Keys to Revival: Raising the Next Generation (Deuteronomy 6:1-9)

 

[Slide] Keys to Revival: Raising the Next Generation (Dt 6:1-9)

 

Little Johnny’s parents cursed a lot and would always say "Pardon my French.”

Imagine the day when Johnny’s teacher asked the class if they knew any French!

The 5th Key to Revival

Today we are talking about raising the next generation of Christ followers. My kids are living their own lives. They, like so many, have rejected faith in Christ and turned away from the Church. The Revival Project has given me hope that my prayers can turn them back to faith in Jesus. I may never see it, but I will continue to pray daily for their souls. I will daily repent of despair, and cynical doubt, and pursue revival for my own soul, for this church, and our nation. It gives me great encouragement to know you are praying with me and striving for revival.

You want the best for the young people in your family. [Slide] How do we prepare them for a world marred by anger, division, and anxiety? A successful career or inheritance can’t give them everything they need. Our greatest gift is to help them know Jesus and live by His righteous and loving ways.

We cannot control what’s happening in our nation, but we can respond faithfully. Rather than surrender to fear or spend our days becoming angrier at the news, we can point our neighbors to Christ and raise a generation prepared to serve him.

[Slide] Scripture reveals how God’s people grow complacent and drift into idolatry. We don’t deliberately reject God. We just turn to money, comfort, thrills or other things that take first place in our lives. God calls us to return to Him as our first love.

King Josiah led one of the greatest revivals in biblical history. [Slide] Previous kings had turned the nation to worship the gods of other nations. Solomon, the wisest and wealthiest, married foreign wives for political gain. To appease them he built pagan shrines and employed pagan priests to serve their idols. By the time Josiah became king, the temple had altars to foreign gods. God’s people had wandered into idolatry and terrible evil. It had gotten so bad, even the king had not read the Law of Moses. Yet a faithful remnant remained. Prophets like Zephaniah called people back to God. [Slide]

Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land,
    you who do what he commands.
Seek righteousness, seek humility;
    perhaps you will be sheltered
    on the day of the Lord’s anger. (Zephaniah 2:3)

Against that dark background, an 8-year-old Josiah became king and turned wholeheartedly toward the Lord. [Slide] When he was 26, he tore down all the pagan shrines and altars and turned the people of Judah back to covenant faithfulness. His story reminds us never to underestimate what God can do through one young person—or through older believers who share faith in God. [Slide] The average age of those who led America’s four great awakenings was 28.8 years old!

Our work for revival today moves through the next generation, but young leaders do not arrive fully formed. They need parents, grandparents, churches, teachers, and mentors to nurture their faith. We have a responsibility to shape the next generation, to share with them faith in Christ.

To the young adults in the room: we believe in what God can do through you. You will also help raise up passionate Christ followers.

[Slide] The 5th revival practice is raising the next generation for Christ. [Slide] Revival comes through the next generation after the older remnant has pointed them to God. Here are three ways to begin. [Slide]

1. Train, Direct, and Instruct toward Christ and scripture, with love

[Slide] Deuteronomy 6:5 says, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.” Revival begins in our own hearts. We cannot pass on a love for God that we are unwilling to cultivate ourselves.

[Slide] The passage continues calling us to keep God’s commandments on our hearts and impress them on our children. Talk about his Word at home, on the road, at bedtime, and when the day begins. Remember what little Johnny heard every day in his home! Pardon my French! Spiritual instruction belongs in daily family life, not just on Sundays.

Young people need direction. Teach with love and grace. Don’t be harsh. Be intentional and consistent. Help them with their questions and to bring their struggles to God in prayer.

[Slide] Look at this: Esther had her uncle Mordecai; John the Baptist his parents, Zechariah and Elizabeth. Peter had Jesus. The next generation needs you to help them hear and respond to God’s call.

[Slide] Harriet Beecher Stowe was raised by godly parents. Her father, Lyman Beecher was a preacher. She spent hours in his study, listening to him prepare sermons and read the Bible. She became a leading voice to end slavery. Her book Uncle Tom’s Cabin is the most important novel of the 19^th century. It woke America to evils of slavery and energized action to abolish it. Her brother, Henry Ward Beecher, was the first pastor of 2^nd Presbyterian Church in Indianapolis. There, he preached his first ever anti-slavery sermon. Because of their parents’ godly example and teaching, Harriet and Henry helped to transform America. Imagine what God might do through a young writer, podcaster, teacher, or leader whose faith is nurtured today.

Go beyond directing young people toward career and family. Point them toward Jesus. America needs Christ-centered people in the arts, industry, and every vocation, serving with grace and truth. Help the next generation discover how God might use their gifts to serve others.

[Slide] 2. Model Kingdom-First Living

Teaching matters, but young people watch what we do. If we teach scripture but are all about money, they notice. If we defend Christianity with hostility and hatred, they notice. If we speak of acceptance but secretly loathe people’s choices, they notice that too.

Set the example. Seek God’s kingdom first. Love everyone. Love your enemies. Stand for Christ. Let your home and workplace, and all your relationships and activities, demonstrate that Jesus is Lord of your life. Set the example.

[Slide] You probably don’t know Mordecai Ham. But I’ll bet you know the name Billy Graham. In the early 1930s, Billy’s parents urged him to attend revival meetings in Charlotte, North Carolina. He resisted until one of his classmates suggested he drive a milk truck to take a gang of students.

Apparently, students had planned to raise some Cain at the revival because the preacher had exposed some student mischief. Billy decided to go because he wanted to witness the hubbub. When Mordecai Ham spoke, young Billy Graham responded to the gospel. [Slide] He devoted his life to proclaiming Christ.

[Slide] Martin Luther King Jr. grew up in a family and church that surrounded him with scripture. His example of courageous, loving resistance reminds us why truth and grace must stay together. We need young people who will stand for truth without surrendering love.

Do not measure your influence by the fruit you can see. Your faithful mentoring, the seeds you plant and nurture, may prepare someone’s future ministry to reach far beyond anything you can imagine.

[Slide] 3. Serve the Next Generation in Your Local Church

Find a way to serve children, students, and young adults. Mentor a student having a hard time at school. Lead a small group for young adults. So often we make decisions about what we want, never thinking about what the next generation needs. Give money to fund ministry that serves the next generation.

Young people need someone to walk with them and guide them in loving, godly wisdom. You don’t need to know everything. Just keep pointing them to Christ.

[Slide] Deuteronomy 4:9 warns us not to forget what God has done and to teach it to our children and grandchildren. [Slide] Joel 1:3 extends that responsibility from one generation to the next. Faith must be intentionally shared. We cannot assume the young people in our lives will just pick it up by association.

I led an online Bible study this summer with the young adults in our congregation. They chose the topics we discussed. I found eagerness to learn and talk about faith. When they chose the topic of relationships, I thought we’d be talking about friends and romance. Instead, they wanted to talk about how to share faith in Jesus with their friends and classmates. I want every person 30 and under to stand and be recognized. These precious people are the future. Invest in them.

Encourage them. Cheer them on. Help them grow in a personal relationship with Jesus. We are not preparing them merely to “fit in” or survive. We are equipping them to be “light in the darkness.”

[Slide] Plant the Seeds for Tomorrow’s Enduring Revival, Today!

[Slide] A major flip occurred on election day. The Democrats hold the majority in Congress. Eight state governors are democratic socialists. Some celebrate, while others fret. But our citizenship is in heaven. Our calling is to reflect Jesus, no matter which political party is in power. Don’t fret. Don’t agitate either. Put your energy into raising the next generation and trust Christ with the future.

[Slide] Peter urges believers to live such good lives among unbelievers that even those who accuse them will see their good deeds. Christianity is misunderstood and misrepresented. 90% of our neighbors believe the Church is hypocritical, not behaving as Jesus would. Respond by loving consistently, serving generously, and standing for truth without abandoning grace. Share the good news of God’s love and demonstrate it through your daily life.

[Slide] Plant the seeds for tomorrow’s revival. Train the next generation in God’s Word. Model kingdom-first living. And serve young people in the community and this congregation. Pray that God will raise up Christ-centered leaders from the younger generation.

Ask God what role you can play in growing the faith of young people around you. Be urgent in action and fully dependent on God to bring revival.

 

 

 

 

 

[Slide] Let’s Pray

Father, I boldly pray today for a revival of Christianity in the United States. I surrender myself to be used by You in this.

Use me and our church to raise up spiritual leaders in the next generation.

[Slide] As we preach Your Word and lift Jesus high, bring revival in our church, our cities, our region, our next generation, and our nation.

Jesus, we trust Your promise to hear our prayers in Your name, that the Father might be glorified in the Son.

Amen.