Ken Hamm and Britt Beemer, through a thorough compilation of statistics and surveys, found our youth are greatly disconnected from the Church and faith experience. Not only have we already lost a generation but, with this continued trend, we will lose the potential future of the Church to the world. So, what will we do as a Church, as a School, as a Family to prevent this from happening? I would have to agree with the Apostle Paul and Mr. Hamm, we should absolutely guard what has been entrusted to us as believers, avoiding being pulled in to the profanity and ridiculous contradictions of the world's knowledge. Over and over, we are instructed in the Gospel to keep our focus on the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ - to know it, trust it, defend it and live it, and by all means teach it to our children.
Our kids will face many things as this world (and its boundless amounts of crazy) tug at them; it is our privileged call as educators to profess His truth and live out His Word as an example for them to see. How else will our youth find inspiration to grow their own faith and make it personal if they do not see the adults in their lives living out their own faith on a daily basis?
Here at Twin Valley, our students have become familiar with the idea of their teachers using figurative whetstones to hone a keener edge to their faith and worldview. We use leading questions (i.e. whetstones) to encourage them to refine a more personal faith, and strive for a more acute perception of the Bible as the absolute truth. We pray through their educational years here they will develop an individualized, unshakable level of faith in Christ and find themselves ready to take on the challenges of life, with an irradicable Biblical worldview.
Paul admonishes we are to have a partnership in the faith that would be effective in deepening one another's understanding of every good thing we share for the sake of Christ. (Philemon 1:6) This sharing of our faith is a sweet tool when in the hands of the Master craftsman.
As we prepare to head in to a new year, I am convicted by this question from Already Gone, "What is it about our faith commitment that does not find root in the lives of our children?" As I read those words, the question providentially became my whetstone for 2020. May the Holy Spirit use it to sharpen me into a godly instrument of His peace and power - may it challenge us all to deepen our faith and become godly partners in the Gospel who change the world, one student at a time.
Manna for Thought:
Already Gone Sermon Series (Dr. Ken Hamm)