A Next Gen Minded Church | Acts 2:39, Deuteronomy 6:4-9
For the past few weeks, we have been doing a deep dive into the early church and how that translates into our church culture today. We have been challenged both corporately and individually as to how we live out the mission of the gospel for salvation and discipleship. Today, we will be exploring how we are called as the church of Jesus Christ to pass the message, the promise of God, to the next generation. The next generation is not just the future of the church, the training of the next generation is and should be part of our DNA. Along with this incredible opportunity to train the next generation, we are incredibly blessed to be part of a Christian school where 880 students and over 100 staff and faculty enter the doors every day. First Baptist Academy is a ministry of First Naples Church. Why is the topic of education, Christian education, so important?
Imagine with me the greatest conspiracy theory of all time. A Creator, with knowledge that the world would be broken, an all-powerful authority that did not want His creation to be happy; a brutish thug who really did not want humanity to thrive, be ignorant of all they could enjoy, to really not be able to really tap into their human potential. All of the tearing down of God’s goodness, all the enjoyment of a perfect place, all the amenities of the ultimate provider. All culminated in four words: “Did God actually say?” And now that humanity decided to accept that God was trying to “dupe” them, not giving them everything they deserved, all of “hell” broke loose. Satan, the one who said, “I will be like God!” has convinced us all to do the same, and the damage has been done.
From that moment in the garden until now, the world around us has fallen into the depths of brokenness from a secret plot of a powerful conspirator—the Accuser, the devil.
So where do we go from here? Whom do we run to? What is the answer? The answer is Christ.
So let’s look at a great Old Testament principle of passing on the promise to the next generation and God’s intention for His people in our passage from Deuteronomy 6. What we will be challenged with today is this simple principle from Scripture: God’s perfect intent is for humanity to be culture makers. Therefore, parents are the primary influence in a child’s life, the church is the community that fosters the beliefs of the parents, and the school facilitates the positive attributes of Christ’s character in an academic environment.