English
๐ฆ๐๐ง ๐๐ฃ๐๐ฅ๐ง ๐ง๐ข ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ฆ๐๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ฆ ๐ข๐ก ๐ข๐จ๐ฅ ๐๐๐ ๐ฃ๐จ๐ฆ๐๐ฆ
๐ฅ๐๐๐
โ๐ ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฆ๐ข๐ค๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ญ๐ช๐จ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ญ๐บ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ช๐ญ๐ฅ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ข๐ญ๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ด๐ช๐ต ๐ช๐ฏ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ธ๐ข๐ญ๐ฌ ๐ฃ๐บ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐บ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ญ๐ช๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ณ๐ช๐ด๐ฆ. ๐ ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฃ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ ๐ข๐ด ๐ข ๐ด๐ช๐จ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ด ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ต๐ญ๐ฆ๐ต๐ด ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ต๐ธ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฆ๐บ๐ฆ๐ด. ๐ ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ธ๐ณ๐ช๐ต๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ด๐ต๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐จ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ด.โย ๐๐๐จ๐ง๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ก๐ข๐ ๐ฌ ๐ฒ:๐ณ-๐ต
๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐จ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ญ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ง๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด. ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐จ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ง๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฅ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฌ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐๐ด๐ณ๐ข๐ฆ๐ญ. ๐๐จ๐๐๐๐ฆ ๐ฎ:๐ญ๐ฌย
๐ฅ๐๐๐๐๐๐ง
As God's chosen peopleโa royal priesthood and a holy nation (1 Peter 2:9)โwe are set apart for Him. This declaration of faith is not just for the present but something we aspire for God's people to embrace for generations to come. Passing on this truth faithfully and diligently to the next generation demands significant commitment from the present generation.ย
Even in the time of Moses, people were encouraged to teach their children about God, as seen in Deuteronomy 6:7โ9. This includes the primary Shema prayer (Deuteronomy 6:4โ6), which is recognized as a daily declaration of faith by Jews in both morning and evening rituals. This activity within families and communities is purposeful, since this is how continuous and intentional discipleship is emphasized from one generation to another. However, through the years, there are those who have failed to pass down the knowledge of Godโs character and deeds.ย
The tribes of Israel committed a great sin when they compromised and did not fully obey the Lord. This failure gave rise to a new generation, as mentioned in Judges 2:10, that abandoned the Lord and worshiped the gods of the people around them (Judges 2:12). In this shift, they lost sight of God and their own identity, potentially leading them into compromising situations.ย
While we may not be immune to similar failures, we have the grace to prevent them in our families, lives, and within our church. We can pass on the knowledge of who God is and what He has done in, for, and through us to the next generation.
As a church, we bear a multigenerational responsibility to pass on the batonโthe message of the gospel. We are to make disciples in our homes, campuses, and wherever the young people are. Parents have the next generation in their homes, teachers have them in classrooms, and we all have relatives and young friends we can minister to. Reaching them at a young age through relational discipleship and multigenerational relationships are some of the reasons that the youth choose to remain in church.
We take seriously the call to steward the next generation and teach them to face their battles. As a church, we deliberately make efforts to reach the campuses because that is where a lot of young people and future leaders are. Let us diligently teach the Scriptures, provide clear instruction, fervently impart wisdom, and consistently reflect Godโs love and truth to the next generation. As we remind them of Godโs steadfast love and unwavering faithfulness, may His kingdom continue to advance in and through us in the next forty years and beyond, from generation to generation.
๐ฅ๐๐ฆ๐ฃ๐ข๐ก๐
โข This year, how has God been good and faithful to you? How has He been faithful to your family? How has He been faithful to your local church and to the greater body of Christ?ย
โข Starting with your family and those you interact with, how can you pass on the message of the gospel to the younger or next generation?
๐๐๐๐ง๐ ๐ฆ๐ง๐๐ฃ
Think of a campus that is dear to your heart. Make a plan to regularly pray for the students, faculty, and staff on this campus.
๐ฃ๐ฅ๐๐ฌ๐๐ฅ
Lord, we come before You with a grateful heart. We remember Your greatness and the countless ways You have shown us Your steadfast love. May we continue to impart to the next generation a love for You and Your word, that they may intimately know and follow You. Help us to make disciples of young people with sincere compassion and grace. May they have growing relationships with You and Your people, and may they draw many more to You, In Jesusโ name, amen.