Life.Church with Craig Groeschel - Empowering the Next Generation | Joakim Lundqvist

Episode Date: January 2, 2022

If you’ve struggled to understand another generation, you’re not alone. But our God is the God of generations—He created us to live together in unity. What could happen if we looked past our generational differences and learned from each other?ABOUT THIS MESSAGETik Tok or Facebook. Mom jeans or skinny jeans. Cheugy or basic. If you’ve ever struggled to understand another generation, you’re not alone. What could happen if we looked past our differences to learn from each other?WE’RE OPENWe’re continuing to monitor guidelines and best practices for gathering in a safe way. Learn more about everything we're doing to keep you safe and how you can help by using hand sanitizer, washing your hands often, and more: https://www.life.church/updatesFind a time and attend a service with us: http://www.life.church/locationsNEXT STEPSHave you made a decision to follow Jesus? You may be wondering what’s next on your journey. We want to help! Let us guide you to your next steps in your walk with Christ: https://www.life.church/nextABOUT LIFE.CHURCHWherever you are in life, you have a purpose. Life.Church wants to help you find your next step. Our hope is that your journey will include joining us at a Life.Church location throughout the United States or globally online at https://www.live.life.church. Find locations, videos, and more info about us at https://www.life.church or download the Life.Church app at https://www.life.church/app. FIND US ON SOCIAL MEDIAFacebook: http://www.facebook.com/life.churchInstagram: http://www.instagram.com/life.churchTwitter: http://www.twitter.com/lifechurchTikTok:https://www.tiktok.com/@lifechurchCONNECT WITH PASTOR CRAIGYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIId...Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/craiggroeschelInstagram: http://www.instagram.com/craiggroeschelTwitter: http://www.twitter.com/craiggroeschelTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@craiggroeschel#lifechurch #craiggroeschel #empoweringthenextgeneration Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today I want to share a message with you about the God of generations, the God of generations. And before we get into the Word of God, actually I want to rewind, if that's okay with you, about 380 years back in time. And I want to share a story about a young boy who was born in a small village called Wollstorp in England in 1642. and he was born in this house. And this young boy's life couldn't probably have started any worse than he did. His father died before the boy was even born. And on top of that, the boy was born prematurely, which today is not a big deal or doesn't have to be.

But please remember, this was 380 years ago. And being born way too early, left him weak and left him sick for many, many years. And on top of that, now that his young mother was a widow, she was only 19, and she was left in bankruptcy and famine without the possibility of providing for her young family. All of a sudden when the boy was three years old, a priest came from the neighboring village of North Wytham. And he proposed to this young mother who was only 22 years old at the time. the priest was almost 70. And he asked the young mother to marry him and move in with him in his vicarage in the other village. There was only one condition.

She couldn't bring the boy. The priest hated the boy. But for some reason, and of course it's hard for us to understand why the young mother accepted his proposal. For the sake of financial stability, she left the small boy to her parents to be, raised by them. She got married to the priest and she moved into his vicarage and she didn't even see her son for many, many years. And when you were only three years old, you don't know everything, but you know when you have been rejected. You know when those who should have loved you are not doing that? And as the boy later became a man, he would write his memoirs and it's a heartbreaking read

to read how this little toddler boy walked over to the other village and sat down on a hill overlooking the village looking at the vicarage where the mother was now living with this other man and he would just sit there and hate for hours he would hate the mother for taking for giving him away and rejecting him he would hate the priest who took the mother away and he would hate the god that that priest represented

And as the years went by, that hate spread in the heart of this boy. And when he started school, he was an angry child. He would talk back at the teachers. He would not learn. He would bully the other students. And he was the big problem of his small school. And all that happened until one day. Now, everybody knew there was going to be a turning point to this story, right?

Until one day where a man moves to the very. village and becomes the new teacher of this school. Now history don't tell us much about this man, apart from the fact that his name was John Houston and he was a devout Christian. And for some reason, John Houston's eyes were fixed upon this little boy. Even though he would have had such an easier task, teaching and tutoring any other student, he just looked at this boy. And he made up his mind that there is beauty in there somewhere. And I'm going to do whatever I can to bring it out. He started praying for this little boy.

He started helping him and loving him and listening to him and giving him extra time in his studies. Now previously, every year this boy's grades had come back every single year saying three things. Lacey will not learn good for nothing. Lacey will not learn good for nothing. But as the months turned into years, and as this boy was all of a sudden shown encouragement and love and appreciation and prayers, gradually this little dark heart started to open up. And when it did, to John Houston's amazing,

he realized that this boy had an amazing intellectual capacity. He had a great academic potential. And as the years were added to one another, that became obvious for the entire school. All of a sudden, this boy was not a problem anymore. They realized that especially in the areas of math and physics, he excelled. And when the boy became a young man,

and it was time for him to graduate from high school, John Houston did everything he could to make sure that he would go to Trinity College in Cambridge. And when he got there, partly paid by John Houston himself, every single seed that God had planted inside this young heart started to grow and bloom. After a few years, he was the talk of the university.

after yet a few years he was the talk of the town and after yet a few years he was the talk of the nation today he is the talk of the world because his name was Sir Isaac Newton one of the greatest scientists in human history and after coming across this story about his childhood

I paid a visit to Sir Isaac Newton's grave in Westminster Abbey in London and written on the grave was his epitaph. It said, here lies Sir Isaac Newton, a man with an intellect close to the divine. And then he went on to say, mortals rejoice that such an ornament of humanity existed. They knew their way with words back then, right? And I was thinking to myself, you have one man, two different verdicts. One verdict that said lazy, will not learn good for nothing another verdict saying an intellect close to the divine and i wonder what was the breaking

point in between the two what made one cease and disappear and what made the other start what was the transformation from darkness and death to life and light and the answer my friends is one man who accepted his calling to be a spiritual parent to the next generation. One man who chose to see the things that were not seen by the physical eye and dare to surround the next generation with an atmosphere of faith and encouragement to unleash it into its full potential and its full calling. And why am I sharing this story with you guys today, Life Church? Because we need an art army of John Houston's in our time. We need an army of spiritual mothers and fathers who will realize that our purpose of being here on earth is not only to fulfill the plans and callings that

God has placed upon our lives, but do whatever we can to pave the way for whatever God wants to do in the next generation. Amen. Why? Because God is, the God of generations. When God speaks to Moses in Exodus 315, he says to him, say to the Israelites, the Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob has sent me to you. This is my name forever, the name you shall call me from generation to generation. God introduces himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, not only referring to three individuals, but three generations. What is really saying is that I am the God of generations. And my friend, if God is the God of generations, then God's kingdom is the kingdom of generations. And as this kingdom moves from one generation to the next,

it shouldn't move like a roller coaster going up and down with every other generation. It should move from glory to glory to glory to glory to glory. But that, my friends, will not happen automatically. It will need that army of John Houston people. He will need people who realize that one of my most precious, callings as a Christian is to be a spiritual father or a spiritual mother for the next generation. This is not a responsibility we can outsource to the life kids leaders or the youth leaders.

This has to do with our general calling as Christians. I tell my church back home, if you're 20 years or more, you should already be looking over your shoulder and spot someone younger than yourself and pray for you. them and encourage them and surround them with an atmosphere of faith. We see this all throughout the Bible, right? We see it in the relationship between Moses and Joshua in Exodus chapter 33, how Moses comes into the tabernacle and spends time in the presence of God at the end of the day. And I would believe Moses being the pastor of the worst church in history would have loved. to spend that last time of the day alone with God.

But still he's so anxious about the next generation that he brings with him Joshua. Most scholars believe that Joshua was about 15, 16 or 17 years old at that time. And Moses introduces the next generation to the presence of God. And in doing so, he's investing seeds that will later come in action or start to bloom in the life and ministry of Joshua. much later. We see the same story, the same theme in the story of Eli and Samuel in 1st Samuel's 3. The young boy Samuel is sleeping in the temple. That's a kid that's grown up in church right there. He's sleeping in the middle of the night in the temple and God calls out his name, Samuel. And Samuel of course has heard about God, but he doesn't yet know God. So he doesn't know how to

respond? What do I do with this now? I feel God is calling my name, but how do I respond? What do I do with this? Thank God there was an Eli there at that moment who could tell Samuel from his own experience, this is God calling your name. And what you should do now is respond this way, announce to him that you want him to speak. And the next time that God calls out to Samuel to the young generation, that he knew what to do. He knew what to say. And God started speaking to him. And one of the greatest prophets of the Old Testament was born at that moment. And then that guy grows up. And he becomes the mentor of David. And Samuel will be the one who surrounds David, pretty much like John Houston surrounded Isaac Newton with, with a confidence in knowing that God is with you.

To remember that not even David's own father cared enough for him to bring him to the audition to become a king. He just left the guy out. Talk about rejection issues. Not even your father believes in you. But Samuel saw something that was not seen with the eyes, but seen with the heart. And he's surrounded. He dedicated his time to mentoring and being a spiritual father for this young generation, this young, man to become the greatest king ever to have ruled in Israel. And of course we have the story of

Elijah and Elisha. I did a Bible study about a year ago for my own personal sake about Elijah and all these miracles. And I thought to myself when I started out the Bible study that probably and most likely the most important thing that Elijah did would have been Carmel, fire coming down from heaven. God judging the idols and all of Israel falling down to proclaim, the Lord is God, the Lord is God. But at the end of my Bible study, I changed my mind. And I realized the most significant thing, the most spectacular thing that Elijah did was not the most important. The most important was when he passed by a young man called Elisha. And he threw his cloak over him and he called him to follow.

Why? Because that guaranteed, that ensured that the kingdom of God would not end with Elijah, but he would go from glory to glory to glory. The very last prayer that Elisha asks from Elijah is to have a double portion of God's spirit upon his life. And when we read in the Word of God, we see Elijah doing eight miracles, Elijah doing 16. miracles. The kingdom of God doubled its impact in the next generation. A life church, I just want to be very personal with you and tell you about something that I don't share with many. I got a secret prayer in my heart. And that is when I come to the end of my line, when it's God's time for me to end my time on earth and be transformed and promoted to heaven. The last thing I want to see before I close my eyes

spiritually, you know what that is? That is the back of the next generation, passing by the point where I stopped to go on to build greater churches than I ever built, see greater outpourings of the glory of God than I ever saw, reach more people with the gospel of Jesus Christ than I ever reach then and only then will we have accomplished our goal. Praise God for life church today. But you know what? I do believe that God has got even greater things for life church in 30 years from now. Amen? What is needed for that, however, is that we all accept our calling to be spiritual parents, spiritual mothers and fathers. Why is this so needed? Well, because the young, generation is a mustard seed generation. Jesus speaks about the mustard seed in Mark chapter 4,

verse 31. He says, the kingdom is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all the seeds on earth. Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade. This is exactly like Isaac Newton, a small, insignificant seed. And when you looked at the exterior, you could come nowhere near the explosive potential that was buried inside this seemingly insignificant seed. What is needed for the mustard seed to go from that small size and that seemingly insignificant state to this enormous tree, it takes that someone plants it. Yet, what? When planted it grows. Amen.

Yet when planted it grows. And my friends, seeds don't plant themselves. Seeds needs for someone else to plant them. And that's the calling of you and I as spiritual fathers and mothers, as spiritual parents. And I've seen that so many times. And nothing gives me greater joy than seeing one of those insignificant mustard seeds. grow into their full potential. Let me tell you a story about a girl called Emma. Emma came into our volunteer program at the age of 17. She signed up after high school to be with us, our church

for one year and, you know, like be a volunteer and help out in different ministries. Now as Emma came to us, she was probably the shyest girl I've ever seen in my life. She was super introvert. and absolutely hated speaking in public. She hadn't really realized that part of our internship program required her to partake in preaching training and actually share the word of God in public. When Emma realized that, she freaked out. She actually called her father because she was from another city

and she set him up to come in the middle of the night, drive up to the place where she was staying, she would have packed her bag secretly, and she would run out in the car in the middle of the night, covered by the darkness, get in the car, and just disappear into the dark back to our hometown. And the next morning, nobody would even know that she was there in the first place. That's her level of panic. But then last minute, she changed her mind. And even though she was absolutely scared to death, she was freaking out.

She decided to give it a shot. And she was given some instructions. She was given a scripture and five minutes in where she would share the gospel with the rest of the group. Now, this is a group that were happily applaud because they know they're next. Okay. So you can't get a better surrounding really for this. And I happened to be there on the day where Emma and some other people had their first little five minute message. And I have to be honest with you, it was bad.

I can't lie. It was really as close to rock bottom as you could possibly come. There was nothing in what was seen in this girl's potential. But then a few weeks later, she was back and did it for the second time, and it was still bad. But at that point, I just had an impression in my heart. There is something in there. Somewhere deep below all the insignific. And all the nervousness, there's just something there. So we kept her going in the preaching, training and all that. Eventually, after about a year, I included her in my team that I trained to preach and teach.

And she started going with me in the team that goes with me as I travel a bit. And eventually after yet another year, I gave her like five minutes before my main sermon in different churches. and she grew every single week, every single month in confidence, in a relationship with God. And I realized, man, there is a gift here. And I could so easily have missed it. And yet two years later, Emma and I sat down and together we crafted a message for her that was just in line with the passions of her heart and what she felt passionately about in the world of God. And with that message throughout the year, she toured the entire nation and preached in different churches, different denominations and different conferences.

And today, Emma is one of the top appreciated youth preachers in our entire nation. She preaches everywhere. And she's absolutely incredible. She's part of our church now. She preaches at our conferences. And every time I sit there and I live. listen to her going wild and crazy for Jesus Christ. I remember that 17-year-old girl.

And I realized how easily I could have missed this amazing gift simply because it wasn't developed when I met her. And I was reminded again that we need to take the position of spiritual fathers and mothers. Amen. And doing whatever we can to surround the next generation with an atmosphere of faith. Actually, if my wife was with me at this time, she's been with me before, but she couldn't come this time. She would tell you the story of how she came to the Lord. She was part of an assemblies of God church.

She grew up there. And when she hit the teenage years, she kind of slided away from God, but still went to church. I don't know if you have those kind of people here in the U.S. We have a few in Sweden. And she kind of joined up with a few girls that couldn't really care less about God, but still was forced to go to church because their parents made them. So she was about 14. And every Sunday service, she would sit in the back of the church with her friends,

chewing gum, laughing at the preacher. And, you know, just absolutely couldn't care less. But one day when she came to the church foyer, and she was standing there waiting for her friends to go into the very back of the church auditorium, an old lady in the church came up to her. And this old lady placed her old praying hands on the shoulders of the 14 year old girl that would become my wife one day. And she looked with loving eyes into hers. And she said, Maria, the Lord will guide you continuously.

He will give you strength in the middle of the desert. And you will be like a fruitful tree and not even in seasons of desert and seasons of heat will it see. to bear fruit, quoting a promise from Isaiah. And those words went straight into the heart of this 14-year-old girl. And at that moment, she knew and felt the calling of God. That was the life-changing moment for her. And I will be ever thankful to that praying old lady that she didn't come up to the 14-year-old

and complain about her indifference. and her lukewarm attitude and she shouldn't be chewing gum in church or anything like that. Instead, it was all love. It was all a mother's heart, a praying heart. And that was the turnaround point for my wife. And whatever issue we have faced, whatever storm we've been through since then, the word that has continuously come up in her heart, whatever we've been passing through is the status.

same promise, the Lord will guide us continuously. He will never leave us, never forsake us. Amen. We need that. We need a whole army, a whole church full of that kind of people with that attitude. And I just want to end with one more story from the Word of God. And I love this so much. It's a story in Luke about how God calls a teenage girl named Mary, who was probably around 13 years old at the time. Imagine that the gospel of Jesus starts with God asking a teenager for help. It says in the six months of Elizabeth's pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, greetings. You are highly favored.

The Lord is with you. I am the Lord's servant, Mary answered. May your word, and me be fulfilled that that's at the very end of this encounter. God is sharing with this teenager that her life is so much more important than she would have ever imagined. And trembling, merry response, let it be to me according to your words. But then it says, and then the angel left her. The youth conference came to a close. the goosebumps were not there anymore.

And I've seen this so many times traveling the world, speaking at youth conferences all over the place. I've seen thousands, tens of thousands of young people making that decision saying to God, let it be to me according to your words, according to your calling. And every time in my heart I'm just praying, God, I pray that they will come back to a church full of spiritual parents.

I pray that they will come back to a church full of spiritual fathers and mothers because that's exactly what God had promised Mary. You're not alone. There is a woman called Elizabeth and she's pregnant too. She's gone further in the process. She knows what's about to happen to you. Just look for her. Seek her out and spend time with her.

And straight after this amazing calling moment, It says at that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea where she entered Zachariah's home and greeted Elizabeth. So all of a sudden now God is moving in the young generation and the young generation is instructed to find and connect with the parent generation. And when Mary comes down from Nazareth in Galilee down to the village of Enkiram in Judea and she meets with Elizabeth, when these two women meet, these two generations meet, the Holy Spirit falls on both of them. And that's the beauty of the spiritual family. All of a sudden we realized it's not only Mary who is in need of Elizabeth, a spiritual mother, but actually the presence of the young generation stirs the child that Elizabeth is calling.

is expecting. And the Holy Spirit is refilling and refueling her life as well. The devil hates this. When generations connect the spirit of God will be poured out and will be ministering to both of them. That's why he's working overtime to create generational gaps even in churches. Life Church letters never allow him to do that. You don't have, I'm not talking about you. volunteering in kids church or or in youth church.

I'm just asking you in your heart to step into the role of a spiritual parent to the ones that are around you right now. Back home in my church, I say to my worship leaders that you don't even call yourself a worship leader in our church unless you are training a worship leader half your age. If you're a business person, don't even call yourself a business guy in our church unless you are training. training other business people, half your age, to one day be even better than you. That's the God of generations, the church of generations, the kingdom of generations. Maybe your greatest contribution to the kingdom of God is not something you do, but someone that you raise. And it doesn't have to be your physical children.

The whole world, the whole kingdom is full of people who are right. now hearing God's voice for the first time. They need the security. They need the stability. They need the encouragement. They need the love. And they need for a parental generation to lift them up. And I can think of no greater and more honorable calling than that. So what I would like you to do right now is simply to open your heart to this new dimension of being a follower of the God. God of generations. There is someone out there who needs you. And I've been studying church history for many, many years. And one of the tragic elements of church history, even in the past 200 years, when God has been doing an amazing work all over the world is that the majority of those

movements have been one generation movements. And it seems like something has come and then in the next generation it's gone down. And then in a third generation, something new starts and so on. I do pray and I do believe that it's time for the church of God to connect generations and see the kingdom of God move from glory to glory to glory. And in order for that to happen, we need to open our hearts and allow God to give us a genuine father's heart, a mother's heart, the heart of a spiritual parent, the heart that once allowed the young boy called Isaac Newton to grow out from a spiral of darkness and death

and into something that was amazing, a brand new destiny. So Father, we just thank you so much today. And we thank you that you confess to us and you introduce to us that you are truly the God of generations. And in a time and an age where the generational gap is so wide and so big, Lord, we pray in Jesus' name that you will give us the hearts of spiritual fathers and mothers. That we will connect generations, Father, and not disconnect them.

And though we are different and our expressions are different, Father, may we always surround the next generation with an atmosphere of faith, of prayer, and of encouragement, so that your kingdom will move from glory to glory to glory to glory until the day of Christ. This we pray in Jesus' mighty name. Amen. After listening to Pastor Yoakim's message, you may, as a follower of Jesus, may already start to feel some convictions. Maybe you haven't been putting Jesus in every area of your life, or maybe you think God's done. There's not much more he can do with me using me.

It's a little too late. Well, what I want to encourage you with is God is not done. are still breathing, God is not finished with you yet. And I want to be able to say a prayer over you so that you can continue to do the work that God wants to do in and through your life. God, I thank you so much for the person that is on the other side listening to these words.

I ask that you give them strength, that you give them peace and God, that you give them daily reminders that you are not finished with them yet, that you see them, and that you deeply, deeply love and care for them in every area of their life. Amen. There's another group of you guys who would say that you don't have a relationship with Jesus and what I totally believe that I am here today to tell you is that the one thing that God

wants with you is a relationship. It's what he desires the most. When he created creation, when he created you, he set you apart. He had a plan that he wanted to fulfill in and through your life. But as humans, we fall short. We're broken. And our sin is what separates us from our heavenly Father. So what God did is he sent His Son Jesus to walk the earth, live a perfect, sinless life, so that he could pay the price for our sin so that we wouldn't have to. And instead, all that we would have to do,

all that you would have to do, is call on the name of Jesus and you would be saved. You can have an eternal relationship with the one who created you and all you have to do is say, yes, God, I receive this free gift of salvation. And so what I want you to do is I want you to remember that your life is not an accident. You are created on purpose with a purpose and God is not done with you yet. So I want you to let me know right now if you want to give your life to Jesus. Let me know because I want to be able to celebrate this decision with you.

Let us know in the chat and repeat after me in this prayer. Heavenly Father, I believe I'm a sinner in need of a Savior. God, come into my life and make me new. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Congratulations. We believe that this is the best decision that you can make in your life. And we want to be able to partner with you as you begin your relationship with Christ.

There should be a link on the screen and in the chat. Please fill that out so that we can send you some resources. as you begin your relationship with God. Yes, we are so excited for you, and we said it before and we'll say it again. Happy New Year, making a priority to go to church this year and to deepen your relationship with God.

In a practical way that you can continue to deepen your relationship with God is by downloading the U-Version Bible app. If you haven't already, it's a free app, and I promise you, there are tons, tons, tons of Bible plans on there where you can find one that feels like it was written for you because it was. Yes, we are so excited for the journey.

that we're all on in 2022. We will see you here next week, same place, same time. Yes, because it's the same God, same life church family who loves you so much. That's right. Whoever finds God? Finds life.