Kingdom Perspectives in Proverbs: Youth

Today's scripture reading comes from Proverbs 4, 1 through 9.

Please follow along in your bulletin.

Hear, O sons, a father's instruction, and be attentive that you may gain insight.

For I give you good precepts. Do not forsake my teaching.

When I was a son with my father, tender, the only one in the sight of my mother,

he taught me and said to me,

Let your heart hold fast my words.

Keep my commandments and live.

Get wisdom. Get insight.

Do not forgive and do not turn away from the words of my mouth.

Do not forsake her and she will keep you.

Love her and she will guard you.

The beginning of wisdom is this.

Get wisdom. And whatever you get, get insight.

Prize her highly and she will exalt you.

She will honor you if you embrace her.

She will place on your head a graceful garland.

She will bestow on you a beautiful crown.

Train up a child in the way he should go.

Even when he is old, he will not depart from it.

Proverbs 22, 6.

This is the reading of God's word.

How's it going?

I am Eric Scott.

I'm the youth guy here at Watermark Community Church.

And although I have spoken and preached other places,

this is my first time preaching at Watermark.

And so Millen, being the great friend that he is,

had two important pieces of advice for me when I walked in today.

His first piece of advice, don't puke on stage.

And his second one, just remember, any mistakes that you make will end up on YouTube.

I'm glad to know that I have great friends who are looking out for me

as I come and share God's word with us today.

So I am the youth guy.

And as you look at your bulletin and you see that I'm speaking on youth today,

you probably think, well, that kind of makes sense

as we go throughout our series of Proverbs.

But there's actually a bigger reason that I'm speaking on youth

than just the fact that I am the youth guy.

That is a major part of it.

But also, if you think about it, on the whole spectrum of life,

I'm actually, this may surprise some of you,

closer to a 13-year-old than to a 35-year-old.

At least in age, possibly in maturity sometimes.

But I think that the way that the church approaches youth

and the attitude that it has towards the youth,

not just what we classify as youth in terms of middle schoolers and high schoolers,

but in terms of people younger than us,

the generation that's coming up,

has an impact not just on them, but on me as well,

and on the generation that I am a part of.

And so as I come today, I'm not just saying,

this is how we should approach them.

But I'm a part of that group.

I'm a part of this youth that needs to be constantly trained

and taught what it means to follow God,

what it means to seek Him and to know Him.

And so, like I said, today we're continuing our series on Proverbs.

And just in case you haven't been here,

I want to review a couple things about the series of Proverbs

that have been something we've been coming back to every week of this series.

The first thing is that as we look at the book of Proverbs,

it's not just a collection of teachings,

do this, do that, do this, do that.

But it's actually more about who we are,

about being people who love and fear God,

rather than just people who do the right things.

And so as we look at the book of Proverbs,

we're trying to look at it not just from the perspective of

what are we supposed to do,

but also the perspective of

who are we supposed to be in light of who God is

and what He has revealed to us of Himself.

And the second thing is that throughout this series of Proverbs,

we've been talking about an oriental rug.

Do we have the picture?

And we've talked about how

when you look at the back of an oriental rug,

you see knots and you see loose threads dangling down.

And you see that there's something,

but you're not quite sure of what the full, clear picture is.

And the front of the rug has that full, clear picture.

And we've sort of compared this

to the way that we are able to see the world

versus the way that God sees the world.

When we look at the world,

we can see, similar to the back of the rug,

we see this jumbled mess.

We see knots, we see loose strings hanging around,

and we see enough to know that there's

something of a picture being worked out there,

but we can't see the full picture.

But God from the other side sees this full picture,

and he's working in light of this full picture.

And so as we try to live in this world

and get this understanding of the picture,

ultimately, we don't do that through doing the right things,

but through God revealing it to us.

And so as we look at the book of Proverbs,

we want to see in this book,

not just what kind of broken picture

from the world's perspective can we get from it,

but also how does God's word

and how does who God is

help us to understand the more full picture

so that we can live in the truth

of what this book is revealing to us.

And like I said,

today we are talking on the book of Proverbs.

We're talking on youth.

And so one thing I want to really look at

is according to the book of Proverbs,

what should shape our interaction with the youth?

And I think there's a lot that the book of Proverbs has to say

on our interaction with youth,

with whether it's our own kids

or just the younger generation in general.

It has a lot of advice that it gives to people.

Train up a child in the way that he should go.

Again, like we said,

it's not this strict promise

that if you do the right thing as a parent,

your kids are going to turn out okay.

But it's a general rule that generally,

parents who train up their child correctly

have children who turn out the right way.

There are exceptions to that.

There are parents who are amazing parents

and whose kids totally turn away from God.

There are parents who are terrible parents

who have kids that end up following God wholeheartedly.

But as a general rule,

parents who train up their children

in the way that they should go

have kids who follow God.

And so we have a collection of these teachings

saying things like discipline your kids.

Don't withhold discipline from them.

It'll help them to grow into the person

that they're supposed to be.

But the overwhelming majority of the teaching

that the book of Proverbs gives

on our interaction with youth

is given by example rather than by speaking it.

And here's what I mean by that.

The book of Proverbs is a collection of teachings

that a father gives to his son.

The father basically sits down with his son.

He says,

Hey kid, you don't get the world.

You don't know how it works.

And I'm not just going to abandon you

to live in this messed up understanding of reality,

but I'm going to take you under my wing.

I'm going to teach you.

I'm going to tell you,

here's how things work.

And so we have a collection of these teachings

from this father who loves his son,

who takes him under his wings,

and who teaches him how the world should work.

And this, I think, gives us an example

of how our interaction with the youth around us should be.

It's not just a distance thing,

but it's something where we come in,

we get involved in their lives,

and Solomon is modeling this to us

throughout the book of Proverbs.

And as we look at that,

what exactly is it that he's saying

we're supposed to do with the youth?

How is it that we're supposed to instruct them?

And so let's jump in and look at that.

The first thing that Solomon teaches us

about our interaction with youth

and how it's supposed to be

is that ultimately our training,

our instruction of youth

should be training and instruction in wisdom,

which has its root in the fear of the Lord.

This stand spins a lot.

Can we lock that down some more?

That is much better.

Sorry about that.

That ultimately,

our instruction of youth

is that we instruct them and train them

in wisdom

and not just in the right things to do.

Ultimately,

the goal of the church

is not to raise good kids

who stay in school,

don't do drugs,

stay out of prison,

grow up,

probably get married

and have a nice spouse

and good kids of their own.

The goal of the church

is to produce disciples of Christ,

people who know Jesus,

who love Jesus,

who follow him

with all that they have

and all that they are.

And ultimately,

the book of Proverbs

points us towards this.

The book of Proverbs,

when Solomon is teaching his son,

he says,

the beginning of wisdom is this,

get wisdom.

He doesn't say,

the beginning of wisdom is this,

go out

and be a good person,

be nice to the people around you.

He says,

ultimately,

the beginning of wisdom

is get wisdom.

And he teaches his son

that wisdom starts

in the fear of the Lord.

Here at Watermark,

we have this phrase that we use

that says,

the gospel changes everything.

The gospel,

this good news

that we have

that although

we were sinners,

although we were rebels

against God,

he came down

as a man,

as Jesus.

He came down,

lived the perfect life

that we could never live

and died

to pay a price

that we could never pay

so that we can have

a new relationship with God.

This is the good news

that we believe

that unites us

as Christians.

And this changes

everything

about who we are.

Because ultimately,

it says

that our standing

with God,

the way to be

the right people,

is not by doing

the right things,

is not by

going out

and volunteering

at the elderly home

or feeding the poor,

but ultimately,

the thing that marks

the difference

is our standing

with Christ,

whether we have trusted

in him or not.

And yes,

this does lead

to a change

in our actions.

Yes,

this does lead

to what society

would label

as more moral behavior.

But ultimately,

this change

in our behavior

is based

not in what we've done,

but in who we are.

And once who we are

has been transformed,

that leads

to a change

in what we do.

And so,

in Proverbs,

we see this,

that Solomon

is constantly going back

to the fact

that at the core

of training up a child

must be this instruction

in wisdom

and fear of the Lord

and shaping him

or her

into the right person

that is seeking God

and desiring to know him

rather than just

doing the right things.

And just as a youth worker,

I see this occasionally

in terms of parents

who come into the church

and they bring their kids

because they want their kids

to learn good morals.

They come into the church

and they bring their little kids

and send them off

to Sunday school

because they want them

to learn to not do drugs,

to stay in school,

to stay out of prison probably,

and probably be

like a few steps higher

on the whole moral chart

than just good enough

to stay out of prison.

But they come in

not because they want

their kids to know Christ,

but because they want

their kids to be good people.

And this is a recipe

for disaster

because the kids

see right through that.

And the kids see

that ultimately

their parents

aren't concerned

with Christ.

Their parents are concerned

with them being good people.

And they see

that the primary thing

is missing.

And so what happens

so many times

is these parents

come in

and they come in

hoping for their kids

to become

these good people

except for that

the parents

don't have any interest

in knowing Christ.

And the parents

drop their kids off

on Sunday morning

and then

maybe go to church,

maybe just go home

and relax for a couple hours

and then come pick up

their kids.

And they're hoping

to get this moral change

without getting

the primary thing

which is a relationship

with Christ.

They're hoping

to get this secondary thing

without getting

the primary thing

that leads to it.

And C.S. Lewis,

the guy who wrote

The Chronicles of Narnia,

says that that is a recipe

for disaster.

That people who seek

secondary things

without first getting

the primary things

that lead to those,

they lose

not only the primary thing

but the secondary thing

that they're seeking as well.

That ultimately,

even if they did turn out great

and have

the best behavior ever

and, you know,

go into school

and get stickers on a chart

for great behavior every day,

if they don't get

the part about knowing Christ,

then we lose.

Because ultimately,

their good works

don't make them

better in God's sight.

But their good works

still leave them

falling short.

And ultimately,

Christ is what they need

to be this new person

that they're supposed to be,

the person that we're supposed

to be training them to be.

The second thing

that Proverbs tells us

about our interaction

with youth

is that youth

will not train themselves

in wisdom and godliness.

It tells us,

train up a child

in the way that he should go.

This isn't a passive command

to sit back

and let him go

and, hey, have fun,

see ya.

Because ultimately,

there's this understanding

that they will be trained,

they will be sent

in a certain direction,

and if we're not pointing them

in the right direction

and showing them,

hey, this is the way

that we're supposed to go,

this is the God

that we're supposed to serve,

this is how we're supposed

to serve them,

they're going to seek out

other ways.

Like, I don't know

if you guys get this,

but teenagers

understand that they

don't get the world.

They understand

that it's a confusing

and messed up place,

and they're like,

I don't understand

how this works

or how I'm supposed

to fit into it.

They put on a face

that says,

I've got this all figured out,

I'm in control.

But when you sit down

with them

and they're honest with you,

they'll admit,

I'm totally confused.

They'll admit,

I don't get what's going on.

And they'll admit

that I need someone

who I can talk to

who has a better grasp

on this thing

than I do.

And they go out

and they will seek

people who can be

that mentor,

that guide,

that uncle,

aunt,

big brother,

parent figure

in their lives.

And the Bible says

that we need to be there

for them to be

that figure,

to train them up

in the way of the Lord

because if Christians

and the church

aren't there for them,

they're going to still

seek out wisdom,

they're going to still

seek out advice

and training

on how to live

in the world,

but they're going to seek it

from other sources.

They're going to seek it

from the media.

They're going to seek it

from their friends at school

because their friends at school

are just as good

at pretending

they have everything

all together

as they are,

only they believe

that their friends

actually have it all together.

And if we are not

intentional

in actively pursuing

training them up

in the knowledge

and fear of the Lord,

they're going to be

trained up

in other ways.

And so,

we as a church

need to intentionally

pursue training them up

in the wisdom

and knowledge of the Lord.

And just a side note,

this doesn't mean

that we pretend

to be perfect

so that they'll come to us

because they see

that we have it all together.

Like I said,

they know that the world

is a messed up place.

They know

that they can't

figure it out

on their own

and they know

that it's a messed up

enough place

that probably

other people

don't have it all

figured out either.

And so,

a lot of times

what I've seen

is that parents

or youth workers

or adults in their lives,

when they see kids

who are having

problems

and questions

and don't get it,

their response is,

I have to be perfect

for them

so that they'll know

that I have it all together

and that I can help them

through this time.

The problem with that

is either

the kid knows

that you're a liar

because they know

that you're actually

messed up

or they believe

that you're actually

perfect

and the fear

of talking to someone

who's so much better

than them

scares them away.

And so,

repeatedly,

what I've seen

in my life

is these people

who set themselves

up as examples,

as this perfect person

that you should

look up to

and respect

and aren't real

with people

that they're trying

to work with

end up alienating people

rather than

drawing them in.

And what youth

are looking for

is people

who will be real

with them,

who will show them

that,

no,

I don't have it

all figured out,

no,

I'm not perfect,

but I'm learning

and I'm trusting God

and he is drawing me

closer to him

every day.

And I think

this is something

that is especially

true for parents.

There's a guy

named Reggie Joyner.

He's a specialist

in family ministry

and he has a quote.

He says,

kids need to see

their parents

struggle with answers

face their weaknesses,

deal with real problems,

admit when they're wrong,

fight for their marriage

and resolve personal conflict.

They need to see these things

because if they don't see

these things,

then when these issues

come up in their own lives,

they won't understand

how to deal with them.

And ultimately,

this doesn't mean

we, you know,

take our two-year-old

and explain to them

every problem

that's going on

in terms of

our struggle

to stay pure

in our relationship

as parents

or whatever.

But it means that

on an age-appropriate basis,

you show

the people around you,

the youth that you're

working with,

whether that's your kids

or whether that's

someone you're mentoring

or just someone

you're having a conversation with,

you demonstrate to them

how the gospel

is shaping and transforming

your life,

the situations in it,

and the way that you react to it.

Because like I said,

ultimately,

our goal is not

just to have kids

who do the right thing

and have the right behavior,

but kids who realize

that they are sinners

who are saved

only by the grace of God.

And what better way

to show them

this truth

than to demonstrate to them

that we are sinners

who are in the process

of being saved

and transformed

by God's grace

and showing them

what this looks like

as it plays out

in our actual daily lives.

And that leads into

the third thing

that Proverbs says

about how we interact

with youth,

and that's that

the truths that we teach

must constantly be said

and lived

in our daily lives.

That ultimately,

youth may listen

to what we say,

they're much more likely

to live what we live.

In this passage

in Proverbs chapter 4,

Proverbs 4 · chapter mention

Solomon says,

when I was a son

to my father,

Solomon's father

was David,

this great king in Israel.

He says,

when I was a son,

when he was my father,

he taught me

and he said these things.

We just listened

to that scripture

being read.

And then he goes on

and he repeats

to his own son

what David,

his father,

taught him.

Now here's what we can see

from that passage.

If Solomon's taking

what his father taught him

and passing that teaching

on to his son,

it presumes that he's

probably been living

that teaching out

in his own life

for a number of years

because he finds it

valuable enough

to pass on to his own son.

And if he's been living

this truth out

in his life

for this many years,

that puts his son

in this unique position

to be able to look

at this teaching

and say,

is it working?

As I watch

my father's life

and he says

that these things

are true,

are they true

in his life?

Does the pursuit

of wisdom

truly lead

to the good life?

Is it helping him

find peace and joy

or is he living

in fear and anxiety

because of these things?

Is he just

completely stressed out

because the things

that he's telling me

are way too overbearing

and hard?

The son

in this story

has the opportunity

to look at Solomon's life

to see,

hey,

this is working for him.

Hey,

my dad's pursuing

a relationship with God

and it's actually

bringing him peace.

It's bringing him joy.

It's transforming

his relationships.

I want that.

And the son

is in this unique position

to view

what's going on

in his father's life

and to live

in response

to that.

See,

the truth is

that a lot of times

the youth around us,

they'll completely

ignore what we say

but they'll follow

everything that we

teach them

through our actions.

It's why

if you're a parent

and you're in an argument

with your kid

and things are getting

heated and escalated

and you yell out to them,

well,

you just need to calm down.

Are they going to calm down?

No,

because your words

say calm down

but your actions say

get angry,

get heated,

let's go.

And they follow

your examples

or your actions

rather than your words.

And that's not just

something that happens

in an argument

but it's something

that happens

in every area

of your lives.

If you

or I

say to the youth

around us,

hey,

you need to follow God

and then

every waking minute

that we have

we spend at our jobs

stockpiling money

and getting more

and more

and more stuff

rather than trusting

in God

and relying on Him,

we're going to end up

with a generation

of youth

that we taught

to follow God,

we told them

they need to

and it's important

and instead

they're out there

working 80,

90,

100 hours a week

stockpiling as much

money as they can

and worshipping money

as their God

instead.

There's a guy

named Christian Smith,

he's a sociologist

from Notre Dame,

he's done a lot

of research

into youth culture

and youth

especially in the church

and what they think

about the gospel,

what they believe

about God

and what they turn

out like

and what factors

impact their growth

and development

as people

and he has

a quote

that is,

it's short,

it's simple

but it's incredibly deep

and slightly scary.

He says,

when it comes

to kids' faith,

parents get what they are.

When it comes

to kids' faith,

parents get what they are.

If you want your kid

to be a Christ follower

but instead of

following Christ

with our own lives,

we're going out

and seeking

approval through wealth,

approval through comfort,

we shouldn't be shocked

when our kids go out

and seek approval

through wealth

and approval

through comfort.

If we want our kids

to follow Christ,

we need to be

Christ followers ourselves

and we need to teach them

that not just

through our words,

although words

are very important

but we need to also

model it for them

through our actions.

and a lot of times

the actions that we

model for them

are going to stick

much better

than the words

that we use

when we talk to them.

And as I'm up here today

and I'm speaking,

I don't want you to think

that I'm just speaking

to parents

and leaving everyone else

off the hook

because ultimately

the job of training up

the next generation of youth

is a job

that the Bible assigns

to the entire church.

Whether you're a young single

like me

who could have an impact

on the teens

and the children

or maybe you're

a parent here

whose kids have grown up

and gone off

and moved out,

you have a unique

opportunity to impact

other people

in the church,

maybe a newly married couple

or maybe

a new set of parents

because ultimately

like I've said repeatedly

but it's an important point

that I don't want us to miss,

the goal is not

just to have good kids

who get good grades

get good jobs,

get a good family

someday of their own,

stay out of prison,

stay off drugs.

The goal is to create

disciples of Christ

and the Bible says

that that is the job

of every Christian.

It's not specifically

the job

of only

the parents in a family

to disciple their kids.

It is specifically

their job

to disciple

and train their own kids

and they have

a unique opportunity

to do that

within their own family.

However,

it is the job

of every Christian

to make disciples.

Jesus'

last recorded words

in the book of Matthew

are

go into all the world

and make disciples

of all nations.

He gives that command

to his disciples

as the last thing

that he does.

He wants us

to go into the world

to train up people

from wherever we are

to follow him

regardless of whether

they're our own children,

friends,

people that we're mentoring,

just other random people

around us,

maybe people that we work with.

our job is to make disciples

and that doesn't change

regardless of

the generational barriers.

Our job is

to make disciples.

And so,

for those of us

who aren't parents here

or maybe who are parents

but who have kids

who have grown up

and moved out already,

we actually have

a unique opportunity

to impact the youth

around us.

Because,

let's face it,

we've all been teenagers

before.

We know that teenagers

will talk to people

who aren't their parents

about things

that they won't talk to

with their own parents.

Yes?

I've got girl problems.

I'm not talking to mom

about it.

I'm going to talk

to someone else

who actually understands

the world

because my parents

obviously don't.

I got a yeah

from the youth

and back.

They'll talk to us

about things

because

if we disagree with them,

that's not going to make

things awkward at home.

Because if we tell them

to do something

and they

really don't want to do it,

they're not going to get

in trouble for not doing

what we tell them to do.

Although they probably will

if they don't do

what their parents

say to do.

They'll talk to us

because

a lot of times

kids think that

their parents are perfect

and have it all together

and couldn't understand

if their own kids

had problems.

And so they have

this willingness

and vulnerability

to come to us

who aren't parents

and share with us

things that they

wouldn't share

with their own parents.

Or maybe they'll come

to parents

of their friends

but not to their own parents.

And this gives us

a unique opportunity

to speak the gospel

into the situation

in their lives.

To look at what's going on

and say,

hey,

I see that you have

this problem.

Here's what the Bible says

about how we should

approach this problem.

Here's what

the gospel says

about how

our approach

to this

should be different

than the world's

approach to this.

And we have this opportunity

but the question is

will we be willing

to step outside

of our comfort zone

to invest in people

who otherwise

we probably wouldn't

want to invest in

and who

you know,

in the end

could leave us

heartbroken,

could just be a total

pain to work with,

but who we could

impact amazingly

for God's kingdom.

And I think

for the parents

in here

in relation to this,

for those of you

who have teenagers

or who have had

teenagers before,

you know,

there comes a point

where kids sort of

stop talking to their

parents a lot of times

about certain issues.

And they are willing

to talk to others

about these issues.

And so,

I think,

this is me personally,

not necessarily

the book of Proverbs

talking,

but I think one of

the most amazing

things that Christian

parents can do

is introduce

their kids

to other

older Christians

who can be

a sounding board

when that time comes

that they're not

willing to talk

to their own parents.

That they can

go to,

you know,

say that

someday I'm a parent

and,

you know,

I introduce my kids

to my friends

so that when my kids

reach a point

where they don't

want to talk to me,

they have my friends

that they can talk to

who I know

will point them

back to Christ,

who will point them

back to the gospel,

who will train them

in godliness.

Because,

like I said,

they're going to

talk to someone

about it.

I would much

rather have it

be someone

who I trust,

someone who I know,

someone who's going

to point them

to Christ,

rather than someone

who's going to

point them

away from him.

And I think

one of the greatest

resources that we

at Watermark

have for helping

parents connect

their youth

with other kids

or connect,

or,

sorry,

with other adults

is our community

groups.

Here at Watermark,

our community

groups are actually

geographically based,

not affinity based.

What that means

is when you join

a community group,

generally you're

in a community

group with people

who live near you,

rather than people

who are at the

same stage in life

as you.

So that means

for me,

my group is not

a group of singles,

but it's a group

of people who live

in the Saiying Poon

area.

It means that my

group doesn't just

have people who are

all in their 20s,

but we have people

all the way up

through probably

their 50s.

And it's not just

singles,

but we have

singles and

newlyweds and

parents of little

kids and parents

of teenagers,

and we have people

from all different

stages of life.

And if you bring

your kids into

this environment,

it introduces you,

it gives you the

ability to introduce

them to a variety

of different people

who are different

than you,

who they may feel

comfortable getting

to know and talking

with on issues that

they may not feel

as comfortable

talking to you

about.

And so,

you know,

we talk constantly

about the importance

of community groups

and how living out

the gospel in

community is important,

and I think this is

one of the big ways

where that is true.

And so,

I want to close

with asking us

how this specifically

relates to us

in Hong Kong.

And one of the big

questions I want to

ask us is,

as we interact

with the youth

around us,

whether that's

our own kids

or other kids

that we interact

with on a daily

basis through

mentoring,

through running

into them on the

streets,

whatever,

which God

are we teaching

them to worship

as the real God?

Through our words

and through our

actions.

Which God

are we teaching

them to worship

as the real God?

Here at Watermark,

we talk a lot

about the idols

in our lives

and in the city.

And if you look

around at Hong Kong,

they have a lot

of different things

that they tell you

you should worship

as God.

They tell you

worship money

because it will

satisfy you.

If you get enough

in your bank account,

you will be happy.

They tell you

that you should

worship your social

status,

that being a member

at this club

is better than being

a member at that club

and so if you have

a membership

at this club,

you're in.

If not,

sorry.

They tell you

to worship education,

to spend eight hours

a night after school

studying,

studying,

studying,

working your hardest

so you can get

into the best university

so that someday

you can get the best job.

They tell us

to worship stuff.

How many apartments

do you have?

How many cars

do you have?

How much more

can you get?

Because once you

get enough,

you'll be happy.

The city

constantly barrages

us with these messages

and if we're not

careful,

it's easy for us

to slip into the mode

of just going along

with what the city says

and teaching our youth

whether consciously

or subconsciously

to follow

what the city

tells us to follow.

To tell them

that their education

is truly the most

important thing,

not a relationship

with God.

To tell them

that getting money

truly is the most

important thing,

not ultimately

getting a relationship

with God.

And so I have

some diagnostic questions

that I'm going to

read off

that you can

ask yourself

on your free time

or after the service

or whenever

just to think about

what are we truly

teaching our youth

is the most

important thing

in life.

The first one is

what do I demonstrate

is the most important

thing in my life

through how I invest

my time?

What do I demonstrate

is the most important

thing in my life

through how I use

my time?

Am I showing them

that a pursuit

of Christ

is the most

important thing

spending time

reading my Bible

spending time

praying

spending time

with other Christians

or am I telling

them that the pursuit

of money is the most

important thing

and working 100 hour

weeks so that I can

build up that nest egg?

The second question

what do I demonstrate

is the most important

thing in my life

through how I invest

my money?

Jesus says that

where our treasure is

there our heart

will be also.

what are we showing

them that they

should treasure?

Should they treasure

flats and just

collecting real estate?

Should they treasure

cars, clothes

or should they

treasure Christ?

And what are we

showing them through

the way that we use

our money?

Next, what do I

demonstrate to them

is important through

how I treat others?

especially my spouse

them

our helper

and the others

that they see me

interacting with

on a daily basis.

Am I demonstrating

to them

that having power

is the most important

and so I take a

domineering stance

in all of my

relationships?

Or am I

demonstrating to them

that loving Christ

is the most important

thing and letting

that transform

the way that I

approach conflict

the way that I

approach friendships?

relationships.

Next up, what do I

say should be the

most important

things in the

lives of my

children based on

how I require them

to use their time?

Am I requiring

them to spend

five hours a night

doing homework

after school

because their

education is the

most important

thing on earth?

Or am I

encouraging them

to use their

time in the

pursuit of Christ?

And I'm not

saying education

or jobs or any

of this is a

bad thing in and

of itself.

But I'm saying

that if it

takes the place

of Christ and

if it replaces

him, it becomes

a bad thing.

Next question,

what do I

discipline my

children for?

What does this

show about my

values?

Is my

discipline an

attempt to

teach them in

God's ways and

train them to

become a person

who fears the

Lord or is my

discipline an

attempt to get

them to conform

to societal norms?

Next up, what

do I encourage

the youth around

me to pursue in

life?

In my daily

conversations with

them, am I

telling them, hey,

you go, you get

lots of money, you

become the best

athlete ever, or am

I telling them to

pursue Christ?

And finally, what

do I talk about the

most around the

youth in my life?

What am I

demonstrating is

important by

talking about these

things?

Again, the

things that we

talk about in our

conversations reveal

a lot about who we

are and what's

important to us.

So what am I

saying is important

through my

conversations?

Back in ancient

Israel, there was a

passage of the

Bible that was

central to the

life of the

Israelites on a

daily basis.

It's called the

Shema.

It's in Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy 6 · chapter mention

chapter 6.

I'm going to read

it quick.

It says,

Hear, O Israel,

the Lord our God,

the Lord is one.

You shall love the

Lord your God with

all your heart and

with all your soul

and with all your

might.

And these words that

I command you today

shall be on your

heart.

You shall teach them

diligently to your

children and shall

talk of them when you

sit in your house and

when you walk by the

way and when you lie

down and when you

rise.

You shall bind them

as a sign on your

hand and they shall

be as frontlets between

your eyes.

You shall write them

on the doorposts of

your house and on

your gates.

In ancient Israel,

this passage was

central to their life

in following Christ.

The fathers would

repeat it to their

families every day in

an attempt to train

their kids and teach

them about God and

who he was.

And even today,

this is central to the

life of the Jewish

faith.

I have an uncle and

aunt who are Jewish

and they have a four

year old daughter that

they adopted from

Vietnam and every night

before she goes to

bed,

they repeat this passage

to her.

And they teach her,

Hear, O Israel,

the Lord our God,

the Lord is one.

And you shall love

the Lord your God with

all your heart,

with all your soul,

and with all your

might.

When we look at the

book of Proverbs,

really all that's

happening is there's a

father who's taking

this teaching and

putting a little bit

more flesh and bones

on it,

who's teaching his

son,

the Lord your God,

the Lord is one.

Love the Lord your

God with all your

heart,

soul,

and might.

And then showing

them here's how that

love plays out in

your daily life and

affects and transforms

your relationships,

the way that you use

your money,

the way that you use

your time.

And I think that,

that again,

one of the most

important things that

we can do is just

constantly repeating

this message,

to our youth.

Speaking to them,

living to them,

the Lord your God,

the Lord is one.

Love the Lord your

God with all your

heart,

soul,

and might.

And it seems so

simple,

it seems so

ordinary,

plain.

But ultimately,

God has been using

ordinary,

plain people,

doing ordinary,

plain things to

impact generations

that follow them

for millennium.

and I think that if

we would take this

teaching,

take what he reveals

to us in Deuteronomy

and what he reveals

to us in Proverbs

and throughout the

rest of the scriptures

and apply that to our

interaction with the

youth around us,

it would have an

incredible impact on

this next generation

that is coming up.

So let's close in

prayer,

and the band will

come back on stage

and close us out.

Dear Father,

thank you for today,

thank you for your

word,

for giving it to us,

for teaching us

about how a

relationship with you

should impact our

relationships with

others,

specifically with the

youth in our lives

around us.

Thank you for the

gospel and the fact

that it changes

everything,

and that we can

raise up this next

generation,

to know you,

to follow you,

not because of our

own goodness,

but because of how

the gospel has

changed and

transformed us.

So please be with

us as we approach

the different youth

that we come into

contact with on a

daily basis.

Let our interaction

with them be marked

by your grace,

and not by simply

an attempt to make

them become better

people,

but an attempt to

see them truly love

you.

Thank you for your

love for us,

and in Jesus' name,

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Thanks, Eric.

We're going to

respond with a

song, and verse

two of the song

says,

I see a generation

rising up to take

their place.

With selfless faith,

with selfless faith,

I see a near revival

stirring as we pray

and seek.

we're on our knees.

And as I was just

listening to the

sermon, I got to

confess, I probably

sang the song

probably close to

50 times and

probably heard it

close to 100 times,

and it kind of

just hit me.

I never really sang

that second verse

with much conviction.

I don't know if I

ever really saw a

vision for a

generation that

would rise up to

take their place.

So, I don't know,

my prayer is that I

would really see

that in my heart as

I sing this and

going forward.

And one thing that I

really like about the

word generation is that

it's so all-encompassing.

It's not like I see

the Tam family, or I

see, that's my

surname, or I see the

Scott family, or I see

the Thomas family, or

whatnot, rising up.

It's like a

generation.

It's a generation

that crosses ethnicity,

gender, race, culture.

It's the universal

church of God.

And I think that's

really powerful, because

it kind of makes me

see the youth, see

anyone younger than

me as part of that

generation, that

potential generation.

And we know that

God no longer is

bringing salvation

through just the

nation of Israel.

Christ has come

through the nation of

Israel, and now

salvation and the

good news comes

through all of the

church.

I think that's just

amazing, incredible.

So let's just sing

that.

Feel free to stand

with me as you

respond with Hosanna.

I have just a couple

announcements for us.

As we close, you can

take a seat if you

want.

Here at Watermark, we

don't pass an offering

plate.

We have boxes set up

around, so we have

one right there, one

right there, one out

that door as you

leave.

And we believe that

our giving should be

a response of worship

to what God has

done for us and in

us.

And so we don't

want to feel like

we're forcing people

to give.

So we have these

boxes that you can

give as your own

personal response if

you feel led to after

the service.

Also, we have a

prayer team that will

be set up after

service if you need

prayer.

Will they be back

there by that

pillar?

Right here?

They'll be right

here?

So you can come up

and get prayer if you

need prayer for

anything in your life.

Also, we have

VBS coming up for

the children.

It will be from

August 13th to 17th

in the mornings, and

it's for kids age 5

through 10.

We will have sign up

right out at the

desk by the coffee

after service.

If you're interested,

please swing by that

desk or talk to

Melanie or Natalie for

more information about

that.

And community groups.

If you are not a

part of a Watermark