The Good Gift of God's Multigenerational Church

6 · Introduces the sermon's first major claim: passing down truth is a vocational duty for God's people

First, we have a duty, we have a vocation to pass down the gift of truth. The psalmist in verse one here says, give ear, o my people, to my teaching. Incline your ears to the words of my mouth.

7 · Connects Psalm 78 to its Old Testament precedent in Deuteronomy 6

So then the psalmist here is following the pattern of Moses in deuteronomy, chapter six, where Moses says this, hear, o Israel, the Lord our God. The Lord is one. Then Moses proceeds to give instruction by saying, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind. 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 between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

8 · Synthesizes the pattern observed in Deuteronomy 6 and Psalm 78 into a broader canonical claim: passing down truth—including law, gospel, and holiness—is a consistent biblical imperative across all of Scripture

So what we've seen is that the theme of passing down the truth from generation to generation is found throughout all of biblical history. The scriptures call God's people time and time again to pass down the faith. This includes his laws, his statutes, and most importantly, the gospel. All the things that pertain to both salvation and living a holy life.

9 · Moves the argument into new covenant territory

The theme of seeing God's faithfulness to redeem those he has called to himself through the life, death and resurrection of Christ is a truth that is worth passing down. Amen. We are called to make disciples of all nations, teaching them to obey all that God has commanded. Paul the apostle Paul, in his letters, is regularly reminding us to continue in what we have learned to teach the younger. The church is described all over the New Testament as a multigenerational expression of the kingdom of God.

10 · Points forward to the eschatological culmination in Revelation

So as we think about the church as a multigenerational expression of the kingdom of God. One of the reminders that we want to include regularly is seen in revelation, where we see eternity, commencing with the ushering in of the new heavens and the new earth. There's the explanation in the picture of the marriage supper of the Lambda, where people from all tongues and nations and tribes will be united in worship of the risen king. At this time, there won't be any need for any more passing down, because all that was passed down has come to pass. What a glorious truth that is.

11 · Restates the core claim before pivoting to new covenant application

The point here is that the truth of God and the history of God's faithfulness is to be passed down from generation to generation. We are to tell the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord and his might and the wonders he has done.

12 · Applies the Old Testament pattern to the new covenant

So what does this look like in new covenant language? We've seen what it looks like in the Old Testament, in the psalms, in deuteronomy, in the law. But what does it look like in a new covenant? What does it look like as people who are informed and changed by the gospel? It first looks like this. We are to be reminded of the grace and mercy of salvation by grace alone, through faith alone in Christ alone. It also looks like following God's laws and God's precepts. Part of the warning in the psalm for us in the 21st century is that we don't neglect holiness. We are saved by grace and are called to live as people. Changed by that fact. Now listen, this isn't some legalistic pietism. This is not look how holy I am. What it is is I have been changed by grace. And it is a gift to live in a way that pleases a holy God. John Calvin says this in his commentary on psalm 78. If in this psalm there shines forth such a majesty as may justly stir up and inflame the readers with a desire to learn, we gather from it with what earnest attention it becomes us to receive the gospel in which Christ opens and displays to us the treasures, his celestial wisdom.

13 · Illustrates the balance of encouragement and warning by pointing to the Sermon on the Mount

A perfect example of this would be if you fast forward, if you flip over your bible to Matthew five, six, seven, the sermon on the mount, if you scan through that in it, you'll see that Jesus gives lots of encouragement. He speaks to anxiety, he speaks to how we're to care for those in financial need. He speaks about the love of the father. But he also gives really clear warning and judgment for what happens when we don't follow what the Lord is teaching. Jesus clearly reminds us that wisdom looks like building on the rock, which is God, and foolishness is building on the sand of the world.

14 · Pivots from duty (passing down truth) to trust (the gospel's power)

So we see that it's our job to pass down the truth. But now we say, trust the power of the gospel. Say for me, trust now. Say for me trust in the power of the gospel. Awesome.

15 · Introduces contemporary data on the dechurching trend in America

There is a troubling trend in our country today. There's this book called the Great who's leaving, why they are going, and what it will take to bring them back. Where the authors reveal the results of a rigorous study of Americans, here's what they say. Before now, the largest religious shift in church attendance in the US occurred during the 25 year period after the civil war. From 1870 to 1895, church attendance more than doubled as people resumed their post war lives. That religious shift pales in comparison to what we're seeing today. Only instead of going back to church, people are leaving the church. About 15% of american adults living today, around 40 million people, have effectively stopped going to church. And most of this dechurching has happened in the last 25 years.

16 · Narrows the dechurching problem to a specific failure: the missed generational handoff between ages 18-25

So as these authors walk through the why behind this, as well as what the church might do about this challenge, the authors point out a particular problem they call the missed generational handoff. They say this it's significant that in our study, when we asked survey participants in what period of their life they were most religious, the period of highest religious interest was from ages zero through 18, and the period of lowest religious interest was ages 18 to 25.

17 · Tells a hypothetical story of a church that loses young people by compromising the gospel's transforming power

Now I want to tell you a story of a church. The story is meant to illustrate how a church might miss this generational handoff. This isn't the story of any specific church, but it could be the story of any number of churches. So there's this church. Imagine this church that finds its congregation aging. This church was once full of young families, and ministry felt a vibrant. There was always something going on. For a while things seemed great. But after a while, young people started leaving the church. Young families would leave the church and no young families would come back. It seemed like something was missing. So when a group of older people with a strong desire to grow their church with young people got together, they kept trying to come up with ideas that they thought young people would like to get them in the doors. They intentionally and sincerely tried to figure out what young people cared about and what types of things attracted young people and young families to the church. In their sincerity and intentionality, they fell into the increasingly common trap of trying to use agreement with culture and giving in to cultural pressures to attract people. Rather than preaching the truth of the mercy, grace and forgiveness found in Christ. Whether on purpose or by accident, this church found themselves with no transforming power in their message. If the essence of the gospel is come as you are and let Christ radically transform you from the inside out, this church would preach by accident or on purpose, come as you are and stay that way again, by accident or on purpose, they lost the transforming power of their message.

18 · Returns to Psalm 78:7-8 to show the contrast between faithfulness and rebellion

Look what psalm 78 says in verses seven and eight. The psalmist actually tells God's people that by keeping God's commandments and keeping God's law, they will be faithful, unlike the generation that was not faithful. Look at verse seven. So that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments and that they should not be like their fathers. A stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation whose heart was not steadfast, whose spirit was not faithful to God.

19 · Applies the exposition to the congregation

Look, this is what I want to encourage us with this morning. By the grace of God, continue resting in the mercy of Jesus and pursue holiness as the spirit sanctifies you. Trust in the transforming power of the gospel and continue to follow God's commands.

20 · Encourages reading the rest of Psalm 78, which recounts both faithfulness and rebellion

You'll see. I would encourage you to read the rest of this psalm today because it's really interesting and a little devastating, because throughout the psalmist decides that he's not going to just tell the good that happens when you follow the Lord. He also recounts what happens when the people rebelled and they turned away from the keeping of God's commandments. But look at what the emphasis of the text is. One commenter puts it this way. The acts of God draw attention to God's deeds, and not primarily to human beings. Rebellious spirit. They reveal his power, his glorious acts, worthy of the praise of Israel and the wonders in the Old Testament.

21 · Traces the pattern of Israel's repeated rebellion and God's repeated faithfulness through the wilderness and the judges

What is Israel reminded of over and over and over again after they mess up over and over and over again? It doesn't take much reading in scripture to know that God's chosen people, Israel, mess up all the time. He gives them manna says, I will provide for you every day. And they say, no, you won't. I'm going to keep it. And then it rots. And he goes, what were you doing? And then he provides it again. Throughout the cycle of the judges, we see judges and we see God giving grace and God's people rebelling, and then a judge, and then Israel repenting. And it just keeps going over and over and over again. And yet God continues to show his faithfulness to his people, Jesus calls us to repent of our sins and our rebellion and get new life.

22 · Articulates the theological claim of regeneration and new creation in Christ

To be born again is to become a new creation like we talked about earlier. Therefore, if anyone's in Christ, he is a new creation. Say, new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come. That would be an opportunity for an amen there. Man. What grace.

23 · Connects the doctrine of new creation to the sermon's main theme of passing down truth

Then when we pass down the truth, we pass down a truth of transformation. There is wonder in God saving sinners and allowing sinners to live as those who have been redeemed.

24 · Pivots to the practical task of telling the story

So what do we do with it? I'm glad you asked. Say, tell the story.

25 · Argues that telling the whole truth means recounting both rebellion and redemption

Telling the stories of many generations, psalm 78 is really helpful because it's a reminder to tell the whole truth. Multigenerational churches must tell the stories of what happens when we don't trust God, what happens when we rebel against God's good designs for humanity. God's good plan, verse eight. And they should not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation whose heart was not steadfast, whose spirit was not faithful to God. As I encouraged you a minute ago, I'd encourage you to read the rest of this psalm this week and process through all the mistakes articulated here. Then look at the end of the psalm, where the psalmist recounts the mercy of God in choosing David to shepherd the people. Those verses truly illustrate the depth of God's glory and mercy. But the reason they illustrate it so well is because of all the stuff that was recounted before, all the rebellion recounted before, which required the mercy and grace of God. And what we know now is that David was an albeit imperfect picture of the messiah that was to come. Jesus.

26 · Synthesizes the purpose of multigenerational storytelling: to ground hope in God and to prevent the repetition of past failures

Perhaps a helpful summary of this section of text would be that we teach the truth to every generation in order to show why we can hope and trust in God, but also to not repeat the mistakes and relive the pain of past generations.

27 · Engages the congregation in a participatory exercise to make sin, consequence, and mercy tangible

So I want to ask a question here, and my desire would be that we have a little bit of participation. Okay. We warmed up for the christians in the room. Now, you know that I was a middle school teacher, and when I said, raise your hand, a lot of middle schoolers would go like this. And so I'd have to always remind them, straight arm, raise hands. Okay, so straight arm, raise hand for the Christian in the rooms. As christians in the room, how many of you have sinned? Look around. Look around. Don't just look at me. Look at each other. You are in good company now. Keep them up. Keep them up. We're going to get a workout this morning for a second. Now keep your hand up. If you have experienced the consequences as a result of your sin, look around. Don't look at me. Don't take my word for it. That's a lot of hands. Keep them up. Keep your hand up. If you've experienced the mercy of God through Christ upon repenting of your sin, hallelujah. Look around. Look at the evidence of God's mercy in people's lives. Go ahead and put your hands down. Shake it out.

28 · The pastor pauses to clarify the doctrine of identity in Christ

Before I ask this next question, I want to be really clear about something. If you are in Christ, your identity is no longer sinner. If you are in Christ, your identity is redeemed. Child of God, that's an opportunity for an amen. Thank you. For those of you who did that. Again, the grace of God on display. I was talking to a friend the other day who says it this way to kids. Takes a book out of his pocket and he says, when you turn your life to Jesus and Jesus redeems you, God writes your name down in his little book, and he writes it down in pen, and there is no one who can erase it. I want to make that abundantly clear before what I say next. We know that on this side of heaven, as a result of the fall, we still may wrestle with sinful desires, and occasionally we give in to those sinful desires. That doesn't mean that every time you sin, you're flip flopping back and forth between sinner, redeemed, child of God. Sinner, redeemed, child of God. Salvation is not just fire insurance. The Holy Spirit sanctifies us, purifies us, and sometimes that's painful, but it's always good for our good and his God's glory. Jesus died for those sins, too. There may be those in this room for whom the consequences of your sin are still a part of this life. Does that make sense? Your destiny eternally is secure, and your life is still affected by the temporal consequences of your sinful decision or decisions.

29 · Applies the pastoral aside to the congregation's storytelling vocation

So I'm not going to ask you to raise your hand, but I would bet that if you knew that telling your story could prevent others from experiencing the consequences of that sin, you'd want to tell that story not centering your sin, but telling your story in such a way that others are reminded of the mercy and faithfulness and glory and forgiveness of a holy God through Jesus. A multigenerational church is filled with stories that God can and will use to remind people of his holiness and his character of mercy and love and forgiveness.

30 · Presses the congregation with direct questions about trust, repentance, and faith

So my question for you is, where are you today? Do you trust God and his plan over your desires and your plan? Let me ask that question one more time. Do you trust God and his plan over your desires and your plan? Have you repented of your sins and placed your hope and faith in Jesus? That's the hope for eternity. That's the hope that's never ending. That's what we sing about, we preach about, we pray about, we encourage each other with. That's a hope worth passing down.

31 · Signals a structural shift to the final major section of the sermon: the gift of multigenerational disciple making

So as we move through here, we see that there is a gift of multigenerational disciple making on display.

32 · Grounds the sermon's call to multigenerational disciple making in the Great Commission

Jesus said in Matthew 28, do you remember the words of Jesus in Matthew 28? He's ascending into heaven. And what does he say? He says, go make disciples of all nations, teaching them to obey all I have commanded you. All Christians, all ambassadors of heaven have a job description for their inherited vocation. If you're a redeemed child of God, you may have an earthly vocation, but your heavenly vocation is to use your earthly vocation to make disciples wherever you are.

33 · Points to 1 Timothy 5 as a New Testament blueprint for multigenerational church life

Then we see in scripture that the apostle Paul in one Timothy five has a clear picture, and I encourage you to go check it out. It's a clear picture of what a multi generational church is to look like. It's specific instructions for how the multigenerational church built through discipleship is to care for and relate to one another.

34 · Tells a personal story of a four-generation family worship gathering

Now, I want to tell you a story about our family. All of our family is back east, east of the Mississippi, mostly in the northeast, which means we don't get to see them as often as we like. So a couple weeks ago, we took a two week vacation back to Rhode island, and by the grace of God, we were able to have some hangout time with four generations of people, of family members on my mom's side and four generations of people on my dad's side. It was a true gift. We got to spend time with over 30 family members throughout those two weeks. And on Sunday, we got to have a simple worship service with four generations of voguens on my dad's side. Now, the first meal that we had together that weekend, we prayed. And as we have done so many hundreds of times growing up, my papa and grandma, as I call them, led us in the doxology. Four generations of voguens singing the praise to the one true God. Such a gift. So on Sunday, we got to have a simple worship service. We read the word together, we sang songs together. It was beautiful harmony. I looked at my kids and my cousin's kids. I was grateful for the example of my grandparents teaching their kids, who taught me, and my cousin, who are now teaching the our kids of the faithfulness of God and a Jesus worth following.

35 · Extracts the theological lesson from the personal story

Each of those four generational hangouts that we had represent lifetimes of both joy and sorrow, seasons of following the Lord, and seasons of rebellion. What has been proven time and time again is that in those four generations, Jesus is still worth following in every season of life. And the truth of the gospel is worth passing down from generation to generation and trusting the Lord to do the saving work is still the goal.

36 · Transitions from the personal story to a broader ecclesiological claim

Now I realize that my story may be relatively unique, but I see it as a microcosm of the beautiful design of God's church. The authors of the great dechurching say this about passing down the truth. We have used the imagery of passing the baton, but that imagery falls short of the goal of a faith family. Maybe a better image is that of three generations of a family building a house instead of a 1 second baton pass. We strive to work together over the course of decades to build and be a part of something beautiful.

37 · Illustrates the sermon's thesis by naming specific people in the congregation across multiple generations

So I want to take a minute and I want to look at God's house as represented in this outpost of the kingdom of heaven. In this room. You may not know it, but there's at least one great great grandfather in the faith. I'm looking at you, Uncle Bobby, almost 100 years old right here. Picture of faithfulness. Yeah, awesome. When I met Uncle Bobby 14 years ago, I met him caring for his sweet wife who was in a wheelchair. Couldn't move around much, but he showed the love of God to his wife and was an example of me, of caring for the one he was given to care for with the love of Jesus as his motivation. Thanks, Uncle Bobby. There are great grandmothers in the faith like sweet Mama Liz and Miss Evelyn. There are grandparents in the faith like Larry and Marian Lumpkin, Joe and Kim Alcantar, Chuck and Judy Moseley, Dick and Liz Snow, Manny and Marguerite, Ingrid Moreno, Les and Wendy Hall, Sandy Marquette, Karen Thorason. There are parents in the faith like Todd and Kathy Peterson, like Liz and Eric Gonzalez, like Kelly and Art Espinoza. I could go on and on and on with this list showing God's faithfulness over the generations. In this house, there are people in my generation and the next generation and the next generation. But are you starting to see the picture? The Lord has provided people in every stage of life and every stage of trusting Jesus to be the family of believers united around the gospel, you have people who have experienced every possible joy and pain imaginable and have continued to follow Jesus steadfastly with all of their being represented in this outpost of the kingdom are people who have counted the cost of following Jesus and come to the conclusion that it's worth it because he's proven himself worth following.

38 · Applies the illustration to the Great Commission

So when Jesus says, make disciples, we have every reason to go do that with confidence.

39 · Signals the transition to the sermon's conclusion with specific applications

So as we kind of conclude this idea of seeing these pictures, of seeing gods, gift of a multigenerational church, I want to. I have a couple specific applications that I hope are really not sinful. Simple. That would not be good. Thank you, Lord, for that correction.

40 · Applies the sermon's thesis to Cross of Grace's ministry structure

First, pursue seasoned ministry. Say seasoned ministry. Andrew, let you in on my joke. Seasoned, meaning those of us who have a little bit more salt than pepper these days in our hair. Those of us who have. My great grandfather used to call them q tips because of all the white, puffy hair. What does this look like at Cross of grace? Our hope is that the multigenerational model of church is represented in all of our ministries. Very practically, we want our ministries to represent the cross section of the church. If you look at the worship team regularly, we have at least four generations represented on the worship team, from Evan, who is playing today, and Abby Bell, who sometimes sings all the way up through Marian Lumpkin, who I'm convinced is ageless but is a grandmother in the faith. And I encouraged her. Last time she was in the first service that when I first started playing on the team, she would come up to me and say, she'd go, John. And she'd grab my arm and she'd say, psalm 122 one. I was like, I don't know. And she'd go, I was glad when they said to me, let us go to the house of the Lord over and over and over again. After the last 14 years, she's grabbed my arm and said, pulled me close and said I was glad and then I will finish. When they said to me, let us go to the house of the Lord, that's multi generational ministry. This looks like if you look at our kids ministry, we have volunteers who are teenagers all the way up through sweet Marianne Wheeler, who last week at 83 years old, served with the two and three year olds teaching them the gospel. The hospitality team has kids all the way up through adults that serve. The special events team is led by Nana Cherry, who is one of the sweetest grandmothers in the faith, who makes sure that we are not only fed for special events, but well fed also an opportunity for an amen. The greeters encompass people from many different generations and experiences. Our desire for community groups is that they are being formed with people of every generation so that we can see the goodness and graciousness and faithfulness of God in our everyday life on display every week when we gather.

41 · Applies the sermon to young people (0-30)

So pursue seasoned ministry. Now for young people. Young people, look at me. Some of you are like, am I a young person? For the sake of our argument today, I'm saying young people are zero through 30. Fight me later. Zero through 30. You are a young person, 30 to 60. You're youngish. Take what this take from this what you want. But for young people, zero to 30. Be encouraged by the faithful perseverance of older saints. Be encouraged by the faithful perseverance of older saints. Here's what Paul encourages Timothy with in two. Timothy three. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood, you have been acquainted with the sacred writings which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. Again, middle school teacher, you can't take it out of me. All of your eyes on all of my eyes for a second. Zero through 30 year olds, do you have questions that you can't seem to find the answer to? Do you have doubts that you're wrestling with? Do you have a particular sin issue that you can't find deliverance from or you can't get ahold of or control? Are you wondering what to do with your life? Are you having a hard time at work knowing how to work as unto the Lord? Two things for you. First, dig into scripture. Dig into God's word. See the encouragement that he has for you. Read of God's faithfulness for generation to generation. Then after you've done that, go and seek out older believers. And I want you to take me up on this. Ask older believers who you look up to. Why are you still following Jesus? And hear their answer. Older saints, answer us. Give us why you have a hope in you. Why have you chosen time and time again? Tell us how the Lord has kept you. Maybe let's say it that way. Zero through 30 year olds, ask the question, why are you still following Jesus? Second, ask for their advice. Ask for their advice. No one, not everybody in this room, has all the answers to every question. But let me tell you one time that I was served, and I've told this story before, that I was having a conversation with Chuck, one of our pastors, and he said, john, the older I get the. The greater my joy and the deeper my sorrow. As you're holding these two things in tension, young people, there's lots of people in this church who maybe don't know why we experience so much sorrow, but they know that God can be trusted in the midst of it. Ask them why they've held on to the faith, why they think the Lord has helped them persevere in belief when the Lord has presented so many reasons not to believe. Young people and youngish people, look at our senior saints who are seeking to finish their race well, pouring into people for the sake of the gospel and follow their example. And if I may, senior saints, thank you for running your race well. Keep running. Keep running because we youngish and young people need you.

42 · Applies the sermon to the middle-aged (30-60)

For those of us who are in the 30 to 60 ish age, I know we have a lot going on, but I want to give you two encouragements. First, don't try to do it on your own. Sometimes in that 30 to 60 age, we're like, put on that backpack. And you're like, I got this. Respectfully, you don't, and the older people will attest to that. Second, use this time in your life to pour into others. But take advantage of being poured into by others, because as you are gaining more experience and wisdom, you still need the experience and wisdom of people ahead of you. So as you're being poured into by people ahead of you, also pour into the people that are coming behind you. That's the encouragement. For those of us in that 30 to 60 age now are those of us with more salt than pepper in our hair.

43 · Applies the sermon to older saints

For our older saints, impart your gospel soaked wisdom and encouragement to the younger generations. So I've asked the young people to go ask you questions. Here's your job. Tell of God's faithfulness in your story. Senior saints, your story matters. Your wisdom matters. Your perseverance matters. There are people in this room who have been following Jesus twice as long as I have been alive. What great grace this is of the Lord. The apostle Paul in Titus two gives specific direction to older men and women to instruct and teach the younger men and women what is good and right. Senior saints, remind us of why God is worth following. Help us learn from your mistakes. If you experience the consequence of sin in this life and the Lord has redeemed your soul from the pita, tell us that story. Help us learn from that. I know that when I see people that I respect and look up to admit that they struggle and yet persevere, or admit that they have questions before and still trust the Lord. That makes me feel like I can do it. It gives me strength to keep going. It gives me the hope and confidence that I can spend the rest of my life following Jesus by his mercy.

44 · Grounds the value of simple acts of care in Romans 16:13

Now look, even the simple act of caring for people with gospel motivation matters, so much so that God included it in his word sometime. Look at the list of greetings and thanks that Paul has in Romans chapter 16. In verse 13, there's this little often missed detail. I think I missed it a bunch growing up. Maybe because that's because I was a young fool and I didn't know. I'm also an old fool. But Paul says this. Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord. Awesome. As I'm skimming, it's possible that I might miss this also. His mother, who has been a mother to me as well. Apparently Rufus's mom was so kind and gospel motivated to Paul that Paul, God, through Paul, recorded her motherhood, gospel motherhood in the pages of scripture, that we might also do that. Don't think that just the simple act of gospel motivated care is not worth pursuing.

45 · Summarizes the sermon's main movements: pass down the truth, trust the gospel's power, tell the whole story, and thank God for the multigenerational legacy on display at Cross of Grace

Now, as we close, my hope is this, that today we've seen a small picture of God's gift of the multigenerational church. It's truly a gift. So as we seek to partner with God in his multigenerational building project, let's also remember to pass down the truth. Let's remember to trust the power of the gospel for transformation, tell the stories of both keeping God's commands and what happens when we break those commands and thank God for the legacy of multigenerational disciple making on display in this particular embassy of the kingdom of heaven.

46 · Illustrates the sermon's thesis with the physical building itself

I didn't share this in the first service, but I want to share it now because this picture, I was talking to an older saint, and this picture came to mind. This building was built by people who are sitting in these chairs right now. We've told that story before, but literally, the studs were put up, the drywall was put up. The offices were built by people sitting in this room right now. And I bet those of you now not so young guys, we're looking up to some of the maybe a little older guys as you built together. If you go up into these, if you were to strip the walls in these offices here, you would see Dick snow always reminds me that there are scriptures written on those, on the studs of this building. What a gift that is. Physically, this building has been built by generations represented in this room. And also, Joel, chapter two, says this. I will pour it out on my spirit. All people. I will pour out my spirit on all people. Your sons and your daughters will prophesy. Your old men will dream dreams. Your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women. I will pour out my spirit. In those days, y'all talk to chuck sometime about the move of the spirit that started this church. God poured out his spirit and from a little seed grew up an outpost of the kingdom, and he's continuing to pour out his spirit.

47 · Makes the theological claim that the Holy Spirit is actively building the multigenerational church now

God not only built a multigenerational church, the Holy Spirit is building and equipping it even now. Sons, daughters, young, old, as we seek to pass the promises of God from generation to generation and build a church that lasts, remember this, that God will build his church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. Amen. What the Lord has called us to do, he also empowers us to do as he continues to build his church.

48 · Closes the sermon with eschatological vision

And then also, let's keep the end in mind, where there will be no more need to pass down. Revelation 20 217 gives us a picture of the culmination of this experience and the commencement of a multigenerational, forever kingdom at the marriage supper of the lamb, where the spirit and the bride say, come. Let the one who hears say, come. And let the one who is thirsty come. Let the one who desires take the water of life without price. Pass it down church. Pass it on and look forward to the future.