Welcome to the podcast of the White Church in Adelaide, South
Australia. Excellent.
I'm going to be inviting Bianca. Bianca's going to be sharing the
Word of God with us this morning.
Why don't you come and pray for Bianca and for us, Santel?
Lord Jesus, we just thank you for the message that you have
placed on Bianca's heart to share with us.
Lord Jesus, we just thank you for the empowerment of the Holy
Spirit just to come upon her right now to speak with clarity
and with boldness of God that we would receive it, Lord Jesus,
and we would put it into practice in a great measure.
Lord, this sweet God, we just prepare our hearts right now to
receive what you have for us today for this daily bread, Lord
God, and we just thank you and we bless your name and we give
you honor and praise. Amen, Amen.
Thank you. Well good morning everyone.
I am going to try and speak a lot slower than I did last time
I did this, but I also when I get excited it just gets faster.
So if at any point I am going way too fast, just raise your
hand and I'll try and put my foot on the break a little bit.
So over the past couple of weeks, we've we've heard a bit
about cultures. So Ty spoke on 6 cultures that
we can contend for. I was going to throw it out to
our community group here to, to throw me some, but most of them
aren't here. So we had a culture of Christ,
culture of conviction, culture of caring, culture of community,
culture of calling and a culture of commissioning.
And then Hilary shared last week on Kingdom family, which is a
culture that we carry. It's not just a family culture,
but we want a Kingdom family culture.
And so today I really had all my heart to share about how do we
establish a Kingdom culture that will last for generations?
Because we know that God's not just building for right now,
He's building for the generations to come.
He's not, I like, I liken it to God's not building a castle, a
building that's just once off built, done and dusted, but he's
building a Kingdom. A Kingdom is something that
keeps taking ground, keeps growing, keeps getting bigger.
And so we see this in God's promise to Noah right in
Genesis. It's all throughout the Bible.
In Genesis 912, God speaks to Noah about the promise, the
rainbow that he puts in the sky, and the promise after the
floods. And it's not just a promise for
Noah. It doesn't just say that this is
what I'm doing so you'll survive.
There's going to be no more floods for you.
But it says this is the sign of the covenant I am making between
me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant
for all generations to come. We see it again in Abraham.
When God promises Abraham that we will, he will have nations
come from him. I will Genesis 17 seven.
I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between
me and you and your descendants after you and for the
generations to come to be your God and the God of your
descendants after you. God promises it to David that he
will sit on, that he will have someone of his throne for
generations. I've made a commitment with my
chosen one. I've sworn to David, my servant.
I will establish the line forever and ever and make your
throne firm through all generations.
So we see over and over the promises of God are for
generations. God introduces himself to Moses
as the God of the generations. He says I when Moses says who,
who should you, who should I say?
Sent me to the to save the Israelites from Egypt?
And he says the Lord, the God of your father's, the God of
Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob.
He introduces himself as a generational God.
Sorry and then, but this isn't just Old Testament.
We see it in the early church as well in Acts 2 when the early
church was birthed, when the Holy Spirit came and Peter
preached and thousands were saved and said hundreds were
saved. And he says repent and be
baptized everyone of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the
forgiveness of sins. You will receive the Holy
Spirit. But it goes on to say this
promise is for you and your children and for all who are far
off, which is the promise that we're living in now.
We've received that Holy Spirit. We're living in those days.
We're living in that promise of the generations to come.
And so we want to see that for the generations that go after
us. Culture.
We here often say culture isn't created, it's cultivated, which
just means it's not something that we can just say tomorrow,
this is going to be our culture. Like if in our family we wake up
tomorrow and say, OK, kids tomorrow, we're going to put
other people's needs before our own and that is our family
culture. Our kids are not just going to
be like that day. No fighting, sharing all of
their toys, giving up for one another doesn't just happen.
It's something that has to be fostered.
It has to be developed. And this means that we're
leaving a culture, whether it's good or bad, whether we're being
intentional with what we're doing or whether we're not.
And that's what Hillary touched on.
She said your family has a culture without you even trying.
It's just by the way that you live.
That's how you establish a culture.
It's what we value, what we don't value.
So our question, the question I wanted to talk about today was
how do we establish a Kingdom culture that will last for
generations? So the first thing we see in the
Bible is we teach His commands all throughout Exodus and
Leviticus. When God's giving the law to his
people, they're being taught to keep these laws for generations
in Exodus. Let's just pull out Exodus 2942
talking about the burnt offerings for the generations to
come. This burnt offering is to be
made regularly at the entrance of the tenor meeting before the
Lord. It's a law that's meant to be
passed down. God was not planning on coming
back in 30 years to tell all the next generation of Israelites,
these are my laws. This is what you need to do.
It was a responsibility of what they called the ancestors or to
pass it down so that wouldn't be forgotten.
It was God's design in Deuteronomy 6 verse one to two.
I'm just going to turn in my Bible.
Feel free to turn with me if you've got your Bibles with you
to Deuteronomy 6. So Deuteronomy 6 starting in
verse one because it sets a context.
These are the commands, decrees, and laws.
So the commands of the Lord your God directed by me to teach you
to observe in the land that you're crossing the Jordan, to
possess, so that you, your children and their children
after them, why are they doing it?
That may fear the Lord as long as they live by keeping his
decrees and commands so that you may enjoy long life.
So we see the reason for passing down the law, the reason for
teaching it was actually so that they will live longer.
They will live prosperity prosperously.
And so jumping down to verse 6, these commandments that I give
to you today are to be on your hearts.
Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit
down at home, when you walk along the road, when you lie
down, when you get up. Tie them as a symbol on your
hands, bind them on your foreheads.
Write them on the door frames of your house and on your gates.
So God's design was that these things are passed down and
taught and taught and taught and talked about and taught so that
it would be something that the next generation would continue
to carry and that they would continue to pass down.
And, and the beautiful thing is that this is exactly what Jesus
has called us to do. We see it in the Great
Commission in Matthew 2818 to 20, which we all know very well.
In verse 20 it says, sorry, so they're 19.
Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them
in the name of the Father, the Son of the Holy Spirit, and
teaching them to obey everything I've commanded.
And surely I'm with you. So that's our job now.
Our job is to teach the next generation, teach those that are
new to faith and coming in. It's our responsibility to teach
them the laws, the commands, the things that have been passed
down to us. If you want to turn with me to
Psalm 78, we see this. Our worked Psalm 78 picking up
in verse 5 says he decreed statutes for Jacob and
established the law in Israel which he commanded our ancestors
to teach their children so the next generation would know them,
even the children yet to be born, that they in turn would
tell their children. Then they would put their trust
in God and would not forget His deeds, but would keep His
commands. Goes on to say that they would
not be like their ancestors, A stubborn, rebellious generation
whose hearts were not loyal. So we see what happens when we
don't pass these things down, when we don't teach His
commands. We don't set up the next
generation very well because they get stuck in all of the
things that we probably got stuck in.
We want them to go further than us.
So the first thing we need to do is teach His commands.
The second thing, even in this passage that it referencing is
tell of His power and good works.
So if we read from verse 4, Psalm 78, verse 4, it says we
will not hide them from their descendants.
We will tell to the next generation the praiseworthy
deeds of the Lord, His power, and the wonders He has done.
Psalm 7118. Even when I am old and Gray.
Now I'm just saying, if you've got Gray hair, this one's for
you. Even when I am Gray, old and
Gray. Do not forsake me, my God, till
I declare your power to the next generation, Your mighty axe to
all who are to come. But this isn't when we tell of
His wonders. It's not just something that we
see passed down. If we turn to Psalm 145 picking
up in verse 4, it's actually we see it's both ways.
Psalm 145 says one generation commends your works to another.
They tell of your mighty axe. They speak, sorry, they lost the
most part the They tell of your mighty axe, they speak of your
glorious spender, of your majesty, and I will meditate on
your wonderful works. They tell of the power of your
awesome works, and I will proclaim your great deeds.
They celebrate your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of
your righteousness. So we see this when the
generation, other generations are doing it.
It has an effect on us too. I liken it to how encouraged I
am when I see my kids just go and start praying for one
another. If someone gets hurt and they go
out and they say I'll, I'll pray and they'll pray for each other.
Or how many times a young kid just stands up or reminds you
that it's OK, Jesus loves you. Sometimes those little just tiny
simple revelations, watching the kids jump up and down and praise
God with everything they bring us who are we're not the next
generation. We've gone before them, but they
bring us encouragement. They bring they, they build us
up. They sometimes they give us
revelation of the simplicity of, of, of what faith can be
sometimes. And verse 10 of Psalm 145 says
all your works praise you, Lord, your faithful people extol you.
They tell of your glory, of your glory, of your Kingdom, and
speak of your mind so that all people may know your mighty
acts, all the glorious splendour of your Kingdom.
And why do we do it? Because your Kingdom is an
everlasting Kingdom, and your dominion endures through all
generations. That's why it matters.
It's not just for us, it's for God.
And He chooses to partner with us to keep His praise enduring
for generations. So how do we create a Kingdom
culture that will last for generations?
We teach His commands. We tell of His good works and
His power, and #3 we testify of His faithfulness.
Psalm 89.1 says I will sing of the Lord's great love forever
with my mouth. I will make faithfulness known
through all the generations. Psalm 40, verse 10, I do not
hide Your righteousness in my heart.
I speak of Your faithfulness and Your saving health.
I do not conceal Your love and Your faithfulness from the great
assembly or in other versions they say the congregation.
It's something that we need to testify of because it's
personal. Psalm 66 says come and hear all
you who fear God. Let me tell you what he has done
for me. There is nothing like the
personal revelation of what you've experienced, what God has
done in your life, the way you have seen him come through, the
way you have seen him work. And that being passed down in to
Timothy 15, we see its effect on Timothy.
So Paul writes to Timothy and he says, I'm reminded of your
sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois, and
then in your mother Eunice, and now I am persuaded lives in you
also. It's a faith that is passed down
and that's done through testifying.
If we just keep it to ourselves, the next generation's never
going to know, and it's hard for them to stand on the faith that
we have as well and go further. So we teach his commands, we
tell of his parent good works, and we testify to his
faithfulness. But I just want to pause there
for a second because there was a little, I've been thinking about
this as a there's an activity that we used to do in primary
school and it was called show and tell.
Anyone remember that from back in the day?
Show and tell. So basically as a kid, you would
have to bring something in and it would be your job.
When the teacher said it was your turn, you'd get up, you'd
tell the class about something and you'd show them what you
brought in. It wasn't enough to just tell
everyone because we know little 5-6 year olds, I've got their
imagination, they could be dinosaurs and who knows what
involved the the bringing in and the showing.
It was like adding a reality to it that the other kids could
say. It was also adding an
authenticity. You couldn't just make up a
story because you'd need to bring something in like and and
that's what the world is looking for.
They're looking for that reality, that authenticity.
It's why things like in Exodus, the Israelites were given manna
provided by God when they were journeying through the
wilderness and they were given manna.
They went, Hey, God, let's let's put some in a jar and preserve
it so that all the generations come won't just hear us telling
that God did this amazing thing. They can actually see in the jar
that this is what God did. There's the eastern tribes when
the when they went back to settle on the eastern side of
the Jordan and the western and the other tribes went to settle
in the western side of the Jordan in their promised land.
They built an altar and there was a big uproar like why are
you building an altar? You've strayed from God's ways.
But they basically came back and said, this isn't for burning
any. This is not to, you know,
disobey God. We want something that the
generations to come can see and know that this is what God did.
It's not something that we can just tell them, yeah, God did
it. Yeah, God did it.
And if your guys forget, we
don't want them to be kind of left out.
They did it for generations, they could have quite easily
gone. Yep we get to be in the promised
land. This is awesome.
Let's go make our homes have our livestock.
This is amazing with no care for the next generation.
And we could have seen people left behind but their thought
was on. We need something that the
generations to come can physically see so that they
won't be left behind. It's not enough for us to just
teach and testify and tell, but we need to be able to live it.
We see in Abraham, so back in Genesis, Abraham tithes to God.
It's the first time we hear about tithing.
He comes back with the spoils of war and he chooses out of his
revelation to give a tenth back to God.
It says in Genesis 1420. And praise, praise be to God,
the Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand.
Then Abraham gave him a 10th of everything.
We see Isaac, he's very generous.
And then we see Jacob, which is his grandson, so not his son,
his grandson Jacob. In Genesis 2822, Jacob made a
vow and he said, if God will be with me and watch over me on
this journey I'm taking, give me food to eat, clothes to wear so
that I return safely, then the Lord will be my God.
And this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God's
house. And all that you give me, I will
give you a 10th. So this is the second reference
to tithing. But what I was blown away by is
this isn't law yet. This isn't something that God's
commanded. You give a 10th.
This is something that Abraham lived out and Jacob as his
grandson picked up as a culture. This culture is important to
give a tenth back to God. I'm sure if Abraham though, was
like now son, grandson, it's very important that we give a
10th of what we had to God. But I'm going to keep all my
things for myself. But but make sure you give a
tenth to God. But but these are all my things.
Do we? I doubt Jacob would have been
like, yeah, let's give a tenth to God.
That seems like a good idea. No, we don't see like if he was
living it out, if he was showing him.
Hey, grandson, this is how we give a 10th.
This is son. We we were even speaking, Justin
and I about the way that we tithe.
And these days everyone's got their phone.
We just bank transfer it. Beep, bop, beep bop.
All done. I've given to God, which is
amazing, but we've been challenged.
What do our kids say if we're just constantly being like, it's
important to give to God and it's important to tie?
Is it going to be inconvenient for us to go to an ATM and get
out money to put in the offering box to the back?
Probably we're going to have to take time out.
We're going to have to go a different way to get to the ATM.
But what our kids see is what we're doing.
We're not just telling them and they catch.
You can say I've got measles, I've got measles, I've got
measles, but if I've got mumps, you're going to catch mumps.
So it's really important that what we're telling, we're also
living. Justin is not a dancer and he
knows this. We've been I have AI have a bit
of a background in dance and I married a man with two left
feet. I think I think I re
choreographed our first dance at our wedding about 10 times
because I just was it was really hard to make him look good.
But I'm so but and and he's the guy who would happily just stand
there with his hands in the air, which is it is amazing.
And that's what he's giving God and I have I have no problems
with that. But the way he's seen in the
last couple of years of us having kids, the importance of
he wants our kids to be extravagant worshippers,
extravagant praises. He wants them to see that it's
OK to be a little undignified. You don't have to look great if
it's if God is worth it. And so you see, he'll dance
around the house like a crazy person.
He'll jump around the house. Sometimes I'm worried he's going
to might knock the kids out with the way his hands are flying
around. But he sees the value in showing
them, not just telling them. So how do we establish a culture
that will last for generations? We teach His commands.
We tell of His power and good works.
We testify of His faithfulness. And we show we often like to
reference the Scripture of one Samuel 16.
Seven people look at the outward appearance, but God looks at the
heart. God looks at the heart. 100%
agree. And everything flows out of our
heart. So our heart has to be in the
right place. But what do the generations see?
They see the outward. What do the generations see?
Jesus set such a perfect example for us.
He came down as a babe to live on this earth and to show us how
to live when we have people obviously generations to come,
but we when we have new people coming into faith, we need to be
willing to inconvenience ourselves for the sake of
showing them how good God is and how good and how worthy he is.
Jesus set an example when he prayed, He didn't just say to
the disciples, guys, it's really important to pray, but I like my
sleep, so I'm going to sleep in for a couple more hours.
Everyone up before dawn, off you go, go pray, but I'm going to
sleep. He was up separating himself,
spending time with God. So I just want to leave us with
that challenge today. People look at the outward
appearance, but God looks at the heart.
Make sure your heart is in the right place and start there, but
then look at what outward people see.
We want to be a people that see a culture that is going to be
passed down for generations. We're not just living for now,
we're living for the generations to come.
Father, we thank You that You have placed us on this earth for
here and now, but we thank You that our purpose is not just for
here and now. We thank You that You called us
to go and make disciples and teach them what you've
commanded. So, Father, I pray that you will
give us a greater revelation of not just the here and now, but
the eternal purpose that you've called us to.
Father, help us to respond in our hearts to the worthiness and
the glory and the majesty that you are, Father God, but help us
to show it outwardly. Make a way, God.
Make a way for us to show out the faith that we're walking, to
show Your power and good deeds in the way that we live our
lives. To show out your commands Father
God, and we pray all these things in the power of the Holy
Spirit in Jesus name, Amen. Thank you for joining us for
today's message. For more information about The
Way Church, please visit ourwebsite@thewaychurch.com dot
AU. Have a blessed day.