Helping The Next Generation Series

Sermon for 6/15/03

Father’s Day

HELPING THE NEXT GENERATION

(Adapted from Jack Peters)

Introduction:

A. The Andy Griffith Show started out with the theme song being whistled and Andy and Opie going to the fishing hole. Much of the show was based around this relationship between Opie and his day, Andy. May we learn from this. They spend time together.

B. Charles Francis Adams, the 19th century political figure and diplomat, kept a diary. One day he entered: "Went fishing with my son today--a day wasted." His son, Brook Adams, also kept a diary, which is still in existence. On that same day, Brook Adams made this entry: "Went fishing with my father--the most wonderful day of my life!" The father thought he was wasting his time while fishing with his son, but his son saw it as an investment of time.

WBTU:

Each generation has a responsibility to help the next generation. It is the older generations that teach the younger generation at home and in school.

Thesis: This passage talks about giving Spiritual help to the next generation.

For instances:

REMEMBER THE TRUTH - Vss. 1-3

Those who know God through Christ must give ear to His Word and obey it.

A. What is the truth?

1. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

2. God cannot tolerate sin. It can not be in his presence so we are not going to heaven. We all deserve hell.

3. However, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the perfect Lamb, came and paid the penalty for our sins. He died on a cross and rose again so that we can go to heaven to be with Him. He paid the price so that we can go to heaven.

B. How do we receive this gift?

1. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

2. Believe

3. Repent

4. Confess

5. Be baptized

6. Receive the Holy Spirit

7. Live a Christian life. What does this mean?

a. We will want to fellowship with God and with his children, the church.

b. We will want to read the Bible and pray.

c. Keep his commandments. We want to please Him and do what he tells us to do.

d. Put away bad habits and sins through God’s power.

e. Confess and witness about Jesus Christ before others.

f. Want to help others; we will want to give

They cannot help the next generation to live for God unless they know his word and heed it themselves.

A. A father says, “You better get ready, the bus will be here in a minute to pick you up to take you to Sunday school.” The Boy asked, “Did you go to Sunday School when you were a boy?” The father replied, “Yes I did.” The boy said as he was getting dressed, “It probably won’t do me any good either.”

B. I love Norman Rockwell prints and one of my favorites depicts a mother dressed in her Sunday best followed by a couple of well-dressed and freshly groomed kids all with Bibles under their arms walking past a dad who is still dressed in his pajamas and slouched in his chair with the Sunday paper looking very guilty. Only Rockwell could capture all the details that were in play in such a scene.

C. Recent research is shining light on the importance of male spiritual leadership in the home. Among their findings is the reality that 68 million of our nation’s 94 million men don’t attend any church. This, in spite of the fact, that 86% of them grew up with some sort of church background.

D. Research has revealed that if a child is the first person in a household to become a Christian, there is a 3.5 percent probability that everyone else in the household will become Christians. Not very high at all. If the mother is the first to accept Christ, the percent goes up and 17 percent of the homes will see the remainder of its members trust Christ. But if the father is first, there is a 93 percent probability that everyone else in the household will follow.

E. When father goes first spiritually, good things happen at home. Let’s all pray together that God will call even more men to spiritual revival and renewal. Never has there been a generation in our nation, where is has been more important than now.

REVEAL THE TRUTH - Vss. 4-6a

Spiritually speaking, it is the responsibility of older generations of Christians to help the next generation.

A. We as a church need to be concerned about our youth and children.

1. If the older generation does not teach the younger ones, then they will not be taught. Oh, they can learn some things on their own and from their peers (mainly bad stuff). Mostly they learn from the older generation.