The LORD's Day, March 11, 2007

Tell The Next Generation

Psalm 78.1-7

There is a plea here from the Psalmist, God speaking to the people through him, about...
Our children, our children’s children, our children’s children, children
Our nieces and nephews, great nieces and nephews, all young people we are in contact with... and in reference to the LORD, His mighty acts and His Holy Word...we are to speak about them.

The previous generations failed. He chronicles this failure in the remainder of the Psalm- Aspah speaks of how the nation of Israel, the descendants of Jacob did not believe the LORD even while He was doing wonders and miracles among them. They vexed the Holy One of Israel (v.41). They limited God and caused Him pain.

What this generation (who all died out there in the desert due to unbelief) forgot we will tell our children. We will tell them about the Word and Works of the LORD God Almighty This is what the LORD through the Psalmist is urging God’s people to do.

1. We will not hide them from the next generation. (v.4)
We will not purposely or by neglect conceal what we have heard and know about the LORD.

If we did then this current generation would be cut off from the truth.

There is a spiritual desolation that comes to the people who do not pass on the truth to the next generation. Israel is an example of this. I Corinthians 10.1-13
Look what happened after they got into the Promised Land- Psalm 79.

To forget the LORD, to fail to pass on these things He had done is to face a future where the nation and family will be destroyed, cut off from God. I am certain this is one of the reasons that the first feast Israel ever celebrated and continues to this day is the Passover and that it included the younger members of the family- in fact the whole family In fact the feast was kicked off by the youngest asking the questions about why this night is different than all the rest and about the different kinds of bread eaten on that particular evening. The beginnings of the nation coming into the Promised Land was and is remembered by children as well as adults around a family feast.

Don’t cover or hide the truth. Only those who are off would do this on purpose. We had a situation of this some years ago where a parent held down a child’s hand. That was about 10 years ago- I have wondered about those souls. Horrible But it can be done by giving the wrong things or too much of good things and miss the best. We can cover the truth with gifts. I am not against gifts but we all know how for instance a secular celebration of Christmas can usher Christ right out of it. This can happen at Thanksgiving too When we ought to be thanking the LORD we can cover up what He has done by celebrating the wrong things.


Things deep in meaning and rich with all kinds of arrows pointing to the LORD can become ends in themselves rather than a means to the Alpha and Omega Let’s not hide what God has done or the meaning of our celebrations.


2. We Will tell them to their children.
Count your blessings Psalm 40.5 Many, O LORD my God, are the wonders you have done. The things you planned for us no one can recount to you; were I to speak and tell of them, they would be too many to declare. That does not mean we should not attempt to In doing so we see some of God’s greatness in our lives
Talking about them to our children’s children and their children is what we are being told to do here.

Recount the miracles that have happened in your life. I remember my grandmother telling me about that little girl who had invited her to the special services then mission was having in Brooklyn back in the 1920's. This little girl was persistent and when I get to heaven I want to thank her for her persistence. She invited my grandmother all week. Finally it came to the final night. She went to my grandmother’s apartment and told her that this was her last opportunity to come. My grandmother went and asked the LORD to come into her heart that night. I learned about the rewards of being persistent.

We have all had experiences of God doing wonders in our lives. We need to tell it to our grandchildren and great grandchildren. The idea here is to relate, to number them, take account of, to declare, to talk about them, to count exactly or accurately. We should talk often about the answers to prayer in our lives. Tell our stories to the children in our lives... the power of a story!

We are to speak of the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD, (Hymns and Songs). We are to tell the stories of the Psalms, interweave them into events in our children’s children’s lives.

Tell of His power (strength, fierceness, might). God is holy and they need to be told that. He is powerful. He can do anything

Talk about the wonders He has done. Creation gives us such a great opportunity with young children whose hearts are tender toward the things of the LORD. We can talk about those first seven days of this planet we live on.

There are marvels in creation. I remember my dad taking my brother and I out for a walk one time and showing us a tree and how to cut it down and showing us how we could make it fall where we want it to. As spring approaches, what a wonderful time for opportunities to tell of God’s wonderful creation and Jesus’ death and resurrection

God’s works are wonderful. They surpass all of our puny thoughts. They are extraordinary There are things the LORD has enabled us to do that are beyond one's power.
We need to speak of these to the children in our lives. God has worked in us and we need to boast in the LORD of what He has done to the little ones.

There are things the LORD leads us through as we spoke last week that are difficult to understand. I think these things need to be appropriately told to the younger generation. Sure we have a desire to protect them. Sometimes difficulties of life are concealed from the younger generation but when we do this to an extreme then we are presenting an untrue picture of life. God does extraordinary and hard and what appears to be difficult things (Nothing is hard for Him ) In our lives.
He does wonderful things for His children and we need to relate them to our children. He is with us in the hard times of life. Hard times will come to all of us. Sometimes I believe we think our lives can be a fairy tale Life ain’t like that I have had to explain to Emma where Marlee’s dad is. He is with us in the hard times and brings us through them

3. We will tell of His Word and speak of it often.
She (my granddaughter) just got a Bible for children. It is covers many of the stories in God’s Word on her level. We read a number of them when she was over this past week. What a joy to share the eternal things with her.

My grandmother had mastered this and was a strong influence in my life- It was gently done, always appropriate, it naturally flowed out of her life. She did it for Jesus and her grandchildren and never in front of others to impress them, as I remember. She did it with much grace and love. Her witness lives on in my life.

God has established His Law.

5 He decreed statutes for Jacob and established the law in Israel, which he commanded our forefathers to teach their children.

We need to relate this to the children. The church and our homes are the only places they may hear it these days.

This was the instruction given to Israel in Deuteronomy 6:
1 These are the commands, decrees and laws the LORD your God directed me to teach you to observe in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess, 2 so that you, your children and their children after them may fear the LORD your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life. 3 Hear, O Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the LORD, the God of your fathers, promised you.
4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. [a] 5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

4. The results will be wonderful. v.7

*They would be faithful.
They would put their trust in the LORD. Their confidence would be in Him. The LORD has never failed me. I have lacked faith but He has always been faithful. The LORD is faithful to all His promises.
Psalm 107.8 Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men The Psalmist in the 107th Psalm repeats this phrase 4 times. We join in with that desire to see people give glory to the LORD for the things He has done. We resist pride filled people. They are difficult to be around. No one enjoys being around someone who toots their own horn. Blessed is the child who learns that God is the LORD and that everything good in their lives come from Him. It is just appalling to me how in the greatest times of abundance in our nation the least amount of thanks is going up from dinner tables in our country.
Appalling but not surprising when we read God’s Word. This was the pattern of Israel, mentioned once again in our reading this past week.

*They would not forget His Deeds.
How quickly we forget How easily it slips away from people where they have come from. One generation fails to tell the story and it can be lost. This is why we need to tell it over and over again. Our hearts cry out with the Psalmist in Psalm 107 and with the promise here as well in this seventh verse.

*They would keep His Commands. Think of how better the world would be if just one command was kept- Obey your father and mother. Think of all the things that would be resolved in our community and in our nation if that was obeyed.

At my Dad’s 80th Birthday celebration we took a family picture. He was an only child. At the front of the church was my dad and mom and his descendants. Two of my daughters commented (after seeing the developed picture, Wow We have a large family ” We really don’t- fairly typical in size for baby boomers and their children and grandchild. What did strike me is the influence of one man and how far reaching that could be over an 80 year span. We need to think about that. We need to pray and seek to follow the words of this Psalm. We are molding future generations. Keep on praying. Keep on looking for opportunities to lovingly, in the context of every day activities, to share the love of Jesus Christ, His Deeds in your life and His Eternal Word

Tell it to the next generation.

The LORD’s Day
March 11, 2007
We Worship In Singing
We Worship In Prayer
We Worship In Hearing the Word of God
Tell the Next Generation Psalm 78.1-7
*Tithes and Offerings can be placed in the box at the rear of the sanctuary*
Please join us for coffee and bagels downstairs if you are visiting today.
V
This Week
Bible Reading Psalm 81-83
Monday- Men’s Prayer Meeting- 6:30am
Wednesday- Bible Study- 7:30pm at the parsonage Psalm 81-83
Thursday- Bible Study- 10:30am at the church Psalm 81-83
Next Lord’s Day-
Morning Prayer- 10am in the church basement
Morning Worship- 10:30am(Sunday School for Children)
Spanish Service- 4pm
In Your Prayers For All of God’s People
Remember the men serving in the armed forces: Bradley, Julia Bujold’s grandson with Special Forces in Afghanistan, home on leave right now, Ken Brown, Pastor’s friend’s son on his third tour of Iraq. His mother has been diagnosed with congestive heart failure. Billy Knapp, Jr. leaves for Iraq next month (neighbor of the church). Matthew Klaus, brother of Good Shepherd parent in Iraq as a firefighter for Haliburton... Pray for them and the others away from their families. Praise God for keeping David Louis, Jake Morgan and Tom Hindelang safe during their times in Iraq. Christine Frankland, Katharina’s daughter. Sonya, Albert and Anka’s niece in Canada results on the biopsy were negative Praise the LORD Kathy, Ziggy and Margot’s daughter-in-law, under the doctor’s care for a lifelong condition. Praise God for a good report on Judy Mucci.
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*A number of nursery school families are going through difficult times. If you would like to sponsor a child presently at Good Shepherd, see Alice or call the school at 666-7503
*If you would like to help with the Sunday Morning Bagel ministry see Alice Gordon.
*Bay Shore Barnes and Noble Bookfair Voucher Supporting Good Shepherd Nursery School, Monday March 19th - simply present a voucher at time of purchase on that day. Vouchers available downstairs.


Notes on Our Time in the Word of God This Morning:
Tell the Next Generation
Psalm 78.1-7





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