Passing the Baton

We are involved in an invisible spiritual war over the destiny of our youth.  It turns out that what we have is not a youth problem but a parenting problem.

Summary

The church in America is currently failing to pass the baton of our faith to future generations, and the implications of this failure are devastating.  Pr. Doug Cherry calls us to live out a passionate, Holy Spirit empowered faith which is able to capture the hearts of upcoming generations.

Outline

1. Story about Josiah
   1. An all church fast was called for 3 weeks to start out the year.
   2. When the fast was announced to the children, Josiah was all in.
   3. At the youth outreach – Josiah had a whole plate of nachos fully loaded – when Pr. Cherry asked him how it was going, he said that his fast was not like his dad’s.
   4. Pr. Doug realized that we do not have a youth problem in America, we have a parent problem.
   5. It is important for us to take parenting seriously.
   6. God is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, He is the god of family
   7. Right now, we are dropping the ball with passing the baton to the next generation.
   8. Almost ¾ of kids raised in the church walk away when they leave home.
   9. Handing off our faith is the mission of our lives.
2. A story of a baton handoff.
   1. Johnathan and Sarah Edwards – had 11 kids – attributed with being responsible for the great awakening.
   2. Someone once researched his family line to see what happened with his children – found that the seed of the righteous are blessed.
   3. 200 of his descendants were preachers, all the rest were also very impactful.
3. The truth of God will deliver us from all evil.
   1. We need to have unity in our homes and raise up our children in the way they should go.
   2. Abraham Lincoln said the only way to pass on our faith is to travel the road ourselves.
   3. Our faith must be alive and on fire because if it is dead, our children will want nothing to do with it.
4. The reason God has opened up such a ministry for Pr. Doug is because they almost had a serious baton drop.
   1. He found a very expensive cell phone bill which he thought was a mistake, but then he saw a pattern in the numbers.
   2. A 44-year-old on the worship team was sexually abusing his 15-year-old daughter.
   3. His whole world fell apart as they discovered first-hand the effects of sexual abuse.
   4. Although people told him that she would never be the same, God had a different plan.
   5. When he went into his prayer room, he heard the Lord tell him that he was not defeated, but was in a battle, “so stand up and let’s win.”
   6. God’s word is more powerful than any circumstance.
   7. God gave him another word that they would prevail, but that it was going to get worse before it got better.
   8. His daughter ended up going to an internship at teen mania where God transformed her life.
   9. The Holy Spirit spoke to her that she was headed toward destruction but that He was putting before her a door leading to life, and she experienced the Holy Spirit fill her.
   10. What is impossible for man is possible with God! What God has done for Doug’s family; he will do for you.
5. The passion is to win the war for our children.
   1. December 7, 1941 – Pearl harbor brought us into World War II. 450k American and over 50M total lives lost.
   2. We are in the middle of an invisible spiritual cultural war.
   3. It is a battle of epic proportions!
   4. There are casualties of this war are real.
      1. 83% claim to be Christians.
      2. Only 13% believe in absolute truth.
      3. Only 3% of millennials believe in absolute moral truth.
      4. Only 9% have a biblical worldview.
      5. Of millennials there is only 1% who have a biblical worldview.
   5. Barna’s Biblical Worldview
      1. Absolute moral truth exists.
      2. Bible is totally accurate.
      3. Believe in demonic realm
      4. Believe people cannot earn their way to heaven.
      5. Jesus lived a sinless life.
      6. God is the all-knowing all-powerful creator who still rules the universe.
   6. Most bible believers have already lost their children.
   7. We do not have to lose ours.
   8. Consider the cost of this war. The costs are eternal.
   9. Pearl harbor would have been different if we had been ready.
6. OPEN – we need to be God minded and close our mind to everything that does not line up with God’s word.
   1. We have been deceived to believe that it is godly to be open-minded – that all things are true and that there is no right or wrong – RELATIVISM.
   2. We are living in a time when if we speak up about truth we are called HATERS.
   3. True love risks going to someone who is in error.
   4. God is 100% open and 100% closed – all are welcome, but only through Jesus!
   5. God loves people enough to convict us of our sin.
7. 4 disasters of being “open.”
   1. Changing definitions.
      1. Discrimination used to be calling someone inferior, but now it means calling sin, sin.
      2. Normal – it used to be standard of right, healthy and desirable, or what is common.
      3. How about the definition of marriage?
      4. Hate – detest something, or simply to disagree with someone’s view.
      5. Family – how is it defined?
      6. Judge – how is it now defined?
   2. Reverse baton pass.
      1. The baton is going backwards; we are taking on the views of the following generations rather than passing our faith on.
   3. The real gay issue – is the word of God true from Genesis to Revelation.
   4. Most serious one – no heartbeat in a generation of people.
      1. 25 year old lady – went to OGBYN – there was no heartbeat in the baby.
      2. A generation is being lost.
      3. Do we even care?
8. The Isaiah Call – we have been given a picture of our generation, Isaiah saw his generation, then He saw the Lord, and was sent to his generation.
   1. It is time for us to be sent in His name.
   2. A gun to the head to deny Christ is easier than the persecution that is coming.
   3. We will be pressured to be silent, we will be called haters.