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,
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,
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
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.
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
community group, we
would love for you to
join one.
We will be having
people at the desk
out there if you're
interested in signing
up for a community
group after the
service.
So as we close, I'd
like to read Deuteronomy
6, 4 through 9 again
for us.
It says,
Hear, O Israel, the
Lord our God, the Lord
is one.
You shall love the Lord
your God with all your
heart, with all your
soul, 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.
You're dismissed.
Have a great week.
You're dismissed.
Have a great week.
Yeah.
Thanks.
Of course.