The Church Makeover - Psalm 78:1-7

 

Psalm 78 is written by Asaph, a worship leader and teacher in Israel. Psalm 78’s one in a series of psalms by Asaph which focus on God’s rule over his people and the nations. Psalms 77 and 78 focus on remembering how God has saved his people time after time after his people rebel against him time and again! These aren’t just stories, they’re our family stories too. Asaph tells of the “praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, his power, and the wonders he has done,” reminding Israel of the statutes and decrees God’s given them to shape them into a people who reflect God to the nations as a blessing. God commands the people to teach them to the next generation so they don’t forget God and who they are as God’s people.

 

Asaph is concerned about the kind of legacy that Israel is passing on to the next generations. The most important legacy is our spiritual legacy; the way we relate to, respond to, and represent Jesus in our world. Each of us receives a spiritual legacy from the generation before us, and we will all pass down a spiritual legacy to our children and grandchildren. It’s up to us as families and as a church family, as to what that legacy will be. Over the past few weeks, we’ve focused heavily on making a deliberate decision to serve the Lord, to follow God’s laws and Jesus’ commands, focusing on building a strong foundation on Jesus for our children, and the importance of the extended family being part of shaping our children’s faith on God and Jesus through the Holy Spirit. Throughout Scripture, one of the principles we learn is that the way we live, your behaviour and beliefs, will be passed on to the next generation.

 

We see this principle in Deuteronomy 5:9–10, “You shall not bow down to them or worship them (idols); for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.” God through Moses, is spelling out the reality that how you live, the things you do, the faith and trust you place in Jesus, or lack of faith, impacts down in the lives of children and grandchildren. As parents and grandparents and extended family, we pass things down to the children and youth in our families every day. They’re watching us, listening to the things we say and how we say them, they’re learning from us and imitating us. The question isn’t whether or not we’re passing anything down to our children, but what we are passing down. When our words and actions don’t match, our actions will leave the stronger impressions.  

 

The church’s role is to provide healthy family support. How can we empower families to pass on a transformational faith in Jesus to our children? Asaph encourages the people in verses 2-4, “I will utter hidden things, things from of old, things we have heard and known, things our ancestors have told us. We will not hide them from their descendants; we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, his power, and the wonders he has done.” We’re called to help families to talk about God in all places and at all times. John Piper writes, “If there is one memory that our children should have of our families and of our church it is this; they should remember God. God was first. God was central. There was a passion for the supremacy of God in all things.” When we talk about God and Jesus as families, share what you’ve learned about Jesus at church, in your Bible studies, from podcasts, and how we see God at work in our own lives and families.

 

In Bethel, we make it a priority to teach the children the Bible, telling them stories of God and his relationship with us. Psalm 78’s a retelling of how God saves his people. Asaph reminds us of how often and quickly we turn away from God, of how rebellious and ungrateful we easily become, it’s part of our sinful nature. Scripture reminds us of God’s covenantal relationship with us. He’ll punish, but never abandon us. He saves us again and again. We hear the stories of Noah, Jonah, David, Daniel, Peter, and others. We learn of Jesus, and how his disciples experienced getting to know him, finally understanding who he is as the Messiah; the Son of God who took our sins to the cross and washed them away through his sacrifice, who has ascended to heaven, and is preparing to return to judge the living and the dead, and reunite heaven and earth.

 

Our children need to hear our testimonies and how we see God working around us and in our lives. Sharing how you see God at work, sharing stories like, “When I was younger, Jesus helped me through this time,” or “I experienced God’s comfort, or hope, or challenge, when ….” A spiritual legacy begins with knowing that they belong to a family and church where we still today experience the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, his power, and the wonders he has done. In Bethel, Tammy is our Faith Formation Coordinator who finds and develops materials for us to take home: devotions like the Ascension Day to Pentecost devotion emailed to you, the Faith Formation board of resources found in the Sunday School/nursery hall, and the calls to prayer and regular Scripture reading, and celebrating faith milestones. If we want our children to have a faith that shapes their lives, what they believe, and their character, we need to share and model our faith in Jesus.

 

Verse 5, “He decreed statutes for Jacob and established the law in Israel, which he commanded our ancestors to teach their children.” It’s important to invest in our families to help them teach our children by God’s Word. In the Bible God reveals himself to us to guide and shape us in how to flourish as his children and be a blessing. Satan’s actively trying to shape our children in his image. He uses everyday things like the internet, music, tv, or video games to fill our minds with his lies, telling us and our children that they deserve more, they can be anything they want, and the world owes them. When you bring Jesus into the center of our homes, he gives us wisdom and paths forward to live Jesus’ way of community, sacrifice, grace, and forgiveness.

 

It begins with God’s statutes and decrees and teaching them to our children. We must teach and model what following Jesus looks like in our daily lives. Our youth ministry has begun All Aboard evenings where youth, parents, and mentors gather together to learn and talk together about issues that impact our youth so we can learn together how to support each other and grow in our faith. We’re looking forward to more intentionally connect home and church to help our children grow in their faith. God’s given us his Word, it’s crucial that we be intentional in teaching and applying it.

 

The goal is “so the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children.” This spring at Tuesday Night Youth, the high school group studied the 10 Commandments, not just the letter of the law, but going deeper into the commandments’ spirit. As we went deeper, we saw how easily we break them, how something as simple as having lucky socks leads to idolatry. In 1 Peter 3:15-16, Peter reminds us to, “in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.” Grounding our children in Jesus so they make faith in him their own, are able to share it, and live it out is at the heart of our call as families and a church; it begins with revering Jesus as Lord.

 

Asaph writes, “Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget his deeds but would keep his commands.” Obedience flows out of faith and trust in God, and gratitude for how Jesus saved us from our sin and equips us to live so others can see our faith. It’s all about trust and obedience and investing in the next generations so that they’ll follow God in their decisions, choices, and behaviour. We’re those future generations Asaph’s writing about, and we’re looking ahead to even more future generations who will serve the Lord and follow his decrees and commands. It begins with us trusting God. If we don’t really trust Jesus and show it in following his commands, why should our children? If we want our children to make choices to honour God, it starts with making sure our choices honour God.

 

Our goal as Bethel Church is to provide real support to all our families and households so each of our homes shines the light of Jesus into our community. Our desire is to help and equip our families to pass on a transforming relationship with Jesus, rooted in the saving work of Jesus. Bethel can’t do it for you, but we can do it with you; we’re committed to walking alongside you in this journey of faith.