• I’m grateful for the opportunity to speak with you. Dr. Shah and the rest of the team were talking about what to share this weekend. He asked me to continue the discussion from last weekend.

• As you know, our ministry expo was last weekend. We had many sign up for various ministries.
  • However, there are still many of you who are on the fence or even coming up with reasons why you are too busy, or not the right fit, or insert your line of reasoning here.

• There’s a real risk to you not plugging into a ministry…and it actually has very little to do with you.

• What is your hope for your kids
  • Maybe you don’t have kids or maybe your kids are already grown; all of us are responsible for the kids that God has brought into our lives

• Serving in church isn’t just about you. It’s about bringing your families, specifically your children alongside you as you serve.

• The book of Acts actually has a lot to say about church conduct.

• Intergenerational
  • Acts 10:1-2 – There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian ^[a]Regiment, ² a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, who gave ^[b]alms generously to the people, and prayed to God always.
  • Acts 16:13-15 – And on the Sabbath day we went out of the city to the riverside, where prayer was customarily made; and we sat down and spoke to the women who met there. ¹⁴ Now a certain woman named Lydia heard us. She was a seller of purple from the city of Thyatira, who worshiped God. The Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul. ¹⁵ And when she and her household were baptized, she begged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.” So she persuaded us.

• Acts 16:29-34 – Then he called for a light, ran in, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. ³⁰ And he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” ³¹ So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.” ³² Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. ³³ And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes. And immediately he and all his family were baptized. ³⁴ Now when he had brought them into his house, he set food before them; and he rejoiced, having believed in God with all his household.

• Acts 18:8 – Then Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his household. And many of the Corinthians, hearing, believed and were baptized.

• Acts 21:5 – When we had come to the end of those days, we departed and went on our way; and they all accompanied us, with wives and children, till we were out of the city. And we knelt down on the shore and prayed.
  • In each of these passages, you have the account of the entire family coming to Christ. This also assumes that the entire family was involved in attending and serving in church.

• There were seven men who were chosen to serve in the book of Acts, but nowhere does it differentiate in the passages that say they were together and had all things in common.

• This points to an intergenerational model of church.

• Multi-generational – lots of different generations attending together.

• Intergenerational – mixed together in service to one another

• Serving in church is not just critical for you, men. You need to lead your families and your kids especially to serve alongside you.

• Your kids serving with you does several things
  • Sets an example
    • Proverbs 22:6 – train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it

• Right now, the prevailing career choice for Gen Z and Gen Alpha is a youtuber/social media influence

• As adults, especially men, you set the tone for the church. If you are not involved in serving and actively shaping the young minds of your church, who is?

• If you stopped attending, what ministries would be impacted?
  • What young people need you to step into a mentor role?

• Hollywood, social media, and the Enemy are after the minds of our young people.

• Teaching them to be self-focused, insecure, and anxious. Because when they are, they become easy prey.

• But we can change that! When we bring our kids and students alongside in serving the church, we connect them to the church, serving others, and what God truly says about them.

• Reference the image; we are connected to each other. We need to not only understand this, but help our kids understand this, too.

• Teach them to value church church
  • There are about 700 things your kids can be doing outside of school on a regular basis.

• Sports, travel ball, video games, band, choir, debate, etc.

• When families get busy, church is usually one of the first things to fall through the cracks.

• Jesus knows our hearts

• We need a breather before the week starts after a Saturday full of activity
  • Listen, if church isn’t a priority for you, it will be even less of one for your kids.

• What you do in moderation, your kids do in excess. That includes laying out of church.

• Serving in church together teaches kids that church is a family we belong to, not an event we attend.

• Creates staying power through high school, college, and beyond

• Serving empowers kids and teenagers to create meaningful connections in the church that will anchor them as they leave the high school youth group years.

• They will remain connected to the church into adulthood.

• Timothy (mother, grandmother, Paul)
  • Timothy was poured into by his mother and grandmother, mentored by Paul, and then established as the pastor of the church in Ephesus

• What if Paul was too tired? Or busy with writing his letters? Or needed some time to decompress from work? What would have happened to Timothy?

• If we want a generation of courageous, compassionate, biblically literate believers, we need to change our priorities now.

• Maybe volunteering in the children’s ministry and youth ministry at your church isn’t so scary.

• Biblical examples
• Deuteronomy 6:1-8 “Hear, O Israel: ^[a]The Lord our God, the Lord is one! ⁵ You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. ⁶ “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. ⁷ You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. ⁸ You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. ⁹ You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

• Opportunities for families to serve together:
  • Kindle
  • AV
  • Nursery
  • Blaze Kids
  • Clearview Theater
  • Campus Care

• Find one for your families together. Help get your kids signed up. Find a place where you can have an impact on our Clearview kids and students.