Generations | Series: Nations & Generations | Rick Atchley

welcome to the hills my name is rick ashley i'm the senior teacher minister of our church and if you are a guest maybe you're in person at the north originals campus the south lake campus the west fort worth campus or you're watching online you've picked an amazing time to be with us because what we're doing is unveiling our church vision for the next five years we're calling it ask for nations and generations last week i shared our seven huge goals to reach nations not only around the world but the different ethnic communities right here in our city and we saw that god's heart for the nations is huge he cares not just for one people but for all people and his redemptive agenda is not just for one time but for all times so we should not be surprised that he would give the church today a vision for the church tomorrow because god is just as passionate about generations as he is about nations last week i took some time and just walked you through in the scriptures god's heart for the nations i'm going to do the same thing in a moment regarding his heart for the next generation but i want to deal first with a couple of legitimate questions you might have about the unveiling of this next vision one might regard the timing you see it was our intention to launch our new vision in january of 2021. it was our intention this time last year to be sharing this with you if you've been here a few years you know for a long time our church was guided by our 2020 vision it served us well and we were planning to embark on our new vision at the start of this calendar year then the pandemic came for six months we couldn't even meet in person and we couldn't get together to build the things that we needed to build for the next division so leadership determined it'd be best to wait one more year before we rolled out our next vision we're going to start tracking our next vision january 2022 and it'll go through december of 2026. now you're thinking but we're still in the pandemic you're right the future is still very uncertain and tenuous but we affirm that god is in control and that the mission of making and growing followers of jesus is always in season god has a pretty amazing track record of advancing his kingdom in circumstances that are not ideal so instead of waiting for the future that we want we've decided to start creating the future that we want so we're launching this vision starting in january and that's going to mean pursuing some very specific and measurable goals with regard to nations and generations and that raises the second concern some might have regarding using numbers like i'm just not into measuring things the church should be about quality not quantity now let's think about that a moment you and your mate are at a state park you've got five children they get lost you search frantically you find three do you say to your mate honey we found the quality kids we can go home now now if you want to find all of your lost children why wouldn't the father in heaven feel the same way here's the truth if you can't measure it what you have is a slogan but not a strategy and it explains why many churches are stagnant they only have slogans you go to the website we exist to in we exist to invest invite include what does that mean and how do you know if you're doing that here's the truth you count what you think counts how did the shepherd know one of his sheep was gone because he counted he had 100 sheep only 99 came back i got a lost sheep so he went looking in the parables jesus told about the master that comes back how does he determine which steward has been faithful he counted how much he gave them and he counted how much he got back several times in the book of acts you have literal numbers given of the counting of the new disciples that are being made you count what you think counts and we recognize that our goals may need to be tweaked in the future but we also recognize that goals that cannot be measured are goals that will not be met you say i want to lose weight okay what do you weigh i don't know i never get on a scale you don't want to lose weight you just want to talk about losing weight if you can't or won't measure it you have a goal you can't or won't meet now we'll recognize that these goals that we're throwing out are daunting but we also think they are god honoring because it's not a vision from god if you don't need god to do it and so the first word of our vision is ask we're asking god for nations and generations so next week taylor and i are going to launch a series called building the future we're going to use the book of nehemiah as a platform to show that god is willing to show up and help his people create the future they want but in the chapter 1 when nehemiah finds out the walls of jerusalem are down the first thing he does is pray ask god and that's why next sunday night is so important we're going to show up at every single campus and we're going to launch the vision with prayer and i want you to come because prayer is going to help you own the vision and so many benefits come when a church owns a common vision one of those is that it helps us align our monies and our ministries we get asked to do so many things how do you say yes to some and no to some well you see what's consistent with the vision god's given him it helps current members get on the same page and new members get on board it eliminates a sense of jealousy and competition with other churches we're not in competition with any church in our community any church that lifts up christ is our friend and our ally but we're going to do what god has called us to do and pray that god will bless what he's called them to do i tell you a very important blessing when a church has a vision she'll stay focused on what matters and stop fussing about what doesn't churches without a vision will fuss about anything we don't want to be an issue-oriented church we want to be a church focused on the issue which is making and growing followers of jesus and maybe most of all the power of vision is that it creates on-ramps for the people of god to do the work of god slogans don't do that but a clear vision creates this path and this plan that we all can engage this is one of the things i'm most excited about now i loved our last vision it served us well but the primary way you could engage the last vision was to go on a mission trip what you're going to see as i about to reveal our next set of goals is that there are so many ways right here where you live that you can be an active part of the next vision of our church because we're asking for more than just your affirmation when my oldest son michael was only three years old we took him to chicago to visit my parents my dad was wrapping up a career with sears and my dad and mother collected antique clocks michael was your typical three-year-old he was all over the place and somehow he caused one of those clocks to fall off the wall and break this was a teaching moment and we taught our son to say he was sorry and apologized to papa for breaking his clock now later in the week michael found a few coins on the ground and he was so excited and my wife jamie thought this is another teaching moment so she said michael do you think you should take your coins and give them to papa to help pay for his broken clock and michael said nah i'm pretty sure i've done enough already and that's the spirit of a stagnant church where we're just going to talk about what ought to happen god is calling us to do more than just ascent to his passion for the world he is calling us to invest especially in the next generation because our god is always thinking ahead and that's why he often accompanies his commands and promises in the bible with the phrase for generations to come so let's go back to the call of abraham when he launches the redemptive agenda to bless the nations of the world and he says i will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come to be your god and the god of your descendants after you and then god said to abraham as for you you must keep my covenant you and your descendants after you for the generations to come god is always thinking ahead and so for example when he instituted the passover meal the moment to celebrate the greatest metaphor in scripture for salvation the people are delivered from bondage by the blood of a lamb this is what he said in exodus this is the day you are to commemorate for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the lord god wants the blessings of alignment with his will and obedience to impact the generations to come but god also warns the fruits of disobedience will have generational consequences it's popular today to say just let me do whatever i want to do as long as i'm not hurting anybody what you don't realize is you are infecting others whether you realize it or not our obedience or our disobedience right now is impacting the generations to come and so when god gave the ten commandments he said i the lord your god am a jealous god punishing the children for the sin of the parents through the third and fourth generations of those who hate me but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments and so when you read the old testament you see this repeated cycle of revival and decline in revival and decline israel always struggled to think ahead to pass on faith to the next generation for example in the book of judges we read after that whole generation have been gathered to their ancestors another generation grew up who knew neither the lord nor what he had done for israel and so what you have is this scene in the bible of impacting the next generation for good and it's a two-way street the young people need to lean into the wisdom of the old people in deuteronomy 32 we read remember the days of old consider the generations long past ask your father and he will tell you your elders and they will explain to you so the young need to seek the wisdom of the elder but the primary emphasis in the scripture is for the older generation to influence the younger and to be proactive psalm 22 posterity will serve in future generations will be told about the lord they will proclaim his righteousness declaring to a people yet unborn he has done it i love psalm 71 even when i am old and gray do not forsake me my god till i declare your power to the next generation your mighty acts to all who are to come this guy is saying i may be old god but i'm not through let me live long enough to give my faith story to those who come after me in psalm 78 we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the lord his power and the wonders he has done in psalm 745 one generation commends your works to another they tell of your mighty acts they speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty and i will meditate on your wonderful works so this theme runs all through the bible be proactive in blessing the next generation joel the prophet said tell it to your children and let your children tell it to their children and their children to the next generation god's mission is for all people and it is for all times and churches that want the kingdom to come will have a passion and a burden for the generations still to come when i was a boy back in the 1960s i heard of a church in tennessee called the madison church of christ at that time it was over 3 000 members it might have been the largest church in america no one had ever heard of a church that big they had a preacher named ira north and i want to tell you why i believe god blessed that church ira north had a burden for neglected kids one sunday he's in his pulpit and he brings a ten-year-old boy up named eddie says eddie have you ever been in this church before no sir well eddie you're as welcome here as the president of the united states then he sent eddie out of the room then he turned to his church eddie has no home i was talking to the district judge this week and he said i'm going to have to send eddie to a reform school to get him off the street and his only crime is that nobody wants him and i returned to his church and he went off he said you got your big houses and your fancy cars and i'm not against big houses of fancy cars but what about eddie and while he's preaching there's a man in that church named perry underwood and he's whispered to his wife and in the middle of ira north sermon he stood up and said brother north eddie has a home and he'll have a home until you get that children's home built and i will be convinced for the rest of my days that god showed particular and unusual favor on that church because that church cared about kids nobody else was caring about we want to be that kind of church we want to be intentional about the faith development of the next generation that's why i am thrilled to share with you that we're hiring jill shelby for a new position called next gen ministry now you know jill she's been a missionary rwanda she was a principal of a christian school in africa she's been the principal of a middle school in our city and she is uniquely qualified what jill is going to do starting from cradle to high school is help us think strategically and theologically and impactfully about how to pour faith into the next generation our goal is not a next generation that makes a lot of decisions our goal is to raise up a lot of disciples for christ our goal is not a room full of young people our goal is a generation of young people full of jesus and by the way 95 of the christians in america made their commitment to christ before they were 25 years old now the church cannot take the place of the home and it shouldn't the church is here to serve mothers and fathers in impacting the next generation but mothers and fathers you've got to engage for example our primary programming night for students is wednesday nights it should be a priority in your home that your student is a part of our wednesday night program our student ministry is starting on september 29th a study of the book of proverbs where the kids are going to read a chapter of proverbs every day proverbs 16 time says my child the book of proverbs is wisdom from the older generation to the younger generation your students need to be a part our student ministry prepared this booklet called goldmine listen i read it this needs to be in the bookstore of every christian bookstore in america it is that good we want you to pick one up for your student uh seven dollars is what they cost if you can't pay it just get one anyway listen the book of proverbs says chapter one these proverbs will give insight to the simple knowledge and discernment to the young make engagement with your church and with our children's and student ministries a priority in your home you know it's helpful to remember our savior was once a child and people poured into him and it's also worth remembering jesus always made time and space for the next generation and we will too so with all that said let me share with you for the next five years the seven audacious goals we have as we ask for generations here's goal number one we will intend to launch and lead celebrate recovery and a freedom ministry for the redemption of broken generations here's what we all know that one generation may not be guilty for the sins of another but is impacted and our children are going up at home for a generational sin that have been passed down and passed down and passed down to the point that bondage feels normal now here's what we know the gospel offers freedom on both sides of the grave and the gospel has the power to create a new normal for the next generation and so at the nrh campus we have launched celebrate recovery ryan young is leading the ministry on thursday nights it's off to a powerful start today we've already had six people surrender their lives to christ and get baptized seeking freedom goal number two we want to raise up 25 new foster families in our church and we want to train a hundred members to be respite workers to serve foster families because we know god has a heart for the fatherless and the family less now currently in the communities around our three campuses there are over 900 children temporarily placed in foster care due to abuse or neglect the truth is there are more children that need to be placed than there are families available now some in our church are already engaged in this powerful wonderful ministry in fact would you let us know we don't know who you all are if you're fostering right now would you contact our church leader just so we can know and be a better support to you but we're going to partner with local agencies to try to raise up 25 new families to take in foster kids we're going to train 100 people in our church to be respite workers people who give the other families a break and take care of the kids for a short time we're going to need people to volunteer for parents night out we're going to need community groups to adopt a foster family and give them the encouragement they need here's what i know the bible especially the book of james says any faith that doesn't care about neglected kids is fake and so we're going to get more involved in fostering goal number three we want to see 2 000 members a year serve in ministry to kids and students in our church and community because nothing is more critical to the discipleship of the next generation than inter-generational connections study after study shows that kids that stick with faith are kids who have memories of investment with other generations in their church family we want every member to be intentional about blessing a child every year and there are so many ways for you to be a part of this goal think about our new partners you can counsel a pregnancy help for you you can be a mentor at academy for one hour a month blessing a fourth grader you can work with teen lifeline or our father's children helping kids go to camp think about inside our church we have upward sports ministries we have people that lead student groups and we have our bible classes a tremendous opportunity we want to have a culture where you come and you worship in one service and then the next service you go with your teenagers and you teach kids there is no reason every member of our church listening to me cannot once a year specifically and intentionally be a part of something that is blessing a child and then goal number four we want to launch a ministry residency program that trains at least 10 people for future service in the church i'm thankful for colleges and for seminaries but the church should take the lead in raising up the next generation of ministers no we're not talking about summer internships we'll keep doing that we're talking about bringing in young people to stay with us for at least a year and train for a future in ministry at our church as they consider what the future may hold for them we hope our first resident will be here next spring goal number five we want to guide 3 000 people to connect to god church and their purpose through rooted which is a small group discipleship experience rooted was created by some pastors in kenya and it has been a powerful influence around the world it's an opportunity for people to practice the disciplines and the commitments that form us into the image of christ it is not a class it's a communal experience that introduces people to the ways of jesus as you meet together with a small group for 10 weeks at senior staff we did that last spring now the entire staff of our church has gone through rooted now the elders of every campus are currently going through rooted this fall we're going to train the facilitators to go through rooted and next spring we want to make it open to the church and i'm telling you in a couple of years after a couple of thousand people have gone through rooted it will make a transformative difference in this church it'll be for our students and our adults and it's going to be powerful goal number six we want to strengthen marriages providing relationship champions to impact and encourage 250 couples now we already do a lot of things our church blessed marriages but we want to be more pro-active do you remember when the pandemic began and we couldn't meet together we sent out a survey how are you doing 20 of our respondents said our marriage is struggling imagine training veteran mature godly older christian couples to come alongside struggling couples imagine being a newlywed and going to our newlywed training class and being assigned an older mature couple who are going to walk with you in the very first year of your marriage as mentors and as coaches because nothing impacts the faith engagement of the next generation more than growing up in a home with a stable marriage now i need to spend a little time here the studies are unassailable there is one factor above all others and there's no close second that affects a child's emotional financial educational and spiritual health did the child grow up in a home with a mother and father that stayed married now i need to be careful in no way do i want to make our single parents feel bad you guys are my heroes but i think even our single parents would say god's ideal is best that the next generation is blessed by a stable marriage and when we build strong marriages we're laying the foundation for the generations to come and so we want to raise up these 250 couples who were blessed by relational champions and then goal number seven we want to create an intergenerational mentoring experience for men and women on every campus with the goal of maturing 300 kingdom influencers we don't want to just try to find the next generation of church leaders we want to form them we want the leadership culture of our church to get younger and more ethnically diverse and so at every campus we're launching groups for men and women parrying past and future leaders together because we don't want to just wish for the next generation of leaders we want to raise them now i realize i have given you so much to absorb let me encourage all of you to check out a website we've created called nations and generations.org all 14 of our goals the seven for nations and the seven for generations are there you can learn more about there's also a form there where you can say i want to know more about a way i might be able to help with that go you're not committing you're just learning but i would encourage all of you to go and be a part of what we think god is going to do for the next five years as i prepared this lesson a memory flooded back i've retained for a long time when i was a boy i announced to the world i wanted to be a preacher i don't know what that meant but the little church where i was raised was down the street from a nursing home and one sunday afternoon a month we had the assignment of going to that nursing home and taking communion to the residents who wanted to participate my dad signed up to do that one sunday and informed me that i was going to bring the lesson i was sixth or seventh grade i think it was the first talk i'd ever given and i was terrified and i will admit it didn't help that half of my audience was asleep with their mouths wide open but i powered through the best i could and when that service was over there was an older woman in a wheelchair and she did like this and i walked up beside her and she she grabbed my hand she said are you going to go to seminary i didn't know what the word meant i had no idea what she was asking me but i remember that she squeezed my hand and she said i think the hand of god is on you to preach his word now that was many decades ago but i still live off the fuel of that blessing here was a woman who didn't think i'm too old i'm too frail i'm too weak to bless the next generation here's the truth you are here because somebody in the previous generation remained faithful you must be faithful to the next generation yes our goals are huge but our god is bigger and so we ask like paul in his prayer now all glory to god who's able through his mighty power at work within us to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think glory to him in the church and in christ jesus through all generations forever and ever amen so would you bow your head please i'll finish the prayer but i want you to start it i want you to take a moment i want you to thank god for some people in the generation before you that poured into you and i want you to thank them by name thank god by by their name was it a coach was it a teacher was it a youth minister was it your parents a grandmother name them and lift that name up before the lord and say thank you so god thank you for all those who poured into us the wake of their life is still having an impact and god we want to live our lives in such a way that long after we're gone we're still having an impact so we ask for generations in jesus name amen

Channel: The Hills Church

Views: 384

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: God, Jesus, Why, Questions, World View, Why God, Church, North Richland Hills, Texas, Rick Atchley, Hills Church, The Hills Church, Nations, Generations, Ask

Id: A-AGDjHPv2s

Length: 31min 27sec (1887 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 19 2021