Sunday, May 4, 2014

Passing the Faith Along

Joshua 4 
It is said by some that each generation must discover God for themselves.  And yet, we only know God by His revelation of Himself in relationship with man. If every generation had to start from zero, our knowledge of God would be greatly limited. God has overcome this by requiring that each generation pass their accumulated knowledge on to the next generation.
Our knowledge of God is more than data, but the sum of man’s experiences with Him.

I. These Stones Mean God Has Helped Us
A spiritual marker is a time in your life when you know God has revealed His presence and power in your life. 
We all suffer from various levels of spiritual amnesia and have a tendency to forget God's faithfulness.
We tend to remember the losses in our lives far better than the blessings.
Memories are often recalled by the triggering of our thoughts by places, people, or things.
Although we may not be able to control what comes into our minds, we can control how much attention we are going to give them.
It is in worship that we are reminded of the blessings of God.

II. These Stones Mean That Each Generation Must Be Taught About God.
Our dependence on God is less and less theoretical and more and more practical as we age.
Before we pass on, we must pass on the torch, particularly the flame of faith.
The flame we pass on is our living faith burning in our hearts and shining through our lives.
Children learn how to handle life by watching others live it.
We have not equipped our children to handle life until we have demonstrated how to properly handle the negative emotions and difficult circumstances of life.

III. These Stones Mean That God Has a Purpose for His People
The passing on of faith is the passing on of responsibility.

The next generation will not “catch” our faith.  There must be intentionality to our efforts.

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