The Church of Eleven22 - Wk 4: One More Generation

Episode Date: November 4, 2018

What if in God’s economy, success is not measured by what you do, but in who you raise?

Amen and amen. How we doing, church? Everybody good? I hope you are. Grab your one journal because we're going to be all over the place today. We're going to be in Deuteronomy chapter 6 and Matthew 18 and Matthew 19 and Joshua 24 and Judges Chapter 2. So if you're good at flipping around the Bible, grab your Bible and go there or you go to your journal. We put most of that in there. And I don't know about you, but I'm really, really excited about today when we kicked off this one initiative journey, I was most excited about today for a number of reasons. One, I believe the Lord spoke to me, particularly in regards to one more generation. and sometimes people will say, do you hear God out loud? And I say, yes and absolutely. If you would like to hear him out loud, just open your Bible, read out loud, and you will hear the Lord out loud. We'll talk about that kind of towards the end. But also, for 15 years, I did student ministry, and so I have been committed to one more generation meeting Jesus. And a big reason is because did you know that 80% of people that follow Jesus decide to follow Jesus before they graduate high school? And God has given us, as a church, an incredible responsibility to, reach one more generation, and that's what we're going to talk about in our time together.

It starts in the Shema. You've heard this every week. You're going to hear it every week for the next two years of your life, basically. It's Deuteronomy chapter 6 beginning in verse 4. The reason it's called the Shama is that first word in Hebrew that is translated here. In Hebrew, it is Shema. It says this, here, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. And so we are asking our entire church to wrestle with this question.

What is the one thing that drives everything? And if you would say the Lord is the one thing in my life that drives everything, then this is our natural response, the next verse. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. This is not just some kind of church initiative. This is not just something to get your head around. That God wants this reality of the one true God to lodge deeply in your heart

and change everything about everything about everything. And then he keeps going. This is the first time that we've kept going. Because what he's going to say next is really important. What he's going to say next lines up with everything in the scriptures that faith is not just something that happens to you, that faith is something that should happen through you. That we should never, ever, ever be a cul-de-sac of the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

But if you are a believer, then we are to be a believer. then we are to be a conduit of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And so with that in mind, he says, and you shall teach them diligently. Underline that word. You shall teach them diligently to your children. You know why? Because it ain't easy.

I thought maybe a parent would get an amen or a hallelujah or a preach it. But no, just sit there and stare at me. That's fine. You shall teach them diligently to your children and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise. In other words, that the faith that we have is not just for us, but it is for our children and their children and their children.

And we are to teach them the gospel of Jesus Christ diligently. Listen, you know this to be true. There is no joy like children and there is no pain like children. They bring you such great comfort and joy and excitement and like, wow, and they bring you such frustration and make you pull your hair out, exhibit A. It's just true. And so, as we wrestle with this as a church, it's God the one thing that drives everything, we've also got to wrestle with this too, and are we teaching that to our children?

You see, are we teaching that to our children? He says, teach this to your children. He basically says this. There's two good times to be talking about Jesus, daytime and nighttime. If it's one of those two times, you should talk about Jesus. He basically says there's two good places to talk about Jesus, in your house and outside of your house. So if you're in one of those two places, they used to be talking about Jesus. In other words, it's not just like a Sunday morning thing, it's like an all-the-time thing.

And it is up to us to teach this to our kids. And let's be honest, man, I've had to hold up the mirror of the scriptures this week. And I love Jesus and teach Bible stuff to my kids all the time. But am I teaching them that God is one? Or are we teaching them that, no, no, no, no, no. I mean, God's cool, but really sports. That's one. Or entertainment.

That's one. Or comfort. That's one. Our success. Our grades, or money or morality. I don't know about you. This is challenging to me. Let me ask you this.

By show of hands, how many of you have ever tried a family devotional that just went horribly wrong? Anybody been in that can't? Raise them high. Testify people. All right? The people with their hands up are honest. Thank you for your honesty. Everybody else is a liar.

Okay? because I've had some of you feel like a failure because you tried to teach them diligently to your children and a thing called a family devotional and it didn't go well. And the funny thing to me and Gretchen is what you think happens in my house. You think, I've heard your, the picture that you have of my family is ridiculous. You think my kids come in every Saturday morning and grab me and mama by the toe as we're cuddling and snuggling together and be like, parents, would you please awake? We are ready for devotional time. mother would you sing us a hymn and father would you teach us from the good book and then we walk out to the living room and i'm like

what is that delightful smell and j p and reagan is like we have cooked devotional pancakes for you this morning well thank you children and then gretchen sings the rendition of how great thou art and then my kids crisscross applesauce with their family duveaux journals that we make for them and then i open up to the good book and they take notes you think that's the way it goes in my house We have to teach them diligently. I'm the world's worst family divo guy. Part of the reason? I know too much about the Bible. So I read something.

I ask everybody a question. What do you think about that? And they say something. And I'm like, oh, that is not what that means at all. You're a heretic. That's your problem. Gretchen, get off your phone. We have a heretic living in our house.

That's kind of how it goes for me. It's not good. It's not good at all. Hand me up. Both my kids love Jesus and professed their faith in him and baptized. And here's why. Because we don't have a time. We just kind of do it.

all the time. This is what he's saying. It's like, you should create the kind of environment in your home whereby it is normative to talk about what God is doing in our lives, just like it would be normative to talk about homework or whatever else you talk about. You see, because here's what's true. We can't make our kids love Jesus. You can't. You can't. But what our jobs, not only as parents, but also as the church is to do, is to like bring the kindling around their little hearts. You know what kindling is? People in Florida don't know what it is, like pine cones, okay? Something flammable.

If you're young, you don't know what it is because they created the starter log. That's your problem. You don't know how to make a fire. All right, anyway, you die when the zombies come. And so you bring together this kindling around their heart. So when the Spirit of God ignites their heart on fire, then it sets ablaze. That's what our job is. And he gives us some kind of instruction here.

He says, when you're sitting in your house, when you're walking by the way, when you lie down, when you rise. This is not really a parenting sermon. It's more of a priority sermon. But I'm going to give you a couple things that I think if I translated the Shumah into the 21st century, this is what it could look like. And every parent can do this. When you sit at your house, which means this, when you sit down to dinner, which I hope and pray that you do, you should just read a Bible story. You should just read a Bible story.

You can pick up a Jesus storybook Bible or lobby of any of our campuses. And all you got to do is this. You don't have to be a theologian. You just read one of the stories and then go, so what do you guys think? And sometimes it'll last seconds, and sometimes you'll get into these like legit conversations.

That is discipleship. I mean your kids look at you and go, what does that mean? And if you don't know, then you say, I don't know. And God has given us by his common grace, this thing called the Google Machine. And you can look it up.

And you have no idea what will come out of your kid's mouth. The last time we were doing this just a few weeks ago, I was reading Luke 15, the story of the prodigal son that I yelled at you about last week. And so I read it, just read the story of the prodigal son and say, so what do you guys think? And Reagan says, I think the older brother is the devil. And J.P. is like, shut up, Reagan. You're so dumb.

He's not the devil. And then Reagan goes, hey, dad, but wasn't the devil, before he was the devil, wasn't he in heaven with God? I go, uh-huh. And wasn't he mad because there was a party there, but it wasn't about him? Uh-huh. And doesn't he get mad every time like the younger brother comes to the party? And I go, J.P, you're dumb. She's a the theologian.

I think it's the devil too. Ah, she's nine years old. That's the kind of thing that happens, okay? It says that when you sit at your house and when you walk by the devil, the way. Now, you don't walk by the way anymore, but we drive in the car all over the place. Did you know if you put your kids in New Gen here, or if you put your kids in students on Wednesday night or Sunday morning, that when they leave, all of our kids, they get these little cards. And basically, it just tells us what they did, and there's a question on here usually.

And so when you get in your car, because there's what happened. You pick up your kid. What did y'all talk about? Uh-uh. Did you have fun? Uh-uh. They talk to you like cavemen, right? I have a middle school boy. He just grunts and makes noises. That's what he does. So every time I pick him out, hey, what y'all talk about? Jesus or something? In our student ministry, you sign up for this little text thing,

and our student ministry texts us, ask your students these things. And it's just a launching point for the parents to talk with their kids when you walk by the way. And the great thing about talking to the car is you don't have to look at them if they say embarrassing stuff. You're just in the car. And he says, and when you lie down, parents, one of the greatest opportunities to fight for the hearts of your kids is when you're putting them to bed.

And you can use their own little self-centered manipulation for their own discipleship. Because you know when my kids want to talk to most? When they don't want to go to bed. They're like, oh, let me ask you another question and another question and another question. And in my mind, I'm like, ha, ha, ha, ha. Your own plan is backfiring on you, my little disciple. I do two things when I put my kids to bed every night, man. One is I ask heart questions, not hard questions, heart questions, not questions about the activities.

What did you do in school today? But questions about their heart, how did that make you feel? And here's why. I want it to be normative for my children to talk about not just the activities of the outside, but the activities on the inside of their lives. That's just normal that we talk about heart stuff. And then I just pray for them. And I pray the scriptures over my kids every single night that I put them to bed.

And the reason is because the Bible, I'm a Bible guy, but the Bible is living and active. The Bible says about itself that it will not return in vain, that it does what it's supposed to do. And I want to just plant the Word of God in their heart so as they grow up, man. That's all they know. It is deep in there. And I just pray the scriptures over them. Everybody could do this. And then it says, and when you rise,

what if the first thing that the kids heard out of your mouth when they woke up was gospel blessings instead of all the activities that they had to be a part of? Now, I know you've got to tell them to brush your teeth or they won't have friends. I get it. I understand that. There's a lot going on here, okay?

We're not just singing kumbaya at my house in the morning. But what if, as they rise, you just cast a little gospel vision for them today. God's got big plans for you today. God could use you to demonstrate the gospel to the people in your life. You see, that's what he's talking about here. And check this out. So as we, as parents, are looking for any opportunity to reach one more generation. Notice, though, the Shema does not say, here, oh, parents.

The Lord, our God, the Lord is one, and you shall teach this diligently to your children. It says, here, oh, Israel. You see, as a parent of two. Now, I feel like a slacker compared to the folks on the video there, you know. They got a whole basketball team or whatever, but I only got two at my house. But I'm going to just confess this as a parent of two, I need your help. And what the Bible says is that raising children is a team sport, and all of the faith family is invited in to help. So whether you're single or you're married without kids or you're married with kids or your grandparents and your kids are gone and live somewhere else,

or your empty nester, whatever it is. All of us together as the faith family, as the church, are to come together and to reach one more generation. Maybe you've heard the saying it takes a village to raise a child. You don't want the village to raise the child these days. You'll have a village idiot. We need the church, amen? I mean, there's some crazy stuff going on in this world.

And so, I mean, how blessed are we to have this church that we can bring our kids to partner with the folks here in our student ministry and our kids ministry to help us raise our kids in the gospel to be all that God has called them to be. Did you know that we have, on any given weekend, that we have over 2,000 little human beings between zero and 12th grade every weekend across the city and all of our locations? 2000. In America, any church that has 2,000 people in attendance is quantified as a mega church. 1122 has a mega church of one more generation. And so all you serve staff and all you student folks, I say thank you, thank you, thank you.

And listen, if your kid is not involved, I'm telling you, what are you doing? You should. I've got a seventh grade boy, I'm telling you, we move. heaven and earth to make sure he's involved in our student ministry, not just because I used to do student ministry, but I want him involved. First of all, Coach Lee used to tell me all the time, you show me your friends, I'll show you your future. So I want him around some Jesus followers. And even more important than the little idiots he runs around with is this, is I want him to have some other adults other than his mama and daddy that are speaking life into him.

Because I'm telling you, most of us as parents were clueless. We think, listen to this, If you have a seventh grader, here's what you think. You think your kid can talk to you about anything. Somebody you're going to get offended right now. They won't. And you're like, no, mine would. Let me just ask you this. Would you talk to your parents about anything?

You're like, yeah, but that's different. No, it's not. You're the dork your parents used to be. Welcome, all right? And so here's what I want. When my kid, if there's something in his life and he's uncomfortable talking to us about it, even though I've tried to create the environment whereby he can talk to us about it, everything. I want him to find some other adult in his life that will say the same kind of gospel

truths to him. Because he's going to get advice from somebody and I don't want him asking that idiot he's in PE class with. Hey, what should I do about this? I want him to have some of our student volunteers speaking into his life. Look, there's a couple of dudes in our student ministry and I will pay them to take JP and his buds out to do stuff. Why? Because here, oh, 1122, I need your hands. I need your hands. help and we need each other to raise up that one more generation that will love God with all. Now, this is not just an Old Testament principle. This was very important to Jesus. Go to Matthew chapter 18, and Jesus talks about this very, very specifically.

Jesus in Matthew chapter 18 and chapter 19 is going to talk about the priority in the kingdom of heaven that this one more generation has. It says this in Matthew 18, verse 1 at that time, the disciples came to Jesus saying, who's the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? Which, by the way, is evidence that they had no idea what they were talking about because Jesus stepped out of heaven to humble himself to obedience upon a cross, and they're asking him how to be more powerful, which is good news for us, okay? If you're a little slow on the uptake and Bible study, I've got good news.

You can make a great disciple, because these disciples are idiots, and Jesus picked them, okay? And so they asked Jesus, who's the greatest? Verse two, and calling to him a child. He put him in the midst of them and said, truly I say to you, unless you turn and become like children. Not just change your perspective of the importance of children, but unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Now, in the first century, the viewpoint of children was very, very different than today. In our society almost worships children, like with helicopter parents and the money that we spend on them and all that kind of stuff.

In the first century, they were ignored, they were overlooked, they were taught, get out of the way of the adults. And so a part of what Jesus is saying here is this, that we, not only do we have to teach kids, but they have a lot to teach us. We need them as an example in our lives so that we can be reminded of what it is to be a disciple of Jesus. So I think there's a bunch of stuff that it means to change and become. I think it means that we're supposed to change and become dependent like a little child. You see, we live in a world that says maturity means that you start out very dependent, and as you mature, you grow less and less dependent and more and more independent. And Jesus says, in the kingdom of God, that economy is flipped upside down.

That to mature means you come to Jesus and you're fully independent. You say, God, I got this. But you get to that place where you realize, uh-oh, I ain't got this. And as we mature, we grow less and less and less dependent on ourselves and more and more and more dependent on our Heavenly Father. We are to change and become like a child. I think he's saying that we are to change and become like a child in our humility. In the first century, no child ever thought they were much.

They didn't make much of themselves. And we are taught to make much of yourself or no one else will. And Jesus is saying we need to change and become. become humble like a little child. I think maybe he's saying that we are to change and become bold like a little child. Here's what I mean. You ask a little kid to sing, and what will they do? Sing.

Ask an adult to sing, and what do they do? They ask questions. Sing what? When? Out loud? Is there music? Who's listening? Isn't it crazy that over time, as we become mature, we care less and less and less about the applause of our father and

heaven and more and more concerned about the applause of man. I'm telling you, what is wrong with us? See, we're Disney karaoke people, my family. Pray for us, all right? It's what we do. Every time we go to Disney, we go this little karaoke joint, and Reagan can't wait to go. And she will sign up first. My wife is extraordinarily talented, and I have to threaten her with Bible verses to get her up there to sing. You understand? But not Reagan, because she ain't afraid. She don't care. She doesn't care. She doesn't. just enjoys it. We're up there one time, and she's going to sing this song. She knows all these old songs because of Disney and all the cool movies now. And she's going to sing that song, Love, L-O-V-E, like, L-O-V-E, like, L is for the way you look. You know that one? That's all I'm saying.

But anyway, she gets up there, and she says it, and they're like, oh, gosh, darling, we have the music, but we don't have the words. Now, what would you do? There's a bunch of people there, because word got out that I was going to sing Johnny Cash a little later, and there's a bunch of people there, and is she afraid? Is she afraid of messing up? No, because she's this little kid, and she has She doesn't know that the opinion of people don't really matter yet. She doesn't even know that. So she just says, start it. She grabs the mic and she just crushes it.

Crushes it. Mike dropped back to my table, big hug from dad, and all is well. May we change and become like a little child that's more concerned about what our father thinks than what all the people around us think. And maybe he's saying that we should change and become free of our past. Let me tell you what a little kid doesn't have. Much of a past. When that kid comes into the presence of Jesus,

he did not bring a bunch of baggage from his past in. Why? Because essentially, he can't even remember most of his past. And most adults are paralyzed in the presence because of something from their past. And maybe what Jesus is saying is your past doesn't define you. Only I get to define you. That Jesus defines our future.

That we are called to change and become like little children. and then in the next verse, Jesus says, verse five, whoever receives one such child in my name receives me. This has a whole bunch to do with the one initiative. The reason that we are called as one church to reach one more, and especially one more generation, it's because I don't know about you, but I want the presence of Jesus to be in our church.

And what Jesus is saying here is, as we receive one more little child, then we receive the very presence of Jesus Christ. I'm going to tell you, on a weekly basis, this is becoming more and more difficult for us to receive one more little child. In fact, I don't know what it is right now, at 1122 service, at the last service at 9 o'clock, we were jam-packed full again in our elementary age.

I mean, to the point we had people in the lobby and stuff. I'm telling you, so while that's positive, It's just not positive for the one more they didn't hear yet. And so I don't know about you, but I am willing to do whatever it takes to make room for one more. Last night and Friday night, about 1,800 leaders from 1122 got together over in the Hobby Lobby, and we declared here's what it's worth for us to do whatever it takes to reach one more. And so we have to continue to open up space. That's why here at the San Pablo Worship Center that those of us sitting in this room are sitting in,

Everything that we are sitting in through the one initiative, all of us got to move out the way so we can make room for that one more generation. Everything we're sitting in is going to be kids and student spaces. I'm kicking most of the office, most of our staff out of the offices, and we're turning all of that into new gen space. Why? Because we want to receive the Spirit of Christ as we receive that one more generation. Amen, church. Amen. Also as a part of the one initiative, there is something.

I think that's kind of similar to the first century in regards to a group of people that are overlooked and under-resourced. There's a group of people in our city and all over the world, and they are overlooked and under-resourced. These are families with children that have special needs. And so what we're going to do in this one initiative is we're hiring experts. We are re-evaluating our space at all of our locations so that we can receive families with children of special needs and not just make room from them, but we want to roll out the red carpet and say, welcome. We have been waiting for you because we're a movement for all people to discover and deepen a

relationship with Jesus Christ and all means all. Amen. And so, Jesus gives us this incredible responsibility, and now he's going to give us a very stern warning. He says, but, but whoever calls is one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, literally in Greek, it's to stumble. It would be better for him to have a great millstone fastening around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea. So for all of you that thought Jesus was meek and mild, you've never heard him preach before.

He said, hey, bro, you screw this up? And I'm going to tie a millstone. A millstone's like a big little rock bigger than you. It ain't like some kind of little hippie necklace that some of y'all wear. It's like a big old rock. And he's like, I tie that around your neck and throw you off the pier. See you next week. Actually, I won't.

You'll be dead into shrimp, but eat your eyeballs out. better for you for that to be your future than for you to cause one of these little ones of mine to stumble. It's a very high calling with a very stern warning. So as I'm holding up the mirror of the scripture to my own life this week, I began to say, what areas could we be causing one more generation to stumble? Are we teaching them that the Lord our God, the Lord is one? Or maybe we're teaching an upcoming generation to stumble by, teaching him that Jesus is negotiable.

Jesus is negotiable. I mean, he's important unless you've got a game. Then it's just less important. He's important, unless you've got too much homework, then he's just less important. He's important as long as it doesn't make you uncomfortable. Listen, I'm not anti-sports guy.

I'm not anti-education guy. JP plays golf and baseball and football. I spend lots of time at fields all over the place, watching parents lose their mind trying to live vicariously through little Timmy because their sports career didn't go the way they wanted it to. So now they're pouring everything into this little 12-year-old as if he's going to go pro. First of all, let me tell you, he ain't going pro. Just jot this down.

He ain't that good. He's not. He's not that good. And maybe even worse. And what if he done? Because some of you'd be like, you don't know my son. He hits dingers. Okay, great.

Let's say he does go pro. So what? Let's say he's the best little kid Jacksonville's ever seen. And he signs and he goes wherever. Georgia, I don't care. And then from there he comes in place for the Jags. And he's the bad. I mean, old pro, ring of honor, all of these incredible things,

you realize at some point you're done doing that. And if what you do becomes who you are, then who are you when you don't do that stuff anymore? Or Jesus would say it this way. what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul and honest to goodness did you keep up with professional athletes is that what you want them grow up to be did you hear of london is that the mission trip you want to send them on i don't think so scooter and we we we act like it's the most important listen man after the last service three jaguars came up here because they're on a by week and they come here and a bunch of them do and i do the bible studies

that there's all that stuff man I'm pro sports I really am and every one of them came up here and they said we wish all of our team could hear that because what does it do man you build your house on the sand and then storm comes and it all comes tumbling down yeah and we believe that up here and yet we we prioritize our schedule as if those little activities are the most important thing in our world are we teaching them that Jesus is negotiable and this is the this is the point where the with those of you that don't have athletes, you've got the smart kids, you're like, yeah, you get them. All right.

There's a whole bunch of parents, and you act like where your kid goes to college is more important than where they spend eternity. It's just true. Are we causing these kids to stumble by teaching them that Jesus is negotiable? Or are we teaching him, teaching our kids that he is the one thing that drives everything? And God may bless you with some kind of athletic ability or some kind of great academic prowess, but all of that is secondary to say in the Lord, our God, the Lord is one. And are we causing the little ones to stumble by ignoring the discipleship of our kids

because we prioritize our own success? That you can't talk about Jesus when they rise and when they wait because you're never there. And listen, I'm going to talk to the men just because that's who I mostly talk about into. There's a bunch of men that have treated their work as an idol, and they blame it on their family. Look, I'm just trying to provide for my family. Trying to provide what? Have you asked your family?

I guarantee you your child would rather have you than a more expensive birthday present. I promise you. And listen, you can't get that time back. You cannot get that time back. Are we causing them to stumble because we have prioritized our own success over their discipleship?

Are we causing them to stumble because we idolize our children by giving them everything that they want. I'm telling you, it is a brutal day when you have been worshipped your entire life and wake up one day and realize you are not worthy to be worshipped. And there's a whole bunch of children that get worshipped instead of disciples. See, listen, there are no participation trophies in heaven. There are crowns of glory that are given to us, according to the scriptures, because of our suffering, that pruning requires pain,

and there's a whole bunch of parents that think their priority is to keep the pain away from their kids. And you could literally be halting the discipleship process of God in their life by creating a bubble for them to live in. That is not the world we live in. And saying yes to them always. And so often God loves us so much that he would say, no, no, no. And then even as a church, man, are we causing our little ones to stumble corporately by not being able to adequately disciple over 2,000 zero to 18 year olds every single week that show up because we don't have the facility to do so?

Listen, this is why at all of our locations that we are going to make room for one more generation. We're going to make room for one more generation. Because I'm telling you, man, Gretchen's got a very dear friend of hers and years ago, like maybe four years ago, five years. ago, something like that. She's married. She's got a bunch of kids. She's super successful. She's super smart. And she just wakes up one day and she's like, is this it? This can't be it. Her marriage isn't going great. And so she decides on a Sunday morning, maybe I'll try church. So she gets up, she gets your kids ready. Hey, ask her husband, you want to come? He's like, I ain't going. That's partly why it was all jacked up. She gets your kids in the car. She shows up to 1122 at 1122 thinking,

no problem. She's been to a church before, but not like this thing. She shows up to our parking lot here and is like, is this like a YouTube concert? Why are there so many cars? What is happening? She has the park on the other side of Hope's closet. She walks all the way in here, dragging all of her kids. She gets to our new gen check-in. This is before we'd ever expanded anything. And because of safety and security, our staff has to look at her and go, we are so sorry. But the classroom that your kids would go into is full. Listen, to here, there's no room in the end. Is it a neat line in a Christmas play. It is a horrible thing for you to tell a mama that's coming here to meet Jesus. Now listen, man, thank God. Thank God. She's mature. She came back the following weeks

since then. Like her husband came up to me at the last service and said, I'll never get tired of that story. God saved them both, redeem their marriage. I mean, it's going really, really good. But how many people have been turned away and they never come back because they gave it one shot? You see, what if we as a church are causing someone to stumble because we just can't make, we don't have the room? This is why I don't know about you, but I'm willing to do whatever it takes to make room for that one more generation. And this was Jesus's idea. This is not my idea. And he keeps going.

Verse 10, he says, see that you do not despise one of these little ones. I don't think we despise the little ones. But check out this next verse. I don't even know what it means, but it's awesome. for I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my father who was in heaven. Here's what I would tell you. Jesus is saying this, that God always puts his attention on that one more generation, so you better not take your eyes off of them.

And then in verse 12, he says, what do you think? If a man had a hundred sheep, now I hope this sounds familiar to you, because last week, this is what we talked about, This parable is also found in Luke chapter 15. He says, so what do you think? If a man had 100 sheep and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the 99 on the mountainside and go in search of the one that went astray? In this context, what Jesus is saying is that the adults are the 99 and the child is the one more.

I don't know how long you've been doing Bible study. I have been reading this book professionally for 25 years. I'm into it. I know Bible verses. lots of them. And if you've been a Christian a while, how good is it when the Spirit of God teaches you new things about the things you've been reading for 25 years? For somehow, I've never noticed that the parable of the lost sheep in Matthew's account, Jesus put it in the context of the priority of one more generation coming to know him. So all that stuff I screamed at you about last

week about reaching the one more. Jesus says, scream again about reaching. that child, in other words, in God's economy, that child is a priority over all of us, adults. Again, 80% of people that surrender their life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ do so. They do so before they graduate high school. And so he says, it is the will of my father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should not perish. You get this? Verse 13. I'll read it again. If he finds it, truly I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the 99 that never went astray. So it is the will of my father who is in heaven that one of these little ones shouldn't perish. Listen, here's what this means. Not only must we invest here at all of our locations for the children that God is bringing unto himself here, but we also better be about stepping away from the 99 and getting out to the the fringes of society to find those kids that they ain't talking about Jesus in their house. Let me be clear.

This is me. Nobody's talking about Jesus in the house I grew up in. I mean, I heard his name a lot, but not in the context of like Jesus saves. I heard to name God a lot, but not like God bless you. And so we didn't do church, man. That wasn't our thing. We did other stuff. And thank God that Coach Lee, not a preacher, not an evangelist, but a football coach,

was willing to leave the 99 of First Baptist Dillon because I never went to First Baptist Dillon because I couldn't understand what they're talking about and I didn't have the right clothes and we didn't have khakis and stuff like that, button-up shirts. And yet he came to the fringes to find me to share the gospel with me. So what this means is in this one initiative,

not only are we going to make room for one more generation here at all of our locations, but we're also partnering with some ministries in Jacksonville that are run by 1120 tours that reach out into the fringes of Jacksonville to reach some people that are overlooked and under-resourced. Organizations like the Boys and Girls Club, like the McKenzie Wilson Foundation.

And in fact, man, if everything goes the way we're praying for, there could be some of our spaces in our future campuses that are used by some of these other organizations to reach out to children that otherwise we would never be able to get to. Why? Because Jesus says we leave the 99 for the one. and he was talking about kids. If you turn one page in your Bible, Matthew chapter 19, the very next chapter, Jesus wants to bring it up again,

and he says, then children were brought to him that he might lay his hands on them and pray, and the disciples rebuke the people. You see, they didn't get it. They're like, get these kids out of here. Jesus is doing important stuff. But Jesus said, let the little children come to me and do not hinder them.

for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven, and he laid his hands on them and went away. So let me ask you this, church. How do we now bring kids to Jesus? Because he's resurrected, he's ascended to the right hand of God the Father. Jesus is not like on the world tour, and you wait until he makes the Jacksonville stop, and then we line up with our kids. That's not how it works anymore. But as I scour the scriptures, I find at least three ways for us to bring our kids to Jesus.

One is you bring them to His Word. Jesus says, abide in me and abide in my word and I will abide in you. That the Bible is not a hammer to hammer over your kid's head. The Bible is like a meal to nourish their soul. The Jesus that we know, we know through the revealed word of God. Parents, we must saturate our children in the word of God. Because his promises are true. His promises are true.

Secondly, the Bible says that when the saints gather together in Jesus' name, we call this thing the church, that when we gather we are the body of Christ, a part of the way that we bring our kids to Jesus literally is to involve our kids in the body of Christ, involve our kids in the church. And so I would implore you that you make it a priority to have your kids in our kid ministry on the week. weekends and if you have students to have them involved in the student ministry because you literally are bringing them to Jesus. And then another way Jesus says we get face to face with him in Matthew chapter 25, Jesus says whatever you've done to the least of these brothers of mine you have done unto me. That whenever we serve the least of these in our world, then we are close to Jesus. And so beginning next year, I'm inviting you to come home family mission trips with me and a whole bunch of others. And we're going to. We are going to take our families to places like Panama and Jamaica, and we're going to serve the least of these. And listen, this is not just for those of you that have children. All of the faith family is invited.

Here, oh, 1122, we need help to teach diligently to our kids, the love of Christ. And so I need single people and widows and grandparents and empty nesters and, you know, people like me and G with a couple of kids. All of us together, and we are going to do some family mission trips around the world to take the gossip. to people that are overlooked and under-resourced and in doing so, we're going to bring our kids to Jesus. Let us not hinder those that are coming to Him. Now, why does this matter? Why do I get fired up about it? I'll tell you, because what's at stake?

Because what's at stake? About three years ago, something like that, two and a half years ago, I was leading the first trip to Israel. And the guide says, do you want to go to Shechem? Now listen, I'm like a Bible guy. I know Bible stuff. And so in my mind I go, Shechem, Shechem. Joshua, Chapter 24, that's where that happened.

Joshua 24-1 says, and Joshua gathered the elders and Israel all together in this place called Shechem. Here's what Shechem looks like today. The reason I think Joshua brought him there is this. What Joshua is going to do, Joshua was going to renew the covenant with Israel. He knows that his time is just about over, and he's going to pass the tort. And so it's kind of a choose your own ending. In Shechem, you see those two hills. One of them is called the Hill of Blessing.

One of them is called the Hill of Cursing. In the Book of Deuteronomy, Moses sends half the tribes up one hill, and he says, I want you to read the law. And basically, if you obey the law, you will walk in the blessing of God. And then up the other hill, he says, I want you to read that law. And if you disobey the law, then you will walk in cursing. The Hill of Blessing and the Hill of Curseing. And I think what's happening here is Joshua is bringing the nation of Israel to Shechem, because it's kind of like I choose your own ending.

And so here's what it says in Joshua chapter 24. It says, now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness and put away the gods that your father served beyond the river and in Egypt and serve the Lord. And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve. Whether the gods, your father served in the region beyond the river, or the gods of the Amarites in whose land, you dwell. Then he gets to a very famous verse. Basically, he's doing what we're doing right now. Hey, what's the one thing that drives everything in your life? What is the one thing that drives everything

in your life? He says, choose for this day whom you will serve. And then here's this very famous verse. He draws a line in the sand. He says, but as for me in my house, we will serve the Lord. And if you read the rest of the chapter and the nation of Israel goes crazy. Ah, so will we. So will we. And Joshua basically leans in and says, are you sure? Because what I'm looking for here is not like a, it's not just like an emotional reaction. I need a heartfelt commitment to the Lord. And they're like, yeah, Joshua, we're all in.

And they consecrate a new covenant by this rock and check them. You can still go there today. Now here's the thing about what was going on there. For the past seven years, God was showing up in amazing ways through Israel. Joshua leads the people of Israel to walk on dry ground over the Jordan. They march around the city of Jericho seven times and blow a trumpet and the walls come tumbling down. These people that were just a bunch of wandering shepherds a few years, now they are conquerors, and no one can stop them. They take over all of the promised land.

I mean, God's hand of blessing is upon them, and they are unstoppable, and God's promises are undeniable. And there's Joshua saying, so choose, choose for yourself who you will serve. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. And I am sitting on a rock reading this in Shechem. Thinking about our last seven years. I don't know how long you've been around here. We launched in 2012. It's going real good.

Real, real good. Just this year alone, 1,200 plus people have surrendered their life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Now listen, I ain't never walked around Jericho and seen the walls come tumbling down, but I saw over 400 people surrendered to Jesus just during our Easter services. That's better. That's better than walls cumbling down. You understand? That's eternity's being changed.

I've seen hundreds and hundreds of people get baptized. I've seen a generation being raised up. We have seen some good stuff here at 1122. God's doing some amazing things here over the last seven years, just like he had done, just like he had done under Joshua. reign. The problem with Joshua chapter 24 is that the book ends, and then

if you turn over two pages, the book of judges picks up right where Joshua left off. And in Judges chapter 2 10, it may be one of the saddest verses in the entire Bible. At least it is from my perspective, as a leader

that God has anointed and appointed to lead a thing that God's hand of blessing has been all over. Because Judges, chapter 2, verse 10, says this and all that generation also were gathered to their fathers and there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel. Look, I don't want to be dramatic. I don't want to overstate this. I'm leading a tour group of a hundred people or whatever, sitting on a rock and Chekham and I read that verse and just began

to weep uncontrollably, thinking, oh no, oh no, oh no. How in the world do the grandchildren of Joshua who were there when they walked across the Jordan, when the walls came tumbling down, when they took over the promised land, when they began to live in the land of milk and honey, how could the grandchildren of Joshua not even know the Lord or the works of His mighty hand?

And I just began to think about 1122. I began to think, what if in God's economy, success is not measured by what you do, but it's measured by who you raise. Church, it would be an epic failure on eternal proportions if our grandchildren did not know the Lord or the work of His mighty hand. And some of you are like, well, how in the world would that happen? Man, I've been studying this like crazy. I can tell you a couple of ways this happens. One was partial obedience. In Judges chapter 1, Israel did not kick the Canaanites out.

The Bible says that when Israel became strong, they made the Canaanites work for them. Let me tell you what will happen, man. It happens in churches all the time. Is that we don't obey God, we partially obey God, and then we take our disobedience and we make it work for us and negotiate with ourselves. There is no such thing as partial obedience when it comes to Lordship of Jesus Christ. Let me tell you how this applies. Next week is our commitment Sunday.

God's going to call us to do stuff. Some of you, he's going to call you to do something with your time, and you're going to try to talk yourself out of it. And I'm telling you, a generation hangs in the balance. God is going to call us to do something with our talents. Like, he put a thing in you for the glory of God, and you've been hiding it under a bushel. You've been scared to do something with it. And I'm telling you, your disobedience has a collateral effect. God's going to call us to love him with our treasure, and you're going to want to for a minute.

But I'm telling you, partial obedience wreaks half. havoc on a move of God. Not only that, I can tell you what happened in those two generations is that secondhand faith experience will not sustain an upcoming generation. Part of the reason that we need to build the kind of spaces for one more generation is because it will not be enough for our kids to hear about what God has done in our life, that we have to have the kind of environments where they experience God firsthand that that would sustain them for generations and generations. that's what I'm talking about and again some people are like man that would never happen here are you sure

I was preaching in Scotland this year John Knox used to preach there he's the brother that brought the Reformation to Scotland 10s of thousands of people would show up to hear him preach there was a revival in Scotland now in Scotland less than 3% of people

claim Jesus as their Lord and Savior the churches are empty the pubs are packed or how about Switzerland That's where John Calvin made his stand. Now in Switzerland, there's less than 3% of the population that claims Jesus Christ's Lord and Savior. How about in Germany? I was preaching in Germany this year.

It's where the Reformation started on October 31st, 1517. You celebrate Halloween. I celebrate Reformation Day. I mean, Luther nails the 95thesis on the door to the Church of Wittenberg. And a gospel explosion happens through Germany. and today in Germany, less than 3% claimed Jesus as their Lord. In England, where Charles Haddon Spurgeon used to preach, it was the first megachurch.

Tens of thousands of people would come and hear the gospel and be changed. Now, less than 4% of England claims Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. You know how that happens? It happens because one generation believes the gospel, the next generation assumes the gospel, the following generation does not know the gospel. And listen, I like preaching, and I really like that you show up, and I appreciate it when you say kind things.

But I'm going to tell you, I got nothing on John Calvin and John Knox and Martin Luther and Charles Spurgeon. It is up to us that faith does not just have something that happens to us, that faith is something that happens through us, that we would do whatever it takes to share the gospel with one more generation. Because I'm telling you, this generation not knowing from 1122, not on my watch, not on my watch. I am willing to do whatever it takes, to do whatever it costs, to sacrifice whatever it is. In fact, it is not a sacrifice to give up something to get something greater. That's just an investment. And there's one person excited. I'll tell you what really just solidified this.

This year I got to be a part of two worship experiences, ministry events. Two of the greatest ministry events I've ever been a part of in my life. I was just sitting, I was sitting like on the 10th row or something. It was the funeral of Pastor Britt's dad and the funeral of Pastor Stone's dad. And listen, I just showed up because these dudes are my dudes, man. I know we work together and we're co-laborers in the gospel. But before that, these are just my buddies. I love these guys.

They're like 10 years younger than me, and I just love them. So I just showed up because love shows up. That's just what it does. I just wanted to be there. And so the similarities between Pastor Ryan Stone and Pastor Ryan Britt is kind of crazy, man. They're both named Ryan. They're both from Georgia. Both their dads were pastors.

They both have brothers. Both their brothers are in ministry. They both married girls that are so much better than looking than them. It's almost awkward for them. You know what I'm saying? And both of them were led to Christ by their dads. Billy Britt and Craigstone. And I sat in Ryan Britt's brother's.

church for both the funerals or at the same church a few months apart and i sat there watching these boys lay their father to rest both of their fathers ran the race with great perseverance they finished out the race that god had called them to and they had raised both of them two boys in ministry and every single week like this weekend because of the ministry of the britt boys and the stone boys literally tens of thousands of people will be ministered to by the gospel of Jesus Christ. And it's all because of two dudes you've never even heard of before Billy and Craig. And maybe, you see, that's why I say maybe success isn't what you do, but maybe success in the kingdom of God is who you raised.

And I sat back there, man, just choking back the tears. It moved me like I can't describe. A part of the reason it moved me is because that's not my story at all. It's not. A football coach led me to Jesus. It's not my dad. But you know what? You know what hit me? But I pray to God, it's the story of my kids. I pray to God that tens of thousands of people, when I'm dead and done, are ministered to, not because of my sermons and podcasts and church, but maybe because of these two little humans that God has given me the privilege of raise. And we're not just trying to merely raise a couple of good citizens,

but we want to raise like world-changing missionaries, regardless of what God calls them to do vocationally. And I sat there and I thought about the promises of Jesus in these men's life, that when they took their last breath here on earth and they took their next breath in heaven, that they heard these words, well done, good and faithful servant. Not because of anything that they had done, but because of what Christ had done on the cross. And now I am speculating here, but the Bible says, now we know in part, then we will know in full. Now we see through a glass dimly, then we will see clearly. And just what if, what if, what if?

What if when Billy Britt and Craig Stone stepped in the heaven, somehow God allowed them not to just see the streets of gold and the mansions, but to allow them to see beyond that and to see a generation of people that he would use them to reach? And then I started thinking about this sermon. I really did. I started thinking about you. What if? What if? What if when we breathe our last here on earth, which is something you should think about? Because I don't know if you know this, but the death rate.

in America hovers right around 100%, so you think about forever? What if, when you breathe your last here on earth and you step into heaven and you breathe your first breath in heaven, what if by the glory of God? He allows you to see in full. And can you imagine looking past the streets of gold and looking past the mansions and seeing a generation

of people that will spend eternity with the presence of God because of what God used us to do in this moment right now? folks that is what we have been called into and a generation of people hanging the balance what is it worth to you as for me in my house it's worth whatever it takes to do what god has called us to do amen would you please stand let me pray for us our good and gracious heavenly father god we love you because you love us first god i thank you and i praise you for your blessing upon this movement that is 1122. And God, I pray that we would have the same priority that heaven has, that we would be willing

to leave the 99 to go find that one precious little one that is so precious to you. God, I pray that we would be willing to sacrifice whatever it takes, to give up our own preferences, our own comforts, whatever it takes, so that generation after generation after generation would know you and the works of your mighty hands. And that God, it would not be about us, but maybe we would just be the shoulders on which they stand to fulfill the great commission. For the glory of your name.

And we pray this in Jesus' name, and all God's people said. Amen.