to forgive me of, that I've had to forgive others of, because of all that God has forgiven me from in my life, and this is why I talk a lot about. This is why I proclaim the name of Jesus to everybody that I come across, because I'm called to be a witness of Jesus Christ. So I wanna encourage you if you're a parent, a grandparent, we're just modeling repentance and forgiveness and being a witness.
Speaker 1:If you're partnering here with us in our ministries, we're teaching repentance, forgiveness and being a witness. And then if you're praying, we're just we're praying. We're praying for that. And here's the beautiful promise, the last verse behold, I'm sending the promise of my Father upon you, but stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.
Speaker 1:In other words, sometimes when I hear all this, I think I could never do that. I remember thinking that through my life as a teenager, as a young adult man, I could never do that. But I didn't understand the power of the Holy Spirit in my life and what the Holy Spirit, what he was going to call me to, he was going to do it through me, and the same is true for you. What the Holy Spirit is calling you to, he's going to do it through me, and the same is true for you. What the Holy Spirit is calling you to, he's going to do it through you. It is our responsibility, it's our honor, it's our pleasure to be discipling the next generation, and here's why Because God created every single one of them in his image and he loves them and he wants them to know Jesus so he can have a relationship with them, so that he can spend eternity with them. He cares about each and every single one of them. He cares about each and every single one of them. Jesus tells the story about how a shepherd lost a lamb, one of his sheep. Jesus said that he went and he left the 99 to go and find the one. Just a quick story.
Speaker 1:When Eliana was born, she had some complications. To be honest, I don't even love looking at that picture because it reminds me of that moment. So she's born. They put her on the table. I hear the doctor talking about that. Michelle's bleeding more than they thought that she would, that she should have. Here's Eliana and she's gasping for air for her life and I can see the numbers on the screen. I can see her O2 levels and all that, and I see numbers dropping and numbers in the red.
Speaker 1:The nurses and the doctors tell me that she just swallowed a lot of fluid. They put a tube down her throat. They're trying to suction things out. They're trying to get her to breathe. They're trying to get her to just to live. They put the oxygen on her. Numbers aren't coming up.
Speaker 1:And they look at me and they say Dad, we need to take your daughter. You can come with her or you can stay with your wife. Look at Michelle. She says go with her, go with her, so I'll run with them. We go to the NICU and as we're there, I'll tell you what I didn't do along the way. I didn't call my mom and dad, who are keeping Brooklyn and Cruz. I didn't call and say, hey, I just want to check on them and see how they're doing. I didn't do that. Why? Because we are laser focused on Eliana and her life at this point and just feeling that moment of my love and my care and my focus on my daughter.
Speaker 1:I can't imagine how God, the Father, feels about every single child in the next generation and he just wants them to have life. I thank God for the medical staff at Kenniston Hospital, as Eliana's doing great, michelle's doing great. We're so thankful for the health that God is giving them. But it just taught me a valuable lesson that the Heavenly Father cares that deeply and all the more infinitely about every single child of the next generation to come to know him, to find life in Jesus Christ. And that's our job, that's what we do as a church, that's what we do as a Christian, that's what we do as a disciple, that's what we do as a follower of Jesus.
Speaker 1:So my question for you is what is your part? You're either a parent, you're a partner, or you pray. We ask God to raise the next generation for his glory. I'm gonna ask us all to bow our heads and close our eyes. Every head bowed, every eye closed. Just wanna encourage you right now, just to. I wanna encourage you right now just to say a prayer. Let's just pray for the next generation right now. I wanna encourage you right now just to pray for the next generation right now. And encourage you right now, just to pray for the next generation and ask God that he would bring revival, ask God that he would save them, that they would give their life to him. You might wanna pray for your children, your grandchildren, children in your family, children of our community. Whoever it is. May our hearts be broken for the next generation to know Jesus.
Speaker 1:And maybe you're here this morning and you're thinking well, I can't give them what I don't already have. And maybe today's the day that God just reveals to you that you don't follow Jesus yet, you're not a disciple of Jesus yet, you haven't given your life to Jesus yet. I just want to encourage you right here, right now, that you can give your life to him. And Jesus says yes every single time. That right now, in your own heart, in your own words, you can pray and you can say Jesus, I believe that you died on the cross for my sin. Jesus, I ask you to forgive me of all my sin and, jesus, I wanna turn from my sin and I turn and I give my life to you. Jesus, be my Lord, be my Savior. From your own heart and your own words, you can tell him Jesus, I believe you didn't just stay dead, you rose from the dead, you're alive. So I call on you to be the Lord of my life.
Speaker 1:The Bible says that when you confess with your mouth that Jesus Lord, believe with your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. God, we believe that we pray that in Jesus' name. And all God's people said would you put your hands together right now for anybody who gave their life to Jesus? This morning we're so thankful. I'm gonna ask you all just to stand together and I'm gonna pray for us one more time, with everybody standing together. I just wanna encourage you as we're about to worship Jesus. Let's worship him together, because he is the one who has died for your sin. He's the one that has risen from the dead so you can be raised in him and that you can live your life for him and he can use you in your life to impact other people for him. Heavenly Father, we just give this worship to you. Use us as a church to raise the next generation, to disciple them unto Jesus. We love you. We pray these things in Jesus' name.