PASSING THE BATON OF FAITH TO THE NEXT GENERATION
Text: Deut 6:4-12; Judges 2:6-10
Deut 6:4-12
4 Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord:
5 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
6 And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:
7 And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
8 And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes.
9 And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.
10 And it shall be, when the Lord thy God shall have brought thee into the land which he sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give thee great and goodly cities, which thou buildedst not,
11 And houses full of all good things, which thou filledst not, and wells digged, which thou diggedst not, vineyards and olive trees, which thou plantedst not; when thou shalt have eaten and be full;
12 Then beware lest thou forget the Lord, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.
Judges 2:6-10
6 And when Joshua had let the people go, the children of Israel went every man unto his inheritance to possess the land.
7 And the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the Lord, that he did for Israel.
8 And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died, being an hundred and ten years old.
9 And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnathheres, in the mount of Ephraim, on the north side of the hill Gaash.
10 And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the Lord, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel.
- How long did it take for Israel to forget God after entering the Promised Land? One
- We’ve heard it said that we’re only one generation from the church being extinct.
- An appropriate application of that statement is that we’re only one generation away from our family no longer being a family of faith. We’re only one generation away from the baton of faith being dropped.
- How seriously do we take our job to pass the baton of faith?
1. Incite The Wonder Of God In The Next Generation
1) God made me
- This truth establishes the power of God. (He made everything, cf. Col. 1:16)
- This truth establishes the artistry of God. (He is creative, imaginative, and artistic.)
- This truth establishes the personality of God. (God’s fingerprints are on me.)
2) God loves me
There is no message so powerfully life changing, satisfying, and reassuring than the message that God loves me.
1] God loves me because he
2] God loves me because he
3) Jesus wants to be my
2. Illuminate The Authenticity Of Your Faith To The Next Generation
- Perhaps the most important thing you’ll do as a parent to foster spiritual growth in your child is to make sure you are growing.
- Our kids know when our faith is real and when it is not. If our faith isn’t personal to us, then it may not be to kids. They will see it as something that you eventually outgrow.
- Your kids need to observe up close that your spiritual, moral, and relational growth is a priority in your life. This is not about being a perfect model, just an honest one.
- Whatever you want your children to
3. Influence The Next Generation With Strategic Relationships
- No one has more potential than parents to influence children and students. But as your children get older, you will not be the only influence, and you may not even be the primary influence.
- As parents, we must
- A time will come when you and your children will need another