So over the last several weeks, throughout the summer, we have been in a summer message series called The attributes of God, where we've been diving into various characteristics, attributes about God and who he is, learning more about who he is, and then how that leads us to relate to him in a more effective manner to be in a relationship with Him, and we're going to come back to that next week and finish that series up. We still have a few more attributes to cover, but today we're going to do something a little bit different. We've been calling this a family Sunday, and preparing you for what was coming in some way, shape or form. And what we're going to be really diving into today is kind of exploring, from a biblical perspective, this church and family partnership as we engage together to equip and empower the next generation. And the reason that we're focusing on this is because of this, according to a survey in 2024 just last year, done by the Christian Post, they said that 72% of the people from the survey that they did, 72% of the people who accept Christ as their Lord and Savior do so, or did so before The age of 18, almost three quarters of everyone who accepts Christ as their Lord and Savior does so before they ever turn 18 years old, which means the moment that someone does turn 18, the chances drop dramatically on whether or not they come to know Jesus. Now we're put, not putting him in a box, and he can do anything. We have certainly tons of testimonies, and God's even at work in a number of ways through our young people and adults. And I shared that with you a few weeks ago. But this means that if that many people generally come to know Jesus before they turn 18, then that means what we do as a church to reach our young people with the good news of Jesus Christ is extremely, extremely important. And I believe that we all have a role in that. And I believe that we see this even in Scripture. And so let's just dive into a few passages that I think highlights this so that we can see this from a biblical perspective today. In Matthew chapter 19, we're told that Jesus was teaching, and there's this moment where people were bringing children to him. It says, Then the people brought little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them, but the disciples rebuked them. Now, why in the world would those mean old disciples rebuke kids from coming to Jesus? What's not the fact that they were necessarily mean or didn't value kids in some way, but in general, in this particular day and age, kids didn't have the status that adults had, in some ways, they were even viewed as nothing more than cheap property and treated accordingly. Unfortunately, in some ways, Michael Wilkins, in his commentary on the book of Matthew writes this about what was most likely happening. He says the disciples probably do not want the children brought to Jesus because they had an insignificant societal status and are interpreting what they consider to be more important matters of proclaiming the kingdom of God. Kids, what are you doing here? There are adults who are involved in important discussions. Jesus is trying to teach on the kingdom of God. So who do you think you are to roll up in here and start taking over these important matters that Jesus is trying to discuss with the adults? This is most likely what they were kind of saying. Jesus replies in verse 14, and said, Let the little children come to Me and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these. Jesus says, Don't you dare, don't you dare rebuke those children from coming to me. They value or I value them. They matter to me. They are imported. As a matter of fact, the kingdom of heaven that I am talking about right now belongs to such as them. And I think that when we see that 72% of the people who come to know Jesus Christ as their Savior before the age of 18, bring some validity to how the Kingdom of Heaven really does belong to such as these. Here's the deal, if Jesus values kids in this way and the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as them, then that has implications for us as a church. That has implications for the way that we do ministry and the way that we approach doing ministry with people. Kids. We're told in Matthew 28 just a few chapters after this, after Jesus' death, resurrection, ascension, and the last time that he's meeting with the disciples, that he says, Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. This, of course, is what is known as the Great Commission. This is the purpose of the church, and it involves two components. It involves an evangelism component and a discipleship component. We as the church are to tell people the good news about Jesus and His finished work on the cross, His death and His resurrection, and how they can enter into a life giving relationship with Him and have eternal life, if they'll receive what it is that he accomplished for them on the cross by putting their faith and trust in him. And after we share that good news and people respond to it by putting their faith and trust in Him, we baptize them to show that their sins have been washed away in that moment, and that the old them is dead, buried and gone, and they've been raised up with Christ to someone new. But we do not stop there and go, all right, you got your free ticket to heaven now, kid, so go tell everybody else about Jesus. And that's the only thing that really matters. It does matter that other people still come to know Jesus, but Jesus says to go and not make converts, but to go and make disciples, because this is the work of the church. We are to evangelize and share the good news with the lost, baptize them, but then to come alongside of them and teach them biblical doctrine, teach them more about who God really is and what's happened to them at the moment that they were saved, this new creation, this new identity, and how Christ lives in them and begins to work through them, not just when they come to church, but all throughout their lives as they keep their eyes focused on him. This is what we do. And when Jesus stood before them and said, Go and make disciples, he was not just talking about adults. Let the little children come to me for such as the kingdom of heaven belongs to them when we're talking about going and making disciples as the church, this includes kids in our ministry to them. When we think about the Great Commission, when we think about the reason that Jesus formed this local church colonial hills, one of the reasons that he established us here in this community is to be for the community to share the gospel with adults and with kids, and to come alongside of them and to disciple them and continue to point them to Jesus along the way. And this is what this church has been about, and part of what it is that we have been doing, I just got an email from one of our members, who's a grandparent. They had invited their grandson to come to Vacation Bible School this year, the grandchild hears all about Jesus and His death on the cross, and by the end of the week, we're talking a little bit more about salvation, and he says that he's ready to take a step of putting his faith and trust in Him and to receive this grace that Jesus was offering Him. And so we led him in that response and helped him pray to receive Christ, and then followed up those conversations with grandparents and and parents to let them know about that and that we're praying for them, and that we're ready for any next steps that the Lord would lead them to take. And so they've been continuing to have those conversations throughout the summer, and now they feel ready. And she was reaching out to say, hey, we're ready to take the step of baptism. And so when can we meet and begin to talk about those things, guys, that happened because of you, because of this church prioritizing ministry to kids through Vacation Bible School, through you making yourselves available to share the gospel with them, for you to give and find the ministry that was called to these children in this particular way, in this one student, along with number of others, life has been radically changed and transformed, and now they're walking on that journey of what it will look like to take that next step and then disciple and so on and soon. Not very long ago, I even heard from some of the parents of those who were involved in our student ministry, and how God was starting to get a hold of their lives in a way where their their faith was starting to become their own, like they've grown up in the church. Their parents had poured into them. They had come to Sunday school every week. They had, maybe even at one point, said yes to Jesus, and kind of understood the basic basics of salvation and that they needed to receive His free gift of salvation. But it didn't really seem to matter too much to them after that. It wasn't really anything that seemed to make a real difference in their life in any other particular ways, but all of a sudden, because of another adult who. Began to show love to them and pour into them and value them, probably saying much of the same things that the parent had said along the way, but because of whatever reason, God tends to work in this way, when our kids are seventh through 12th graders, maybe they listen to someone else's voice a little bit more than ours. Sometimes in that and we as parents are going, thank you. Thank you church for coming alongside of me as a parent and pouring into my teenager and helping them see what happened to them, who they now are in Christ and the difference that it's making in their lives. And I can see the energy and the enthusiasm and that wouldn't have happened if the church hadn't taken the role seriously to volunteer and to make disciples of all generations. So we give God all the praise, all the glory for what it is that he's doing in our our children's ministry and in our student ministry, and through those of you who are making yourself available to Jesus to be used by his instrument. And so we as the church have a role when it comes to discipling the next generation. But it's not just us. According to scripture in Deuteronomy six, we're told this, Hear O here, or Hear O Israel, the LORD our God. The Lord is One Love the Lord your God, with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home, when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up, tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads, write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates. Now this is an old covenant passage, and since Jesus' death and resurrection and sending of the Spirit, we no longer live under the old covenant. We live under a new covenant. But what we do see here in general, is that God had a plan to teach kids about him, through who their parents, through those in their families, impress them on your children, talk about them when you're sitting at home. Well, who's involved in the home, the parents and the families and those who are living there. We as parents, those of us who are parents have a role in discipling our children. God uses us to teach our kids about him and their need for him, and how that plays out in their lives and when we do it usually makes a difference. I threw some statistics out to you earlier about the number of kids who come to know Christ, or the people that do before 18? Well, the other statistics that I read about this particular week in prep for this was that when both parents, not one, but both mom and dad, are involved in the church, they're involved in their own discipleship, the way that God is working in and through them, and they're invested in their own kids discipleship in some way that 74% of those kids continue to be involved in church. Whenever they become adults, continue to be involved in their own discipleship. And what he's doing when only one of those parents is involved, it goes down to about half. If you average it out. It depends on whether it's Mom or Dad. Dad usually has a lot more influence on what happens to kids in that way. But then the other side of that when neither parent is involved, 6% 6% of kids who come to know Christ before 18 and their mom and dad are not involved in church or their own discipleship. Are invested in their kids in any way, in their discipleship, only 6% of those kids continue to be involved in church. And so again, God says, talk about me with your kids when you walk down the road, when you lie down before bed, when you're driving in your car in between soccer games. Write these things on your homes in all kinds of places, remind them of who I am and who they are in me in any way that you can think of, because I put you in a place of influence for your kids, and I want them to be pointed to me, because I am the vine, Jesus says, and they are the branches. So parents, we have a role in discipling our children. But that's not all that we see in Scripture, either. Let's continue Psalm 78 says, My People, hear my teaching. Listen to the words of my mouth. I will open my mouth at the parable. I will utter hidden things, things from old things we have heard and known things our ancestors have told us. We will not hide them from our descendants. We will tell the next generation the praise worthy deeds of the Lord, His power and the wonders he has done. He decreed statutes for Jacob and established the law in Israel, which he commanded our ancestors to teach them. Children, so the next generation would know them and even the children yet to be born, and they, in turn, would tell their children, then they would put their trust in God and would not forget his deeds.In other words, it sure seems like God has in mindthis inter generational discipleship plan that he works in and through, not just parents, but grandparents and great grandparents and other people who come alongside of you as well. I can't honestly remember exactly when it was. I think it was around four years ago, but around four years ago, I was having one of one of our coffee monthly coffee with the pastor times. It's just a time where we can meet with our guests, telling a little bit more about who we are as a church and how they can be involved in those things and in one of the people that were there sat down, and we're trying to get to know each other. And she said, Jason, I'm 81 years old. I'm a widow, I have some health issues. I've been out of church for a while,but I have a great grandsonI've never really been in churchwho doesn't know Jesus,and I feel like the Lord is saying that I need to get back and that I need to be involved in church, and then I need to be the one that has conversations with him about who Jesus is and the difference that he can make in his life, that I need to rely on and trust other people in the church to come alongside of me and teach him about Jesus And the life giving grace that He extends towards him as well. And she said, That is why I am here today to find out how I can get more involved and how I can get him more involved. And this was around four years ago, but this was around a year or two ago, and this is a picture of himstanding in the baptistry,because a great, great grandmothersaid Jesus works in and through me to tell the next generation and the next generation and the next generation. I think I maybe even saw him walk in here a little bit earlier today. Guys, kids matter to Jesus and God uses a partnership between the church and the ministry in the church and the volunteers in the church pouring into them, and a partnership between the parents and the grandparents, who are called to evangelize and disciple their children primarily. Andso this is what we're talking aboutnow when we talk about discipling, this church partnership, engaging families in the church, equipping them in some way. I want to be clear, and I think this is a duh, but I need to say it, just to make sure I'm clear. When we talk about this partnership of discipling our children, we are not talking about raising up good little boys and girls who are polite, respectful and obey all the rules.Is way beyond that.Way beyond that. I love the way that Elise Fitzpatrick writes about it in her book for parents, give them grace. She says, Guys, the story of the Bible isn't a story about making good little boys and girls better. She says, as Sally Lloyd Jones writes in the Jesus story book, Bible, some people think the Bible is a book of rules, telling you what you should and shouldn't do. The Bible is certainly or the Bible certainly does have some rules in it, and they show you how life works best. But the Bible isn't mainly about you and what you should be doing. It's about what God has done. Other people think the Bible is about a book of heroes, showing you how you should copy them and listen. The Bible does have some heroes in it, but most of the people in the Bible aren't heroes at all. They make some huge mistakes. They get afraid and they run away, and at times they're just downright mean. No, no, the Bible isn't a book about rules or a book of heroes. The Bible is, first and foremost, a story, an adventure story about a young hero who comes from a far country to win back his lost treasure. It's a love story about a brave capital P prince who leaves his palace his throne, who leaves everything to rescue the ones he loves. It's like the most wonderful fairy tale that has ever come true in real life. She goes on and says, This is the story that our children must hear like us. They need to hear it over and over again. The gospel tells us that we are all radically sinful, but yet radically loved and at the deepest level of what we do as parents and those in the church, we hear the heartbeat of a loving grace giving father who freely adopts rebels and transforms them into loving sons and daughters. She says, This is the message and the story that our children need to hear over and over again, and so as parents, as grandparents, as the church involved in ministry, and when we partner together, that's what we do. We share the life giving transformational message of the Gospel Jesus Christ, who brings about forgiveness of sins, eternal life and a new life in Christ that impacts us way above and beyond. Learning how to say yes sir and no sir and be polite little boys and girls and mind our manners at the dinner table. Well,what does this look like? What does it look like for us who are parents grandparents, those of us who are in the church? Well, let's talk about those of us who are parents and grandparents first, as we've already seen, you have a role. I mean, Bible talks about you have a role. You and I have a role in telling the good news of Jesus with our kids and our grandkids, and discipling them in some way as they continue to grow in who they are in Christ. But as much as our mind wants to go immediately to the things that we're doing in and for them and the conversations we're going to have around them, I think the thing that is most important for us to see is that it starts with us growing in our own understanding of God and who we are in Christ. Like we need to pay attention to our own discipleship, our own understanding of who God really is and who we are in Christ, and the way that he works in and through us. There's a statement in the book called The cure and parents that when I read it kind of haunted me. It says this, when your children are young, being the parent carries enough control to handle them, but if you don't grow up as they grow older, your immaturity will stunt their maturity at the level of your own and no measure of control can handle that ouch starts with you and I, beginning to grow in our own understanding of God and who we are in Christ, guys, it is out of the overflow of our union with Christ, us being the branch, him being the vine, the way he flows and works in us and through us that we minister to and serve and tell our kids about Jesus. It's only through that life giving relationship that we have in Him, and the more that we understand who He is and who we are in Christ and how he works through us, the more naturally, the more naturally you will begin to experience how He's using you, working in and through you to disciple your kids and your grandkids. The second thing then is it looks like practically us being involved in church, life together, parents, mom, dad, grandparents, with our kids, with our grandkids, in whatever way that we possibly can, guys we model for them what it looks like to worship, what it looks like to be involved in a church community, and how important it is to be involved in authentic biblical relationships with other believers that we value these things. Our kids are watching us. They see what's important to us. They know whether we prioritize worship in being here and being involved in biblical community, and if it makes any real difference in our lives to see if it really needs to matter to them in their lives at all. And so the more that we show up and engage with the things that are going on here, and we do life together. God gets to work in and through that, to grab a hold of their hearts in the way that they see him working in our lives as well. But it's not just that. It's them also being involved in the various children and student ministries that we have while you have a role at home as the primary disciples of your kids and your grandkids in modeling these kinds of things in worship and in church together, we've also seen how the church has a role other people are to come alongside of you, and so listen, if we as the church are to partner with you in discipling your children or grandchildren in some way, but they're not here on Wednesday nights and Sunday mornings, then how can we carry out our role with them? If we're not here and can't be invested in their life and relationally, come alongside of you, then there's part of the equation that's missing. So when we talk. About this partnership and our role as parents. Then we we prioritize these particular things, and we allow other people to come alongside of us in our children's and students ministries, to invest in them and pour in them as we do life together. And then finally, we talk about Jesus throughout everyday life. I know a lot of times when we as parents or grandparents think about our roles in discipling, we go, I guess I need to start doing some Bible studies and devotionals with my kids and all of that and and maybe that's true. Maybe that's the way it plays out in your family, and it looks like something formal in that way. Maybe it looks like having tacos somewhere down the road. Maybe it looks like you're driving in your car from whatever game you just finished or practiced, since some kid was at each other and there was conflict, or your kid's doubting something, and you're going, Okay, here's a great opportunity for me to bring the gospel into real life situations and the things that they're doing here. I mean, I think that's what the whole Deuteronomy passage was all about. Talk about them when you lie down and when you're on the road and when you're these, it's just every single day looking for the Spirits work and how he wants to work through you as the parent or grandparent in the life situation that we're in. To talk about Jesus and the important things that he's saying in and through those situations that we're in, and so we trust him with those things. What about our role as a church? Well, part of our role is to come alongside of you as parents, to equip you, to support you and to encourage you as parents and grandparents. When we had our baby dedications up here just a few weeks ago, that was part of what we did. If you remember being here, we asked some commitments of them and dedicating their children to the Lord, and then I asked you to stand and said, you've got a role in this, and our role is to come alongside of them and equip them and support them and encourage them in some way through the discipleship of their kids, or to be there for them as parents, and so sometimes that just comes naturally through the discipleship groups that you're involved in, this equipping and supporting and encouraging happens in Sunday school or whatever biblical small groups or community that you're in and involved in authentic relationships that's just happening through those times. But sometimes it involves us being more intentional about specifically talking about this area of what the Christian life looks like in parenting and grandparenting. And that's what Garrett was just talking about during the announcements earlier as we begin our first eight week session on Wednesday nights for our adult classes to come alongside of our student and children's ministries and things going on there, we're going to have a class on parenting, kind of grace based parenting, and equipping us to focus on those things. And what does it really look like to carry out these roles of discipleship in those ways? And so my hope and prayer is that you'll prioritize being here on Wednesday nights as much as you can as we learn and as we grow together in this way, and then finally, like I mentioned earlier, our role is to do everything that we can to make our children's ministry and our student ministries the best that they can possibly be, to reach our kids with the Gospel before they turn 18.But let's be honest,our children and our student ministries are only as good and effective as the number of volunteers that we have.Everybody wants to go, Gosh,I wish we would do this. Or I wish our children's ministry did that, or our student ministry had these kind of things. And there's a lot of things that we would loveto be able to do.We just don't have the people to be able to pull it off. And that's the whole first Corinthians 12 thing in the body of Christ. And we each make ourselves available to him and go. Is that one of the roles that you have for me to be more involved in some way in children's ministry or student ministry on Wednesday, Sunday nights, and whatever it looks like to come alongside of our children's minister and student minister and to disciple kids in that way. When we talk about being involved in these that could be mom and dad, now you're involved in ministry alongside of the ministry that's supporting your kids. Maybe it's grandparent and you're involved in that as well. Maybe you don't have children here, maybe you don't have grandchildren here, and you're way past that stage, but the Lord's calling you to be involved in it. Two of our most effective leaders in our student ministries to seventh through 12th graders are in their 70s. You can't be doing that with seventh through 12th graders. When you get to be that age, apparently Jesus can, and he has been. So maybe that's the question we ask for him as well. Maybe you're single, maybe you don't have kids, and you're going, I don't know why I'm even here on this family Sunday, I did a funeral for someone in our church. I can't. Remember three or four years ago now, who was never married. I don't remember exactly how old she was when she finally passed, but she was never married. She was single her entire life, and she spent her life investing in kids in her children's ministry every single Sunday, and she was known for telling kids, I love youand I value you, and you're important to me,but more important than that, Jesus loves you, and he values you, and you are so important to him. And so there's something in this for potentially all of us, whether you're a grandparent, a parent, whether you're single, whether you're divorced, whether you're widowed, whatever situation you are in, the question is, what step is Jesus leading you to take as a parent or a grandparent in the involvement of discipling your kids or grandkids or as part of The church. How is Jesus leading you to take a step to be more involved in our children's ministry or our student ministry? To give you a little bit more of an idea of what that looks like, you've heard a lot of me speaking about this all morning, so right now, I want to invite Garrett and Marcy, our student minister and our children's Minister up here to join me on stage. And I'd love for you to hear a little bit more about their heart for their ministries, and how you can be involved in that, and how you can be praying about these things. And so we're going to enter into this time for just a few minutes, and then we're going to close our service in a little bit with a specific time of prayer over and for our families. And so I hope that you'll prioritize sticking around for that as well.