The Next Generation (Sermon Only) // August 23, 2020

thank you for checking out this sermon video here at hope church we are so excited that you came across this message and are tuning in if you're joining us for the first time i want to be the first to say welcome to hope church do us a favor and text new to hope to 94090 after you hit send you'll get an immediate response from our team with a link to a short form for you to fill out so that we can get to know you better the message you are about to watch is part of our current sermon series proverbs everlasting wisdom for everyday life once again thank you for joining us today enjoy the sermon [Music] in the spring of 2017 collectively as a faith family we set out together on a journey asking a question we were seeking the heart of god around the question what's next for hope church you say why the spring of 2017 well the previous fall the fall of 2016 we just turned 15 years old as a faith family and a lot of what god had put in our hearts when we began together as a faith family had been accomplished and we thought it appropriate to say god what's next and in the spring of 2017 we went on a several week journey together seeking to answer that question it was really the culmination of 15 to 18 months of a prayer journey and a conversation among our staff team volunteers leadership stewardship team and we called that journey together the next campaign how many of you were here in 2017 to remember some of that yeah so we called it the next campaign we we um we unpacked the answer to that question in three components we talked about the next step for us as a faith family and the next step involved the the building out of our campus we were totally out of space and if you've those of you that are here at the recording you know this but if you're watching online if you hadn't been by the cactus campus lately the building is happening right people that are in the room right it's happening i mean there's like a building out there now that wasn't here when we broke in march and as a matter of fact as of today uh we've launched on our app and on our website a link if you're ready to tour you can now sign up to get a tour of the new building right now and you can get in it so that we haven't done everything inside yet obviously you can still go in right now all over the platform area before we cover it we're giving people an opportunity to write their favorite scripture verse so that we're standing on the promises of god literally every week as we unpack his word so that was the first part of the next campaign this next step just the expansion of our campus so that we could continue to reach more people here in las vegas the next part was called the next chapter and we laid out a lot of city initiatives things like our ministry for called purchase where we're fighting against human trafficking in our city and around the world our ministry to foster families and children our ministries to the educational domain and targeting poverty issues in our city we launched a vision to plant churches up and down the west coast to reach over the next decade 1 of the western united states and we we launched some initiatives globally for example we talked about wanting the next decade to be the greatest sending season in the history of our church sending people out to plant their lives in other countries did you know right now as we are gathered here this weekend we currently have five families and two single adults 14 total people in the pipeline to leave their job their their career their house and to go to the other side of the world and plant themselves as full-time missionaries on the other side of the world god is raising up people out of our fellowship to engage the nations so we had the next step we had the next chapter but then we had the third component we called the next generation and it was really born out of a verse of scripture that god directed us to psalm 33 verse 11 the council of the lord stands forever the plans of his heart from here at generation to generation and something we'd always said at hope church is we understood that what god was doing in our in and through our fellowship was bigger than us right it was never just about hope church we understood that it was bigger than just our church and it was even bigger than our city and bigger than our state and even bigger than our country we knew that what god was doing here he wanted to touch the ends of the earth but it was walking through that journey together that for the first time it dawned on me that what god's doing in and through us as a fellowship is also bigger than our lifetime you see when god called my family here in 2000 to come and be about planting this fellowship my wife and i were kids with kids right i mean we were in our 20s man we were kids with kids and now my wife and i are this picture we are big papi and meemaw right we have grandchildren now and to be totally transparent when god called my family to las vegas i wasn't thinking about grandkids like it wasn't even on my radar but here's what i now know what god's doing in and through our fellowship is laying the foundation that the generations yet to come are going to run in for the accomplishment of the great commission and the reason i share that with you is because at hope church we place great value on the next generation it's one of the reasons we take time every year to do like we did this weekend in commissioning teachers and educators in their field to be missionaries and to live on mission because we realize the next generation is a very big deal and if you've been walking with us on this journey for the last three months as we've read through proverbs daily you understand that the book of proverbs places great value on the next generation over and over and over again in the book of proverbs you'll read verses speaking to our responsibility to the next generation let me show you one of those verses that i want to focus on tonight proverbs chapter 22 and verse 6. look what it says train up a child in the way he should go even when he is old he will not depart from it it's a proverb that a lot of people know you've probably heard this one before even before you read the proverbs with us this summer this is a verse out of proverbs that has risen kind of above the book of proverbs everybody knows it the problem with this verse is there are two common misconceptions and i want to address them before i dive into unpacking it here's the first common misconception people think this is a verse for parents like when we read it it's not in the text but here's how we read it in our hearts parents train up your children in the way they should go right i mean if you're going to be honest and you'll say that's pretty much the way i've always let me see your hand right because that's pretty much the way most people interpret this verse of scripture that this is a verse speaking to parents parents raise up your children now don't misunderstand me this verse is obviously applicable to parents but this verse is actually a challenge to every follower of jesus to leverage their influence in shaping the next generation unfortunately with a verse of scripture like this there are a lot of non-parents who say that verse is not for me i cannot listen today but there's no the word parents is not in here let me tell you the second thing the word child here is not the hebrew word for offspring nor is there any possessive structure it's not train up your child it's train up a child the word child here is a word that refers to anyone who is young it's a word that is generic it speaks to the next generation it literally could say train up the young train up the next generation you ever heard the african proverb that says it takes a village to raise a child nobody knows really where it came from they've tried to trace the source of that it's somewhere in the history of the continent of africa that this proverb became something that people said what it what it speaks to in the african culture is that it takes an entire community of people to interact with the next generation for those children to experience life and grow in a safe and healthy environment here's what proverb the biblical proverb says train up a child train up the next generation and what it's speaking to us is as a community of jesus followers as a church we embrace a shared responsibility to raise up and impact the next generation here's what that means just because you may not be volunteering in hope kids or hope students doesn't mean you get a pass on this verse it's for all of us now if you're looking for a good place to start we'll take you as a volunteer and hope kids and hope students amen hope kids and hope students leaders amen pastor tony pastor trenton almost shouted back i heard him so that's the first misconception okay this is for parents no it's not for parents it's applicable to parents but it's for all of us here's the second misconception about this verse of scripture if the next generation fails it's our fault as a matter of fact there may be some of you here today maybe you're watching online and you're a parent and you're wearing this verse like an albatross of guilt around your neck well pastor it says if you train them up in the way they should go then they won't depart from it and you feel like because your child as they've grown up have made choices for their life and decisions that are contrary to what you've taught them that somehow you are the failure now i'm not saying that as parents we aren't responsible we are responsible but here's what you need to understand some proverbs we know as promises but we only know a proverb as a promise if it's also a promise in other places in scripture for example i quoted one a little earlier the name of the lord is a strong tower the righteous runs into it and is safe is that a promise yes but it's not just in proverbs psalms chapter 46 verse 1 says basically the same thing god is our refuge and strength the very present help in time of trouble it's a promise because it's taught the proverbs are wisdom principles you say what does that mean it means that the wisdom principles are not guaranteed promises it's a wisdom statement that generally will be true meaning this generally if you raise up a child in the way they should go that's the wise thing to do and the general outcome is when they're old they're not going to depart from it but here's the reality there are no guarantees because every child has to choose their own path and i know parents who've lived godly and taught godly and invested godly and seen their children make decisions as they got older and listen mom and dad they are responsible for their own choices don't wear this as an albatross of guilt around your neck what this is telling us is we have a responsibility to invest in the next generation and if we do it rightly more times than not what you're going to get out of that is a child that makes those right decisions does that make sense so let me give you the big idea and let's unpack it here's the big idea of this weekend a wise way to live is to give priority to training and shaping the next generation if you believe that say amen if you don't believe that get on board it's what proverbs says we have a responsibility train up a child in the way he or she should go now this is not just taught in proverbs 22 6. it's taught in almost every chapter in proverbs you see proverbs speaking to the next generation as a matter of fact think about for just a minute the meta-narrative of the book of proverbs what is the whole book of proverbs solomon a father speaking to his son really the backdrop of the entire narrative of the book of proverbs it begins in chapter one verse eight he says hear my son a father's instruction the whole metanarrative the backdrop for the book of proverbs is that it's a wise way to live to give priority to training and shaping the next generation so let's unpack that big idea with three important questions here's the first one and you need to listen fast alright you ready here we go number one why is my responsibility to the next generation so important why is it so important i want to unpack the answer to that question with two big statements now there's a lot we could say to answer that question there's a ton of information in scripture of why it's it's our responsibility and why it's so important but let me give it to you in two statements number one the next generation matters to god we live in a very self-centered world unfortunately it's crept into the church much of christianity in america is very self-centered it's about what it's going to do for me people choose churches not based on how can god use me and my gifts in this church people choose churches based on what you got for me and if you don't have enough for me i'm gonna go somewhere where they got something better for me it's crept into our understanding of of jesus and our understanding of our faith and so if we're not careful we live a self-centered christianity all about god meeting our needs god blessing us god answering our prayers but here's the reality of scripture the next generation matters to god it's bigger than us it's taught in both the old and new testament let me give you an example psalm 75 verse 5 listen what it says for he god established a testimony in jacob and appointed a law in israel which he commanded our fathers that they should teach them to their children that the generation to come might know even the children yet to be born that they may arise and tell them to their children that they should put their confidence in god and not forget the works of god but keep his commandments you find that kind of premise over and over both in the old and new testament that we have a responsibility to the generations to come to be faithful to invest in them why does the next generation matter to god well a lot of reasons we could give let me give you just a couple the next generation matters to god because they've been made for the glory of god did you hear that the next generation ultimately have been made for the glory of god here's what that means ultimately the next generation's primary aim is not to make their mark on the world it's not to preserve american culture it's not to end all of society's problems the ultimate understanding and aim of the next generation is that they have been made for the glory of god let me show you a verse of scripture out of romans chapter 11 verse 36 for from him and through him and to him are all things to him be the glory forever did you hear that this is so counterintuitive to the way we view faith in our individualistic self-centered culture of america that we hear that and don't even shout hallelujah but we ought to hear that and shout glory be to god for from him and through him and to him are all things to him be the glory forever more the word glory is a word that means brightness splendor radiance greatness and what this verse teaches us is that everything has been made for the glory of god meaning that everything has been made to reflect and declare and praise the wonder and the splendor and the majesty of god that's why the psalmist writes this in psalm chapter 19 and verse 1 the heavens are telling of the what say it out loud the glory of god did you hear that the heavens are telling it's an ongoing continuous declaration as you look up into the heavens here's what the heavens are saying glory to god glory to god and their expanse is declaring the work of his hands when you look up into the sky at night and you see the vastness of the stars they tell us that the first star beyond our sun is called alpha centauri did you know that the first star that you could travel to if you could travel into outer space past our sun the first star is alpha centauri you know how close it is to planet earth it is 25 plus trillion miles away and if you could travel there as you flew past it you could count one because you just have passed the first star we have no idea with all of our technology how many stars there are in outer space we know how close the first one is we don't have a clue where the last one is or even how far it is that's this idea of the expanse is declaring the vastness of the solar systems are declaring the glory of god but listen that's not just true about the stars and the mountains and the planets and the galaxies and the oceans in the book of romans when it uses the word things it's not just talking about inanimate objects it's talking about everything that means you and i as human beings are made with a primary purpose and that primary purpose is the glory of god john piper said it this way glorifying god is the ultimate absolute all-pervasive reason for being everything we are and doing everything we do glorifying god is feeling and thinking and acting in ways that reflect his greatness here's what that means at your job your primary aim is not to increase your platform or grow your your capital or plan or prepare for your retirement and your job the greatest thing that you can be about is the glory of god that other people see you and the way you work and they give glory at your school in your neighborhood in your hobbies the greatest thing in front of us is the glory of god that's why first corinthians chapter 10 said it this way whether then you eat or you drink or whatever you do do all to the glory of god how does this apply to the next generation get this the children and young people in your home in your classroom in your neighborhood on your ball team in your small group they've ultimately been created to be living testimonies of the greatness and the majesty and the splendor of god and we have a responsibility to raise them up as such but not only does the next generation matter to god because they've been made for the glory of god secondly they've been made to enjoy the goodness of god the westminster shorter catechism is a foundational statement in the protestant faith listen to what it says the chief end of man is to glorify god but listen to the next part and enjoy him forever you see most people think bringing god glory and enjoyment are not the same thing but here's what i want you to understand when god is most glorified we are most satisfied you see living for the glory of god doesn't rob us of all the pleasure of life as a matter of fact it's just the opposite living for the glory of god fills our lives with joy and satisfaction and fulfillment you know who the most miserable people are on planet earth not lost people because they don't know what they don't know the most miserable people on planet earth are saved people living for the glory of themselves because they now know they've been made for someone else's glory and they will only be most satisfied when they live their lives that he may be glorified and the writer of proverbs has reminded us of this over and over again let me show it to you in proverbs chapter 7 verse 1. look what he said my son keep my words treasure my commandments within you keep my commandments and say it out loud we think it says keep my commandments and be miserable but in hebrew this literally could be translated enjoy life the next generation has been made for his glory and to enjoy his goodness and they will not enjoy his goodness apart from seeking his glory you see it's in living for his glory that we find real life that's why the psalmist said this in psalm 16 you will make known to me the path of life get this in your presence is fullness of joy in your right hand there are pleasures forever why is this responsibility to the next generation so important because they matter to god but secondly it's important because the next generation matters to god's redemptive mission the whole story of the bible genesis to revelation is the story that god is on a mission redeeming a people to himself from every tribe tongue people and nation but here it is god is accomplishing his mission through his people i had a radical thought this week here it is sun generation is going to finish the mission do you hear that i pray it's ours but it could be the next one or the next one meaning this you and i right now in the scope of god's eternal redemptive mission could be entrusted with raising up the generation that will finish the eternal redemptive mission of god let me show it to you in the bible matthew chapter 24 this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations and then what the end of what the end of the world as we know it you see this whole thing is moving towards a grand and glorious climax when king jesus is going to step off the throne return to this earth and redeem to himself the people that have come to know him through the redemptive work that he accomplished on the cross and then we'll be raptured up with him and for eternity the kingdom of god will reign and there'll be a new heaven and a new earth and someday one generation will be the last generation to share the gospel here's what that means listen to this here's how this applies to you that little boy or girl in your classroom that you are struggling to keep focused may one day preach the sermon that ushers the last soul into the kingdom of god that teenager that is pushing every boundary you put in front of him today may one day be the one god uses to take the gospel across the last boundary to reach the last unreached people group on the face of the earth how responsibility matters because the next generation matters to god and they matter to god's eternal eternal redemptive mission so let me ask the second question what is my responsibility to the next generation well let's go back to proverbs 22. let's put it up here train up a child in the way he should go two important parts of this i want to point out first of all say that word out loud train what does it mean well i'm gonna share with you three things about that word number one it's an imperative in hebrew here's what that means you ain't got to pray about it god is not saying consider this i preached a week or so ago about seeking counsel you'll not seek counsel about this leave that up here keep that up here with me train it's an imperative it's a command meaning god says do this secondly not only is it imperative it is speaking about the totality of a person you say what do you mean by that i mean that this is talking more than just their spiritual life as a matter of fact the word trained is not a spiritual word again we put our church goggles on we read this verse and we think it means teach them to pray teach them to read the bible memorize scripture take them to church listen that's a part of training but this is speaking to the totality of the person meaning their spiritual physical mental emotional well-being third thing about this word trained it requires an investment of time it's a command of god for you and i to choose to be intentional with our time in raising up the totality spiritual mental physical emotional next generation it means that this verse is more than just making sure your child prays at night before going to bed or memorizes a bible verse each week with whatever level of influence we have in the next generation we're to leverage it for the sake of developing them holistically their spiritual life their decision making their management of finances they're living as good stewards of the body god gave them relational boundaries all of that is included in the word train second part of this sentence that's important is in the way he should go now you understand the bible was written in hebrew and in greek old testament hebrew new testament greek what we have in english is a translation of the inspired hebrew and greek texts in hebrew this phrase he should go is literally not in the text it's a translator's interpretation of what this is saying it literally says train up a child in his or her way say what does that mean here's what i think it means every human being has been created by god and has a unique purpose for their life and you and i through training are not to try to force them into our mold by sensitivity to the holy spirit of god we are to understand who and how god's made them and we are to through an investment of in time intentionally in accordance with a biblical text that doesn't mean we don't give boundaries and parameters obviously the boundaries and parameters of scripture are a part of training let me show you a place in the scripture that i think speaks to this in psalm 139 i'm gonna read it to you from the new living translation listen what it says about all of us speaking to god the psalmist says you made all the delicate inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother's womb thank you for making me so wonderfully complex your workmanship is marvelous how well i know it you watched me as i was being formed in utter seclusion as i was woven together in the dark of the womb you saw me before i was born every day of my life was recorded in your book every moment was laid out before a single day had passed train up a child in the way his or her way is following the leadership of the holy spirit of god with an intentional investment of time leveraging whatever influence god's given you in the life of the next generation spiritually physically mentally emotionally socially relationally we're to leverage that for seeing them be championed for accomplishing the purpose that god's given them let me give it to you in a statement what's our responsibility our responsibility is to guide the next generation to discover who god made them to be and to fully live that out for his glory that's our responsibility mom and dad that's your responsibility your responsibility is not to make sure they have a better life than you had your responsibility is not to make sure they get the biggest scholarship or that they become the best athlete or they're the star pupil your responsibility is to guide the next generation to discover who god made them to be and to fully live that out for his glory educator teacher coach small group leader scout leader i know there are other tasks education if that's what you're doing that's important sports if you're coaching that's important but let me tell you what rise is above all that you as a christ follower have a responsibility to guide the next generation to discover who god made them to be and how to fully live that out for his glory so let me close my time's gone here's the last question how how do i fulfill my responsibility to the next generation obviously we can't unpack this in great detail but i'm about to give you five things up here real quick so if you want to jot them down take a picture of them however you wanna do it it's on the app you can get it there as well i'm gonna give you five practical takeaways i'm gonna do it around five words so it's memorable with the word but then i'm gonna give you a sentence here's word number one dependence i am to guide the next generation in dependence on the lord here's what that means you and i cannot do this in our own strength it's impossible teacher educator coach mom dad the task before you is bigger than you you must seek the face of god dependence number two dedication i am to guide the next generation with a heart of dedication and really i want to say that in two ways dedication first of all to the lord meaning our responsibility to the next generation is a recognition of stewardship meaning they've been entrusted to us for a season and we are simply stewards of this life this relationship and we have to entrust that back to the lord dedicating it to him james dobson said it this way children are not casual guests in our home they have been loaned to us temporarily for the purpose of loving them and instilling a foundation of values on which their future lives will be built it's a dedication to the lord but secondly it's a dedication to the task it's a resolve to steadfastness to not quitting i know they're going to be days you want to teachers educators coaches even moms and dads there are days you want to but the way we fulfill this this is the spirit of dedication number three demonstration i am to guide the next generation by living my life as a demonstration of a life lived for god's glory let me say this first of all to see your life you gotta invite them into your life [Music] if you're investing in the next generation let me just tell you something that'll take you a long way transparency let them in when you mess up let them see it one of the greatest things you can do for the next generation is show them your own mistakes and be willing to apologize and humble yourself when you need to towards them [Music] demonstration that's why the writer of proverbs said in proverbs 20 verse 7 a righteous man who walks in his integrity how blessed are his sons after him let him see it reggie joyner said it this way one of the most sobering truths about parenting is that you are teaching your children something whether you are being intentional or not kids have a front row seat to our lives what are they watching it's not just true for parents teacher educator administrator coach small group leader they got a front row seat in your life that mean you got to be perfect [Music] but demonstrate a life live for the glory of god number four discipline i'm to guide the next generation by being faithful to discipline from a heart of love we hear the word discipline and we think punishment but that's not the word discipline in scripture let me give you a statement that will help summarize this idea of discipline we have time to unpack it but here it is loving boundaries with compassionate correction that's discipline loving boundaries with compassionate correction if you don't bring the boundaries you're not fulfilling your responsibility to the next generation but if you don't also compassionately correct when they step outside the boundaries you're not fulfilling your listen don't just try to be their buddy here's the fifth one deploy i'm to guide the next generation by ultimately deploying them to fulfill god's glorious purpose for them teachers educators coaches but even listen moms and dads mom and dad you know the bible calls your children arrows in the hands of a warrior arrows are meant to be shocked here's what that means when it comes time let them go let them fulfill the purpose god you know one of the toughest things for me in ministry through the years has been watching a kid god just get a hold of them in high school college and they're ready to surrender their life to something that god has for them and a christian mom or dad becomes the biggest obstacle because they had another plan and god's plan for what they wanted their kid to be and do no part of this raising them up is deploying them sending them out to be what god's called them to be that's our responsibility to the next generation let's pray

Channel: Hope Church LV

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Length: 40min 35sec (2435 seconds)

Published: Sun Aug 23 2020