The Gospel and The Next Generation

0:23 The tough thing is we missed a week last week, and so we're kind of getting caught up. but there's some foundational realities that I want to put on the table that really cover the whole of Scripture that will help us, I think, understand some of the specific texts that we're going to look at, Psalm 78 and others in the days to come. And so what I want to do is I want us to think about, before we even dive into Psalm 78, we're going to think for a little bit about this, about the relationship between the Word and the family and the church, because I think there's a lot of confusion when it comes to how those three components work together. You've got some situations where across the church we just kind of disregard the Word. We put the Word to the side and we do whatever it takes to draw the most people and we don't trust the Word to do that work. Well, obviously we know that's not our business, but we're going to cling to the Word and the Word will be foundational. That's why we're walking through what we're going to walk through over the next nine or so weeks. But then when it comes to the family and the church, there's a lot of confusion here. We've got kind of opposite poles that we have wandered between when it comes to our church culture. When it comes to, and you've seen this, if you're new to the church, you may not have seen this as much, but you've seen this not just here at Berkills, but in a variety of different contexts. You've got a variety of pictures in the church that have so exalted the church to the exclusion of the family or ignoring the family.

1:56 Basically, okay, we want children to know Christ. Okay, we're going to create, we're going to staff, organize, strategize, and create programs. Parents, just come drop your kids off the door. We don't want you trying this at home. You drop your kids off the door, and we're going to handle this. And basically, moms and dads all over the place have abdicated the responsibility for the spiritual instruction of their children to programs in the church. And you have a dearth, you have a major void when it comes to moms and dads pouring the gospel and the word of God into their children who have just expected others to do that instead. To where you have many who have no thought of what family worship would look like or what would it look like to have systematic teaching of the word in a home. So that's a problem. That's not good.

2:47 church exalted to the exclusion of the family but then on the other hand you kind of swing the pendulum and you've got another picture that says family is most important family's primary and this is the responsibility of moms and dads and so church if you could almost just kind of stay out of the way we'll take care of this we don't need any kind of preschool children student ministry we we can do that if families are doing this it'll work if moms and dads are doing this And that's all we need. We don't need the church doing this or that. And so, again, it's reacting to some things that need to be reacted to. What I want to show you today is that that also misses the point.

3:29 Instead, what we see when you look at the whole of Scripture is that there are clear differences in the design of God between the family and the church. And understanding the differences between what the family is and what God has designed for the family and what the church is and what God has designed for the church, understanding those differences helps us understand how they work together for spreading the gospel to the next generation. And so what you've got there in your notes under Word, Family, Church, I want us to look, just think together about a few important realities that some of them are going to seem really basic, but they're crucial for understanding the journey we're about to go on in the Word the next few weeks, especially when it comes to a relationship between the family and the church. So here's a few essential realities. First, the family includes non-Christians but the church includes only Christians.

4:31 Okay, now that seems obvious but it's extremely significant. There's a reason why I tried to be as intentional as I could with those words. The word is foundational. It's the foundation of everything. Families must be strong and the church must be accountable. And the reason I use the word accountable is because the church is ultimately who God holds accountable for the spread of the gospel to continuing generations. The church. In a way that's different than the family. Because the reality is you have families that are made up of non-Christians. non-christian mom, non-christian dad, non-christian kids. And there's a responsibility that's on the church. In the church, you have only Christians. There are such things, even in the design of God, there are such things as non-christian families.

5:27 There are no such things as non-christian churches. And so, this is important for a few different reasons. It's important to realize the difference here, especially when it comes to, okay, Old Testament passages, like Psalm 78, Deuteronomy chapter 6, which we're going to look at in a few weeks. The reality is, Israelite conception of family placed huge priority on physical lineage. On, yes, moms, dads, sons, daughters. And that was the primary unit and actually expanded to where you had other relatives living in the same context, very close to one another. And what you have in the Old Testament, and it's good, you have this picture of, okay, passing the gospel on from mom and dad to son and daughter, mom and dad to son and daughter. And so you see that. And the reality is you became a part of the people of Israel primarily through what? Through birth. You were born into the people of Israel. Now we find out later in the New Testament, not all Israel was true Israel. Faith was obviously huge in that picture to be a part of the true people of God. But the reality is you were born into the family of Israel. You were born into the people of Israel. And there's a significant difference when you cross the pages in the New Testament and you realize no one is born into the church. You were born again into the church, irrespective of what your family dynamics look like, whether you are married or unmarried, regardless whether you have kids or not.

7:04 you are born again into the people of God into the church and in being born again you may actually lose your family isn't that what Jesus said? Jesus said in Matthew 10 I have come to set man against his father daughter against her mother daughter-in-law against her mother and all and a person's enemies will be those of his own household just hear those words resounding in a Jewish context. When Jesus says, whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Christ is saying that allegiance to Him supersedes more important than even your family ties. And through allegiance to Christ, you become a part of a new family where you are literally brothers and sisters. Remember Mark chapter 3 when Jesus' mother and brothers were looking for Him.

7:59 They were seeking out, trying to find Him. and he's in a context where he's teaching some people come to him and say your mother and brothers are looking for you and Jesus responds, he says who are my mother and brothers? and he looked around that's not a good Mother's Day text who are they? he looked around at the people he's teaching he said here are my mother and brothers whoever does the will of God he is my brother or sister or mother now that doesn't mean that that Jesus didn't affirm marriage didn't affirm children, bless children he obviously did that but he viewed following him, the community of Christ followers, as a family that transcends even natural physical family. Talk about radical. Jesus never preached a gospel urging believers to make marriage and family their ultimate priority.

8:48 He preached a gospel that called people to make him their highest priority. And in doing so, some of them would have to forsake their families. Some of you. I know there are some of you in this context, and certainly other contexts in the world, but even in this context, some of you, I'm thinking of individuals that I've walked with, prayed through this in their lives. When you became a Christian, when you became a part of the church, you lost your family. And your family has turned their back on you. And the reality is where we realize that the church, as the people of God, is in a very, very real sense elevated even more important than physical family. And it makes sense in eternity, right? Keep going with me here. The family is a temporary institution, but the church is an eternal institution.

9:41 Jesus said it, Matthew 22, 30, that there will be no marriage in heaven. He called people in Matthew 19, some people to remain unmarried for the sake of the kingdom. Paul did the same thing in 1 Corinthians 7. And the picture we get is that even marriage, Even as the divinely instituted and divinely important relationship that marriage is, it's still temporary. But the church lasts forever. The church lasts forever. Which then leads us to the realization that the family has a role in the Great Commission. But the church is responsible for the Great Commission. This is key. None of this. I'm certainly not sharing any of this. and Scripture doesn't give us this picture, to downplay God's good design for marriage, God's good design for parenting, God's good design for physical families. There's undoubtedly a role that Christian moms and Christian dads play in passing the gospel to the next generation.

10:37 There's a role there. But the Great Commission was not given to families. The Great Commission was given to the church. When those 11 men stood on a mountainside in Matthew chapter 28 and heard the words of Jesus to them. They were not hearing this primarily as heads of families. They were hearing this primarily as representatives of the church. In fact, these men had temporarily forsaken family ties in order to even follow after Jesus. Now, I'm not saying that obviously wouldn't, this charge, this commission wouldn't change the way they lead their families. Those who had families would lead their families based on this charge. There'd be a role there. but even when we look in the book of Acts like we read this last spring what we see is Paul, Silas, Timothy, Barnabas these leaders in the church advance in the gospel as representatives of the church not primarily as heads of families even Paul and Timothy in all probability unmarried and so what we realize it's not that family is unimportant family is important, hugely important has a role in the great commission but it's the church.

11:48 We, as the church, are responsible for the Great Commission, for advancing the gospel, which, on a side note, an important side note, though, before we go on to this last one, important side note, when we talk about passing the gospel on to the next generation, we are not just talking about passing the gospel on to our kids. that would miss the whole point. We are talking about passing the gospel on to kids and students all across this community and in all nations. And there's a very dangerous tendency in the context of focusing on, okay, next generation, to get inward and to focus right here. And yes, we want to pass the gospel on to kids among us, but there are kids all around us that need the gospel. and if we're going to reverse those statistics start going the other way those statistics it's not going to happen we'll just focus on here it's going to be focused on here and there either or here both and because we are responsible for making disciples in all the nations there's 6,000 people groups whose kids have never even heard the gospel so we've got to figure out how to pass the gospel on to them leading to the final conclusion the family has a unique responsibility for children in the home.

13:06 No question about that. All over Scripture, Old Testament, New Testament alike. Parents are commanded to teach their children. Deuteronomy 6, Ephesians 6. You and I are in the church together, but the reality is I have a unique responsibility. Heather and I have a unique responsibility for Caleb and Joshua Platt. A responsibility that you don't have for their physical well-being, their social well-being, their spiritual well-being. It's unique for us. In a way that those of you who have children, you have a unique responsibility for your children. And all of us have unique responsibilities for physical relatives. It's what Paul said in 1 Timothy 5, verse 8. If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for the members of his own household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. So clearly, there are unique responsibilities that we each have for people in our physical families. Unique responsibilities. Parents, God holds you and I, Deuteronomy 6, Ephesians 6, we're going to see this, you and I accountable for spiritual instruction of our children.

14:05 But at the same time, the church has a shared responsibility for children in the body. We are indeed brothers and sisters. And we have a responsibility from God as the family of God to come alongside one another and ensure together that the gospel is being passed on to the next generation. The body of Christ is growing among the next generation. We, we, we, we all have that responsibility. all of us have that shared responsibility. And so this is where we see that both of these extremes must be avoided. It would make no sense to just focus on the church, exclude the family, when God has divinely instituted the family. And He's blessed the family. And He's commanded husbands and wives to love one another in certain ways. He's commanded parents to instruct their children in certain ways.

14:58 So to exclude the family would be absurd. I'm thinking of a variety of different words. It would not be good. At the same time, if we exalt the family to the exclusion of the church, we'll have missed the point as well. Because the goal is not families just do this and the church kind of stay on the side. No, the goal is the church is accountable for the accomplishment of the Great Commission. And the church uses families in the process. Which leads to, I'll try to summarize here and then let this lead us into Psalm 78. So what should this relationship between the church and family look like? I think it's twofold. First, the church must strengthen parents. And future parents, for that matter. The church is accountable for passing the gospel on to the next generation. So think about it.

15:54 If the church is accountable for passing the gospel on to the next generation, and marriage is one of the clearest pictures of the gospel in the world today, then the church is going to focus on strengthening marriages. The church is going to spend time and investment in one another toward the end that our marriages are demonstrating the character of Christ. We want to strengthen one another's marriages. No question. And then if moms and dads are given, especially when we're talking about Christian moms and dads responsible for the spiritual instruction of their parents, we want to equip, strengthen parents to make disciples in their homes, to fill their homes with the Word, to saturate their children with the Word, for Christian moms and dads to be equipped to make disciples going, baptizing, teaching their children to obey everything Christ has commanded us, and not just in their homes, but to make disciples through their homes so that the homes spread across this church are platforms for the spread of the Gospel.

16:51 If there's anything that coaching T-ball has taught me, and coaching T-ball has taught me a lot, there's nothing like 10 five-year-olds in a sport that requires them to stand and watch for so long when dirt and rocks sit beneath their feet. And so I've learned a lot. It's been sanctifying on so many levels.

17:15 But amidst everything, it has been crystal clear that my family is designed by God to be a unique platform for the gospel all across this community and in people's lives that would never interact with Brook Hills otherwise. And I've seen that in the relationships that we have formed and the people we have met. And to think of that multiplied all across this room and all the things children and students are involved in. We want the gospel to advance to the next generation in this community and all nations. Then yes, we will strengthen parents, marriages, future parents, to make disciples in their homes, to make disciples through their homes. But that's not all. That's one part, non-negotiable part. But there's something bigger here. The church must streamline a process. A process for passing the gospel on the next generation that involves every member of the church.

18:15 We are all brothers and sisters, and we all together have a unique responsibility before God to pass the gospel on from generation to generation. This is the picture we're going to see in the New Testament. Older men teaching younger men. Older women teaching younger women. Some people married for the sake of the kingdom. Some people single for the sake of the kingdom. All of us working together in a process. Every one of us. That involves every member of the church and that intentionally trains children and students for the world. We want children and students going out with the word into the world. That's what we're responsible for. And we don't want the next generation to survive in the world with the gospel. Our goal, that's why I use the word train. Our goal is not just to prepare them to make it with the gospel in the world. We want the next generation to thrive in the world with the gospel. We're going to give our lives and our church toward the end, the generations to come, more and more and more of them know God, love God, and spread the glory of God.

19:17 We want the witness of the church at Brookhills not to be surviving 50 or 100 years from now unless Jesus comes back. We want a witness of this gospel thriving 50, 100 years from now. And that affects the way we do church. We act as a church now. When we're not just living for the moment, what can we do right around us? When we're saying we have a responsibility to make sure the generations behind us know and love and spread the glory of God? What can we give them that lasts forever? And what can we pour into them that lasts forever? And that leads us to Psalm 78. What Psalm 78 tells us to do. So this psalm was written by, most likely by a guy named Asaph, who was a Levite, a musical leader in the service of King David.

20:11 And he said to the people of God then and by implication to us now, this is what we do. we teach the scriptures to the next generation this is all of us it's not just parents certainly including parents in this room but all of us we teach the scriptures look at verse 4 we will not hide them from their children but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord and His might and the wonders that He has done He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel which He commanded our fathers to teach to their children. There's teaching here. God has spoken.

20:52 We must not hide His Word from the next generation. God has commanded those who have gone before us to teach us. So by God's grace, people have taught us the Word. There's a reason why we have this Word in this context. 2,000 years after it was finished, sealed, There's a reason why we are gathered around in this room. Because people have passed it on. It's like a baton. How do the people of God survive from generation to generation? They survive by passing on the Word. We teach the Scriptures. We teach them who God is.

21:34 The glorious deeds of the Lord and His might. We tell children and students that everything begins with God. And everything ends with God. that he is the creator and the sustainer and the ruler of everything. And the world does not revolve around us, and the world does not revolve around our kids. The world revolves around God. And there's a word there for us in our culture. I'm trying not to go off here, but children are not our highest value. Christ is our highest value. God is the supreme one around whom everything revolves. That changes everything about how we perceive even our children. We teach them who God is. We don't just teach them convenient rules to obey that make our lives easier. We don't just teach them religious rituals to follow that they're expected to do in this culture.

22:31 We don't just teach them life skills to know. We teach them God. So they know God. We teach them who God is. We teach them what God has done. The wonders that He has done. End of verse 4 says. You read the rest of this psalm, and it just recounts the history of God's work among His people. This is the psalmist Asaph saying, tell them about the plagues. Tell them about God feeding people with bread from heaven. Tell them about how God miraculously and powerfully provided for His people from generation to generation. So they know what God has done. Teach them who God is, what God has done, and we teach them what God has said. His law, His commandments. Teach them. Pass them on. Make this book the center of instruction to children.

23:22 This, what God has said, will endure forever. And so parents and non-parents alike, the best thing we can give to children in our culture is not how to play baseball or basketball or football or ballet or I've only got sons. I don't know what else girls do besides ballet. But we don't teach them games, things, this or that without giving them what will last forever. This is a rock they can stand on a billion years from now.

24:01 The reality is at the end of this life, all that other stuff is going to burn up. What's going to matter is what have you given them to stand on for eternity? So we teach the Scriptures too. We teach the Scriptures. We tell the stories. That's the beauty of this psalm. We just read eight verses in this psalm. But it is the longest historical psalm in the Bible. Longest historical psalm recounting the history of God's work among God's people. This is what we do. We tell children that we're part of a long line. Like we were praying earlier. There's a big, grand story here that we're a part of. When we gather together with our children at night for family worship like we did last night and do on every night we can, we tell them stories of what God has done among His people and you realize, just realize, wow!

24:56 I'm doing the same thing that Hebrew families did in a little home when they were celebrating the Passover. Telling stories to kids of how God provided and miraculously delivered His people. I'm telling them the same stories that for literally thousands of years have been told to the people of God. And I'm passing it on. I want to be faithful to pass those on. To give them a sense of history. For them to realize that this didn't start with us. That it's much bigger. Joshua's favorite song request in family worship right now. Father Abraham. You know that song? He likes the motions. And, oh, for my sons, yes, okay, to have fun with these motions, Father Abraham and many sons and all these things.

25:51 But for them to realize, oh, we've got a forefather in the faith who believed God and who trusted God to do the impossible. And God did it. And God showed himself strong to him. And we're in a line of all kinds of other people. We're sons and daughters from this line of faith, trusting in God, believing God to do the impossible. That's good to pass on to children, students who tell the stories. We'll get on to that. Next, we warn against sinfulness. We warn against sinfulness. The whole context of the psalm is really warning. You read through it, and what you'll see is stories of how God's people turn from God. at this point and that point. They rebelled against him. That's what you see at the end of verse 8. Don't be like the fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation. to see in history.

26:47 Okay, children, you're 13 and you're facing temptations. These temptations are not new. people have been tempted maybe the way they look is a little different but they've been tempted not to trust God for years and years and years before and look what happened destruction happened judgment from God God's judgment is real to show it to children and students to say fear God trust God don't trust sin in the ways of this world and it always leads to destruction. Trust God. Warn them against sinfulness. And in the process, we exalt the Savior. And we tell them, as the psalmist does throughout Psalm 78, how God is merciful to His people. You see a cycle all throughout this psalm.

27:39 You read the rest of it, you see a cycle. You see God working among His people, His people rebelling, turning against God, and then you see God's mercy drawing His people back. And it's a cycle over and over and over again to say to children and students that God saves us from our sin. And that all the Scriptures are pointing us to Christ. It's one of our favorite books that we have used, particularly at this age, the Jesus Storybook Bible. Every story whispers His name. And it basically walks through all these different stories in Scripture and points to Christ in all of them. So when we were reading this last week, Daniel and the Lion's Den, it wasn't just about Daniel being delivered from lions it was a story about how God would send a deliverer to save us from death it's what we walked through all last year seeing Christ and His supremacy in the middle of the scriptures to see their eyes light up at the end who is the deliverer that would come Jesus, yes everything pointing to Him He's the one who saves us to tell children, students that in Christ God responds to our failures with His forgiveness his forgiveness is what keeps the story going right cry in christ god responds to our failures with his forgiveness and god responds to our faithlessness with his faithfulness oh this is good to every every child every student every person in this room for that matter to know that God is good.

29:14 We have turned against God, rebelled and gone our own way. But God is gracious and loving and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in love. That God has sent His Son to die on the cross for our sins in our place, to spare us from the judgment we deserve so that we can be saved from His wrath and judgment. To know Him and to walk with Him. That's good news. We want every child, student in this church and this community to know that. We want Him to know that. We want to work hard in the church to make sure generations to come know that. So we do these things. And when we do, what will happen? We teach the Scriptures, tell the stories, warn against sinfulness, exalt the Savior so that. You see the word that, so that, mentioned three times in the verses that follow in Psalm 78. And this is what the psalmist Asaph, he says, we do these things so that But first, so that they will know God in their minds.

30:13 Verse 6, so that the next generation might know them. That's what we want. We want them to know God. We want those who come behind us to know God. Intimate knowledge of God. Not just facts about God. We want them to know God. We want them to know God in their minds. We want them to trust God in their hearts. They will trust God in their hearts so that they should set their hope in God. Verse 7. Yes! What a great phrase. Not just so they have intellectual knowledge, but they've got hope in God. They've trusted in God. They know. They know when they see all the pleasures and pursuits of this world around them. They know that there's someone better. They know when things fall apart around them. They know there's a God they can trust in with all of their hearts.

31:11 Their hearts would belong to God. Isn't this what we want? Children and students, their hearts to belong to God and so that they will obey God in their lives. They will keep His commandments and not be like their fathers whose heart was not steadfast, whose spirit was not faithful to God. We don't want them to turn away. We want them to keep His commandments faithfully. Isn't this what we long for? yes, obviously parents with our kids, but even bigger, this is bigger church, all of us, among children and students around us,

31:49 don't we long to send children and students out from our midst, this church, this community, we want to send them out when they graduate with deep knowledge of God. So that when they sit in that classroom and an atheistic professor starts railing on Christianity, their faith doesn't collapse because they don't just know some things they've heard. They know God. And so when they get on that college campus or they get in that context where all the pleasures and the pursuits of the world are pulling at them,

32:29 that they are able to look at all these things, whether it's money or sex or popularity or fame, plaudits in the world, they look at it all and they know none of that compares to the supremacy of God and the satisfaction that my heart has found in Him. So that even when they taste it, they immediately spit it out of their mouth because they don't taste anywhere near as good. It's what I know.

32:57 And if they don't just, oh, for among us, they wouldn't just, even just walk into the world with the Word. They would run into the world with the Word ready to make disciples of all nations and spend their lives, their education, their resources, their experiences, everything God has given to them for the spread of his gospel to the ends of the earth.

33:18 So what we want. So the bottom line is this. If we're going to be successful, church, at making disciples at all nations, we must be intentional about making disciples in succeeding generations. This is a part of the Great Commission. This is a charge from our God and we cannot neglect it. I'm so challenged this week. Part of we're going to do and study the word, just meditating on the word, just kind of letting it soak in. And I got to verse 5 and 6. I was just struck by the generations represented here. In verse 5, he commanded our fathers to teach to their children. So you've got fathers, children, the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn. So you've got fathers, children than their children, yet unborn.

34:11 And arise and tell them to their children. So you have four generations right there, at least. And the picture is, this has gone on for a long time before, but it really challenged me, okay, in my own life, on a personal level, and even a parenting level in my own life, to look at Caleb and Joshua. And to think, how can I love them and lead them? Not just for their sake. Not even for the sake of their children. But how can I parent them now with their grandchildren in view?

34:50 What can I give them that's going to last forever? How can I pour that to them so that they will know how to tell this to generations to come after them? Not just know it, but internalize it. And then to think, again, still on a personal level, as long as I have breath, I want to give my life for the accomplishment of the Great Commission. Make disciples of all nations. Tell every people about the gospel. There's a day coming when that will be accomplished. I want to spend every breath I have toward the accomplishment of that mission. working hard for the accomplishment of that commission.

35:39 But I was struck even as I was reading this. Okay, what if it doesn't happen in my lifetime? What if Caleb and Joshua get to accomplish it? Or maybe what if not even them? What if their children, their grandchildren? So this is what I was thinking in my own heart, were just humbled by this text and then began to think about us as a church. Okay, we're going to give ourselves, we're going to give ourselves for the spread of the gospel to the ends of the earth through all people groups as a church, hoping that we get to be a part of it.

36:20 But if in God's providence we don't see it accomplished in our lifetime, how can we make sure to do ministry to children and students among us so that they might see accomplished. And that just raised everything to a huge level. You begin to realize that our lives, this church, we're on a grand stage, a part of passing the gospel on from generation to generation until all nations know Him. And that changes the way we interact in our marriages and in our parenting and in the singles and in the church. So, let's live today. This is a little different than what's in your note. You can cross out our. Let's live today so that generations to come know, love, and spread the glory of our God. That's the bottom line.

37:14 What I want to say to us,