[To download the sermon, right-click on this link and select "Save As": A Letter to the Exiles - Seek Future Generations]

The gospel is radically God-centered, focused on Him and His glory

Think gospel, think Kingdom; think Kingdom, think King Jesus
The kingdom is NOTHING if the King isn’t EVERYTHING

But the gospel is also radically other-centered

King Jesus was “the sent one,” sent by the Father to seek two primary things:
The glory of God (b/c Jesus is radically God-centered)
That which was lost…Us, that we might know God in all His glory
that’s what we call salvation

Follow up:

And just as he was sent, so he sends us (Jn 17:18 and 20:21), for two primary reasons:
God’s glory
Others, that they might know God in all His glory

So the gospel is radically God-centered, and it’s radically other-centered

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Here in Jer 29, we see the exiles in Babylon: ripped out of their homes, homeland and culture,
enslaved, oppressed, despairing.
No King, No Kingdom … yet very much SENT (29:4)

God tells them something extreme: Settle in! Make Babylon your home

Don’t just bide your time, but live your life

I’ve sent you there for a reason; huddling anxiously until it’s over isn’t part of that reason

You are to SEEK
Seek the city
Seek God

This is the gospel directive…the GOSPEL MISSION

Where ever you are, under what ever circumstances you find yourself, the people of God are to enjoy and embody the gospel by seeking the glory of God and seeking the good of others

God, the Great Seeker, sought you and found you
And so is sending you for the sake of others

If you’ve been displaced, you’re not thinking about settling in
In fact, to settle in could say that you’re accepting the status quo

God tells them, like it or not, they’re in it for the long haul: 70 years … a lifetime!
In other words, a timeframe such that
if you were alive when you got there, chances are you’ll be dead before you leave.
And if you’re born there, welcome to your hometown.

Now, it was curse that got them there READ Ezra 9:7

But these commands, these are not curse…this is CAUSE

There are two opposing dangers that face exiles, whether in Babylon or in the U.S.:

1. Forgetting we are IN the world
We end up self-focused, isolated and insulated
It’s the curse of the insulated coffee cup
It keeps the coffee warm inside
But it does nothing for warming the hands outside

2.Forgetting that we are NOT OF the world
We don’t want to end up like Esther and her contemporaries, who had become so Persian that they lost their identity as a people “set apart for God.”

So: build houses, plant gardens, marry and give in marriage
In other words, get to know your local grocer, store clerks, bank tellers, neighbors
Go about life!
But always under the gospel directive, always ON MISSION

>>>>>>>>>>>

This is full of Creation Language
1.Have dominion, tend the garden
2.Be fruitful, multiply … do not decrease

Invest in future generations, SEEK the future generations
That they will enjoy and embody the gospel, seeking God and seeking others

When we speak of future generations, it includes our children, but also
those not yet born
parents, in that they will raise future generations
young adults … college students

Points to a multi-generational community
To our peril, we have generational squabbles:
older generations have messed things up OR missed the point
younger generations are going to really mess things up,
are lazy and worthless and not fit to inherit OUR earth

All of us need to repent of our generational sins and shortcomings
and recognize and rejoice in the necessity and belonging of each

Today’s “future generation” is tomorrow’s “present generation”, so no one is exempt from this

>>>>>>>>>>>>

Recognize the blessing of future generations

It is evident from Scripture that “children are a blessing/heritage from the Lord (Ps 127).”
But a few things can convince us otherwise…

1. We get self-focused and think that children will be a curse … a LIABILITY
That they will detract from my goals and my enjoyment

2. We get fear-focused … to have children would be INSANITY
How did those in Babylonian slavery and oppression received this Word of God?
“WHAT? Have kids?!?!? HERE?!?!?!”

I was sitting at my desk trying to get some paperwork done before I went out on home health calls, when the head of my department came by and told me that a plane had smashed into one of the Twin Towers.

She was about 6 months pregnant at the time, and knew Frances was also expecting (7 months) and she looked at me and said “it makes you wonder why we want to bring children into this world.”

The exiles in their despair and hopelessness and uncertainty must have been feeling this way…

But Scripture has a very different perspective.
NOT one of fear, uncertainty, and despair

Jer 29:11 … For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord

>>>>>>>>>>>>>

This God-centered hope is what we want to pass on to future generations
And is a hallmark of our children’s ministry

1.God-centered and not kid-centered, not self-centered

One of our own poets has said “I believe the children are our future.”
Is this TRUE?

Let me ask: what does such a statement communicate to our children?
They get the idea that THEY are of utmost importance

We often do this in the way we structure our families without even realizing it
we invest in children to the exclusion of all else, so that the life of the family actually revolves around the children and their pursuits.

Are we really seeking our children’s good when we do this?
Whose glory are we seeking when we live this way?

Our children are NOT our future … unless we idolize our children

God brings children into this world for the same reason He created all thing:
to demonstrate his glory

God’s plan and future for us is not bound up in our children, but in HIM!

Our future is Jesus,
so our desire must be that He is the hope and future of our children as well

It is our responsibility to point our children beyond themselves and
ground them in the present hope of the future glory of Jesus!

>>>>>>>>>

2.Gospel-centered and not morality-centered

In that Jesus is their hope and future, we want them to understand that that hope and future is secured by God’s grace and not their behavior

We so often turn the teaching of Scripture into a morality play, and the kids need to learn their parts and play them well and God will applaud.

But when we’re gospel centered, the kids see the magnificence of God’s grace in Jesus,
that He is their acceptance and satisfaction and all of God’s promises are yes and amen in Jesus

we are left understanding the redemptive story of God and we are the ones who applaud, we give praise and thanks and glory to Him for what He has done.

The heart is our target, not simply behavior. Yes, we want to see godly behavior from our children, but we need to realize AND act on the truth that “out of the heart” comes devotion and desire.

>>>>>>>>>>

Two driving passages that inform & direct our pursuit of our children are Ps78 and Ps145

READ Ps 78:5-6

The gospel that has been “told by previous generation to us”, handed on to us
we will not hide from our children
in other words, the gospel is worth showing off

We will Show and Tell our children of the glorious deeds, might and wonders that God has done by His might!

One of the most important things we can do is be honest with future generations about God’s grace and our sin

With necessary discretion and wisdom, humble yourself in the eyes of your children. If your kids see that mommy or daddy have no place in their lives for the glorious deeds, might and wonder of God, the forgiveness and mercy and grace that’s ours in Jesus, will THEY see their need for God? Will they seek God?

So we are to “TEACH our children …”

WHY? READ 78:7
1.That they should set their hope in God
2.That they would not be as stubborn and rebellious as you
Don’t you want your kids to pursue and love God more than you do?!?!
3.That they would tell their children, those yet unborn
a.You don’t just want to be a physical parent, but grandparent
b.And not just a physical parent and grandparent, but a SPIRITUAL one

>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Ps 145

(1-3 is worship!)

145:4-7 What will one generation do to the other?
commend, declare, meditate, speak, declare, pour forth (gush about…), sing aloud:

About What? READ 145:8-9
God’s self definition (ex 34:6)
How will we define God? How he defines himself!

Result? ALL creation will give thanks, bless God, speak and tell of Him,
make known to future generations His mighty deeds and glory of His kingdom

So we see again that our hope and our future is the gospel (Kingdom and King) and not the future generations, b/c his Kingdom will outlast and endure thru-out all generations

>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Not only serving children, but serving families … children and their parents

Parents primarily responsible for the education of their children
This is true about school (public, private, Xn, home), church or life

Dt 6: shema “hear o Israel: heart, soul, might
These words shall be on your heart and you shall diligently teach them to your children
Proverbs “listen to me, my son”
“House rules” in Paul’s letters: Eph 6:4 … discipline and instruction of the Lord

Fathers: step-up
You may not realize it, you may not embrace it, you may not want it
But one of your primary responsibilities in life is being the leader of your family

How are you leading? How will you lead?

We want to seek future generations, and one of the best ways to do this is to see parents seeking God, setting their hope on God, turning from their rebellion and actually living out Ps145: telling, gushing about, singing aloud of God’s greatness and glory.

>>>>>>>>>>>

Seeking future generations compels us to seek…College Students

Flagler is a 4 year school, USA 2-3 years
So if a student joins us, they are here most likely for only 1-4 years
(We are fortunate enough to have some graduate and STAY!!!)

When they leave, wherever they are going, we need to have the attitude that we are sending them out, sending them “on mission”, enjoying and embodying the gospel MORE when they leave than when they arrived

>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Basically, what we’re talking about is discipleship
Future generations coming to enjoy and embody the gospel b/c they hear it from us AND see it in us, that we are enjoying and embodying the all satisfying gospel of God’s grace in Jesus.

READ 2 Tim 2:2
An entrusting the gospel to future generations that they in turn will entrust it to others who will entrust it to others.

Being not just spiritual parents, but spiritual grandparents and great-grandparents (Jer 29)

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You never know how it will play out

When Frances and I were first married, we fell in with a couple who had 3 young sons at home, and we joined their small group, and they poured into a young couple without kids

now here we are, over 12 years later
not only with kids of our own, but also one of their sons as a vital part of this community of Christ.

I’m sure that what we learned from John and Sharon has a trickle down effect

In other words, some of what Ben might take away from his time here at Coquina as he grows in the grace of Christ may just come indirectly from his parents, but thru Frances and I.

And he’s seeking future generations in how he serves this body in leading worship, teaching, leading community group, serving us and our children.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

A call to seek future generations is a call to DISCIPLESHIP

Children are a blessing, but one of the biggest challenges for a church plant
Investment of time and people and resources … and it is worth it

Serving with the children’s ministry, nursery is not “doing time” or paying your dues.
They are not curse, but CAUSE

>>>>>>>>>>>

Don’t buy the myth of quality versus quantity time
The less quantity time you have, the less quality time you will have

Such seeking and discipleship requires sacrifice your schedules and agendas

Get Creative:
How can you incorporate the future generations into your life?

Do ride-alongs
That’s what the junior police officers call it
“hey, this is life on the street, on the clock”

“hey, this is life “on mission” in and for the gospel

1. Take kids to “do ministry” with you
You have to visit someone in the hospital? Take a child

Not only will this communicate to your child how you’re living your life “on mission” for Jesus, but it will surface many question about life and in-roads for the gospel to answer them that sitting at home in front of the TV would not do.

2. Take a college student on errands with you and your kids

How do you do it?!?!?
What about discipline and when they act up in public?

You’re creating a fertile environment of interaction
Not a sterile “sit down across the table from me while everything’s quiet” though there’s a need for that and you need to pursue it

As we consider what it means to enjoy and embody the gospel,
We MUST seek the future generations.

That they too will enjoy and embody the gospel
That they will seek God
And through Him and for His glory, seek others.