So The Next Generation Will Know

SO THE NEXT GENERATION WILL KNOW - Psalm 78:1-7 (Keynote Conference Sermon)

I am so excited to be with you because of our conference theme. It fits so well with the work I do every day. We are "Serving children and families in need to reach the next generation for Christ."

A few years ago, George Barna wrote a book about children. We think of him as the survey guy. But he wrote a book entitled, Transforming Children Into Spiritual Champions. The subtitle though is more powerful than the main title. “Children Should Be Your Church’s Number One Priority.”

I want to challenge you to make children THE number one priority of your church so the next generation will know. Let’s look at the passage.

Psalm 78 is a rather unusual Psalm. It is one of the Teaching Psalms. It is not a psalm of praise or thanksgiving. It is a psalm of instruction. The writer is Asaph, and his over-riding concern is that the next generation knows God.

Let’s look at the passage.

THE REALITY vs 1-3

The first thing Asaph says is, “Listen to me.” In other words this is very important. Friends, with regard to our children, nothing is more important than their spiritual lives. Not education, not sports, etc.

Unfortunately, most of this Psalm records the failings of the people of God. Two things. They failed to teach their children about God and they did not live godly lives before their children.

And Judges 2:10 tells us the result. There arose a generation that knew not God.

THE REALITY IS We are ONE generation away from having a FAITHLESS generation.

What are the SPIRITUAL REALITIES of the world our children are living in? Sean McDowell and Warner Wallace tell us about Generation Z.

· Leaving the church in record numbers

· Not convinced that the Bible is the Word of God

· Do not have a Christian worldview (secular)

· Do not believe that Jesus is the only way to God

The latest data for Southern Baptists show that YOUTH BAPTISMS are plummeting.

Asaph says, “Church, pay attention to these realities.”

THE REMEDY vs 4, 5

Asaph begins the section with this statement. He says, “We are not going to hide the things of God from our children.” That sounds strange to me.

But he is simply saying we cannot be silent. We must be proactive and focused on this task.

What are we going to tell them about God? He says…

· The Praiseworthy Deeds of God

· The Power of God

· The Wonders Of God

· The Statutes and Laws of God

Those cover the Old Testament. What are we going to tell them about God and His Son?

· God LOVES YOU. The ABCs From VBS. Admit, Believe, Confess

· God HAS A PLAN FOR YOUR LIFE Jeremiah 29:11

· GOD HAS LIFESTYLE STANDARDS

But we have to teach them more. We have to teach them Biblical perspectives on the issues of our day. That it is wrong to take the life of an unborn child. That God created us male and female only and you should not seek to change that. That the marriage God recognizes is the marriage of one man and one woman.

Now, WHO is supposed to be doing this teaching. The church certainly has a teaching role. But to successfully disciple our children, PARENTS must be the main teachers and the church MUST HELP TRAIN PARENTS how to teach their children

We need to understand that teaching this generation is different than teaching our generation. This is the WHY Generation. They don’t accept anything as a fact unless you can explain why they should believe it.

Not long ago one of our staff members at the Children’s Home was telling us about her 10-year-old son. She told him that he was going to be limited to 30 minutes on the internet in the evenings on school nights.

This was his response, “Mother, you’re going to have to explain why that is good for me.” I don’t know about you but that would not have been well-received by my parents. She told him that was simply the rule. Fifteen minutes later, he came back and said, “I really have to know WHY If you tell me why, maybe I can accept it better.

We need to be able to tell our children WHY we believe the Bible is the Word of God, why we believe Jesus is the only way to God.

1Peter 3:15 – “Always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you.”

The command is clear. Parents teach your children about God.

So we need to TEACH our children about God but we need to remember that the best way to teach our children about God is to LIVE FOR GOD.