The Next Generation

I love when life is serendipitous. I like that word, although it’s probably not the right word for a believer to use. The right word is probably providential.

Either way or either word, this morning I was “Walking in the Word” and read Psalm 78 and when I came upon vs. 4-6, I saw God winking at me. I sensed a smile from heaven. Psalm 78:4-6 says “We will not hide them from their children; we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, his power, and the wonders he has done. ⁵He decreed statutes for Jacob and established the law in Israel, which he commanded our forefathers to teach their children, ⁶so the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children.”

Why is that providential? Today I am taking concrete steps in hopes of fulfilling a vision God gave me over a year and a half ago. At that time I reorganized the staff of the church I pastor and created a new Management Team position that would oversee a new department we now call “The Next Generation” Ministry.

After I discovered that 80% of the students that graduate from churches, like the one I serve, stop attending church in their second year of college, I knew we had to do something. Our solution has been to create a department whose primary responsibility is to produce disciples out of kids from birth to eighteen who will rise up as leaders in the church.

Last fall when we hired our Next Generation Pastor, who would oversee this gargantuan task, we also hired a new Care Pastor who also serves on the Management Team of the church and has a passion for family ministries. Is that coincidence? I don’t believe that. It is providence.

So today I am meeting with the Management Team and the entire Next Generation staff and we are going to begin to outline a long-term plan that will not only impact students, but their families and our entire church.

We believe God is calling us to equip parents, who have the responsibility to groom God’s next generation of church leaders (Deuteronomy 6:4-8), to fulfill their divine responsibilities. They must do it, but we can help! We are going to outline outcomes we hope to see in our students’ lives, in their parents’ ability to raise them to be Godly, and in the life of our church.

In the end we hope to produce young people who are going to be so busy honoring God with their lives and fulfilling His plan for them that they don’t have the time or the interest to use drugs, to have sex outside of marriage, or cheat their way to the top. We hope to see healthy families working together to serve God and one another. With a church filled with families fulfilling God’s mandate, we believe we can reach this city and touch the world with the love and grace of God.

Pray for us and the church as we work toward this end. Prepare yourself and your family to participate in this culture changing endeavor. To get this done we will need ever single family, every single person, and every senior adult in the church to participate and serve in this great cause.

Email your comments and questions to jpettus@lhbg.org.