A Growth Spurt Story

Alright, I'm ready to preach God's word. You ready to receive it today? The year was 2014, and we were uh we were already living here in the Oak Park area, and our family uh is is a music and a baseball family. So we love music and we love baseball. And uh Elliot was playing baseball, and the twins I think had had um started baseball, and we were talking about the fact of in the summer how you can have a growth spurt in the summer. And so we were talking about for Elliot having a growth spurt, and the twins were in the back seat of the truck, the very back row, the third row, listening, and they both immediately started crying. And we were like, guys, what's the problem? And they were like six or seven years old, and they were crying because we were talking about Elliot having a growth spit, spurt, a growth spurt, and they they were crying, and we were like, Well, guys, you're gonna have a growth spurt too. It's okay. And they cried even more. And we were finally like, I pulled the truck over because this was gonna be a catastrophe, and I just pulled the truck over and put it in drive. I said, Guys, what's the problem? And a little Eli spoke up and said, Dad, we don't want a girl spit. And we're like, buddy, it's growth spurt, it's when you grow, it's the size you are now, and in a growth spurt, you get a little bigger, and it's okay, it's gonna happen to all of us, and so it calmed them down, and we drove on, and summer after summer we experienced watching the boys grow in wisdom and in stature in the summertime. It's the year I learned you better be careful what you ask for, and you better be clear about what's going on. Why don't you just lean to your neighbor and say, we're about to have a growth spurt? No girl spit. And then to the one you've been ignoring all service, just look at them and say, You look so good today.

Why Summer Is For Growth

Today we start an all-new series here at church life. It is called a 5G Summer. Everybody say 5G summer. So, you know, there are moments where like I'm reading scripture and I read something, and I'm like, oh, we need to preach a series on this. And then there's other times where I hear preaching and I hear a few words, and I feel like the Holy Spirit's like, this is gonna be what you preach about all summer. And when Pastor Raf and Jade were with us a couple of weeks ago, closing out our two service schedule, uh, they both mentioned something powerful in their messages, and I wrote the words down, and then I was looking at the words thinking, man, I think this is our summer series. So I was inquisitive to know if 5G was still a thing. And so I asked my friend chat, I said, Is 5G still a thing? Because I was afraid like it might be move, it might be shifting, something might be happening, and I don't want to be old hat. We want to be like uh current culture and relevant, and so I was like, is 5G a thing? And chat responded back, says, of course, indeed. In fact, in fact, 5G is the standard for global connectivity, and I was like, aha. This is gonna be one of those summers where we invest in our connectivity and we spend time talking about some areas that we're gonna grow in this summer. A 5G summer, connecting and growing. Because how many know healthy things grow and you've got to be connected to grow. In fact, Jesus says, I'm the vine, you are the branch, and if you're connected to me, you'll be able to do things. If you're not connected to me, you'll do nothing. He says this that if we stay close to him, he'll stay close to us, and we can do great things. So we want to have a summer of connectivity and growth. You know, here's some trends about summer. I I would say it's a myth a lot of times, is as a lot of people look at summer and say, well, summer is really a time to disconnect. I've been pushing so hard, I've been really doing so many things, so this summer I'm just gonna step back and disconnect. I'm gonna coast a little bit. And that might lead to some drifting and some distance and then some complacency. I think that's a myth. I I think summer actually is the season that healthy things grow. That things that are connected to healthy sources, those things will grow. And that when we're fed properly, we will grow. Kids grow in the summer. Some of your kids are gonna, they're gonna get their last day of school. Is it over yet? I don't know. We don't have kids in school anymore. We have college kids and they're over, but like, is elementary school done? Yes and no? All right, well, they're walking away, school's out for summer, this size, and next year they're gonna show up for another elevated level, another grade. They've been promoted to a new level, a new grade, and they're gonna be a little taller. And that happens for kids and our waistlines. Watch out for the ice cream. It happens for plants and crops, and it happens in the church. We grow in the summer. We are not a church that, like, oh yeah, we're taking a Sabbath Sunday, but we're gonna grow this summer. And we're gonna experience what happens when we all get connected. And I shared a line with the team this morning. We heard it earlier today, but this is this is what I'm pushing for all summer long. That we all go all in and we uh what's the last phrase? And we stay locked in. Thank you. I got it was so good I forgot it. So summer is just not a season on the calendar, it is a season of cultivation. Let me ask you, what farmer plants seed in the springtime and then forgets about it until the harvest and expects a wonderful harvest? No, you see that farmer out every morning. He's working that field, he's working the field, he's he's checking on the crops, he's making sure it's being watered, he's pulling out the weeds around it when you got to pull out the weeds. Because healthy things grow, but so do unhealthy things. And if you don't clear out some weeds, they're gonna overtake it. So, so let's look, just so you don't think I'm just making stuff up today. Oh man, where's Pastor Matthew wore this last week for like two seconds before the battery died? I heard. So, so here

The First G Generational Blessing

we go. Today we're gonna talk about the 5G. The first G of the summer is this growing in generational blessing. So here's kind of the framework for the entire summer. Galatians 6, 9. Let us not become weary in doing good, for in the proper time you will reap a harvest if you do not give up. Summer is the season to not give up. Don't give up this summer. Even if you don't have your answer yet, don't give up. All right, let's look at Psalm 92. Psalm 92, let's pull that one up. We got that one. There we go. The righteous will what? Flourish like a palm tree. They will grow like a cedar of Lebanon. Where are they gotta be planted? In the house of the Lord, they will flourish in the courts of our God. So those who are planted in the house will flourish in his courts. All right, we're just we're just getting getting going. We're just getting going. All right, let's go to Psalm uh 145. No, Acts 2. Acts 2. Acts 2. They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship and the breaking of bread into prayer. Acts 242 is a summer verse. We're gonna be devoted to the teaching, we're devoted to fellowship and the breaking of bread and to Arnold Palmer lemonade and tea. Come on, somebody.

Talk about it.

All right, so then Psalm 145 and 4. Here we go for today. One generation shall praise your works to another and shall declare your mighty acts. One, everybody say this verse together. Let's all read it together. One generation shall praise your works to another and shall declare your mighty acts. Church, let me just tell you this: all ages, every life age, every life stage, you are not the final destination of your blessing. You are the bridge. You need to start looking at your life as the bridge that every blessing God has poured out on your life is a bridge to be poured into the next generation. And that's why one generation will declare your works to the next because we are a bridge, and when we get rolling, we are just declaring his works again and again and again and again.

Cancel Culture Versus Family Legacy

This is what I know about current culture and generations. That there's this trend of generational disconnection. Uh, it's primarily due like to a cancel culture. So we live in a society like if you don't believe it exactly as I believe it, uh you offend me and I'm canceling you. Even my family. That's ridiculous. And then we live in a culture where there's this um no contact culture. Like one generation is like, no, don't contact me. Don't call me, don't visit me, don't send me gifts for the kids. Like, what are we talking about? Our God is a generational God, and as a church, we need to be the ones that set the example of healthy generational culture, one generation praising the works of God to the next. You see, in current culture, the old may say the young are too reckless, and with current culture, the young may say the old are too rigid. But let me just tell you this anytime generational blessing is interrupted, legacy is delayed. So we are a church of generational blessing. I don't say this, uh, this is not bragging. I just want you to know what you are grafted into in this family. Urshana is like fifth generation ministry, pastoral leadership, global impact in her heritage. I'm a fourth generation pastor with national impact in my upbringing, in my great-grandfather, my grandfather, my dad. You have been grafted into a generational blessing. And that's that's not to bring any glory to me. Let all glory be to God. If there be any praise in any of it, it's to go to God. I didn't ask to be born into it, but I'm not gonna waste it. So even this week in my daily reading, God, this clock, even in my daily reading this week, um, I'm reading about Saul and David, and Saul was the first king of Israel, and he was anointed, and he's prophesying, and he's got this power as a king of the nation, but he's powerfully ministry-minded, and and then he falls and he fails, and David has been anointed to be king, and Saul hates him. And David is the anointed next generation, but Saul is so angry and bitter and jealous, he decides he's gonna take all of his forces, sometimes up to 3,000 and 4,000 men, just to chase David. And while he's chasing the next generation to stop that assignment, the enemy, the Philistines, are coming in and attacking the people. We gotta be generationally minded. The next generation, they are not the enemy. Furthermore, I believe there is an anointing. There is an anointing on this generation for global revival, for revival in every arena, revival in the arts, revival in film, revival in the concert stage, revival in the educational arena, revival in the political arena. Listen, I want to speak this into some of you young adults and young people right now. This is not a part of the message, but I feel compelled to lean in here. Like some of some are so much complaining about the political arena, and you know what? If it makes you that angry, get on your knees and ask God if He would lead you into that arena to be a voice. Listen, we need some of what's going on in this front row to be happening in the Congress hall. It always follows generational unity and togetherness. Moses needed Joshua, Elijah needed Elisha, Naomi needed Ruth, Paul needed Timothy. There simply is no success without a successor. And Matthew Henry is a is a theologist. He he writes commentaries or did write commentaries. I don't think he's alive any longer, but um his commentaries were some of the first I received when I was getting into ministries to start reading through as I studied scripture. And he says that passing on truth from one generation to the next is how God's glory rests in this world. So we have a responsibility to ensure generational unity and togetherness by preaching the truth from the stage, but also living it in our lives and and it being a part of our home and our office and our our our marketplace. So we we have to we have to be guards of this, and I'm pressing us this summer to grow in generational blessing. In fact, scripture says we're literally one generation away, one generation away from walking away from God's plan. All it takes is one generation to be weary and tired and silent, and the next generation will not make it. Read through the journey of the children of Israel, and when you read through the journey of the children of Israel, you'll know it's just one generation after another making the mistake of not standing on the Word of God as the authority of our life. Making the mistake to not declare Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Making the mistake to not declare you must be born of God. There is only one way to salvation, one name whereby men and women must be saved. We're one generation away. You see, this is not about style. It is not about it's bigger than volume. It's way beyond fashion. It's not even really about methods because methods will change, but the mission always remains the same. We're here to help people know God, find freedom, discover purpose, and make a difference. So at Free Church, this is in my mind what generational blessing looks like. Grandmas praying for and laying their hands on and interceding for the next generation. Dads, fathering sons and daughters in the house, even if it's not the bloodline. Young adults up front and on fire for God. Youth with the energy and the passion and pursuit to lead us all in it. Kids with crazy faith for miracles, signs, and wonders. Generational blessing. Joel 2 and 28 says this. In the last days, I'll even pour out my spirit on the servants, men and women both. I'll set wonders in the sky above and signs on the earth below. Blood and fire and billowing smoke, the sun turning black and the moon blood red. Now, this is not the great news. That is like this is this is uh okay, this is gonna be pretty intense. But look what happens. Before the judgment day of God, the day tremendous and awesome, whoever calls help, God gets help. On Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, there will be a great rescue, just as God said, included in the survivors of those that God calls. And then he says this, and I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh. And he says that the young, the old men will dream dreams, and the young men will see visions. Now, this is interesting language because typically it is the older generation that has the vision, and the younger generation that dreams the dream. But by the power of the Holy Spirit, in the world of generational blessing, God says, I'm gonna make sure the old men, they're so on fire for God, they still dream like kids. In fact, I'm gonna flip it so well that the young men will see vision. That means they're gonna not walk with aloofness and they're not gonna walk out of chaos, but they're gonna walk in direct sight, plain sight. So we're not gonna stop dreaming. We're not gonna stop dreaming, and the young men see and vision walk with clarity and purpose. And this is what that looks like together. You know, because there's something about the Bible says something about like somebody who has gray hair is like wisdom.

Family Habits That Pass Faith

Number one, here's the practical way in this generational blessing. Number one, family matters. Look what it says in Deuteronomy six, six three nine. Deuteronomy six, sixty three nine says this. Write these commandments that I've given you today on your heart. Get them inside of you. And then get them inside of your children. Talk about them wherever you are, sitting at home or walking in the street. Talk about them from the time you get up in the morning to when you fall into bed at night. Tie them around your hands and foreheads as a reminder. Inscribe them on the doorposts of your homes and on the city gates. These are the commands, these are the words. And so, in order to have generational blessing, it's going to start in the home. And I want to challenge you. First of all, when we did the lower level downstairs, before we put anything on the framing, we went through and rewrote all of God's promises on all of those metal studs in there. In the doorways, the window frame area, in the middle where the walls are, we were just writing God's promises. So when your kids walk in there, they're walking into a promise. But listen, you have a responsibility to talk about the commandments of God in your home. To bring up God's word. When you're on your way to school. This summer while you're on your way to vacation. Talk about God's word. When you're sitting at the table, don't just ask your kids, hey, how was summer camp today? Oh, hey, how was your day today? What'd you do at the pool? Those are great questions. And you should be asking the greatest questions to your kids to help them learn how to have the better answers. But the great questions also can lean like this. Hey, tell me, what do you think God's doing in your life right now? Where do you feel like God's leading you? What do you think God's speaking into your heart today? When you lay your head on the pillow at night, what do you think God is putting into your spirit as you're getting ready to rest? Like, let's lean in and talk about God's word a little bit more in our homes. And then let's let's uh let's grab the Bible app. Over a billion downloads of the UVersion Bible app. Grab it for your family. Have a verse of the day. And just let's talk about the verse of the day. Put it up on a screen in your house, put it up in your car, do something where we all see it, everyone sees it in the family, and we we read it. It's just the verse of the day. And pray together. Pray together. I'm calling families to 6 a.m. prayer. Bring your whole family. Turn that zoom on, wake everybody up. What do you mean it's summer? I know it's summer, but listen, this is a season to grow. It's a season to cultivate. You get 12 weeks with your kids at home. I know that sounds crazy and it sounds a little chaotic, but you get to, this is your moment to speak life and purpose and God's word into them. So that's family matters. We're gonna lean in. We're gonna preach about it all summer. The next one is um I couldn't figure out how to say this, so I just said it this way: empty nesters and seasoned believers. I don't want to offend anybody because that's me, basically. Unfortunately, you have to amen that loud, but it's true, and we're doing it pretty good. Listen, I just want to encourage you, empty nesters, seasoned believers, get to know somebody in the next generation. Get to know, take a young adult to dinner. Tell them about your testimony. One generation, declare your works to the next. Some of our young adults, they're living in this city on their own. They've left family in all parts of the world. They just they need they need they need a grandparent. They they need they need some parent life, and they need just somebody to pick them up and take them to dinner. When Evan was in college his first his first year at Des Moines at Grandview University, the church that he was connected to, uh, the very first Sunday Evan went there, the pastor's dad met us as we walked in, and um he introduced himself, and I had called my friend to let him know Evan was coming to the service, and man, they treated Evan like he was he was an all-star. It was it was kind of cool to see. And the dad came up to him and said, Listen, Evan, I know you're in college, you're just a couple weeks in, and I know cafeteria food's not great, and I know your parents are far away. I'm gonna pick you up and take you to dinner and just chat with you, and I'll come watch your baseball games when your dad can't be there. They just they just took him in. And I can't tell you how much it meant to me, but really what it meant for Evan and the community that's surrounded. I'm just gonna say, seniors, let's lean in and help these young adults who are on their own, and young people who they don't have a surrounding around them. Some of our young people, they're the only ones in their families that come to church on Sunday. And listen, we can lean in and help them. Listen, your testimony and your experience may become the best survival guide our young people and young adults will ever read. All right, and then young people, teenagers and young adults. Your your part in this generational blessing is double honor. Double honor. You open the door for anybody you think is one year or more older than you. Guys, you open the door for every lady. You don't ever walk through a door before a lady. You open the door for her. You see somebody walking out of a grocery store with a heavy load, you stop and help them load the car. Like we're gonna. We need the wisdom and the voice of the generation before us, but we need your energy. And if you will honor, the Bible promised you not just honor your mother and father, but when you honor, your life will go well. It is it is the currency for you becoming successful, it's honoring. So you just young people, double honor, double honor, double honor. Always prefer the generation before you. And um man, that's gonna be it's gonna be one of our funnest summers yet. Because we're gonna walk in generation, generational life. Can everybody stand? Can I be old-fashioned for a second? Can I be like the seasoned empty nester? Man, the reality coming off the front stage. It's like, hey, listen, I want to call everybody forward. I want to call everybody forward. Come on down, let's fill this front. But I want us to, if you're with your family, bring your family. But if you don't have family around you, I want I want young and old surrounding each other. We're gonna just, oh, let me just tell you why this is as you're coming.

Redwoods And Intertwined Roots

Put a picture up. We got the first picture of just the redwoods. The redwoods are the the redwoods are the tallest trees, right? On the west coast. I mean, look at these massive things. And they survive for for thousands of years. They're massive. You can't put your arms around them. Look at this next one. People can drive through them. I put a picture up there of them driving through it. Let's see. Okay, it's coming. Trust me. So you can drive through them, they're so big. And I was reading about them. I was like, how do these trees look at that? That's a full-size vehicle. That's a that's a Chevy Tahoe driving through there. Come on, let's like I so I started reading, how do these trees get so tall? I was like, the the root system must be so deep. Because you know, if you're gonna build a skyscraper, you go deep. You just may have some of those buildings downtown that are so tall, they also those those columns, those pylons, those foundations are drilled so deep into the ground so they can have be sturdy so high. I was like, so so man, those things, man, the root system must be so deep. And and I couldn't believe what I read. It said, shockingly, the redwood tree is known as the most shallow root system. And I thought, that's impossible. It's the tallest tree. If it was so shallow, those things would fall. Any windstorm, any storm blow through there, they would fall over. Listen, well, I mean, I've we've seen trees fall and look at the roots. I'm like, oh, they they just never got deep. No, here's the secret: the redwoods, those root systems, they intertwine with all of the redwoods around them. So you got hundred-year-old trees, two hundred-year-old trees, thousand-year-old trees interconnecting with the younger trees, and they're establishing a root system. Oh, it might not seem that deep, but it's so solid and secure because they're so interconnected, and that's what generational blessing looks like. That's what generational blessing looks like when we get together and we interconnect our lives, young and old, every life age, every life stage, and we're like, hey, we love the young, we love the old, we love everybody in between because why? Because we walk in generational blessing. So look, where is our where's our social media team? I want somebody jump in for social media. Yeah, y'all just come up and get a good shot from here, like wide angle. It's it's a wide angle. Come on up. There you go. Awesome, awesome. You gotta get your phone, yeah. You gotta have it with you. So just get a good shot. You got your phone? Oh, well, you need your phone. We got it. TIFS got it right here. TIFF's got it. All right, just a good wide angle. Good wide angle. That's how I would do that, but yeah. Good bless. Yeah, it's video too. Yeah. Come on. Let's connect. Everybody connect. Let me pray for

Prayer For Generational Healing

you. Father, I thank you for what you're doing in this house. And this is my prayer, God. We don't just want a once-in-a-lifetime revival. We want a revival through the generations. God, I pray for generational blessing for every home represented. Every home generationally blessed. As one generation praises your words to the next, every single home blessed in generational blessing. I thank you that you're healing relationships between the young and old. I thank you that you're opening up lines of communication where there's been no contact in cancel culture. I thank you, God, that you're gonna heal the brokenhearted who have been wondering, God, will you ever bring us back together? And Lord, you're doing that right now. And I thank you, God, for your power and your might. We pray this in the mighty name of Jesus. Everybody say amen. Amen.