READ | SERMON NOTES
Summary l “Let each generation tell its children of Your mighty acts; let them proclaim Your power.” Psalm 145:4 (NLT)
We, as a church at Wesley, have a sacred responsibility to bear witness and reinforce collective memory of God’s almighty acts and faithfulness; warn every generation against repeating past sinful mistakes. Active partnership with leaders of the NextGen Ministry, comprising Wesley Children’s Ministry (CM), Tweens-Anchored-in-Christ (Between), and Youth Ministry (YM), ensures that our youth are safe-guarded by God’s Word to become an integral part of the church family.
Three-fold Considerations for Purposeful Partnership
There is real and urgent need to nurture the spiritual wellbeing of our youths (age 0-23 years) who are here to worship God intergenerationally.
1. Challenges in the world today – As busy people living in an increasingly secularized society with complex polarized world views, our young ones face countless distractions and temptations cajoling them away from their faith.
They are “exposed to information, interactions, and behaviours they do not have the maturity for… which can affect them profoundly as they grow up.” (Facebook posts of Ministers Ong Ye Kung and Masagos Zulkifli, 21 June 2024) Even as government initiatives emerge to “shape the habit” of electronic device usage and social media to “help our young use them properly – to enhance their lives, and not inadvertently undermine their mental wellness”, we as Christlike parents, grandparents and mentors ought to heed God’s warning in Judges 2:10-12 to prevent a new generation from growing up not knowing Him or “doing evil in the eyes of the LORD.” We need to hand the baton of faith to the next generation well; remembering that for almost 140 years of our church history, God has faithfully raised many leaders and members who have sacrificially loved and served Him.
2. Role of the church – God’s plan for His people has always been generational. Believing that young people can build a strong world-class church, the Heart of God Church, founded in 1999, aims to reach many generations beyond ‘my’ or ‘the next’. With a pipeline of leaders and church builders engaged in a cyclical culture of evangelism and discipleship – they reach out, recruit, refine, release, and repeat the process continually. Intergenerational discipleship at Wesley is not about the young replacing their elders, but giving youths opportunity to reinforce the faithful practices of the older generations before them.
3. Discipleship lessons – Practical ways that lead the next generation to know God:
i. Be faithful storytellers – not hide but tell of God’s praiseworthy deeds (v4) as we journey faithfully to encourage one another as people of God, whose stories proclaim God’s glory.
ii. Be godly role models – Christian values are caught more than taught. So let us walk our talk with acts that reflect the values and teachings of Jesus Christ in our homes every day of the week – through prayer, Bible study, and in our interactions and care for others.
iii. Trust the young, honour one’s elders – Cultivating a culture of trust and honour with respect for each other’s insights and experiences creates a safe and welcoming bridge between generations who know they are being heard. Communication breakdowns are overcome when young and old “speak to be understood, and listen to understand”. Effectively passing a baton to hands ready and willing to receive ensures a multi-generational approach to building faithful discipleship in the church.
iv. Pray for the next generation – to have personal encounters with Jesus as LORD and Saviour, be more involved in the life of the church, dedicate their lives to love, trust and serve God; for the NextGen communities to be vibrant spaces for our youths to connect and fulfil God’s plans and purposes for them.
v. Invest in the next generation – volunteer to serve with any of the age groups: 18mos -10 years (CM), 11-14 years (Between), 15-23 years (YM). To achieve a ratio smaller than the current 1:30, more mentors are needed in YM to facilitate meaningful discussions with our youths around God’s Word – a highly rewarding high calling that sees victorious transformation of our young.
Pass on God-glorifying stories from our elders so that each generation will “set its hope anew on God”. Tell them to the next generation to know and teach their own children so that none shall “refuse to give their heart to God”, but joyfully learn to obey His commands. (v7-8)
(Sermon notes by Marjorie Tan)
PONDER | REFLECTION QUESTIONS
- What is one key takeaway for you from this message?
- What are some challenges you face today in Generations Discipleship?
- What platforms and ways can we be a faithful story teller of God’s story to others?
- How can you practically build trust with the young and honour the older generation in church or in your workplace or community?
- Are there areas that you are currently serving in that involves investing in the Next Generation in Wesley MC? If not, are there areas you can prayerfully consider serving today in any of our Next Generation Ministries? Spend some time praying for the Next Generation together.
