WEBVTT 00:00:16.019 --> 00:00:18.179 Thank you so much uh for having me here. 00:00:18.420 --> 00:00:25.460 I was delighted to get a text from Miles uh inviting me out a a couple months ago to come this Sunday. 00:00:25.700 --> 00:00:30.740 And uh surprised, if I'll be honest, because me and me and Miles go way back. 00:00:30.820 --> 00:00:34.500 Um we also have grudges that go way, way back. 00:00:34.980 --> 00:00:41.140 Uh he was not always the uh selfless and godly man that you see today. 00:00:41.299 --> 00:00:46.019 Um and he did, he was nervous in the text that this would end up being a 40-minute roast. 00:00:46.179 --> 00:00:49.219 Um but don't worry, I'll I'll I'll lay off shortly. 00:00:49.379 --> 00:00:58.739 Uh yeah, 30 years ago, we were uh to my recollection, and he told me there's lawyers here, so I'm hoping you will help to uh mediate this. 00:00:59.140 --> 00:01:03.060 Uh we were in some form of Sunday school, and there were balloons. 00:01:03.459 --> 00:01:04.019 Sorry. 00:01:04.260 --> 00:01:06.900 And uh and and there were balloons. 00:01:06.980 --> 00:01:12.980 And I had this balloon that was the apple of my eye, and Miles took it and he popped it. 00:01:13.299 --> 00:01:18.739 Um we've debated for probably two decades now whether this actually happened. 00:01:18.980 --> 00:01:33.299 Miles has had alibis of not being there, of it being someone else, but uh I'm still convinced uh to this day, and I've held it against him to this day, but I want to say this morning I'm I'm laying it aside. 00:01:33.460 --> 00:01:34.740 I'm letting it go. 00:01:39.219 --> 00:01:42.020 This is a picture of gospel grace at work. 00:01:42.180 --> 00:01:52.180 Uh and uh more more sincerely, uh it's been really neat uh and so encouraging to my soul to see Miles come to Redemption Durham and preach at our church. 00:01:52.260 --> 00:01:58.020 I've sort of gotten snapshots, almost like when you see a kid after a few years and you're like, wow, you've grown so tall. 00:01:58.100 --> 00:02:02.500 Uh I've seen Miles grow in his preaching just year to year over the last probably 10 years. 00:02:02.660 --> 00:02:11.859 And uh from you know, perhaps 10 years ago, I'd finish a sermon and take a couple notes and think like maybe I should send this to him, like uh uh tell him to improve this point or that point. 00:02:11.939 --> 00:02:14.340 Uh no, not because I was bitter, just because. 00:02:14.500 --> 00:02:39.859 Uh but but then I listened to him on the way here um and thinking, wow, uh genuinely, genuinely encouraged to see the work that the Lord's uh done, and uh feeling like man, this is a guy I need to learn from and look up to, and really feeling grateful that he's your pastor, and I hope you are too, that that you have a pastor who loves God's word, um, is devoted to it. 00:02:40.019 --> 00:02:41.619 That is a rare gift. 00:02:41.859 --> 00:02:49.619 Um I'm excited to be with you this morning, and uh I want to pray, and then we'll get into our message. 00:02:51.780 --> 00:03:03.379 Uh Lord, we thank you for your grace, for your calling in our lives, and uh for the gift of children uh for a next generation that can carry this baton of faith. 00:03:03.539 --> 00:03:12.179 And Lord, today would you equip us, encourage us in this long, uh sometimes difficult task of pouring into the next generation? 00:03:12.419 --> 00:03:13.619 Help us in this, Lord. 00:03:13.699 --> 00:03:18.179 Uh, would you use me to help equip and give ideas to this congregation? 00:03:18.340 --> 00:03:19.619 In Jesus' name. 00:03:19.939 --> 00:03:20.579 Amen. 00:03:21.139 --> 00:03:28.579 Um, as I start, I just wanted to share a little bit of my journey and why this message of tell the coming generation is so dear to my heart. 00:03:28.659 --> 00:03:35.379 So I have some pictures from Cambodia, and a lot of my journey involves John Bunyan and uh Cambodia. 00:03:35.539 --> 00:03:56.419 So going back to when I was 15, I picked up an old copy of The Pilgrim's Progress from my dad's shelf, and it impacted my, I was a new believer, and uh by God's providence, that was the first book I picked up and picked off the shelf, and uh it had such an impact on what I how I viewed the Christian life, that this is a it's a difficult journey ahead. 00:03:56.500 --> 00:03:57.459 It's a long journey ahead. 00:03:57.539 --> 00:03:59.859 There's trials, there's temptations, there's difficulties. 00:04:00.019 --> 00:04:02.579 So I was so grateful to have that shaping my life. 00:04:02.739 --> 00:04:15.219 And when I was in Cambodia, uh my son Ivor was four, and I wanted to share that with him, and so started adapting it into a version that would be kind of colorful and easy to read for four-year-olds. 00:04:15.379 --> 00:04:17.699 And I'll switch to the next image there. 00:04:17.939 --> 00:04:29.220 And so there's where I have many memories of just writing, sweating in uh that little shack in our in our village as we were uh missionaries in Cambodia and finishing off Little Pilgrim. 00:04:29.379 --> 00:04:31.220 Um just kidding, we didn't live in that. 00:04:31.300 --> 00:04:33.379 Uh it's the next it's the next slide. 00:04:33.540 --> 00:04:46.259 We were uh we were we were in a city called Phnom Penh uh some some friends thought we lived in something like that, so I always feel uh uh a need to make that joke. 00:04:46.580 --> 00:04:55.780 But um we lived in this big city of Phnom Penh, which was quite quite crazy and growing quite quickly, and uh and Little Pilgrim's Big Journey came together. 00:04:55.939 --> 00:05:00.819 Uh it during COVID, I thought for a while we were learning language, we're getting ready to teach at a Bible college. 00:05:00.900 --> 00:05:02.660 Um I thought I'd never finish this book. 00:05:02.819 --> 00:05:12.020 COVID hit, everything shut down, we're kind of locked into our house, and it became the perfect opportunity to launch this book, and God was so gracious to uh multiply the efforts. 00:05:12.100 --> 00:05:16.660 That was uh seven years ago I started it, and uh six years ago we launched it. 00:05:16.740 --> 00:05:19.220 And so I'm just continually grateful for God's work. 00:05:19.379 --> 00:05:23.220 And this was uh a moment that especially stuck out to me. 00:05:23.460 --> 00:05:34.580 Ivor was around four or five at the time, my son Elias was two or three, and Ivor picked up the book, not being able to read, but he'd read it probably 20 times with me, and he started explaining the gospel to my younger son. 00:05:34.740 --> 00:05:39.300 And uh that was one of those dad moments you that you just cherish uh forever. 00:05:39.540 --> 00:05:44.980 And um I thought, even if we only have one copy of this book, it is worth it. 00:05:45.140 --> 00:05:59.460 And uh, by God's grace, many copies have gone out into the world, and uh and now uh long story short, I got sick, we had to come back, uh, but God has allowed this translation to go out and do what I couldn't. 00:05:59.540 --> 00:06:20.660 Uh it's been translated into I didn't realize this, but my my team just put together some some stats and 30 languages, which um I thought there was 12, but uh it's it's multiplied to that degree, and uh and there's one being translated in Cambodian right now, which uh so it's seeing God bring it full circle has been a true grace. 00:06:20.900 --> 00:06:30.660 Um so that's what this idea of equipping the next generation is so dear to my heart and has been something I'm deeply invested in, both in my own family and through these books. 00:06:30.819 --> 00:06:38.259 And so I want to turn to Psalm 78 and uh giving you a caveat that this will be a slightly different sermon. 00:06:38.420 --> 00:06:46.100 I know you're used to receiving kind of a gospel feast from Miles, and uh so I figured I can come here and do a bit more of a workshop. 00:06:46.180 --> 00:06:58.420 So this will be kind of half exposition going through Psalm 78, and then half just getting very practical on how to teach and tell the next generation the gospel in a compelling way. 00:07:00.500 --> 00:07:11.939 Many of you are involved in this work already, many of you have little ones under your feet, and others of you are here encouraging, and I think it takes a village, it takes really a church to raise godly kids. 00:07:12.259 --> 00:07:15.220 Uh there's a beautiful partnership in there. 00:07:15.620 --> 00:07:21.620 And this is a work that uh takes years and years of labor. 00:07:21.860 --> 00:07:25.620 Uh we pour into our kids, uh, and so much of it is done in faith. 00:07:25.780 --> 00:07:33.620 You read to them, you sing with them, you pray with them, you bring them to church, all in hopes that they might grow up and follow the Lord. 00:07:34.259 --> 00:07:36.580 That is our great calling and challenge. 00:07:36.660 --> 00:07:51.700 And if you don't have children, please uh don't don't zone out because this calling is for you too, to equip the next generation, whether they're physical offspring or spiritual offspring, we see Genesis 1.28, this call, be fruitful and multiply. 00:07:51.860 --> 00:07:55.780 But then in Acts 12, 24, Luke uses this and he applies it to the gospel. 00:07:55.860 --> 00:07:59.939 He says, the word of God bore fruit and it multiplied. 00:08:00.100 --> 00:08:06.900 So our call, whether we're we're multiplying spiritually or physically, is to equip the next generation. 00:08:07.060 --> 00:08:10.740 Faith is meant to be passed down, to be multiplied. 00:08:10.900 --> 00:08:16.740 And it seems like, and I'm sure many of you feel this, that uh the odds are increasingly against us. 00:08:17.220 --> 00:08:26.900 Every generation seems to have a new pharaoh that has risen up, that's destroying desiring to destroy God's people, uh, to keep us from multiplying. 00:08:27.060 --> 00:08:29.460 And there's many ways you could perhaps measure this. 00:08:29.620 --> 00:08:34.419 History ebbs and flows, but it certainly seems like it's getting more difficult. 00:08:34.819 --> 00:08:42.580 Uh, screen time and short attention spans, a culture that seems to be increasingly hostile to Christianity. 00:08:43.299 --> 00:08:49.139 We see this disaster unfolding before our eyes and feel like we're powerless to stop it. 00:08:49.539 --> 00:08:52.580 How can we influence a culture like this? 00:08:52.899 --> 00:09:02.340 On top of that, we know there's a very real spiritual battle that Satan, it says, is like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. 00:09:02.659 --> 00:09:08.659 And if you've watched BBC, you know that lions are not kind or sportsmanlike. 00:09:08.820 --> 00:09:23.379 They pray, the one that strays from the herd, they pray after the weak, they pray after the young, they go after the easy target, and so it's no surprise that uh there is this war on children, that there's this war on the next generation. 00:09:24.659 --> 00:09:37.700 So my son uh asked me to pray with him every night, and I pray every night, and I hope this will be etched into his memory, that he will be a light in this dark and crooked generation. 00:09:37.860 --> 00:09:41.060 That God would raise him up to be a light in this world. 00:09:41.620 --> 00:09:53.860 So my goal for the next 30, 40 minutes is to put wind in your sails in this great effort, and to give you whatever tools and tricks of the trade I can to pass those on to you. 00:09:54.100 --> 00:09:56.180 Let's look at Psalm 78. 00:09:56.899 --> 00:10:06.820 We see our two callings as parents and teachers are simply to declare God's glory and to remember God's story. 00:10:07.940 --> 00:10:10.340 Look at seventy-eight, verse one to four. 00:10:10.899 --> 00:10:13.539 Give ear, my people, to my teaching. 00:10:13.779 --> 00:10:16.100 Incline your ears to the words of my mouth. 00:10:16.259 --> 00:10:24.420 I will open my mouth in a parable, I will utter dark sayings from of old, things that we have heard and known, that our fathers have told us. 00:10:24.580 --> 00:10:34.259 We will not hide them from our children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might and the wonders that he has done. 00:10:34.500 --> 00:10:40.100 It's this simple call, tell the coming generation the deeds of the Lord. 00:10:40.420 --> 00:10:50.740 We may not be perfect parents, we may mess it up, but we can tell it to them, we can show it to them what the beauty of the gospel is. 00:10:50.980 --> 00:11:05.379 Uh and this is such a great privilege that sometimes perhaps we don't feel the weight of, but if we see Christ's heart for children, uh that idea of the disciples, that's always in my mind, seeking to turn them away, he says, Let them come to me. 00:11:05.460 --> 00:11:11.060 And there's a few verses I want to just read through quickly to emphasize this. 00:11:11.460 --> 00:11:16.100 Because there's a risk we lose sight of the beauty and the weight of this calling. 00:11:16.500 --> 00:11:22.740 Matthew 18, verse 5 to 9, it says, Whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me. 00:11:23.139 --> 00:11:34.580 But if anyone causes one of these little stumble ones who believe in me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. 00:11:34.820 --> 00:11:37.620 It's a very weighty reality. 00:11:38.100 --> 00:11:46.580 Ephesians 6 4 calls fathers, it says, Do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. 00:11:47.139 --> 00:11:57.860 And for those who perhaps teach Sunday school, 1 Peter 4 10 to 11 says, As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of God's varied grace. 00:11:58.019 --> 00:12:09.860 Whoever speaks as one who speaks the oracles of God, whoever serves as one who serves by the strength God supplies, in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. 00:12:10.420 --> 00:12:14.180 Charles Spurgeon had a commentary on verse four. 00:12:14.340 --> 00:12:18.019 He says, We will not hide them from our children. 00:12:18.340 --> 00:12:20.259 And he gives us this charge. 00:12:20.500 --> 00:12:27.779 It is the duty of the Church of God to maintain in fullest vigor every agency intended for the religious education of the young. 00:12:28.019 --> 00:12:31.220 To them we must look for the church of the future. 00:12:31.379 --> 00:12:34.340 And as we sow towards them, so shall we reap. 00:12:34.580 --> 00:12:37.460 Children are to be taught to magnify the Lord. 00:12:37.620 --> 00:12:45.139 They ought to be well informed as to his wonderful doings in ages past, and should be made to know his strength and his wonderful works that he has done. 00:12:45.460 --> 00:12:48.899 The best education is education in the best things. 00:12:49.139 --> 00:12:52.420 The first lesson for a child should be concerning his mother's God. 00:12:52.580 --> 00:12:53.779 Teach him what you will. 00:12:53.940 --> 00:12:59.220 If he learn not the fear of the Lord, he will perish for lack of knowledge. 00:13:04.980 --> 00:13:08.259 This is uh easier said than done. 00:13:09.220 --> 00:13:12.580 There are times I feel really great as a publisher. 00:13:12.659 --> 00:13:20.980 Uh next week I'll be going to camp, and uh last year I went to the same camp, and that you have to preach eight times over four and a half days. 00:13:21.139 --> 00:13:29.139 And so I thought I could work really hard to make some compelling sermons, and that that would take all the energy I have, or I could read my books. 00:13:29.220 --> 00:13:36.659 Uh and so I I went um down the road that I thought might be more uh attainable in that situation. 00:13:36.820 --> 00:14:02.019 And I read uh one of our books, The Mansoul Chronicles, and um the kids got this habit of kind of as I came in, they'd be cheering my name, and my nickname was Fez at this camp, so they say, Fez, Fez, Fez, and then I'd finish the chapter and they'd say, one more chapter, one more chapter, and these these 80 kids would would listen, and it'd be like you could hear a pin drop, and someone would start talking, and the kid beside him would say, Hey, shh, I'm listening, I'm listening. 00:14:02.259 --> 00:14:07.620 So those kind of moments make you feel good as a as a publisher. 00:14:07.700 --> 00:14:21.379 Uh, and I wish it were always that easy, but then I I came home and wanted to do family devos, and so told my daughter it's time for family devos, and she stomped and said, I hate family devos. 00:14:22.100 --> 00:14:25.860 And this was no uh passing frivolous remark. 00:14:26.019 --> 00:14:29.139 This is this was an all-out declaration of of war. 00:14:29.379 --> 00:14:35.940 Uh, we we we don't let our kids really say hate, and so she knew what she was doing. 00:14:36.100 --> 00:14:47.139 But by God's grace, I was walking in the spirit that day, and so I turned to her, I said, honey, uh, I love you, and I love God. 00:14:47.460 --> 00:14:52.980 And because I love you, and because I love God, God has called me to teach you about Him. 00:14:53.379 --> 00:14:59.460 That's that's the most important thing I can do as a dad is teach you about God. 00:15:00.100 --> 00:15:04.899 And she was starting to soften, starting to be convinced. 00:15:05.060 --> 00:15:08.259 Um then I looked her in the eye and said, Who made you? 00:15:10.420 --> 00:15:10.740 God? 00:15:11.460 --> 00:15:12.899 And who made mommy and daddy? 00:15:13.460 --> 00:15:14.820 Oh, but God did. 00:15:15.060 --> 00:15:17.860 And who made this beautiful world that you see around you? 00:15:18.340 --> 00:15:18.740 Oh God. 00:15:19.860 --> 00:15:20.180 God. 00:15:20.899 --> 00:15:28.899 And do you think we should learn about the God who made us and loves us and has provided us every good thing? 00:15:29.139 --> 00:15:33.620 Uh and her heart at that point just softened in the in the sweetest way. 00:15:33.779 --> 00:15:41.060 And uh and then it came as we got in more of a routine, there would be nights I'd be tired and think, okay, we're just we'll skip family devos today. 00:15:41.139 --> 00:15:41.700 And we do. 00:15:41.779 --> 00:15:42.420 We miss it. 00:15:42.580 --> 00:15:50.100 And and by family devos, I just mean, if that sounds intimidating, I mean like five to ten minutes singing Jesus loves me and and like reading a couple verses. 00:15:50.259 --> 00:15:56.340 Just just border the the the most baseline thing you can imagine, the most simple you can imagine. 00:15:56.420 --> 00:16:01.139 And but now she would go, Oh, dad, it's family, family devos, family devos. 00:16:01.379 --> 00:16:04.420 Uh we need to do family devos before bed. 00:16:05.220 --> 00:16:22.980 So the psalmist calls us to declare the glorious deeds of the Lord in our family, in our church, to equip this next generation, and where is that glory found more beautifully and more distinctly than the gospel, to rehearse and remind our kids of the gospel. 00:16:23.539 --> 00:16:28.580 And the second point we see the psalmist has is to remember God's story. 00:16:28.899 --> 00:16:30.820 Look up verse five to eight. 00:17:03.700 --> 00:17:12.180 And the rest of the psalm, uh, which if you see in your Bibles is quite long, the rest of the Psalm goes on to recount these glorious deeds of the Lord. 00:17:12.339 --> 00:17:15.619 The psalmist is practicing what he preaches. 00:17:15.779 --> 00:17:21.140 He's not hiding the truth from his children, he's reminding them of all that God has done for them. 00:17:21.460 --> 00:17:35.140 And it's also calling back specifically this psalm to Deuteronomy six, which is a well-known passage, but I just want to run through a few of the emphasis here of this next generation or children or your sons. 00:17:35.620 --> 00:17:42.980 You see in Deuteronomy six, verse two, that you may fear the Lord, you and your sons, and your sons' sons. 00:17:43.539 --> 00:17:48.579 And chapter six, verse six, and these words that I commanded to you today shall be on your heart. 00:17:48.819 --> 00:18:01.140 You shall teach them to diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise, you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 00:18:01.299 --> 00:18:04.579 You shall write them down on the doorpost of your house and on your gates. 00:18:04.819 --> 00:18:06.019 Six verse twelve. 00:18:06.259 --> 00:18:11.779 Take care lest you forget the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 00:18:12.180 --> 00:18:12.980 Six verse twenty. 00:18:13.299 --> 00:18:20.099 When your son asks you in time to come, what is the meaning of the testimonies and statutes and the rules that the Lord our God has commanded you? 00:18:20.339 --> 00:18:27.940 Then you shall say to your son, We were Pharaoh's slaves in Egypt, and the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. 00:18:28.660 --> 00:18:33.940 And so now we likewise take this baton and we pass it along and say, We were slaves. 00:18:34.099 --> 00:18:35.539 We were slaves to sin. 00:18:35.700 --> 00:18:38.420 And Christ came and he freed us, he delivered us. 00:18:38.500 --> 00:18:41.380 This was what mummy and daddy were like before we came to know Jesus. 00:18:41.460 --> 00:18:44.980 And look at what God has done to us, for us. 00:18:46.339 --> 00:18:48.980 Why this emphasis on children? 00:18:49.220 --> 00:18:55.620 I found this quote from an old Dutch guy, and whenever I I can include a quote from an old Dutch guy, I do. 00:18:55.779 --> 00:18:57.539 His name is John van Driest. 00:18:58.339 --> 00:19:06.259 He says to their children, He who learns the law in his youth resembles him that writes easily on new and pliable parchment. 00:19:06.420 --> 00:19:13.620 But he who begins to learn it in his old age is like a man that tries to write on an old and shriveled parchment. 00:19:13.940 --> 00:19:16.660 He's getting at his children are impressionable. 00:19:16.819 --> 00:19:18.980 They're easily influenced. 00:19:19.299 --> 00:19:21.380 And uh this hit home for me. 00:19:21.460 --> 00:19:28.420 I I feel like as my son is turned 10, something about those double digits just set off a mental timer. 00:19:28.500 --> 00:19:33.059 Uh that time is running out, that the cement is forming. 00:19:33.140 --> 00:19:47.220 I'll blink and he'll be 18, he'll be moving out of the house, and so I want to do what I can to tell him the deeds of the Lord while he's under my roof, before he's out into this world. 00:19:47.460 --> 00:19:54.740 And as we look at verse 5 to 6, it appears that there's there's four or five generations mentioned here. 00:19:54.980 --> 00:20:13.700 He says, He commanded our fathers to teach their children that the next generation might know, and the children yet unborn, arise and tell them to their children, from grandparent to parent to child, passing down this baton of the glory of the gospel. 00:20:14.420 --> 00:20:35.059 It's a math, which I don't do as often these days, but if a if a couple has four kids, and each of their kids has four kids, and that pattern continues for five generations, each having four kids, there will be more than 1,300 offspring that those those parents lead to. 00:20:35.460 --> 00:20:45.140 Just from that simple act, faithful act of having kids, equipping in the Lord, there's this multiplying that happens generation to generation as God's people grow. 00:20:45.299 --> 00:20:56.259 Of course, Gen Z appears to not be having kids, uh, so that there may be some breaks in the cycle, but uh, you get the point, and I I believe greater things for for the church. 00:20:56.579 --> 00:20:59.700 This is our greatest legacy. 00:21:00.019 --> 00:21:03.860 The Babylon Bee had uh a satirical article. 00:21:04.579 --> 00:21:07.140 The title was this, and it caught my attention. 00:21:07.460 --> 00:21:12.900 Father of three wonders when he'll get the chance to influence others for Christ. 00:21:13.620 --> 00:21:20.019 It says, stating that he had been feeling a sense of purpose, purposelessness and melancholy for some months now. 00:21:20.259 --> 00:21:27.860 Local father of three, Andrew Harbaugh, recently began wondering if he would ever get a chance to impact anyone for the sake of Christ. 00:21:28.099 --> 00:21:30.180 Sources close to him confirmed Thursday. 00:21:30.420 --> 00:21:37.380 Andrew reportedly spends his days working ten hours at a desk job and his nights talking and playing with his three children. 00:21:37.700 --> 00:21:45.140 I just wish God would place a few people in my life for whom I could make an eternal difference, Andrew told reporters, his head in his hands. 00:21:45.380 --> 00:21:51.700 I just don't have time to do anything for the kingdom of God while I provide for my family and spend my time with my three boys. 00:21:52.019 --> 00:21:57.460 Surely the Lord will have something important for me to do someday, he added sadly. 00:21:58.980 --> 00:22:03.700 The emphasis of this article is here, your legacy is right in front of you. 00:22:04.180 --> 00:22:11.140 Your children under your roof, your grandchildren, here is the work that God has called you to first and foremost. 00:22:11.299 --> 00:22:14.740 And that hit home for me, especially when we returned from Cambodia. 00:22:15.220 --> 00:22:20.500 Uh, because I had these these lofty ambitions to serve, to teach at the Bible college. 00:22:20.660 --> 00:22:23.220 Uh, I've been gearing up for that for 10 years. 00:22:23.380 --> 00:22:44.819 And so I kind of saw that as this is faithfulness to Christ, and then coming back to Canada, feeling like we've missed out on what God had uh planned for us, and feeling, you know, unfruitful in terms of public ministry, and yet reminding and coming back to God's word again and again and saying, look what God's put in front of me today. 00:22:44.980 --> 00:22:59.299 And this I'm very convinced will be the first thing that the Lord um asks us about when we when we get into his presence and desire is that what have you done with the children I have placed in your care? 00:23:00.740 --> 00:23:05.700 And there's a beauty to this multiplying and this generation to generation idea. 00:23:06.019 --> 00:23:30.420 My wife's family, uh her grandma was not a believer, and had five different marriages that that all ended in divorce, and and all of her children have been through multiple divorces, except for uh my father-in-law, who was an alcoholic and got saved, and they just celebrated a few weeks ago their 50th wedding anniversary. 00:23:30.740 --> 00:23:40.500 Uh and so my wife, my kids, we follow in this lineage of faithful, gospel-believing parents and grandparents. 00:23:42.099 --> 00:23:44.900 Gospel passing down generation to generation. 00:23:45.700 --> 00:23:51.539 And the psalmist ends with this question or this idea: what is the goal of remembering God's story? 00:23:51.620 --> 00:24:09.620 And we see in verse 7 and 8, so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments, and that they should not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation whose heart was not steadfast, whose spirit was not faithful to God. 00:24:10.099 --> 00:24:17.940 So that, simply, they would not forget, because there is such a great spiritual danger in forgetting. 00:24:18.180 --> 00:24:24.180 We see through the Old Testament this spiritual amnesia seemed to be the primary cause of idolatry. 00:24:24.259 --> 00:24:34.740 And as you read through the Old Testament, I was just working through Deuteronomy, the amount of times it's just remind them, remind them, not just of the rules, but remind them of what they were brought out of slavery. 00:24:34.900 --> 00:24:37.620 Remind them of the reason for the rules. 00:24:37.779 --> 00:24:43.140 That they are to be a people who are God has given everything for them, and now they give back to Him. 00:24:43.299 --> 00:24:48.259 There's this gospel grace all throughout the Old Testament, if you look for it. 00:24:49.460 --> 00:24:59.140 And so Psalmus calls us to declare God's glory so that our children will see it and love it and cling to it. 00:24:59.380 --> 00:25:06.660 He tells us to remember God's story, the story that has the power of salvation, the story that can transform our lives. 00:25:06.900 --> 00:25:11.140 That is our great calling, but there are certainly challenges. 00:25:11.620 --> 00:25:21.460 So there's a few challenges I found in equipping the next generation, and this is where we'll sort of shift gears to a bit more of a workshop type um sermon. 00:25:22.180 --> 00:25:27.539 It's this reality, this challenge of big truths and little uh minds. 00:25:27.779 --> 00:25:32.900 And even after all these years, I still wake up excited to make books that address this challenge. 00:25:33.059 --> 00:25:50.819 Uh, I remember when I was working at a church before, I'd preach to the youth, and uh when I'd when I get a chance to preach to actually the Sunday, you know, in my my grown-up shoes and go preach to the real church, I'd be excited because it was actually easier than trying to preach to youth or children. 00:25:50.980 --> 00:25:59.620 Because bringing things to their level and that keeping the depth and yet the simplicity and clarity felt like such a challenge. 00:26:00.180 --> 00:26:03.539 Preaching to adults, I felt like I could just say what was there. 00:26:05.860 --> 00:26:14.339 And how do we compel our kids rather than making them feel like this is a dull, dry, or boring thing? 00:26:14.819 --> 00:26:18.900 And I think there's three dangers as we seek to do that. 00:26:19.059 --> 00:26:24.259 Uh this superficiality, familiarity, and morality. 00:26:24.819 --> 00:26:32.980 So superficiality, keeping things superficial or light, or watering it down, uh, we walk on this razor's edge. 00:26:33.140 --> 00:26:42.099 On the one side we can water things down too much, oversimplify, on the other side, we can become too complicated and go way over their heads. 00:26:42.420 --> 00:26:49.620 And Gregory the Great said this the Bible is a stream where the elephant may swim and the lamb may wade. 00:26:49.779 --> 00:26:57.220 Or maybe you've heard it this way scripture is shallow enough for a child to wade in and deep enough for an elephant to swim in. 00:27:00.420 --> 00:27:04.980 So there's a temptation to oversimplify, to sanitize the Bible. 00:27:05.140 --> 00:27:14.740 We pass over the hard parts we don't, and often this is at the cost of allowing children to wrestle with the reality of sin in the world, of the darkness of the world outside. 00:27:14.819 --> 00:27:18.259 And the Old Testament is there's a lot of mess. 00:27:18.339 --> 00:27:29.860 Um, it just seems like mess after mess and this cycle of people stumbling into sin, going deeper in their sin, a downward cycle, and God lifting them out of it. 00:27:30.019 --> 00:27:32.420 And then again, downward. 00:27:32.740 --> 00:27:36.259 And that is uh an accurate summary. 00:27:36.500 --> 00:27:41.059 God is a covenant maker, his people are covenant breakers. 00:27:41.700 --> 00:27:46.019 Would that be important for kids to know and to wrestle with, to see? 00:27:46.180 --> 00:27:51.059 Oh, here's how God's people failed, and here's how he redeemed them. 00:27:51.380 --> 00:27:53.140 Time and time again. 00:27:53.299 --> 00:27:56.660 That's a God that you want to follow for the rest of your life. 00:27:56.740 --> 00:28:00.980 That's a God you know you can turn to in the midst of your darkest hour. 00:28:01.220 --> 00:28:03.620 That's a God who you know will be faithful. 00:28:03.860 --> 00:28:17.380 Uh and when I was preparing uh the Kingdom of God Bible storybook, I looked through every storybook Bible on the market to see how people are handling the difficult passages, the exiles and um the prophets. 00:28:17.620 --> 00:28:18.819 How did they handle them? 00:28:19.059 --> 00:28:22.420 And most of the time I found they didn't. 00:28:22.579 --> 00:28:29.860 It was we kind of went from, you know, Adam and Eve to Moses to Daniel, uh, to David to Jesus. 00:28:30.019 --> 00:28:38.420 And it there was just kind of this, we just it soared over and seemed to skip the exiles and the prophets uh almost entirely. 00:28:38.900 --> 00:28:55.059 And I don't want to be overcritical of skin in the game, but I was just trying to think what that reflects of us and whether that would give people kids an accurate picture of the gospel and scripture and God's nature. 00:28:55.940 --> 00:29:04.660 Uh my sons had a question about hell in one of our uh little family devos, so I didn't want them to just believe what I said. 00:29:04.819 --> 00:29:07.779 I told them I want you to believe what God says. 00:29:08.019 --> 00:29:13.940 So I opened to Revelation 20, to the great white throne judgment, and just started reading it. 00:29:14.019 --> 00:29:26.740 And their eyes started getting wider and wider as they heard of these great multitudes standing before God's throne and being judged for what they had been done, but then getting to the Lamb's book of life. 00:29:27.380 --> 00:29:32.819 So they feel the weight of it, uh, which I think is our temptation to skip, is to not let them feel the weight of it. 00:29:32.900 --> 00:29:35.700 But they feel the weight of this, standing before God's throne. 00:29:35.860 --> 00:29:40.980 And then yet there were those whose names were written in the Lamb's book of life. 00:29:41.539 --> 00:29:49.700 And the beauty of the gospel to them in that moment, uh, the Word of God, the way the Word of God works, even in a child's heart. 00:29:50.019 --> 00:29:52.180 We don't need to skip over the hard parts. 00:29:52.420 --> 00:29:56.500 Kids can handle the deep truth when they are presented clearly. 00:29:57.620 --> 00:30:01.700 The second danger is familiarity. 00:30:02.420 --> 00:30:10.339 And we have a great Sunday school program in our church, and uh love the teachers there, love the time. 00:30:10.420 --> 00:30:17.779 Uh, but I find sometimes my my kids will say, Oh, why do we keep every year we switch into a new year and we're learning the same the same stories? 00:30:18.259 --> 00:30:20.579 And perhaps there's no ways around that. 00:30:20.740 --> 00:30:29.700 Uh I think what he's getting at is we kind of we dip into Genesis and to Exodus and a bit of the gospels, and we don't venture too much further from that. 00:30:30.339 --> 00:30:34.900 I remember even back to years ago, I felt the same thing as a kid. 00:30:35.059 --> 00:30:42.500 And then some Sunday school teacher came and must have been slightly unhinged and read the story of Ehud and the sword. 00:30:43.299 --> 00:30:55.380 And there's the, if you remember it, there's the judge with the who's left-handed and has hidden his sword, and he goes into the the king's chambers, and the sword goes in and it and it sinks all the way into the the guys because he was so fat. 00:30:55.620 --> 00:31:02.660 And uh and me and my friend went out like that was the best Sunday school we've had for so long. 00:31:03.059 --> 00:31:12.339 Oh and there will be ways you could tie that into the gospel, but uh uh but I think we're getting it is is teach the whole council of God. 00:31:12.500 --> 00:31:18.740 So uh even for me, I I the gospel the the Bible has this epic epic storyline. 00:31:18.900 --> 00:31:22.019 It doesn't need to become dull or repetitive. 00:31:22.180 --> 00:31:31.860 Even after going to seminary and preaching for years and teaching at a Bible college, I continue to find time and time again absolute gems that meet me where I'm at. 00:31:32.099 --> 00:31:45.220 And so we see in Timothy's life, 2 Timothy 3, 15 to 16, it says, How from childhood you've been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 00:31:45.380 --> 00:31:53.140 All scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness. 00:31:54.819 --> 00:32:00.019 If all scripture is inspired, then we need to teach kids the whole council, even when it's difficult. 00:32:00.099 --> 00:32:01.779 And yeah, we can make it PG. 00:32:02.339 --> 00:32:04.980 Um but to teach. 00:32:05.299 --> 00:32:12.099 And as I read this verse and was thinking about Timothy, it says that you've been trained from childhood in the faith. 00:32:12.259 --> 00:32:14.819 And some even say from from infancies. 00:32:14.980 --> 00:32:18.339 He's been, and and I wondered what were who were his parents? 00:32:18.500 --> 00:32:35.380 And so I did a little backtrack, 2 Timothy 1, verse 5, where Paul says, I'm reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that first dwelt in your grandmother Lois, and your mother Eunice, and now I am sure dwells in you. 00:32:36.019 --> 00:32:41.860 I thought, but wait, it says his grandmother and his mother, where is Timothy's father? 00:32:42.900 --> 00:32:54.980 And I found Acts 16, verse 1, where it says, Paul came to Derby and then to Lystra, where a disciple named Timothy lived, whose mother was a Jewish, was Jewish and a believer, but whose father was a Greek. 00:32:55.460 --> 00:32:57.940 He's saying his father was an unbeliever. 00:32:58.099 --> 00:33:04.019 So this baton being passed down counted entirely on the grandmother and the mother, passing it on to Timothy. 00:33:04.099 --> 00:33:16.900 And I just want to encourage you that even if you're in less than ideal circumstances, you can pass this faith on to your children and leave a legacy as beautiful as this one that was left for Timothy. 00:33:17.059 --> 00:33:21.299 And also what a beautiful legacy a godly grandparent can have. 00:33:24.819 --> 00:33:28.579 So third danger we see is morality. 00:33:28.740 --> 00:33:51.220 And I think this is one of the greatest dangers in children's ministry, where David and Goliath can become a story about you taking up faith and defeating your giants instead of God saving his people through the promised king, where the five fish and two loaves becomes a story about sharing instead of a story about Christ's all-sufficiency and his power and his grace. 00:33:53.779 --> 00:33:57.220 So I grew up in a pretty ideal Christian home. 00:33:57.539 --> 00:34:06.259 We went to a Baptist church where they'd meet Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night, and probably a potluck somewhere else in the week. 00:34:06.500 --> 00:34:13.299 Went to Christian school, went to Christian camp, uh, we did family devotions after dinner. 00:34:13.619 --> 00:34:17.940 We even uh watched Veggie Tales on VHS. 00:34:18.739 --> 00:34:25.539 And when we got in the car, there's that big pack of adventures and odyssey cassettes on tape. 00:34:26.019 --> 00:34:28.500 Read chicken soup for the soul devotionals. 00:34:28.740 --> 00:34:31.059 Ah, the glory days. 00:34:32.500 --> 00:34:35.300 My parents did a great job. 00:34:35.780 --> 00:34:44.659 And yet, somehow in that could just be my hardness of heart, I failed to see my sin and my need for a savior until I was 15. 00:34:44.980 --> 00:34:47.059 And I don't think this was their fault. 00:34:47.219 --> 00:34:54.579 I think there's this surprising and subtle danger of moralism that our hearts just gravitate towards. 00:34:54.740 --> 00:34:58.099 Um, we are drawn to moralism. 00:34:58.340 --> 00:35:01.380 Um, and that's why every world religion. 00:35:01.460 --> 00:35:02.659 It's that's what they're drawn to. 00:35:02.820 --> 00:35:05.619 A man-made religion is gonna be drawn to moralism. 00:35:05.940 --> 00:35:09.219 Do this, do that, do the other thing. 00:35:09.380 --> 00:35:13.139 Uh, and John Bunyan identified this in The Pilgrim's Progress. 00:35:13.300 --> 00:35:21.219 The first great danger Christian faced is being sent to the town of morality, to a guy named Legality to remove his burden. 00:35:21.380 --> 00:35:24.500 He says, this will be an easier way for you to remove your burden. 00:35:24.579 --> 00:35:34.500 You can go there, you can live in a comfortable house and be well respected by your neighbors instead of going on this terrifying, long, dangerous journey. 00:35:35.860 --> 00:35:45.619 This is the poisonous promise of moralism, that we can somehow climb our way up the stairs to heaven. 00:35:45.860 --> 00:36:07.539 And so I think even in that golden era, there was far too much of it was aimed at making good kids or moral kids or kids who have biblical morals, which there's value to, but it needs to be gospel-centered, gospel saturated again and again. 00:36:07.780 --> 00:36:22.179 We need to turn to our kids in our in their failure and point them to the grace that's available so that when they sin, or even in a just in a simple family discipline situation where it's uh not just trying to correct their behavior, but to get to their their heart. 00:36:22.260 --> 00:36:23.860 That's the simple, simple goal. 00:36:24.260 --> 00:36:26.740 How do I get to their heart in this situation? 00:36:26.980 --> 00:36:31.860 How do I get them to the gospel in this situation and then and then bring them along with me? 00:36:32.740 --> 00:36:39.539 I think the remedy for all these three dangers is really glory and story. 00:36:39.780 --> 00:36:47.539 Uh John Piper said, God is writing a story in history, and the aim of that story is to display the glory of his grace. 00:36:48.019 --> 00:36:53.139 So, in these efforts, you if it seems difficult, well, there's a central goal. 00:36:53.380 --> 00:36:55.539 We want our kids to see God's glory. 00:36:55.699 --> 00:37:04.900 We want them to see God is good, God is gracious, God is kind again and again, even when we are not, even when we fail. 00:37:05.860 --> 00:37:14.500 So, with that, I want to give you five very practical, God-given tools to bring big truths to little minds. 00:37:16.740 --> 00:37:24.980 Before I get too deep into this, lest I am uh accused of an extended advertisement, I should say uh all of this costs nothing. 00:37:25.219 --> 00:37:29.699 You can, these five tools, you can really uh open your Bible. 00:37:29.860 --> 00:37:33.539 I believe God has given us everything we need for life and godliness. 00:37:33.699 --> 00:37:40.900 You can just open your Bible and stop working through the Gospel of Mark with your kids a few verses at a time and just ask questions. 00:37:41.300 --> 00:37:46.099 Observe things, try to interpret things, apply things, just just work through. 00:37:46.340 --> 00:37:58.260 I did this, uh I was humbled after years of reading through all my books with my kids, uh, time and time again, sat down for family devos, open up to the gospel of Mark. 00:37:58.340 --> 00:38:00.900 I said, uh, and it starts with the gospel of Mark. 00:38:00.980 --> 00:38:02.980 And I said, You guys know what the gospel is? 00:38:03.059 --> 00:38:04.980 What's what's the word gospel mean? 00:38:05.219 --> 00:38:06.500 And they stared at me. 00:38:06.659 --> 00:38:09.780 I was like, oh no, what have I done? 00:38:11.860 --> 00:38:17.059 And so we we went over what is the gospel, is the good news that Jesus saves sinners. 00:38:17.219 --> 00:38:20.659 And then the next night, I asked them again, what is what is the gospel? 00:38:20.980 --> 00:38:27.619 And uh then they started chiming, you know, a little broken, but they started chiming in and getting, and then by the third night, it was locked in. 00:38:27.780 --> 00:38:33.380 It was good, and and so then I realized, man, I just need to ask some simple questions and work through some Bible verses. 00:38:33.460 --> 00:38:35.300 Uh how does someone get to heaven? 00:38:35.940 --> 00:38:38.500 The little daughter, bless her heart, you know, so be a good person. 00:38:42.340 --> 00:38:45.059 Just wanted to throw it in and and and quit. 00:38:45.380 --> 00:38:46.659 Burn all my books. 00:38:47.139 --> 00:38:47.460 Okay. 00:38:47.780 --> 00:38:49.219 Let me just start over. 00:38:49.460 --> 00:39:00.820 But just that simple, which is, you know, often in the church there was catechism in the past, but we can that that might be intimidating to you, but just a simple kind of ask them questions about the basics and see if they understand it. 00:39:00.900 --> 00:39:14.820 You could do that, like Deuteronomy 6 says, while you're driving, while you're on the way, just asking simple questions, which kids most of the time are excited to answer, and answer wrong, even. 00:39:15.860 --> 00:39:19.699 So the first tool is biblical theology. 00:39:19.940 --> 00:39:25.460 That's to show them how the Bible is one epic story leading to Christ. 00:39:25.699 --> 00:39:30.260 And uh biblical theology, if you don't know, it's I I have a couple quotes that help explain it. 00:39:30.420 --> 00:39:37.619 It says uh biblical theology deals with revelation as a process, a divine drama unfolding in history. 00:39:37.780 --> 00:39:46.179 Or the message of the Bible is not a collection of isolated texts, but one story, God's story, centered in Jesus Christ. 00:39:48.099 --> 00:39:53.539 Lastly, the word of God is not a collection of ideas, but a story that takes hold of us. 00:39:53.780 --> 00:40:02.980 So we see this biblical theology is seeing the whole picture, Genesis to Revelation, seeing the connections and the promises and the fulfillments. 00:40:03.219 --> 00:40:05.940 In Luke 24, 27, Jesus does this. 00:40:06.099 --> 00:40:12.820 He says, beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them and all the scriptures the things concerning himself. 00:40:13.539 --> 00:40:15.380 2 Corinthians 1, verse 20. 00:40:15.460 --> 00:40:19.300 For all the promises of God find their yes in Christ. 00:40:20.019 --> 00:40:28.099 I think the beauty of biblical theology is keeping the Bible from feeling like a bunch of disconnected moral lessons. 00:40:28.340 --> 00:40:33.059 So instead of just picking these different lessons, we're trying to see how does this all unfold? 00:40:33.219 --> 00:40:35.780 How is this text leading us to Christ? 00:40:35.940 --> 00:40:40.340 How is this showing us our sin and God's salvation? 00:40:41.460 --> 00:40:50.740 That is the beauty of biblical theology, and I think it's more important than ever in children's ministry for the reason I've I've mentioned. 00:40:51.539 --> 00:41:02.179 I remember in Cambodia teaching biblical theology, and for some of them it's just this the light bulbs were going on, it was the most beautiful thing because they've grown up, uh, most of them are first generation Christians. 00:41:02.340 --> 00:41:06.260 The Sunday school is not the greatest, and so they're just hearing little scattered stories. 00:41:06.420 --> 00:41:08.179 And when I'm going, they're saying, What? 00:41:08.340 --> 00:41:10.820 The Old Testament points to Jesus? 00:41:11.059 --> 00:41:13.860 Like this, I thought, I thought there was a couple prophecies. 00:41:13.940 --> 00:41:19.780 I didn't realize all these things were meant to lead us and teach us and prepare us for Christ. 00:41:20.579 --> 00:41:31.219 So I have an example from um the Kingdom of God Bible storybook, and I just want to show how a familiar story has uh can have greater depth than um we put in it. 00:41:31.460 --> 00:41:34.820 Do we have the slide for the there it is? 00:41:34.980 --> 00:41:36.500 I'm gonna read back here. 00:41:38.019 --> 00:41:40.420 So this is speaking of the fall. 00:41:40.659 --> 00:41:42.740 It says, but God wasn't done. 00:41:43.059 --> 00:41:46.099 He would show the true heights and depths of his great love. 00:41:46.260 --> 00:41:50.980 Though his people had been unfaithful, he would be faithful to them forever. 00:41:51.219 --> 00:41:56.500 God promised that Adam and Eve's offspring would always be at war with the serpent's offspring. 00:41:56.659 --> 00:42:02.019 Then, one day, a promised Savior would come to crush the serpent's head, once and for all. 00:42:02.179 --> 00:42:04.740 But this victory would require a great price. 00:42:04.980 --> 00:42:07.780 The Savior would be wounded by the serpent. 00:42:08.099 --> 00:42:09.300 Next picture. 00:42:10.099 --> 00:42:15.860 God sent Adam and Eve out of his garden of life and abundance into a wilderness of death and decay. 00:42:16.019 --> 00:42:20.260 In his grace, God covered them with clothes made from animal skins. 00:42:20.420 --> 00:42:24.659 It was as if God was saying, You can't cover your own guilt and shame. 00:42:24.900 --> 00:42:26.340 Only I can do that. 00:42:26.659 --> 00:42:32.019 At the garden's entrance, God put two great angels called cherubim, along with a fiery sword. 00:42:32.179 --> 00:42:35.219 No one could enter Eden again without facing death. 00:42:35.380 --> 00:42:37.460 And so began the story of redemption. 00:42:37.780 --> 00:42:40.740 God had a plan to bring his people back home to him. 00:42:41.139 --> 00:42:46.579 He would never stop until his kingdom filled the whole earth, defeating every kind of evil and hatred. 00:42:46.820 --> 00:42:53.460 He would send the promised Savior and make a way for his people to join in his reign once again. 00:42:53.699 --> 00:43:06.659 So even in a simple story like that, there's multiple gospel moments where we can show our unfaithfulness and God's faithfulness to provide for his people. 00:43:08.420 --> 00:43:12.500 The second tool that God has given us is story and allegory. 00:43:12.740 --> 00:43:18.019 And this is to teach them gospel truth from a different or an unexpected angle. 00:43:18.420 --> 00:43:18.740 C.S. 00:43:18.820 --> 00:43:23.619 Lewis said, reason is the natural organ of truth, but imagination is the organ of meaning. 00:43:23.860 --> 00:43:26.019 That means God's given us imagination for a reason. 00:43:26.099 --> 00:43:27.940 It's a tool he's given to us. 00:43:28.099 --> 00:43:33.619 We see through the Old Testament, God uses parables, he uses allegories, he uses imagery. 00:43:34.019 --> 00:43:42.099 Or Tim Keller said, Jesus didn't give us, just give us propositions, he gave parables because stories get inside you and change you. 00:43:42.500 --> 00:43:45.860 Stories challenge you, confront you. 00:43:46.740 --> 00:43:53.300 And there's a pretty profound power, even to this kind of story, sitting on a shelf for decades. 00:43:53.460 --> 00:43:58.820 As I mentioned, I, in God's providence, picked up that little book of Pilgrim's Progress. 00:43:59.380 --> 00:44:04.099 But in the front, it's a December 1975 for Nick. 00:44:04.260 --> 00:44:07.300 It was given to my dad by one of his Sunday school teachers. 00:44:07.539 --> 00:44:10.260 And so 1975, they gave it to him. 00:44:10.500 --> 00:44:14.579 And then 2010, I picked that up off the shelf. 00:44:15.059 --> 00:44:16.740