WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.319 Welcome to the Awakening Church Podcast. 00:00:02.479 --> 00:00:07.040 We pray this message encourages you and provides the hope and light of Jesus Christ. 00:00:07.200 --> 00:00:08.640 Thanks for tuning in. 00:00:31.679 --> 00:00:36.240 Okay, then go ahead and turn to your other neighbor and tell him you're a world changer. 00:00:39.280 --> 00:00:45.039 And he went, oh wow, we we really got cheesy in church real quick there. 00:00:45.359 --> 00:00:49.840 We're concluding today a series called World Changers. 00:00:49.920 --> 00:00:52.399 We've been spending the last three weeks on this. 00:00:52.479 --> 00:00:57.520 Uh, and I want to spend the next little few moments talking about why. 00:00:57.600 --> 00:01:04.480 Uh why we're talking about this, why this is such a big deal for us at Awakening Church, why it should be a big deal for all of us. 00:01:04.719 --> 00:01:13.120 Now, week one, we had our Protege Sunday, as we had our proteges do a nine-month leadership development process. 00:01:13.200 --> 00:01:15.040 We celebrated them, we commissioned them. 00:01:15.120 --> 00:01:16.640 Last week was Youth Sunday. 00:01:16.719 --> 00:01:20.879 Roland gave a message uh on Daniel, and we're just celebrating our youth. 00:01:21.040 --> 00:01:22.560 Today's Move Up Sunday. 00:01:22.640 --> 00:01:26.000 There was a lot of energy when the teens were in here uh cheering. 00:01:26.319 --> 00:01:27.760 So I expect that from you guys. 00:01:27.840 --> 00:01:29.599 You gotta make up the gap, all right? 00:01:29.680 --> 00:01:30.239 There we go. 00:01:30.480 --> 00:01:31.280 There you go. 00:01:31.840 --> 00:01:42.000 Uh and so this is just one of those times where we take a pause as a church for a few weeks to remind ourselves of what's most important. 00:01:42.079 --> 00:01:50.719 And the way we say it is we long to be a church that is a strategic training center to raise up the next generation of world changers. 00:01:51.040 --> 00:02:01.920 Now, uh a number of years ago, I was uh on vacation with my family, and we were down at a beach town, and my wife sent me out to go get groceries. 00:02:02.079 --> 00:02:05.519 And uh when I go get groceries, I often get things that are not on the list. 00:02:05.680 --> 00:02:06.879 Anyone else like that? 00:02:07.040 --> 00:02:07.359 Yeah. 00:02:07.519 --> 00:02:09.919 And so my wife's like, stick to the list, Ingram. 00:02:10.240 --> 00:02:11.759 I'm like, okay, I'll do that. 00:02:11.919 --> 00:02:20.960 And so on the list, um, we had some people coming over, so I got some chips and some salsa, and then we needed some bread to make sandwiches later that day. 00:02:21.039 --> 00:02:25.759 Uh, we are running out of toilet paper, and Lord knows you don't want to run out of toilet paper. 00:02:25.840 --> 00:02:32.319 We need some paper towels, and then also we had, you know, just some sparkling water that we wanted there. 00:02:32.479 --> 00:02:46.639 And so you can imagine at this little market in this small beach town, and I'm come up to the place and I, you know, we're checkout stand, and I drop all this off, and as he gets, you know, you know, all of me checked out, he says, Do you want a bag? 00:02:47.840 --> 00:02:52.240 And I look at that, I go, nah. 00:02:54.560 --> 00:02:55.599 I'm good. 00:02:56.000 --> 00:02:59.039 I'll save the planet right here all by myself. 00:02:59.680 --> 00:03:00.960 And so I say no. 00:03:01.120 --> 00:03:08.240 Uh now the problem was because I'm in beach mode and I grew up in Santa Cruz, so this isn't too um uh this is my normal kind of attire. 00:03:08.319 --> 00:03:21.759 I was in uh board shorts and flips, and I didn't have any pockets, so I had my phone, I had my wallet, uh, and my keys in my hands, and then I'm trying to grab all this stuff, so I got this in my hands, I got this oh geez. 00:03:21.919 --> 00:03:23.280 I I don't know. 00:03:24.000 --> 00:03:28.719 You as you can see, literally, this is how I can't even get the salsa at this point. 00:03:28.800 --> 00:03:30.159 What was I thinking? 00:03:30.400 --> 00:03:34.800 Now I walk out of the store without the salsa apparently. 00:03:35.039 --> 00:03:40.960 Um I walk out of the store and there was a group of guys just chilling. 00:03:41.120 --> 00:03:43.280 I'm like, who hangs out at a market? 00:03:43.360 --> 00:03:48.400 Like these teenage boys, and all of a sudden I'm nervous, you know? 00:03:48.639 --> 00:03:57.919 And and as I'm going, uh right in front of these teenage boys, uh the toilet paper begins to slip out of my hands. 00:03:58.400 --> 00:04:00.639 And my natural instinct is what? 00:04:00.800 --> 00:04:02.800 Is just simply to save the toilet paper. 00:04:02.879 --> 00:04:07.599 So as it's slipping, I s I grab the toilet paper, but something else slips out of my hand. 00:04:07.759 --> 00:04:13.680 My phone slips out of my hand, and so I save the toilet paper, and then no lie, this is how it felt. 00:04:13.840 --> 00:04:15.599 It felt like it was moving in slow-mo. 00:04:16.000 --> 00:04:30.560 I'm watching my phone goomph, voom, voom, and then it just lands face down flat on the ground, and I'm stuck holding toilet paper. 00:04:31.600 --> 00:04:47.120 And right there, one of the I think most important questions we can ask in life, I was confronted with as I was holding toilet paper in front of a bunch of teenage boys and a broken phone. 00:04:47.839 --> 00:04:52.800 What is it that you can't afford to let fall? 00:04:53.839 --> 00:04:58.160 What is it in your life that you cannot afford to let fall? 00:04:58.240 --> 00:05:00.000 Because here's the reality, isn't it true? 00:05:00.160 --> 00:05:25.680 We're all like juggling and carrying so many things in our lives, and they all feel important, they all take up some sort of space, and the minute one thing begins to kind of budge, we just react to what's most urgent, we react to what's needed, and in doing so, oftentimes, isn't it true that we can drop what's most important in our lives? 00:05:26.399 --> 00:05:32.560 What is it for you that you cannot afford to let fall? 00:05:33.519 --> 00:05:56.720 I've known a few men that I've talked to and journeyed with that the desire to provide for their family what they didn't have, and so they worked countless hours, 80 hours a week, and yet they're not present for their kids, and their family is in mid-flight. 00:05:57.519 --> 00:06:07.199 Marriages are in that same area as we rush around for those of you who have families, and you rush your kid to every single sport, and you're just like ships in the night. 00:06:08.000 --> 00:06:11.439 And your marriage is in mid-flight right now, isn't it? 00:06:13.040 --> 00:06:25.680 Or you're so like focused on being successful, that your spirituality, your walk with Jesus' significance is in mid-flight right now. 00:06:26.879 --> 00:06:34.240 What is it in your life that you cannot afford to let fall? 00:06:34.480 --> 00:06:47.279 See, we know this, we get this, we understand this, this life axiom because we see it in other people so clearly, but it's hard to see in ourselves that misplaced priorities lead to a misspent life. 00:06:48.160 --> 00:06:56.079 And if you've been around some people and you you watch the end of their life and you they look back with like, I wish I would have spent my time differently. 00:06:56.240 --> 00:06:58.879 I wish I would have invested in these relationships. 00:06:59.199 --> 00:07:06.240 I wish I would have not spent so many late nights here or going off with the boys or that hobby. 00:07:06.639 --> 00:07:07.759 Because why? 00:07:08.639 --> 00:07:10.000 Misplaced priorities. 00:07:10.240 --> 00:07:14.639 When we overvalue toilet paper, we end up dropping cell phones. 00:07:15.759 --> 00:07:17.120 It's just reality. 00:07:17.519 --> 00:07:19.279 Lead to misspent lives. 00:07:19.439 --> 00:07:30.079 In fact, Howard Hendricks, a professor, yeah, was a professor at Dallas Theological, he'd say it this way, as a commencement speech to these seminary students. 00:07:30.639 --> 00:07:35.519 He said, I'm not afraid that you will fail. 00:07:35.759 --> 00:07:39.839 My fear is not that you'll fail, but that you'll succeed in doing the wrong things. 00:07:42.560 --> 00:07:49.040 What is it that you cannot afford to let fall? 00:07:51.439 --> 00:07:53.199 Have you ever thought about this? 00:07:53.759 --> 00:07:58.560 What is it for us as a church that we can't afford to let fall? 00:07:59.360 --> 00:08:00.240 What are the things? 00:08:00.399 --> 00:08:08.240 We're juggling all of this stuff in life as a church, as a community, as the Jesus people walking with him in Silicon Valley. 00:08:08.399 --> 00:08:15.360 What is the thing that we go, no, we don't want to drop and have floating in the air. 00:08:16.079 --> 00:08:29.040 And by the way, the tech companies, marketing agencies, entertainment has answered this question with crystal clarity. 00:08:29.439 --> 00:08:36.080 Their answer, and they actually put a value to it, their answer is this generation. 00:08:37.120 --> 00:08:45.919 What they can't afford to let fall is this generation, because if you don't capture the hearts and minds of the next generation, you're gonna be out of business eventually. 00:08:47.039 --> 00:09:00.080 And they spend billions of dollars capturing the attention and keeping the attention of the next generation because that's what a generation is worth to them. 00:09:01.360 --> 00:09:03.759 See, what is it that we can't afford to let fall? 00:09:03.840 --> 00:09:05.440 It's this generation. 00:09:08.000 --> 00:09:14.480 Another way to ask this, think about this, is what's at stake if we don't? 00:09:16.320 --> 00:09:19.679 What's at stake if we don't reach this generation? 00:09:21.440 --> 00:09:33.759 You know, uh in the book of Judges, I think we get a picture of what's at stake if we as a community, as a church, as the church, don't answer that question well. 00:09:34.240 --> 00:09:41.360 Now, Judges was written about 200 years after Israel entered the promised land uh under Joshua. 00:09:41.440 --> 00:09:44.720 Let me give you a little history if uh you're not familiar with it. 00:09:44.879 --> 00:09:48.960 Uh Moses was the great liberator of Israel. 00:09:49.120 --> 00:09:51.519 They're in bondage in Egypt for 400 years. 00:09:51.679 --> 00:09:56.000 God raises up Moses, he goes and he says, Let my people go. 00:09:56.240 --> 00:09:56.720 Yeah. 00:09:56.879 --> 00:10:00.000 And God uses a miraculous intervention. 00:10:00.159 --> 00:10:02.080 The people of Israel are freed. 00:10:02.240 --> 00:10:07.360 They are now wandering in the wilderness for 40 years under his leadership. 00:10:07.600 --> 00:10:14.879 And then God raises up a young leader under Moses named Joshua, and Joshua leads the people into the promised land. 00:10:14.960 --> 00:10:18.639 Now, these people gotta encounter God working in incredible ways. 00:10:18.799 --> 00:10:25.039 When they crossed uh through the Jordan that flood stage, God stopped up the river so they could walk and try ground. 00:10:25.120 --> 00:10:35.120 When they're stepping to formidable foes, God says, Hey, by the way, I just want you to like, you know, do like a worship service around the walls of the city called Jericho. 00:10:35.360 --> 00:10:36.080 Like, what do you mean? 00:10:36.159 --> 00:10:36.399 Yeah. 00:10:36.559 --> 00:10:39.600 So march around the wall and just sing. 00:10:41.039 --> 00:10:45.039 Oh, that's that's a real good military campaign, God. 00:10:45.200 --> 00:10:46.720 You brought us here to sing. 00:10:46.879 --> 00:10:47.919 Thank you very much. 00:10:48.159 --> 00:10:50.879 And they do it day one, they say, let's do it another day. 00:10:51.039 --> 00:10:52.000 Okay, another day. 00:10:52.080 --> 00:11:01.759 They're blessed in the horns, and do it seven days, and they do it seven days, and then they do it seven more times that day, and they watch God miraculously the walls fall down. 00:11:01.919 --> 00:11:04.399 They gotta see God show up. 00:11:05.600 --> 00:11:06.399 Judges. 00:11:06.960 --> 00:11:10.320 It's 200 years after that moment. 00:11:11.200 --> 00:11:20.480 And we get this picture of what's at stake if we don't answer the question well, what we cannot afford to let fall. 00:11:20.639 --> 00:11:23.360 Notice how the author of Judges says it. 00:11:23.519 --> 00:11:38.720 He says, The people served the Lord throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him, these who walked in and stepped by faith into the promised land, and who had seen all the great things the Lord had done for Israel. 00:11:38.879 --> 00:11:42.960 Those who had grown up and watched, they weren't necessarily stepping out faith. 00:11:43.039 --> 00:11:49.120 They were the kids watching uh, you know, their parents step into this new season. 00:11:49.279 --> 00:11:51.120 Then notice what happens. 00:11:52.000 --> 00:11:57.120 After that, whole generation had been gathered to their ancestors. 00:11:57.679 --> 00:12:04.240 Another generation grew up who neither knew the Lord nor what he had done for Israel. 00:12:04.879 --> 00:12:05.919 Think about that. 00:12:06.879 --> 00:12:15.360 Not too far after, let my people go, crossing into the promised land. 00:12:16.159 --> 00:12:24.879 An entire generation grew up that did not know God or what God had done. 00:12:25.120 --> 00:12:27.600 And here's the consequences or the reality. 00:12:27.759 --> 00:12:30.639 Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord. 00:12:30.799 --> 00:12:35.120 They forsook the Lord, the God of their ancestors, who had brought them out of Egypt. 00:12:35.200 --> 00:12:39.840 They followed and worshipped very gods of peoples around him. 00:12:40.720 --> 00:12:48.000 We see actually in this text three generations, and there's this progression here, and we see it repeated throughout history. 00:12:48.159 --> 00:12:59.679 And it doesn't have to be, but it's just this kind of reality when we just think that our faith will just translate or transmit to the next generation, and we're not intentional with it. 00:13:00.000 --> 00:13:03.360 First generation knew and experienced God. 00:13:03.679 --> 00:13:13.120 They stepped out by faith and watched God part the Jordan, walls come tumbling down, and they gotta see God do incredible work. 00:13:13.279 --> 00:13:18.000 The second generation knew of God, but didn't experience Him. 00:13:18.639 --> 00:13:33.759 Friends, uh, for those of us who are followers of Jesus and we have kids, so often we want to save our kids from things that are hard, and they miss out on a God who's working in the middle of it and shaping them. 00:13:34.320 --> 00:13:37.840 And they don't have to take a step of faith and trust. 00:13:38.559 --> 00:13:41.039 See, they knew of God, but they didn't experience him. 00:13:41.200 --> 00:13:49.919 They saw their parents' faith, and so they had, hey, that God's great, but I don't know that I can trust him, but I I I'm confident my parents could. 00:13:50.320 --> 00:13:52.159 I didn't experience his work. 00:13:52.399 --> 00:13:58.720 And then a third generation grew up that neither knew God or experienced him. 00:13:59.840 --> 00:14:11.759 Now, here's what's kind of interesting, and I look at the generations today, and we look at our church, we say it this way: we're a four-generation church that's for this generation. 00:14:12.000 --> 00:14:19.120 And somebody corrected me after a first service said, No, Ryan, we're a five-generation church because her mom comes to our church and she's amazing. 00:14:19.279 --> 00:14:24.879 She's like in her 90s, and so we're a five-generation church that's for this generation. 00:14:25.039 --> 00:14:30.080 Doesn't sound as cool, but that's way cooler than having five generations there. 00:14:30.320 --> 00:14:38.320 But here's something when you kind of look back on the history of the church uh across the generations that we tend to miss. 00:14:38.639 --> 00:15:04.639 Today's generational uh breakdown, uh baby boomers, those of you who are 58 to 76 years of age-ish, somewhere around in there, um during your kind of um adolescence to 20-something, experts were saying that the church was gonna die, that Christianity was obsolete and irrelevant, and it would eventually go away. 00:15:04.799 --> 00:15:12.799 Uh the rise of the summer of love and hippie uh movement and all of this, it was like, we're beyond that. 00:15:13.759 --> 00:15:19.360 And the baby boomers were the original generation that left the church, by the way. 00:15:19.600 --> 00:15:24.159 Now, something happened in the 70s, late 60s, early 70s. 00:15:24.320 --> 00:15:25.440 There was a movement of God. 00:15:25.600 --> 00:15:26.960 There's actually two movements. 00:15:27.120 --> 00:15:31.200 One was called the Jesus movement, and the other was called the renewal movement. 00:15:31.279 --> 00:15:50.480 And we saw the Jesus movement sweep across, starting from the West Coast, and the renewal movement worked in the charismatic circles and even the Catholic circles, and we saw this movement of God that was a fresh move where people were saying, this is gonna be obsolete and the church is no longer needed, and we saw revival break out. 00:15:51.759 --> 00:16:18.799 And I'd like to say that then as we move down from baby boomers to Gen Xers, and if your Gen Xers 42 to 57 years of age, uh, that we look at this and we see this a little bit of progression if you're looking at it in the macro, not in the micro, but uh, because there's always God working in different areas and ways and through people significantly, but these macro movements of God, where it would just we haven't seen. 00:16:18.879 --> 00:16:25.679 We've seen a generation that you know navigated the postmodern shift over the last you know several decades. 00:16:25.919 --> 00:16:33.039 And and Gen Xer is one, we don't like to be labeled, and we're kind of rebelling from our parents and you know, fiercely independent. 00:16:33.200 --> 00:16:37.360 And and by the way, we thought that we brought in all the arts into the church. 00:16:37.519 --> 00:16:38.879 Um, we didn't. 00:16:39.600 --> 00:16:42.799 We brought in some candles, but that's been around for centuries. 00:16:43.039 --> 00:16:49.279 Um but baby boomers, by the way, they brought in a new way of doing church. 00:16:49.360 --> 00:17:02.159 They actually are the ones that brought in drums into the church, and they're the ones that brought the arts and uh all different things into the church to bring the gospel in a relevant, powerful way to their generation and generation after that. 00:17:03.279 --> 00:17:19.119 Now when we see the millennials, something that's happened in the church over the last several decades, that as a millennial, did you know that 59% of millennials who grew up in the church will disconnect in a significant way? 00:17:19.680 --> 00:17:21.680 Many never to return. 00:17:22.559 --> 00:17:26.720 And so we're seeing the same progression play out. 00:17:27.440 --> 00:17:33.440 And part of it is back in the baby boomer days, there was this heart to beat to reach this generation. 00:17:33.519 --> 00:17:43.920 You saw campus ministries rise up, crusade, campus crusade for Christ, navigators uh sweeping this heart for this next generation, and somehow in the church we've lost it. 00:17:44.720 --> 00:17:49.599 Just consider, man, as long as I'm coming and I'm getting my needs met, I'm okay. 00:17:49.680 --> 00:17:54.319 Uh, you know, if other people aren't getting their needs met, as long as you're meeting mine. 00:17:55.200 --> 00:18:01.279 Instead of going, no, what's we can't afford to let fall is this generation. 00:18:02.559 --> 00:18:03.440 Gen Z? 00:18:03.920 --> 00:18:06.400 Do we have any Gen Zers in the house? 00:18:10.400 --> 00:18:11.680 I love it. 00:18:15.440 --> 00:18:16.960 You guys have walked through some things. 00:18:17.039 --> 00:18:20.240 We all have walked through it, but just think about Gen Z, by the way. 00:18:20.960 --> 00:18:29.359 They're also been called the I generation because they are always have grown up with social media and the iPhone, a smartphone. 00:18:29.440 --> 00:18:30.240 That's crazy, right? 00:18:30.319 --> 00:18:35.680 They never grew up with right, and you didn't even know what that was. 00:18:35.759 --> 00:18:37.519 You're like, what is he doing? 00:18:37.839 --> 00:18:39.359 What is he doing? 00:18:43.039 --> 00:18:57.519 And thinking about as a kid walking through the great recession that we had, and then another decade later walking through this worldwide global pandemic and all the rest of it, you you can feel like, is there any hope, right? 00:19:00.079 --> 00:19:02.400 How do we even navigate this? 00:19:03.599 --> 00:19:08.400 I just want to give a word to you, Gen Zers. 00:19:09.599 --> 00:19:14.559 Did you know that, by the way, the generation before baby boomers, what's their name? 00:19:14.880 --> 00:19:15.440 Anyone? 00:19:15.839 --> 00:19:17.279 The greatest generation. 00:19:17.759 --> 00:19:22.160 Do you know what the greatest generation was called before World War II? 00:19:23.039 --> 00:19:26.720 Sociologist, and um, it was across newspapers. 00:19:26.799 --> 00:19:28.960 There was widespread concern for that generation. 00:19:29.039 --> 00:19:33.440 They're coming out of the Great Depression, uh, and there's just widespread concern. 00:19:33.680 --> 00:19:36.559 They were called the lost generation. 00:19:37.680 --> 00:19:43.279 Of a hundred men, young men that were uh interviewed, uh what was it? 00:19:43.359 --> 00:19:46.079 Here, let me get it just so I'm exactly right. 00:19:46.400 --> 00:19:54.319 Um, 75% were suffering from a health defect induced by mental anxiety. 00:19:55.759 --> 00:19:59.039 That doesn't sound too dissimilar from today, right? 00:20:01.680 --> 00:20:08.000 And the lost generation who navigated World War II eventually would become known as the greatest generation. 00:20:10.160 --> 00:20:16.480 See, your circumstances don't have to dictate your destiny and what God has for you. 00:20:17.119 --> 00:20:19.359 And yeah, we live in turbulent times. 00:20:19.599 --> 00:20:28.319 There have always been turbulent times, but we have a great God who stops up the Jordan and walls come crambling down. 00:20:28.480 --> 00:20:38.559 And as I just look at this generational breakdown, here's what I see: I see a fresh moment for a wide-sweeping move of God across all the generations. 00:20:39.680 --> 00:20:44.160 Like, isn't it time that we see a move of God? 00:20:46.319 --> 00:20:50.400 Young people, you're in your 20s, you're in your teens. 00:20:50.640 --> 00:20:51.680 Did you know this? 00:20:52.000 --> 00:20:56.400 That when God wants to bring about a change, he often chooses and uses young people. 00:20:59.680 --> 00:21:12.799 See, we kind of think somehow in the church, we've said, well, one day when you get mature enough, when you're not so, you know, confident or cocky or you need to get more wisdom under your belt. 00:21:12.880 --> 00:21:19.119 And God's going, I'm gonna choose and use young people to bring about worldwide change. 00:21:19.599 --> 00:21:20.799 Think about this. 00:21:21.200 --> 00:21:37.200 When God wanted to save uh the people of Israel, they're just a small tribe from famine, and then actually bless all the surrounding nations, he put a dream in a cocky little teenager, heart and mind named Joseph. 00:21:38.559 --> 00:21:43.680 And God had to spend a few years developing them, I think 13 to be exact. 00:21:44.559 --> 00:21:49.279 And God used Joseph to deliver his people and all of the people in that time. 00:21:49.519 --> 00:21:50.640 Think about this. 00:21:51.039 --> 00:21:59.759 When God wanted to restore the kingdom of Israel under corrupt leadership, he sent Samuel to identify the next king. 00:22:00.319 --> 00:22:05.440 And Samuel's looking at all these great young men from the line of chastity. 00:22:05.920 --> 00:22:10.079 And God says, not that one, not that one, not that one. 00:22:10.319 --> 00:22:12.640 It's like there's no more. 00:22:13.359 --> 00:22:15.279 And so he's like, there is. 00:22:16.319 --> 00:22:23.039 David, who would become the greatest king of Israel, his father didn't even invite to the table. 00:22:23.119 --> 00:22:25.119 He was out watching sheep. 00:22:25.599 --> 00:22:27.039 And he got overlooked. 00:22:27.200 --> 00:22:33.839 And some of you have been overlooked, and God's saying, No, no, no, I haven't overlooked you yet, right now. 00:22:34.960 --> 00:22:36.640 Think about this, Esther. 00:22:39.279 --> 00:22:53.200 When God wanted to save the people of Israel from a genocide, he raised up this young woman who would become queen, who had the courage to put her life on the line for her people. 00:22:53.599 --> 00:23:18.799 Last week, Roland talked about Daniel and these four young men: Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abindigo, teenagers, ripped out of their homeland, stripped from their identity, their culture, called to embrace a brand new way that's antithetical to all that they knew, and with resolve in their heart, they said, we will not bow the knee, because it wasn't the age thing. 00:23:18.960 --> 00:23:20.720 They still had a big God. 00:23:21.359 --> 00:23:29.039 And God raised them up to places of influence in the hostile culture of Babylon. 00:23:29.119 --> 00:23:35.119 Think about when God wanted to bring about the salvation of the entire world. 00:23:35.920 --> 00:23:52.400 And he chooses Mary, a teenage girl living in this obscure podunk town, nowhereville, said, I entrust the greatest gift this planet has ever experienced to you. 00:23:52.880 --> 00:24:01.519 And then these disciples, when he wanted to spread the good news of God's love and saving grace, think about Jesus. 00:24:01.680 --> 00:24:08.160 He's walking along the shore and he sees these young, you know, teenage boys fishing with their dad. 00:24:09.440 --> 00:24:10.640 He says, Follow me. 00:24:12.400 --> 00:24:13.759 I'll make you fishers. 00:24:17.759 --> 00:24:24.559 See, when God wants to bring about a change, he often chooses and uses young people. 00:24:25.440 --> 00:24:33.599 And as a church, as awakening, what we can't afford to let fall is this generation. 00:24:34.160 --> 00:24:40.480 That's why we're a four or five-ish generation church that's for this generation. 00:24:40.960 --> 00:24:54.960 That's why a decade ago we planted this church seeing the gap in the valley to awaken this generation to new life in Jesus. 00:24:55.200 --> 00:25:03.839 The fastest growing demographic in the valley are millennials, followed by Gen Zers who are now stepping into the workforce. 00:25:05.599 --> 00:25:09.519 The missing generation in the church, hello. 00:25:13.119 --> 00:25:23.759 The future of the church rests in the hands of the next generation, and we were called to steward that generation. 00:25:24.160 --> 00:25:25.119 That's our role. 00:25:25.279 --> 00:25:41.039 That's what's happening in kids' ministry across the way, where adults are giving their time, sacrificing their day to spend with your kids to help them know the God who loves them and wants to meet with them and wants to use their life. 00:25:41.359 --> 00:25:43.440 There's future world changers. 00:25:43.599 --> 00:25:48.000 The way we say it over here is there is no junior Holy Spirit. 00:25:48.559 --> 00:25:57.359 He's working the same in this room as he's working in those rooms over there, and with our teenagers and those leaders who are serving our teenagers. 00:25:59.519 --> 00:26:00.880 Future of the church. 00:26:12.960 --> 00:26:16.640 Don't you want to leave the church in a better place than when you found it? 00:26:17.920 --> 00:26:18.880 Come on. 00:26:20.480 --> 00:26:24.079 Don't you want to pass the baton of leadership well? 00:26:27.599 --> 00:26:38.720 Where we actually raise up the next generation of world changers, where we let young eagles fly and yes, make mistakes, but we're there to help them along the way. 00:26:39.599 --> 00:26:42.559 Those in your 30s, 40s, and 50s. 00:26:43.599 --> 00:26:49.599 Don't you want your kids to love Jesus for a lifetime and not just a time in their life? 00:26:50.480 --> 00:27:01.519 I got three teenagers in our youth ministry, and my prayer is they'll never have the experience of coming back to church because they never left. 00:27:02.160 --> 00:27:05.759 And that when they come to awakening, it's coming home. 00:27:06.000 --> 00:27:08.000 And I'm so grateful. 00:27:08.880 --> 00:27:20.240 I'm so grateful for the college and young professionals that are serving with our teenagers that they get to see a vibrant faith of a generation just ahead of them. 00:27:22.240 --> 00:27:23.920 Teens and 20s. 00:27:26.160 --> 00:27:31.039 Don't you want to be the generation that reaches your generation? 00:27:33.680 --> 00:27:41.599 Like where we see once more a move of God across this nation, across this world. 00:27:42.160 --> 00:27:43.440 It's about time. 00:27:45.839 --> 00:27:55.200 You know, when Jesus showed up onto the scene, he um he showed up at just the right time. 00:27:55.359 --> 00:27:57.599 And we kind of miss this sometimes. 00:27:57.920 --> 00:28:05.920 See, Rome was the ruling empire, and at the time uh there's something called Pax Romana or the peace of Rome. 00:28:06.240 --> 00:28:22.400 It was enforced uh simply by force, and yet so you had across the entire Roman Empire peace, and so you were able to travel in ways that you were never able to travel in ages before that. 00:28:22.640 --> 00:28:39.200 Now, for Rome to enforce this peace by force, they created highways and roadways that stretched across the entire empire, and so you could travel at greater distance in safer ways than you ever could before. 00:28:39.440 --> 00:28:53.839 And at that point in time, it and thirdly, okay, got ahead of myself, there was a common trade language, Koine Greek, and so you could communicate the gospel across uh multiple countries and lands. 00:28:54.880 --> 00:28:59.279 I mean, it was this incredible time where the gospel spread rapidly. 00:28:59.519 --> 00:29:00.480 Now think about this. 00:29:00.559 --> 00:29:07.200 We live in Silicon Valley, where what happens here impacts and shapes the entire world. 00:29:07.359 --> 00:29:17.680 Do you think God would want to burst something here through you and your gifts and through this community and through churches here that would then begin to have the same spreading impact of the gospel? 00:29:18.319 --> 00:29:19.519 Come on now. 00:29:22.319 --> 00:29:31.119 God who showed up when Moses said, Let my people go. 00:29:32.079 --> 00:29:41.519 And Joshua walking into the promised land is the same God who's working and showing up today. 00:29:43.759 --> 00:29:46.720 And so let me leave you just with this question. 00:29:47.359 --> 00:29:53.519 As a church, what we can't afford to let fall is this generation. 00:29:53.920 --> 00:29:56.240 And we started awakening. 00:29:56.480 --> 00:30:00.480 It's the reason we've done the World Changer series the last three weeks. 00:30:03.920 --> 00:30:05.359 But how about for you? 00:30:06.240 --> 00:30:06.960 Personally. 00:30:09.920 --> 00:30:13.759 What is it you can't afford to let fall? 00:30:16.960 --> 00:30:19.680 Maybe it's your walk with Jesus. 00:30:20.880 --> 00:30:26.240 And it's just been you always intended to think, you know, I'm gonna get up earlier. 00:30:28.000 --> 00:30:30.880 But it just has gotten pressed out of life. 00:30:31.200 --> 00:30:32.960 Maybe it's your marriage. 00:30:34.720 --> 00:30:37.440 Maybe it's with your kids or a key relationship. 00:30:37.599 --> 00:30:42.319 What right now do you feel is like in mid flight? 00:30:44.160 --> 00:30:45.599 I'm gonna close with this psalm. 00:30:45.759 --> 00:30:50.319 It's the psalm of Moses, it's the only recorded psalm that we know that Moses wrote. 00:30:50.559 --> 00:31:00.640 And scholars think that he wrote this psalm, probably sitting on Mount Sinai looking into the promised land where he wasn't able to lead Israel. 00:31:00.799 --> 00:31:03.119 His predecessor Joshua would do it. 00:31:03.200 --> 00:31:09.039 And he begins this way, he says, Lord, you've been our dwelling place throughout all generations. 00:31:09.279 --> 00:31:10.480 Next slide. 00:31:12.400 --> 00:31:15.759 And then he, and that's what we want our church to be. 00:31:16.799 --> 00:31:20.319 The dwelling place throughout all generations. 00:31:21.599 --> 00:31:28.960 That this would be the place that every generation would find home in his grace and in his love. 00:31:30.480 --> 00:31:37.119 And then he closes the psalm this way says, May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us. 00:31:39.119 --> 00:31:41.599 Would you pray that for awakening? 00:31:42.559 --> 00:31:45.119 Would you pray that for your family? 00:31:46.880 --> 00:31:54.000 Like when you step into your workplaces, may the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us. 00:31:54.319 --> 00:31:58.720 And then he says this establish the work of our hands, oh God. 00:31:59.440 --> 00:32:03.039 Establish the work of our hands. 00:32:03.359 --> 00:32:08.880 That word establish means to prepare or to get ready. 00:32:09.359 --> 00:32:11.440 And for some, that that's where you're at. 00:32:11.599 --> 00:32:17.680 Even as we're talking, there's things that you're realizing what you can't afford to let fall, but there's a preparation. 00:32:18.480 --> 00:32:21.759 And there's a there's a readiness that you're going, God, would you prepare my hands? 00:32:21.920 --> 00:32:24.720 Yes, I want to be a part of what you're doing. 00:32:24.880 --> 00:32:31.759 I mean, that's why we do school of faith, that's why we do protege, that's why we do groups, is we want to prepare and make ready. 00:32:32.799 --> 00:32:39.200 But that word establish also can mean to fix or to put right. 00:32:41.680 --> 00:32:48.319 And for many, you came in and you literally feel like you're in mid-flight. 00:32:49.440 --> 00:32:53.680 And for others, you feel like you've just crashed. 00:32:57.039 --> 00:33:04.160 And you feel broken, and you feel like your life has fallen apart. 00:33:04.480 --> 00:33:09.119 And you're like, that's great, Ingram, but I just I don't see the hope. 00:33:09.680 --> 00:33:12.079 I don't know how I could be a part of that. 00:33:12.640 --> 00:33:16.079 And God could never want to use my life. 00:33:17.279 --> 00:33:25.519 I just want to share the lengths to which God goes to establish the works of your hand. 00:33:26.480 --> 00:33:33.440 To strengthen your hands, to fix and make right, no matter where you're at. 00:33:33.759 --> 00:33:38.960 A story I've shared before, so if you've been around a while, you'll recognize it. 00:33:39.200 --> 00:33:40.960 But it's one of my favorites. 00:33:41.279 --> 00:33:44.960 Years ago, uh, my wife and I were at a wedding in Carmel. 00:33:45.200 --> 00:33:46.319 We had three nights there. 00:33:46.400 --> 00:33:47.440 It was amazing. 00:33:47.599 --> 00:33:53.279 Um, one of the days I had to get up and work, and so I needed a good coffee shop to get some work done. 00:33:53.519 --> 00:33:55.440 And I go to the first coffee shop. 00:33:55.519 --> 00:34:00.400 In fact, I even got a little coffee there, but it wasn't a place, you know this, any of you coffee shop workers, yeah. 00:34:00.559 --> 00:34:04.880 It wasn't a place where I wanted to like spend the entire day working. 00:34:05.119 --> 00:34:07.519 And so then I go to the second coffee shop. 00:34:07.759 --> 00:34:08.800 I didn't even go into that. 00:34:08.880 --> 00:34:10.800 I'm like, uh-oh, I'm not doing that. 00:34:11.039 --> 00:34:14.400 Third coffee shop, finally the fourth coffee shop. 00:34:14.480 --> 00:34:21.599 I'm like, this is the place, this is where I'm gonna spend the day, but it's packed, of course, because it's an awesome coffee shop. 00:34:21.920 --> 00:34:38.719 And the only seats that were open was that big, those big communal tables, you know, you've seen those at and I was like, okay, well, awesome, I got a seat, but I also don't want to be that guy that takes up the big communal table and no one feels like they can sit at it, you know, because it's a packed place. 00:34:38.880 --> 00:34:49.519 And so I'm sitting there, I got my Bible out, my computer out, I'm doing my work, and I'm just kind of being aware of people if they didn't have a seat, trying to make sure, hey, you can sit at my table uh here. 00:34:49.760 --> 00:34:57.840 And so this couple uh comes in behind me, or at least I thought they were a couple, and they're looking for a place to sit, and they couldn't find any. 00:34:58.000 --> 00:35:04.239 They're about to walk out, and I turned to them, I said, Hey, you can sit at my table, because obviously I own it. 00:35:04.400 --> 00:35:08.400 Um they kind of look at each other and go, You want to? 00:35:08.480 --> 00:35:08.880 Yeah. 00:35:09.039 --> 00:35:16.800 And so he goes to get in line to buy some coffee, and she sits down and she sees my Bible and she says, Oh, are you a Christian? 00:35:16.960 --> 00:35:18.239 I said, Oh, yes, I am. 00:35:18.320 --> 00:35:19.199 Um, are you? 00:35:19.280 --> 00:35:21.360 And she's like, Yeah, well, it's it's complicated. 00:35:21.440 --> 00:35:23.199 I'm like, Oh, okay. 00:35:23.360 --> 00:35:26.800 Um, and then he comes back with coffee at that point. 00:35:26.880 --> 00:35:29.920 They sit down, and I quickly realize they're not a couple. 00:35:30.079 --> 00:35:33.679 In fact, he's her financial planner. 00:35:33.840 --> 00:35:38.400 Um, and apparently he hadn't been doing a very good job because this was his firing. 00:35:41.599 --> 00:35:43.039 Headphones in. 00:35:44.960 --> 00:35:47.199 Thanks for sitting at my table. 00:35:48.880 --> 00:35:58.480 And so I'm doing my work and hearing this, and like the Spirit of God is just kind of like, hey, you need to talk with her. 00:35:58.639 --> 00:36:01.519 I'm like, no, I don't need to talk with her. 00:36:01.679 --> 00:36:04.239 And the guy gets up and leaves, and he's like, You do? 00:36:04.320 --> 00:36:07.360 I'm like, God, I'm preparing a sermon for you. 00:36:10.639 --> 00:36:12.480 And uh I'm like, fine, I will. 00:36:12.639 --> 00:36:14.400 So I get up and get a refill of coffee. 00:36:14.480 --> 00:36:17.280 I come over back to my chair and I look across the table. 00:36:17.440 --> 00:36:19.119 I said, How are you doing? 00:36:19.360 --> 00:36:22.000 And she's like, not, not, not, not well. 00:36:22.719 --> 00:36:24.960 And then she immediately changes the subject. 00:36:25.119 --> 00:36:27.039 She goes, What do you do? 00:36:27.440 --> 00:36:32.239 I'm like, Well, I'm a pastor, but I grew up in Santa Cruz. 00:36:32.320 --> 00:36:44.079 And I don't even know why I threw that little tidbit in there, but I'm like, but I grew up in Santa Cruz, and her eyes got big, and she said, When you grew up in Santa Cruz, did you ever happen to go to Chip Ingram's church? 00:36:47.039 --> 00:36:49.760 I said, Well, yes, I did. 00:36:51.599 --> 00:36:53.119 He's my dad. 00:36:53.440 --> 00:36:58.000 And I gotta tell you, this lady, she I I could have been, you know, Steph Curry at this moment. 00:36:58.079 --> 00:37:01.280 She's like, oh my gosh, yeah, whoa, are you kidding me? 00:37:01.440 --> 00:37:03.199 I'm at Chip Ingram's son's table. 00:37:03.280 --> 00:37:05.280 And I'm like, I know, I own this table, I get it. 00:37:05.360 --> 00:37:07.519 We already got that established there. 00:37:08.320 --> 00:37:12.639 And she was so excited, and then she began to pour out her heart. 00:37:12.800 --> 00:37:21.199 In the midst of this crowded coffee shop, we had this deep, sacred moment, and she's going through this really painful divorce. 00:37:22.239 --> 00:37:27.039 And she was losing her home that she raised all of her kids in. 00:37:27.599 --> 00:37:34.239 And she confided even to the extent that she had thought a few times about taking her own life. 00:37:34.400 --> 00:37:38.320 And she's like, Ryan, do you know what got me through those dark times? 00:37:38.559 --> 00:37:42.639 Up where we live, we only got one radio station, is this Christian radio station? 00:37:42.800 --> 00:37:50.079 And so I turned it on, and it was Chip Ingram, and I listened to him every single day. 00:37:52.079 --> 00:37:57.519 And as she was talking, this refrain in my mind just kept coming to me. 00:37:57.679 --> 00:38:00.079 They're like, I need to share this with you. 00:38:00.960 --> 00:38:09.039 And so, as I listened to her, I said, I just feel like God has me here to say this word to you that all is not lost. 00:38:09.360 --> 00:38:13.280 There's still hope, and God's not done with you. 00:38:13.760 --> 00:38:15.519 All is not lost. 00:38:16.000 --> 00:38:19.679 There's still hope and God's not done with you. 00:38:19.840 --> 00:38:25.840 You may feel broken and desperate and lost on the ground, but all is not lost. 00:38:26.079 --> 00:38:30.639 There's still hope and God is not done with you. 00:38:31.519 --> 00:38:33.760 And then I couldn't help myself. 00:38:34.639 --> 00:38:40.079 I said, Do you know the lengths to which God wanted to share that with you? 00:38:42.079 --> 00:38:51.519 That he would take Chip Ingram's son, the person that God used to help you in your darkest hour. 00:38:52.559 --> 00:38:56.079 He sent me to four coffee shops. 00:39:01.360 --> 00:39:15.360 There's no lengths that God won't go to to establish the work of your hands, to prepare and to make ready, to fix, and to put right. 00:39:17.199 --> 00:39:21.440 And so, as we worship, would you take this moment? 00:39:21.840 --> 00:39:24.960 What is it that you can't afford to let fall? 00:39:25.119 --> 00:39:32.079 And maybe you feel like it's already broken around you and where you would say, God, I bring it to you. 00:39:32.719 --> 00:39:33.840 Would you prepare it? 00:39:34.000 --> 00:39:34.960 Would you fix it? 00:39:35.199 --> 00:39:36.719 Would you make it right? 00:39:37.119 --> 00:39:40.960 You will go to the greatest lengths to meet me. 00:39:41.280 --> 00:39:42.159 Thank you. 00:39:42.480 --> 00:39:44.800 I'm here to meet you. 00:39:44.960 --> 00:39:45.920 Will you stand? 00:39:46.639 --> 00:39:48.000 Let's worship. 00:39:48.880 --> 00:39:53.760 Heavenly Father, I pray for my friends in this moment. 00:40:00.800 --> 00:40:06.719 That that thing that came to mind when I asked the question, they would just bring it to you. 00:40:10.320 --> 00:40:13.119 They would allow you to have your way in them. 00:40:14.400 --> 00:40:17.599 Holy Spirit, I know you're just working in some people's lives right now. 00:40:17.760 --> 00:40:22.079 Pray against any like resistance, just allow them to experience you. 00:40:23.280 --> 00:40:30.320 To be drawn to your heart, to release the things that we're holding so tightly to. 00:40:30.880 --> 00:40:33.760 God, keep us from holding toilet paper. 00:40:35.599 --> 00:40:36.880 Meet us here now. 00:40:39.119 --> 00:40:41.440 We hope you are blessed by this message. 00:40:41.599 --> 00:40:46.079 Please subscribe to our podcast for access to every episode as they're uploaded. 00:40:46.239 --> 00:40:48.320 And hey, we'd love to connect with you. 00:40:48.480 --> 00:40:54.400 Take a next step by filling out our virtual connection card at awakeningchurch.com slash card.