Sunday, October 16, 2011 - Straighten Up and Fly Right
Judges 2:6-13
What am I trying to accomplish with this sermon?
Help listeners understand their God given responsibility to the next generation. Deut. 6:1-9
So what? What difference will this make in our lives?
By understanding our responsibility to the next generation, we will then be motivated to REACH the next
generation. We will begin to notice and take an interest in the kids in our communities and more specifically the kids
that God has already put in our paths and in our lives. We will begin to try and see them with the same eyes Jesus
looks at them with. (Matt. 18:5-6, 19:13-14)
Now what? What changes do I need to make in my life?
How could God use me to reach the next generation. What is my role in reaching the next generation? How has
He gifted me? How has He blessed me? What are some things that I enjoy or am good at that could be used to reach
the next generation?
The Point! What’s the one thing I want my audience to know?
We have a God given responsibility to future generations
The Application! What do I want them to do about it?
Begin to get a clear picture of their role and engage the kids around them now!
Introduction:
- Have 10 students come to the front of the sanctuary and form a line facing the congregation. Read the following
quote.
“A recent study (2006) by The Barna Group (Ventura, California) shows that despite strong levels of spiritual
activity during the teen years, most twentysomethings disengage from active participation in the Christian faith during
their young adult years - and often beyond that. In total, six out of ten twentysomethings were involved in a church
during their teen years, but have failed to translate that into active spirituality during their early adulthood.”
Lets pretend that these 10 kids up here represent the graduating class of Seniors at Plattsmouth Bible Church this
year. According to this survey 6 out of the 10 students that are up here will leave home this spring and over the course
of the next couple of years leave the church too.
Have the first 6 students return to their seats.
While these students are returning to their seats try to wrap you heads around what’s happening here. What we
just did up here was just a demonstration. As far as I know, the 6 kids that were just up here will most likely be back
to church next week. This morning these students are just leaving the stage to return to their seats. But in reality, when
church is over this morning there are real students, from real families, who go to real churches that are leaving church
and never coming back.
Does that bother any of you?
It should! Do you want to know why? Because if this trend keeps up the math says that it won’t be long at all and
there won’t be any more churches. The statistics and the odds are already against my own children, Jonah, and Silas,
and Eden growing up to be God fearing parents themselves. Statistically, there is a good chance that one of my own
children may ditch their faith. If this trend doesn’t get any worse and just stays the same, how promising is it looking for
my grandchildren to grow up into adults that love and fear God. Not too promising is it?
Keep in mind we’re not even talking about teens and twentysomethings in general right now. We’re only talking
about the so-called “Christian” teens. The ones who are actively participating in their faith and church now. There is
still a whole other world that exists of kids that have never been to church in their life or have already dropped out. I’m
not trying to alarm anyone this morning, but I’m afraid we’ve got serious problem on our hands.
Sean McDowell wrote a book a couple of years ago entitled, The Last Christian Generation. Is it possible that we
might have the last Christian generation with us this morning singing songs and learning Bible stories downstairs?
Wether we do or wether we don’t, it doesn’t really matter how you answer it, I think either way we have to admit that
we have a problem. Though there may be some debate over the severity of the problem, I think few of us would be
willing to say that a problem doesn’t exist. So if we admit that have a problem, what do we do about it? Do we have
any responsibility to the future generations? How would God want us to respond to this problem as parents, and
grandparents, and aunts and uncles, and school teachers. You name it, whoever you are, whatever you do, the
question I want us to think about this morning is, “What is my role in influencing the next generation?”
Let’s pray.
Turn in your Bible this morning to Judges chapter 2. This morning we’re going to look at a passage in the Old
Testament that I believe has a lot to say about the responsibility of one generation to the next. This passage starts out
with the death of a man named Joshua. Joshua was the leader of the Israelites at this time, and was at the end of his life.
The Israelites, if you’ll remember, were God’s chosen people. In and of themselves they weren’t that special, but
God sovereignly chose this group of people to work in and through as He began to reveal Himself to the world.
Remember, people living during this time period didn’t have the luxury of owning a Bible that told them about God. The
Bible obviously hadn’t been written yet. The only knowledge of God that they had was how they had seen Him work
in the world. The Israelites were the people group or the nation that God chose to do His work through, so that others
could look from the outside and see a stark difference in the way the Israelites lived compared to the rest of the world.
God gave the Israelites their own set of rules to live by. He did miraculous signs and wonders in them and through them
so that the whole world around them would begin to see and know the one true God.
Joshua was a man who got to be a part of those great miracles that God was doing through the Israelites. Long
ago God promised the nation of Israel that one day He would give them their own land. That one day they would live in
a place that was rich and fertile that they could call their own. Up until the time of Joshua the Israelites had been
wandering in the desert in disobedience just waiting to enter this land. Because of Joshua’s obedience and commitment
to God, God was able to use Joshua in incredible ways to conquer the opposing armies and allow Israel to gain
possession of the land. So we pick up our story here as Joshua and his generation is about to die and a new generation
of Israelites is rising up to finish the work that Joshua had started. Now remember. We’re looking for clues that are
going to help us understand the responsibility one generation has to another. Think about that while we read this
passage and see if anything sticks out to you.
Read Judges 2:6-13
Did you see anything? When I read this passage there are 3 things that jump off the page to me and send red flags
shooting up all over.
#1. vs. 10 (read 10) “Another generation rose up who did not know the Lord”
They didn’t know the Lord? Why not? Are you kidding me? These were God’s chosen people! How
could they not know the Lord? And if they didn’t, who was responsible for making sure they knew the Lord? Did
God have any expectations regarding passing on their faith?
Turn with me to Deut. 6. Do you think based on this passage that one generation had any responsibility to the
next?
Does our up and coming generation know the Lord? Statistics would tell us that fewer and fewer do. Do the
youth in Plattsmouth know the Lord? Not just the ones that go to our church, but what about the rest of the kids in this
town? If we don’t tell them who will? I think we each have to take a look at ourselves and ask, “What role have I had
in telling the next generation about the God that I know and love?” But we aren’t just suppose to tell the next
generation about
2. Vs. 10 “Or the works He had done for Israel”.
Why didn’t they know the works and miracles God had done for their people? It said in verse seven that
Joshua’s generation actually got to see those great works. How is it that God worked in the lives of Joshua’s
generation and the very next generation didn’t even know what He had done for their people? Do you think that this
might have anything to do with this generation abandoning the the God of their fathers? I think so! As older Christians
we have a responsibility to share what God has done in our lives and in the lives of others with the younger generation!
Maybe if they had taken the time to do this the younger generation wouldn’t have been so tempted to follow the other
God’s in the region. Which brings us to our last point.
3. Vs. 12 “They abandoned the Lord the God of their fathers... and went after other gods”
Is anyone else wondering where these other God’s that they were following came from? God gave the
Israelites strict instructions to go into the land, conquer the armies, and drive ALL the wicked people out of the land,
and destroy all of their possessions. Now why would God tell them to do something like that? Sounds like God’s
kinda paranoid or something. NO! God wasn’t paranoid! He knew exactly what would happen if wicked people
were allowed to stay in the land. He knew exactly what would happen if some of their idols and gods were allowed to
hang around. God knew and He even warned them! Look at the last part of the book of Joshua 23:9-16. God
specifically warned them through Joshua that if they didn’t continue to drive out the remaining people in the land they
would become ensnared to their gods and their wicked culture. So tell me. What happened? Did the rest of Joshua’s
generation obey what God had commanded them? Kinda.... They were guilty of something a lot of us are guilty of...
partial obedience. It goes like this. “God I know you told us to drive out all these people, but some of these girls are
really pretty and I’m still single, and Lord you know I’ve been praying for a wife. So we’re just gonna keep some of
these young ladies around to marry and then we’ll start a nice Godly family together.” (and we all know from the text
how that ends.) Or “God, I know what you said, but some of these younger guys have really strong backs and we
could really use them in all of these nice fields you just gave us.” They compromised. They partially obeyed. And now
the next generation is reaping the consequences.
I wonder if there are any of us here this morning that might be guilty of compromising what we know God expects
from us? I wonder if there is anyone here this morning that might be guilty of partial obedience? I know in my own life
I’ve struggled with that. But have we taken the time to think about why God wants us to do or not to do some of the
things we’ve compromised on? Have we thought about the impact that our partial obedience, and compromising could
have on the next generation? It didn’t have a happy ending for Joshua’s grandkids. What about our grandkids?
Conclusion:
Did Joshua’s generation have a responsibility to the next generation? Did they faithfully fulfill that responsibility like
God had intended for them to? What was the result of Joshua’s generation failing the next?
What about us? Do you think we have a responsibility to the next generation? Do you think God wants us
involved in shaping the spiritual future of the youth that are sitting in this church with us today? What about the younger
kids downstairs? What about the kids who aren’t in this building this morning? Do you think God might want to use us
to love and reach out to them as well? This morning I’d like to challenge each one of us to consider what our role might
be in reaching the next generation. Has God gifted you in a certain area that might be useful in reaching kids? Don’t
answer that too quickly... think about it honestly. Has He blessed you with time, talents, or resources that could be
used in reaching the next generation?
As your new youth pastor I’m certainly counting on God using Erin and I to reach some kids here in Plattsmouth.
But what if God was calling more that just Erin and I to reach kids in Plattsmouth. What if this morning we joined
together as the body of Christ and committed ourselves to the responsibility we all have to the next generation. Think
about your life. What kids, youth, teens, younger generation has God placed in your life? (kids, grandkids, students,
neighbor kids, nieces, nephews,...) Do you think God might want to use you in their life? I think He does.
Let’s pray.