TOUCHING THE NEXT GENERATION
KEY TEXT
Psalm 78:1-8 (NASB)
Verse 1- Listen, my people, to my instruction; incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
Verse 2 – I will open my mouth in a parable; I will tell riddles of old,
Verse 3 – Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us.
Verse 4 – We will not conceal them from their children, But we will tell the generation to come the praises of the LORD, And his power and His wondrous works that He has done.
Verse 5 – For He established a testimony in Jacob, And appointed a law in Israel, Which He commanded our fathers That they were to teach them to their children,
Verse 6- So that the generation to come would know, the children yet to be born, That they would arise and tell them to their children,
Verse 7- So that they would put their confidence in God And not forget the works of God, But comply with His commandments,
Verse 8- And not be like their fathers, A stubborn and rebellious generation, A generation that did not prepare its heart And whose spirit was not faithful to God.
INTRODUCTION
(1.)Etab Is Aging
(2.) Our Christian obligation
(3.) Background of our Key text
Title
“TOUCHING THE NEXT GENERATION”
MAIN POINTS
Like the Israelites, we too have been entrusted with the responsibility to teach by instruction and example the truth of God’s Word, which results in a desire to walk obediently before the Lord in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Since both INSTRUCTION and EXAMPLE are necessary, we must have consistency between what we SAY and what we DO if we hope to pass down God’s truths to the next generation.
Our instructions should include the following principles:-
- God’s Word that we have read, learned, and lived out in our own lives—in other words, our personal testimony.
= GOD’S WORDS
- Although we may feel as if we don’t know enough to pass on scriptural truths, we all have a STORY to tell.
= YOUR STORY
- Christian parents cannot entrust this divine obligation to someone else.
Ephesians 6:4 says, “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”
= NO DELEGATION
- The state of our culture makes this divine obligation even more critical.
= OUR CRITICAL DIVINE OBLIGATION
- We have many ways to teach the next generation.
= MANY WAYS OF TEACHING
- Grounding our children in scriptural truth is especially important as they head off to school.
= SPIRITUAL GROUNDING
- We must talk to our children about spiritual matters.
= FREQUENT SPIRITUAL TALK
- We are living in spiritually dangerous times and must take a stand for truth to protect our children.
= STANDING FOR THE TRUTH
- The task is not too big for us because we have the Holy Spirit living within us.
= OUR RESOURCE-THE HOLY SPIRIT
We need to touch the next generation today.
If not, like the Key Text says, the next generation will become like the older generation -“A stubborn and rebellious generation, A generation that did not prepare its heart And whose spirit was not faithful to God” (verse 8).
Message bible calls it “bullheaded and bad, a fickle and faithless bunch who never stayed true to God.”
Our divine obligation to the next generation is “not conceal them from their children, But we will tell the generation to come the praises of the LORD, And his power and His wondrous works that He has done.” (verse 4).
The GOSPEL still remains the main tool we use to touch the next generation.
The STORY OF JESUS is still the most powerful testimony we can use to touch the generation.
When Jesus hung on the cross, He did not just atone for the sinners living in His time; but also, for the Old Testament saints and more importantly for the future generation that came about 2000 years after His death.
CONCLUSION
There remains much work to be done for year 2024 to trigger growth, to revamp these 3 departments and more importantly to teach and train the new generations so that one day they can become HOD or youth leaders to the next Alpha generation.
The church needs the youth, vigor and the energy of the next generation.
Let’s all help, give, train, teach, lead, mentor, counsel and love the next generation.
All the HOD of these 3 departments must have a heart and burden to look beyond the four walls of Etab to search for the lost youth so that you can bring them into the kingdom of God to be the next generation of Etab.
TOUCH THE NEXT GENERATION
END
