Generational Wealth
Message Moments & Highlights
Generational wealth isn’t just about finances—it’s about faith. Ps. Michael challenges us to rethink legacy, reminding us that true generational wealth happens when families and the church commit to fighting for the next generation and instilling godly values that last.
Authenticity is one of the greatest gifts we can offer the next generation. Ps. Adrian reminds us that no matter your age, your real, honest faith can impact both younger and older people. What young people need most is to see lives genuinely in love with Jesus.
Sometimes the greatest impact doesn’t come from deep theology, but from someone simply being real. Ps. Michael reflects on how one person's authenticity and willingness to share their story can influence an entire generation. It's not about perfection—it's about heart.
Authenticity and understanding are key to building bridges between generations. Ps. Adrian shares a heartfelt encouragement for parents, young people, and the church to walk together with grace, empathy, and real faith. At Connect Christian Church, we believe every generation matters—from the youngest to the oldest.
Generational Wealth
Building spiritual generational wealth goes beyond financial inheritance - it's about intentionally investing in the next generation through authentic relationships and genuine faith sharing. This wealth transfer happens when church members and families actively engage in passing down godly values while being transparent about both struggles and victories in their spiritual journeys. Youth camp experiences have shown remarkable transformation when generations connect authentically, with young people encountering God in fresh ways and emerging as natural leaders. The impact extends beyond individual growth to spark wider renewal in youth ministry and church life. Creating spaces for meaningful intergenerational connections, supporting youth as they grow in faith, and maintaining authenticity in sharing personal experiences are essential elements in building lasting spiritual legacy. This approach aligns with biblical principles of passing down faith through intentional relationship building and honest sharing of life experiences.
Related Bible Verses
Deuteronomy 6:5–7 (NLT)
5 And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength.
6 And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today.
7 Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up.
https://www.bible.com/bible/116/DEU.6.5-7.NLT
2 Timothy 1:5–7 (NLT)
5 I remember your genuine faith, for you share the faith that first filled your grandmother Lois and your mother, Eunice. And I know that same faith continues strong in you.
6 This is why I remind you to fan into flames the spiritual gift God gave you when I laid my hands on you.
7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.
https://www.bible.com/bible/116/2TI.1.5-7.NLT
Key Insights From The Message
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Building Generational Wealth Through Authentic Faith
Youth camp testimonies reveal how God is moving powerfully in the next generation through authentic relationships and spiritual mentorship. When different generations come together to share their faith experiences openly and honestly, lives are transformed.
What Does Spiritual Generational Wealth Look Like?
Unlike financial generational wealth that gets passed down through inheritance, spiritual generational wealth happens when the church and families intentionally invest in instilling godly values in the next generation. This requires being real about both our struggles and victories in walking with God.
How Can We Pass On Spiritual Wealth?
The key is authenticity - young people need to see real people living out real faith with real struggles. This can happen through:
Grandparents speaking wisdom into grandchildren's lives
Parents being honest about their own faith journey
Youth leaders investing time and energy despite personal sacrifice
Church members of all ages sharing their experiences
Creating spaces for different generations to connect
What Happens When Generations Connect Authentically?
The youth camp testimonies demonstrated powerful transformation when generations came together:
Youth encountered God in fresh ways through authentic worship
Previously resistant youth were deeply touched by God's presence
Natural leaders emerged among the youth
Youth began planning prayer groups and outreach
The entire youth ministry experienced renewal
Why Does Generational Connection Matter?
Deuteronomy 6:5-7 commands us to pass on our faith "when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up." This requires:
Intentional investment in the next generation
Creating opportunities for meaningful connection
Being real about both struggles and victories
Supporting youth as they grow in faith
Protecting what God is doing in young lives
Life Application
This week, consider how you can authentically invest in someone from a different generation:
Questions to reflect on:
How can you be more authentic in sharing your faith journey with others?
What spiritual wisdom or experience do you have that could benefit someone younger or older?
Are you creating space in your life to both pour into others and receive from different generations?
Challenge: Identify one person from a different generation and intentionally invest time in building an authentic relationship with them this week. Share openly about your faith journey - both the victories and struggles - and listen to theirs.
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A discussion guide for the sermon can be found here.
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All right. How are we doing this morning, Church? Are you good? You good? You feeling okay?
Hey, what do you say to the person next to you? Say, it's good to see you in church this morning.
Awesome. Now, I'm not going to lie to you, Church, you are looking at a man that is totally and utterly exhausted. I have had collectively about five hours of sleep over the last three days. And I am. I might not even preach in English right now.
I don't know what's going to happen, you know? But God still moves. Amen. Exactly. We just call it tugs.
But I'm excited to bring the word for you. We've got a round of. We've got a group of very nervous looking young people in the front row here that have. That wanted to share their testimony and share about what God is doing in their heart. Because can I tell you, man, youth camp.
I've been on a lot of youth camps in my time and time and time again, I get blown away about how God exceeds our expectations every single time, man, let me tell you, we were coming into this camp as a leadership team and we were saying, man, we're believing for this, we're believing for that. And there's been things that we have been praying into the youth ministry even over the last six months. And can I tell you, church, that first night of camp, I'm not gonna lie, it was a little bit rough. It was a little bit rough. Kids were pretty crazy.
They were hyped up on all the sugary snacks that they brought and nobody wanted to sleep. And there was a chaotic energy in the air and it was a bit of chaos. But, man, can I tell you, when we stepped into that day, too, it was like our whole youth ministry had been transformed overnight. It's like all these things that we were praying into the youth ministry all of a sudden start to sprout all at once. And can I tell you, church, I want to jump off the back of what Adrian was saying and just give you a massive thank you.
Massive thank you. Because there were so many of you that donated money for kids to be able to be sponsored to go to this camp. I mean, I know there was countless amounts of people that would not have come to camp had it not been for the generosity of this church. Amen. And so can I just.
Can you. You know what, can you just give yourselves a round of applause this morning? Because I just, I want to say thank You. Thank you. Thank you.
And we're going to get into it a little bit more about what God was doing. But before that, we've got a. Just a short video I want to show you of just a recap of what camp was like for.
Oh, come on. Come on.
It ra.
I rush, I breathe. I strong.
How good is that? Hey, how good is that?
I love that. I love that video because I think it kind of, like perfectly encapsulates what the youth environment is like. There's a lot of fun and there's a lot of games. But, man, did God come and move in a powerful way at our youth camp. And can I tell you, so many of our youth kids just received such an incredible touch from God.
And, you know, we had some of these kids that had come in that it was the same kids that were. That at the start of some of our sessions were saying things like, I don't want to come in for the service. I just want to play games. I just want to go play basketball outside or stuff like this. But, you know, the leaders would.
What's the word? Wrangled. Thank you. They were two hours of sleep. They would wrangle them into the service.
And, you know, God came and just moved so powerfully. And these same kids that didn't even want to be in the service, they would say afterwards, man, I'm so thankful that I was in that service because I feel like God has just totally changed my life in this one night, you know. And so, church, I want to say thank you again because we couldn't have done it without you. And so this little message I wanted to come bring you this morning, I've entitled it generational wealth. Everybody say generational wealth.
Generational wealth. You know, when we think about generational wealth, our mind often goes to financial things. Right? You know, I always get reminded of that, of that. That funny quote from, like, Donald Trump when he was first running for him president, Right.
You know, and he would say things like, you know, I'm the type of person that I've made my own, man. I've made my own company. I've done it my way. All I got from my father was a humble loan of a million dollars to start my business.
I did it all myself. All I needed was a million dollars, and then I was good to go. You know, and sometimes we can think of generational wealth as this thing of, like, you know, you build up your finance, you pass it on to your kids, they build it up more, and they pass it on to their Kids. And then all of a sudden, you know, you've got this family heritage that is pretty affluent and it's pretty well off. But, you know, I wanted to encourage you this morning that that's not how it works in a spiritual sense.
Amen. Can I tell you that generational wealth from a spiritual sense happens when the church and the families of the church decide we are not going to stop fighting for our young people. And in fact, we're going to do everything that we can in order to instill godly values into our next generation. Amen. You know, I think about, you know, I mean, it's a sad story, but the downfall of Israel in the Bible, you know, it started off so well with a man like King David, a man that was described as a man after God's own heart.
But then we see from that is that every generation they let something slip. Started with his son and Solomon, and then his son and his son and his son. And every generation something slipped along the way until, whether you believe it or not, the Israel nation, the people of God, God's chosen people, ended up walking away from God and not even knowing that he existed because they let every generation slip and slip. And I'm reminded of this verse From Deuteronomy, chapter 6, verse 5 to 7 says this. And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul and all your strength.
This is a verse that we all know pretty commonly. I'm sure that if you've been around church, you've heard that verse many times. Verse 6. And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commandments that I'm giving you today. But here's the part of the verse that we don't often speak about.
It says this in verse 7. Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you were going to bed and when you were getting up. You know, basically the heart of this message, to just simply, hey, if we want the church to survive, we have to have a culture where no matter what we are doing, we are always talking to our young people about what God is doing in our life. And can I encourage you, I really felt, to bring this message while all of our youth are still at Peninsula and a lot of our youth leaders.
And I feel like I'm talking to the older generation of the church at the moment. Can I tell you that a lot of these kids, they need the wisdom that you've got in your life. If you want to talk about generational wealth. Can I tell you that everyone here in this place is full of spiritual wealth? And I'm asking you this morning, can you be brave if you help me pass it on to this next generation?
Because can I tell you, we're getting kids into the youth program that don't come from church backgrounds, that don't have families of their own that are valued. In fact, you know, sometimes I talk to some of them and it feels like they're at odds with their parents sometimes. And I really, my heart goes out to them because, you know, a lot of them, they're crying out. Like, I had. I had one kid who was coming up to the salvation altar call last night, and I was saying, hey, man, what are you praying for?
And the. The first thing that came out of his mouth was not something for himself or something in his life. He said, all I want is for my mom to know God. All I want is for my mom to know God. Can I tell you that us here, we are that families that I.
That is going to bring generational wealth into their lives. And I want to encourage you, church, because we're already doing it, but I know it can go a long way because unfortunately, this next generation, we message that generational wealth of spiritual knowledge generation. Amen. So can I encourage you to. God is doing mighty things in the lives of our young people.
And I want to just, like, challenge you this morning because I know there might be some of you that maybe think that bigger and bigger and bigger, quicker and quicker and quicker. And I know, I mean, I even look at my own life and sometimes I feel like if I can tell you one thing, is that all they want is someone to be real with them and to tell them that life isn't sunshine, butterflies and rainbows. And they really need someone to tell them that life doesn't always work out the way that you want it, that life doesn't actually need to be this thing where you feel good all the time, that you're never facing any challenges, because, I mean, come on, we all know that that's not the reality of life. Amen. We all go through things, but these kids, there's no one telling you that, hey, it doesn't matter that you're going through something, because there is a God in heaven.
God, you, no matter what, is coming against you. Amen. And so can I encourage.
So I've got a. I've got a couple of youth that we're going to invite up to the stage. Can we give a big round of applause? For our youth that are coming up. That's you guys.
Yeah, yeah. Come on.
We'll do a quick sleep check to see.
Hey, We. We had such an incredible encounter. We had Pastor David, who's there, State youth alive director, and he came down to this preacher for us. Can I say, you know, I'm saying the days before the day came, and he stirred expectations. And can I tell you that there are kids that were in that service, and I never thought God moves.
Come on, what do we make some noise for Italia.
The best part of my experience was last night's service. That service was one part of camp I'll never forget. Everyone was together, and we all felt like one. I could feel the Holy Ghost moving through not only me, but everyone among the tears, cries, and hugs. I felt loved for and cared about.
The energy and faith was so strong this camp that I felt whole and new. And I'm so glad I had a chance to experience and explore a different side to my relationship with God. And it was amazing. At camp, I learned that we are all masterpieces. And now that I've had this experience, I only hope that the next that this encourages the next teenager to come next year.
Honestly, I wasn't really sure about camp in the first place, but once I was surrounded by my people, I felt safe and just amazing. If I could take one thing away from camp is that you never truly know what's going on in another person's life. They could be the funniest, happiest person in your group, but the most broken inside, the amount of deep conversations my sisters Naya, Rose, Lena, Maddie, and Victoria and I had, like, at the middle of the night really grew our relationship with each other, which is exactly what we needed. This camp helped me realize and remind me of all the beautiful blessings God has given me, my family, my church, my friends, etc. I can't believe the friendships I have built and relationships I've made stronger, especially with my cousin Levi within a few days.
So without a doubt, this camp was amazing, and I hope for the people that couldn't make it can come next year. It really grows your faith in the best way possible. And thanks so much to all the youth leaders, pastors, and volunteers. You guys have given me such an amazing, such amazing memories at youth every Friday. Thank you.
Come on. How good is that? Good job, Atalia. Awesome. Well, next we've got an incredible man, Tyler.
Come on, let's make some noise for Tyler this morning. Thank you. I want to preface this by saying that I've Always been a lukewarm Christian. I know many others in this room probably are too. My closest friends were atheists.
I'd only read the Bible or pray when I wanted something from God.
And just last night, Pastor Dave Edgar gave a sermon, or specifically a analogy that really reflects this. Well, so there's this type of trees called. What are they called? I don't remember. But it's about the relationship between fire and the tree.
So certain trees, like eucalyptus trees, have built a resistance to fire. So there's two types of these trees. There's passive, which is where fire passes through the trees, but they're unaffected by the fire. They're unchanged. Then there's active, where fire passes through the trees and it nourishes them, helps grow their seeds.
And the trees flourish through this fire. So why am I telling you about this? Well, I've always been a passive tree, right? Because the fire, it's not just fire. The fire is the Holy Spirit.
And the trees, well, that's all of us. I've been a passive tree because the Holy Spirit, by God's overwhelming grace, he has provided me with the Holy Spirit, and I let it pass through me. I push him off to the sidelines in my life, and I don't surrender myself to him. So this youth camp, these three days, they were out of this world. Literally out of this world.
I feel like I've finally become an active tree against the fire. The Holy Spirit, it's been guiding me. I mean, two weeks ago, I could barely hold a five minute conversation with a stranger, and now I'm talking in a church that I've never been to. So thank you. So all of you who are broken, maybe you're socially anxious, struggling through a cycle of sin, just surrender yourself to the shepherd, and he'll provide you with his overwhelming grace through the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Wow. How good was that? Amen. Tyler, you even had, like the. Yeah, you had the pastor's walk going up and down this stage.
I was like, all right, man, we're ready. We're ready for another 20 minutes of this. Let's go. Hey, fun fact. Tyler's actually a big YouTuber.
He's got like over 160,000 subscribers. So everyone go follow him. We'll get another 100 for you. All right? All right, who wants to be next?
What about you, Destiny? Come on, let's make some noise for Destiny.
Hi, everyone. My name is Destiny. And I went to camp youth camp 2025. Wow, what an amazing experience. But with so much love and Such a great opportunity for all us young ones to build a relationship with God.
Whether it'd be our first time, second time, or even our third time or more. But what an amazing experience we had. Night one was a great night, filled with socializing, making new friends and just an amazing night and day with session one. Starting off with some really good worship. It was amazing.
Day two, wow. It was incredible. Filled with so much laughter, happiness and a lot of friendships, having tribal wars and an ending in an amazing night of Dave Edgar preaching the word. I felt a very big move in the word last night and I just felt that the youth is going to end up being better, way better than what it was before the word. The prayer was amazing.
Dave was just a life changer. Most of the youth kids were like, I don't want to go now. I just want to go to bed. Like, I'm too tired because we got really any sleep the night before. All of them, every single one went up there, got prayed for, were crying in happiness and just, you know, loving God.
I want to give a massive shout out to Eva for giving up her 21st birthday to come down with us youth kids. It was amazing to be able to celebrate youth leaders birthday. Thank you so much to all the youth leaders that have spent their time for us for the three days even though they got barely any sleep. But I'm sure they'll catch up on that sometimes. A big shout out to Natasha.
She was on every single day this weekend. Yes. Also on this morning. And was doing all the night shifts as well with all the other leaders. It was amazing.
Want to also thank Fua, Malia and all the other volunteers that were there cooking for us kids. I heard someone, one of the kids come up to me and say, wow, I wasn't expecting so much food for only a $100. The amount of food we got given was crazy. Second, third, fourth, it was, it was amazing. But yeah, thank you guys.
Good job, Destiny.
You know, I love what Destiny just did because, you know, this morning when I was talking to Destiny about doing this this morning, Destiny initially was like, oh, I can't do that. I'm too nervous, I'm too scared. And she said no to me. She was like, no, I'm not doing it, I'm not doing it. But you know what?
Just before I was about to leave to come here, Destiny sheepishly came up to me, she said, you know what, Is it all right if I change my mind? I want to share what God's done with me. So good on you. Destiny, great job.
And can I just encourage you, like, on the back of what Destiny was saying? We do have an amazing leadership and volunteer team. I mean, Destiny just mentioned it, but one of our youth leaders, Eva, Yesterday was her 21st birthday. And, you know, a 21st birthday is something where, like, if one of the youth leaders came up to me and was like, oh, it's my 21st birthday, I, you know, I might have missed some of the camp because I'm doing things with family. It's something I'd be like, yeah, of course.
Do your thing. But, you know, Eva, she was so passionate about what God was doing in our young people. She didn't even mention it to anybody that it was happening. We found out through other channels, and we're like, oh, my gosh, we gotta. So we did a big celebration and we brought out a cake for her, but I just loved it.
The heart of our leadership team is to go. I'm not worried about what myself needs. I'm just worried about our young people, and I just want to serve them with everything that I have. So can we give a big shout of a round of applause for our youth team? They are, man.
Incredible. Incredible. All right, Levi, come on, share with us.
Hi, my name is Levi, and one of the most powerful moments I had at camp was during worship. Surrounded by people, lifting their hands, singing with everything they had. I felt something shift inside me. It wasn't just about the music. It was the presence of God in that space.
There was this moment where I closed my eyes and it felt like everything else faded away. It was just me and God. I didn't have to have the perfect words or the loudest voice. He was there listening to my heart, worshiping. I can't remind me that God isn't distant.
He's real, he's near, and he's worthy of all our praise. He wasn't just a feeling. It was a deep connection. And I'll carry that with me long after camp is over.
Good job, brother. You know, Levi, I like to consider Levi as, like, the silent assassin of the youth ministry. He. Levi, he's not one to, like, be super, like, obnoxious and loud, but can I tell you, this guy is a natural born leader. Watch this space, because when things need to get serious, he's going around to other boys in his Kinect group, and he's like, oh, boys, listen up.
I think he'll just listen. It's like, as soon as he talks, everyone else listens. So come on, can we make another round of Applause for Levi. What a guy. What a guy.
All right, last but not least. Come on, let's make some noise for Joash.
Hello, everyone. I'm just gonna start off by praying. Dear God, I thank you for this moment. I thank you for everyone that's here. Thank you for giving us life, and I thank you for youth.
Jesus, thank you for the amazing moment. And I pray that you speak through me today. All right, so basically, youth was amazing. We start off with, like, a mixture of, like, basketball and, like, these fun games. And you think it's just going to be like, an average, just camp experience.
You know, you're just hanging out with mates, just doing things you want to do. And then we come to the second day, we have Pastor Dave Edgar, and he's preaching, and we just. It's just so amazing. We have everyone just crying out. And in that moment, I just went, like, as Christians, sometimes we just.
We forget the feeling of how it feels to experience God, and we just settle with the default of just. We're just here. But in that moment, I remembered again, like, this is the real feeling and the love of God. And that's why I really like. I appreciate Pastor Dave Edgar.
I appreciate everyone that came out and put this camp together so we could experience God again and remember the feeling of Him. So thank you and have a blessed day.
Good stuff, Joash. Good stuff. All right, you guys can take a seat. Come on. Why don't we give another round of applause for them?
You know, can I encourage you, church? This is the power of what happens when one generation passes on a generational wealth to the next. You know, when Dave. I mean, a lot of the guys said how great Dave was last night, and he was. He was amazing, and he is a very gifted preacher.
But you know what? It's not like Dave came and just gave the. The most amazing sermon that anybody in history had ever heard in his life. You know, Dave, he just came out and he was very real with everybody. Dave's got a pretty incredible testimony, and he was sharing about that, and he was just encouraging and edifying the.
The kids. But what are we saying was no massive theological revelation or anything like that. He just was real and he just shared his heart. And look at the impact that that has when somebody just shares their heart with the next generation. You know, I'm reminded of this.
This verse from 2 Timothy and Paul is writing this letter to a guy named Timothy, and he's encouraging him as Timothy is in a. In a, you know, a bit of a down moment. It says this. Second Timothy, chapter one, verse five. It says this.
I remember your genuine faith, for you share the faith that first filled your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice. And I know the same faith continues strong in you. This is why I remind you to fan into flames the spiritual gift God gave you when I laid my hands on you. For God has not given us a spirit of fear or timidity, but of power, love and of self discipline. Now again, this is another verse where we see this time and time and time again as we're in church, we say, yeah, fan into flames the spiritual gift that God has given us.
But what we forget to read, what we miss a lot of the time, is that this is all precedent on a generation, a family line that has said, no matter what, we are going to impart the values of God to each generation, no matter what the cost is. And so I want to encourage you today, church, we really need you guys, as the older members of this church to share the generational wealth that you have with the next generation. You know, I'm really believing that in our youth ministry we've got, I mean, I saw it just in the way that Tyler was walking on the stage before. We got future pastors in this room, we've got future business people in our youth ministry, we've got people that are called to very, very good plans from God. But can I encourage you that they're not going to get there unless we as the church, as the previous generation say, hey, can I just help you along the way?
Can I impart something into you that is going to encourage you? Because I'm sure that all of us here have experienced that from someone else in our life as well. Amen. And so lastly, I just want to say church, just another massive thank you. Maybe as the band could join me.
That would be great. Just want to say a massive thank you. God is really doing amazing things in our youth ministry. There are kids that are really feeling the call of God upon their life. There are, I mean, you just heard five of a hundred different stories from last night of what God is doing in the lives of our young people.
And you know, but it's going to take us as the previous generation to God. You know what, we're going to stand in the gap for this generation and we're going to be someone that imparts into them a generational wealth of spiritual knowledge. Amen. And so can we just do this for a second? Can we just all stand where we are?
You know, you guys have heard me say this before, but I really believe that this church is called to have a large ministry. And that's not because we just want to boast about the fact that we've got a large ministry or we've got people coming and we're getting large numbers at a youth turnout. That's not the reason that we do it. I really believe that we are a church that is called to really chase after the lost because, can I tell you, there are so many kids in the schools around us. There are so many kids in the streets.
There are so many people that need God to intervene in their life. And I really believe that we're a church that's called to go and reach those young people. Amen. You know, I'm looking at everything that's happening in our church, and I get excited because our young people are talking about starting prayer groups in their lunchtimes. I'm getting excited because our youth leaders are saying, hey, I've got this contact at a school.
I'm going to talk to them this week about starting a lunchtime program. I get excited because God is doing a mighty work in our young people. Amen. You know, I had. I mean, Destiny shared it a little bit before, but she wasn't the only one that said this.
There was actually quite a few young people that this morning that when we woke up, they came and they said to me, it was like, Michael, it was like. It's like our youth ministry has totally changed. It's like we all came in one way and we have all just left a completely different way. And I want to say thank you, church, because we could not do that without your help, and we could not do that without your support. Support.
And so, you know, we've got our young people over at Peninsula continuing the camp because I tell you one thing that is a very effective weapon of the enemy, is that we have these moments on camp. We have these moments at youth or at church where we feel like everything's changed and that everything's going on around us. And we go, oh, man, this is awesome. God is in me. I can feel the fall.
I can feel the hunger. But then they go into the rest of their week. They go back to their regular old life, and all of a sudden, the doubt that they had before starts to creep in, the worries that they had before, the stress that they had before starts to creep in, you know, and I really believe in the power of prayer. And so I would love if we could, as a church, could just pray that what is happening in the lives of our young people doesn't just stay at this camp, but it actually, it seeps into the rest of their life. Amen.
And so can we just do something right now as a church? Can we intercede for our young people? Can we just pray? And maybe you want to lift your hands where you are, but can we just press in and just ask? God, we just, we really ask that you would protect our young people.
Father God, we see that you are doing such a good work in the lives of our youth, not only in our youth, but the rest of our church. And Father God, I just really pray that what is happening on camp and the testimonies that are going on on camp right now would not just stay on camp, but they would seep into the rest of their life. And so, Father God, we just really pray as the older generation of this church, Father, we pray protection over our young people. God, we just pray that as they go into this the rest of their lives, Father God, that every single day that they would have a hunger and fire to chase after you, God, to dig into their word, to dig into prayer, to dig into that. Dig the, dig the deep wells that the Holy Spirit wants to plant inside of them.
Reservoirs of your spirit so that when life gets hard and that things seem tough, that nothing will ever lead them astronomers, because they will always have a connection to your Holy Spirit, Father God, Lord, we pray against the attacks of the enemy, against our young people. God, we know that you would love nothing more than our kids to forget everything that happened this weekend. But God, we just pray as the older generation of this church that we are not going to let it happen, Father God, and in fact, God, we are going to help impart in them a spiritual well, wealth, a generational wealth to ensure that the next generation does not go astray. And so, Father God, we're praying for a freshened feeling of your holy Spirit in our young people.
Yeah, that's good, Michael, and it's great. Here's what I want to believe for this is some of you might be thinking, well, how am I supposed to make a difference? You know? Yeah, we believe in that. I'll tell you the word that came to me that Michael was talking about that these young guys and women, young women spoke about and showed us is this authenticity?
You know, we're going to change the generations. We're going to be authentic, authentic in our faith, authentic in our struggles. You know what young people need? They need to see real people living out real lives really in love with Jesus. And I don't care how old you are or how young you are, we got some young people with us in our seats up the front.
Your authenticity is going to impact young, younger people and older people. God's going to use you. And some of us are grandparents. I can tell you right now, grandparents, you change the world. You've already done a whole lot of stuff in your life, but you can change the world right now by what you speak into your grandchildren's lives.
I can tell. I know many grandparents and young people that are so impacted by what their grandparents say. Aunties and uncles, young people, parents, of course, authenticity. Maybe you don't have any young people around you, but you being here saying, I believe in Jesus and I'm going to pursue him with all my heart, it's going to build up a generation that's going to change the world in the future and now. And I'm proud to be part of an intergenerational church that's got its struggles, doesn't it?
Because. Because it's well different. You know, young people like loud music normally, and as you get older, you like it softer. I've discovered that I'm 45 now, and I've discovered. I go, guys, bring it down a bit.
Bring it down a bit. Go to a soft moment. I'm like, have I just got more in touch with the Holy Spirit? I'm like, no, I think I've just gotten older. That's all right.
We've all got differences. But you know what? God's called us all to be together. He's called the generations to build into each other and believe in each other and give wisdom and belief and help and go, you know what? Our young people have fire in their bellies that we need the passion and the fervency, and we need to bring wisdom.
All of us need each other with authentic faith. Authentic faith. So I want to pray right now. Say, glory. Can you help us?
I pray for our young guys. I want to pray for each of us. And we're gonna ask the Holy Spirit right now. Say, lord, can you help us be authentic parents? I want to encourage you.
Be authentic with your kids. They don't just need a person telling them what to do, or they don't just need a best mate. They need someone who's being real, Someone sometimes to tell them what needs to be said and sometimes to share your struggles and listen to their struggles. My daughter was at camp and she was messaging me while she was there, going, dad, I'm feeling sick. And she was playing keys and she didn't feel confident enough and I was trying to encourage her.
And my wife's telling me what I should be saying and I was saying the wrong things apparently. And I was like, I've got this, I've got this, I know what I'm doing. And she's like, no, you need to listen to her. She needs your understanding. And so I tried.
And later on I went down there and then I was like, you'll be right. And she goes, dad, did I do a good job? I said, yeah, no, it was good. I said, you could have been better. But I said, you're getting good, you're getting good.
And I felt a bit convicted and I sent her a text message and afterwards, and I said, ella, I said, you did a great job. I said, I'm really proud of you. And I said, I want you to go. And I said, before you get up tomorrow night, I want you to pray. And I said, I want you to just ask the Holy Spirit to use you.
And I said, you just do your best and you go for it. And she did that. And she messaged me later and she goes, dad, I think I did the best I've ever done. Michael said, she did a great job. And it's not about her, but it was about this understanding of going, you know what my role as a parent, Encourage the next generation, understand them, be authentic with them when they're going through a tough time.
We can all make a difference. And I want us to pray. God, can you help us as parents? Can you help us as young people to be authentic? Young guy, young people, we need to understand the next generation.
They're not just there to tell us off. They're going through stuff as well. You can speak into their lives, you can encourage them. We are an intergenerational church. From birth until the day we go to the Lord, we're for everyone.
Come on, let's pray right now and say, Holy Spirit, help us, Lord. This is your church, this is your body and God, we want to be authentic people. God, we need you and we need each other. And so, Lord, I pray that you're going to help us, Holy Spirit, to be authentic Christians, Lord, to be real about our struggles, to be real about our faith, to be real, God, about loving one another. Whatever age we are, God, we're all in this together.
And so, Lord, I pray from the earliest age, from our children to our young people, our young teenagers, young adults, families, middle aged to older people, Lord, help us, Lord God, to build into each other, to love one another to be authentic. Fill us Holy Spirit and Lord together we can be your body we can be the church of the Lord Jesus that goes and changes generations and changes the world for you. Help us Holy Spirit of God build us together in unity. We pray in Jesus precious name Everyone said amen Amen. Well one why don't we give Michael and our young people who shared today another awesome hand.
You guys are amazing you know that? I'm really honestly I'm so proud. I wish I could be young and old again and be a youth leader again because I just love hearing what God's doing through you and God's going to do mighty things. So God bless you parents. Our young people are coming to be collected up and and so stick around for them.
The rest of us we got morning tea, we got the cafe open. God bless you guys. We'll see you at Easter. God bless