We’re honored and excited to have the opportunity this morning to take time focusing on and investing in our literal future!
We want to see each and every individual come to realize fully who they were created to be, what they were created to do, and to reach their full potential in Christ!
In fact, it has always been important to God that we do whatever we can to teach and train and in no way hinder youth from encountering Him. In this familiar account, Jesus even explains that no one can receive and enter into His Kingdom unless we become like them; being born again and becoming a child of God.
Luke 18:15-17
15 People were also bringing babies to Jesus for him to place his hands on them. When the disciples saw this, they rebuked them. 16 But Jesus called the children to him and said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 17 Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”
We don’t want to hinder anyone from reaching their full potential in Christ, but rather, to humbly serve one another so that we all might obtain it.
In our lifetimes, we have observed many natural and man-made disasters and have seen the destruction that they left behind. However, the greatest tragedy that one could ever endure is a life lived unaware of their Creator, never realizing their giftings, and missing their purpose for having been created. The Bible describes the condition of such a life as lost. Lost.
It is the lost that Jesus came to seek and save and it is the lost that Jesus has now empowered and commissioned each of us to seek and save. He isn’t willing that any should perish, but that all would repent (change course) and turn back to Him and His purposes.
One of the greatest privileges and responsibilities as a parent, grandparent, great-grandparent, and so on is to ensure that our children and their children and so forth start out life in the right trajectory so that they might seek after God for themselves and not become lost.
Ultimately, each person is free to make their own choices and each person will answer to Jesus for their own lives. However, we are responsible to give children the best start that we can.
Proverbs 22:6
Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.
We do this by first living our own lives in pursuit of God ourselves, but then also teaching them to do the same.
Deuteronomy 4:9-13
9 Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them fade from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them. 10 Remember the day you stood before the Lord your God at Horeb, when he said to me, “Assemble the people before me to hear my words so that they may learn to revere me as long as they live in the land and may teach them to their children.” 11 You came near and stood at the foot of the mountain while it blazed with fire to the very heavens, with black clouds and deep darkness. 12 Then the Lord spoke to you out of the fire. You heard the sound of words but saw no form; there was only a voice. 13 He declared to you his covenant, the Ten Commandments, which he commanded you to follow and then wrote them on two stone tablets.
In this ever-changing, increasingly complex, and very confused world, we turn to the timeless simplicity of God and His word.
His word that reveals timeless truth such as the simplicity of only two genders that He assigns for us even before our birth. His word that reveals timeless truth such as the security and blessing of a life-long commitment between one man and one woman in marriage. His word that reveals countless ways to enjoy this life within the world that He created for our pleasure and enjoyment and provision.
The boundaries created by the truth of His word provide us with freedom and peace and joy and an abundance of life. Where better to turn to learn how to live this life than to the word of the very One whom Created us?
We place our hope in Jesus and turn to Him as an anchor in life and to His word as a compass in life. God’s word will equip and enable us to keep following Him and not to become enticed and ensnared by the worldly desires that leave us empty and ultimately lead to the destruction of life.
Deuteronomy 11:16-21
16 Be careful, or you will be enticed to turn away and worship other gods and bow down to them. 17 Then the Lord’s anger will burn against you, and he will shut up the heavens so that it will not rain and the ground will yield no produce, and you will soon perish from the good land the Lord is giving you. 18 Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 19 Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 20 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates, 21 so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors, as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth.
While living life together, keep an eye out for teachable moments. Jesus used parables to reveal the parallels between the Kingdom of God and the natural creation around us. Romans 1 teaches us that God’s invisible qualities are made plain to us through what He has created. This is one of the ways in which God is always speaking to us and pouring out His revelation.
In the same way, watch for those teachable moments in life. Watch for opportunities to scatter the seed of God’s word and Kingdom principles into the lives of others and especially into the lives of the generations behind you.
God’s word isn’t just for Sundays. God’s word is for all of us every day and at all times. Talking about God’s word together is something that we are to do all of the time. It speaks of and applies to all situations and every area of life. Living by trust in God’s word and God’s ways leads to a blessed and abundant life.
So, as some return to school and as we all return to our everyday lives, let’s view each day as a day on a mission field. We’re all on a mission to seek and to save the lost.
We’re all on a mission to set captives free.
We’re all on a mission to love God and to love others.
Let’s do it well and make the most of every opportunity given to us!