Debemos Unir a Las Generaciones

Si eres nuevo, bienvenido. Mi nombre es Virgilio. Soy pastor aquí en Iglesia Vertical. Es un privilegio poder hoy traer la palabra y adorar al Señor junto con todos ustedes. Algún cristiano trajo su biblia a la iglesia. Hoy hay cristianos que aman la palabra. ¡Eso! ¡Qué bueno, cristianos armados! Pueden abrir a Salmo 78 o pueden cliquear a sus aparatos a Salmo 78. También vamos a tener todos los versículos en las pantallas. Van a haber muchos. Sin embargo, si eres como yo, que me gusta adelantarme un poquito y poner mis notas, pues pueden poner un marcador en Éxodo 3, Malaquías 4 o El 2. Éxodo 3, Malaquías 4 o El 2. El mensaje que les voy a compartir hoy es un mensaje que tengo cocinando dentro de mí por mucho tiempo, del cual estoy apasionado y creo que vendrá mucho más en el futuro, para enfatizarlo. Quiero empezar con este texto bíblico y luego contarles una historia. Salmo 78, versículo 4 dice, no les ocultaremos estas verdades a nuestros hijos. Digan conmigo no. A la próxima generación le contaremos de las gloriosas obras del Señor, de su poder y de sus imponentes maravillas. Pues emitió sus leyes a Jacob, entregó sus enseñanzas a Israel, les ordenó a nuestros antepasados que se las enseñaran a sus hijos, para que la siguiente generación las conociera, incluso los niños que aún no habían nacido. Y ellos, a su vez, las enseñarán a sus propios hijos. Escucha esto. De modo que cada generación volviera a poner su esperanza en Dios y no olvidara sus gloriosos milagros, sino que obedeciera sus mandamientos. Si alguien dice en fuerte amén. Quiero contarles una historia, la cual le llamo la lección de las sandías. Hubo un ministro de defensa en la India, llamado Manohar Parrikar, quien vivió desde el 1955 hasta el 2019. En un discurso importante que él dio, él compartió una historia de su niñez, que nos sirve como una valiosa lección el día de hoy. Manohar creció en un pueblo llamado Parra, en la ciudad de Goa, en la India. Un lugar famoso por sus sandías enormes y dulces. Manohar recordaba que cada mayo, al finalizar la cosecha, los agricultores del pueblo organizaban un gran concurso de comer sandías. Más o menos, quizás, como esta foto.

Todos los niños estaban invitados a comer toda la sandía que quisieran comer. Sólo había una condición. ¿Cuántas condiciones? Una condición. El viejo agricultor les decía, coman toda la sandía que quieran, pero no muerdan las semillas. Deben escupir cada semilla en este recipiente. Y aquí pueden ver el agricultor contento con sus semillas. Parrikar bromeaba diciendo que eran como mano de obra infantil sin pago. Pero el viejo agricultor era un visionario. Él guardaba las semillas de las mejores y más grandes sandías de la cosecha actual para plantarlas para el año siguiente y la próxima cosecha. Observen esto. Debido a que él sacrificaba, o yo diría, invertía su mejor fruto para asegurar las mejores semillas, las sandías crecían más grandes y más dulces con cada generación. Ahora, años más tarde, Manohar se fue a Mumbai, otra ciudad para estudiar ingeniería, y estuvo ahí por seis años y medio. Luego de seis años y medio regresó a su pueblo natal y fue al mercado, y adivinen que estaba buscando. Sandías, pero esta vez cuando llegó estaba un poquito decepcionado porque sólo encontró unas sandías muy pequeñas y pobres. Así que fue a ver el viejo agricultor que organizaba los concursos, pero descubrió que ya no estaba a cargo, sino que su hijo se había hecho a cargo del negocio. El hijo sólo estaba enfocado en cuánto dinero. He could win, so that son realized that the biggest watermelons were sold for more money in the market. So he wanted that money right away. So there you can see the son counting his money selling the biggest watermelons in the market. So what did he do? He kept the smallest watermelons for the contest. He sold the good ones and reserved the small ones for the contest. Now they were in the contest, but they were with all the small watermelons that had their discarded seeds. And those were the seeds he used to plant for the next year and the next harvest. The result was predictable and tragic. The next year, the watermelons were smaller. The next year, smaller. The next year, smaller. In just seven years, seven generations of watermelons, the legendary fruit of Parra had disappeared.

It had been sacrificed on the altar of a short-sighted greed. Paz Ricard concluded with a revealing thought. In the watermelons, a generation is equivalent to a year. In seven years, the best watermelons of Parra had been extinguished. In human beings, a generation is 25 years. We could take, if we use mathematics, 200 years to realize the damage we have caused if we do not manage to invest the best of ourselves for the next generation. Therefore, this is an important question that we must all consider. What will we transmit to the next generation? Church, today we are here because we are part of a lineage of faith as Christians. But we face a decision. Will we be like the first farmer, the father, who invested the best seeds for a better harvest? Or will we be like the second farmer, the son, who sacrificed and ate the good seed for immediate gain? Many times, the Church falls into the trap of being unigenerational. We become egocentric looking only for what benefits us in the present, whether it is the music we like, or the worship we like, the programs we offer, or the gains we can obtain if we harvest today with some situations. But when we are short of vision, we consume the best seeds of our faith and give only what is left for those who will come in generations after us. We must reject a faith that is unigenerational and embrace a faith that is multigenerational and intergenerational. God never wanted His Church to be a series of islands of disconnected generations. He wanted us to be bridged intergenerationally and multigenerationally. We are called to learn from the wisdom of those who have walked before us and with the same passion to invest the best of ourselves, of our time, resources, and hearts in those who come after us in the next generations. Therefore, we will not diminish what the next generation will inherit just to be comfortable today. We will not be short of vision because God never wanted His Church to be disconnected by generations, but united through the generations so that faith can continue.

The main idea of today's message is that God wanted His Church to be multigenerational so that the gospel can be faithfully transmitted from generation to generation. The title of today's message is, We Must Unite the Generations. Say with me, We Must Unite the Generations. Let's pray. Lord, thank you for the opportunity today to learn from your word, to open your word, to grow with your word. Let us listen to it, understand it, and apply its principles in our lives and may the good seed of your word fall in good land in each of our hearts. Today we ask you in the precious name of Jesus. Amen. This issue of generations and unity of generations is so important for our God. In fact, one of the repeated ways in which God presents Himself in the word is by saying, I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This has an insinuation of generations. And this matters because God can introduce and present Himself in any way He wants. Nevertheless, He is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Again and again, he says, I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Why? Because he is revealing that his covenant, his fidelity, and his purposes move through generations. Now, even though right now, in this moment, we may have five generations represented here in our church, in the case of this message and the biblical study that we are doing, I want to use a framework of three generations. Jacob's generation, Isaac's generation, and Abraham's generation. I want us to consider this. Now, to understand this, Jacob's generation is those between 20 and 40 years old. How many are between 20 and 40 years old? Raise your hand. Very good. Excellent. There are a few who raised their hands, who are liars. There is a brother out there, I know him, you don't have that, but it's okay. There is Isaac's generation, who are 40 to 60 years old.

How many of us are in that 40 to 60 years old? Very good. Very good. And some of us are in Abraham's generation, who are 60 to 80 years old. That's it! Abraham! I love it! Look at something I love, which is that all generations are represented here in our church. Although there is a couple who did not raise their hand in any of the three. Look at that, you see. Now, entering into this discussion today, this is what I believe God wants for our hearts today. To accept the challenge of refusing to become unigenerational. Being unigenerational simply means that we focus on and care only about ourselves, our generation. Now, it is important to understand the principle of generations. I say principle. The principle of generations is this. It is that you will not be in the generation that you are forever. That is, if today you are in Jacob's generation, don't get too comfortable, because very soon you will be in Isaac's generation. And if today you are in Isaac's generation, don't get too comfortable, because very soon you will be in Abraham's generation. This is the reality for all. All is the principle of generations. Each generation eventually becomes the generation that it did not understand before. This is the way it looks in families, so I tell you today, don't get too comfortable in your chair, or in your season, or in your generation, because you will not remain there forever. That is why we must maximize our potential in each seat, in each season, and in each generation that God allows us to live. Now, an important question. Why does unity between generations matter? I want to share with you three reasons why uniting generations is important. How many am I going to share with you?

Three. There may be more, but I'm going to focus on these three. Number one. Because God calls himself, we already said it, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Now, I want us to see a moment of this in Exodus chapter 3. If you have your Bible, Exodus chapter 3. I'll give you a little context. This is the story of Moses. Those who know something about the story of Moses will remember this. Those who don't know, I'll tell you. Moses, at one point, is in the field, and he sees a fern that is on fire. A fern, a bush, is on fire. But the interesting thing about this fern that is on fire is that it is not consumed. So, the fern is there, but it is not consumed. It is still strong. Curiously, Moses is interested in that fern. Exodus 3, verse 4. When the Lord saw that Moses was approaching to observe better, God called him from the middle of the fern. Moses! Moses! So, the fern started to speak. Moses! Moses! I'm here, he answered. Don't come any closer, the Lord warned him. Take off your sandals, because you are walking on holy ground. Okay, pause for a moment. Imagine yourself in Moses' sandals. Imagine this moment. Suddenly, you see a fern that is on fire, but it is not consumed. And you, as a curious person, come closer, and suddenly, it calls your name. And besides that, it tells you, take off your sandals, because this place is holy. So, what it means is that God is here. God is holy. This is a holy moment.

Moses is excited, because imagine this. What will God say now? The first thing he says, verse 6. I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Pause. It sounds simple, right? God is telling Moses this, but what God is telling Moses is, I am the God who has created generations. I am the God who moves in generations, who gives life to generations. Why? Because God is a God who thinks in generations. He is not thinking in a service, or in a decade, or just in a generation. He is thinking in generational legacy. He is thinking in generational pact. He is thinking in spiritual inheritance. This is powerful. Nowadays, today's world constantly segregates us. Young people with young people, old people with old people. But in the Kingdom of God, we always see that it is not only multigenerational, but intergenerational. Second reason why it is important to unite generations. Number two. Because the Old Testament ends with a warning about generations. Ok. Trivia of the Bible. Does anyone know what is the last book of the Old Testament? Malachi. The last book of the Old Testament? Malachi. The last chapter of the Old Testament? Malachi 4. The last verses? Verses 5 and 6. Let's read it. Malachi 4, 5, verses 5 and 6 says, And here I sent the prophet Elijah before the day of the Lord came. Great and fearsome. 6. He will bring back the heart of the fathers to the sons, and the heart of the sons to the fathers, unless I come and strike the earth with destruction. This is how the Old Testament ends. Listen to this. One of the signs of the second coming of Jesus

is that the hearts of fathers and mothers will become their sons and daughters, and the hearts of sons and daughters will become their fathers and mothers. One of the final prophetic signs before the 400 years of silence between the Old Testament and the New Testament had to do with the disconnection of generations. And this is one of the reasons why there is a spiritual war that seeks to divide generations in the family of God. Scripture, over and over again, points out how important this is for the Lord. And we live in a society today where generations are being judged and criticized instead of blessing each other. And many times the older generation says, Oh, it's this young generation that is lost. While the young people say, This old generation does not understand today. And there is a disconnect. But let me tell you that the revival that God wants for our lives and for His Church cannot happen unless there is honor and unity among the generations. The enemy loves to divide generations. Why? Because when there are disconnected generations, that produces divided families, weak churches, and fragile disciples. Third reason why it is important to unite the generations. Why? Because God promises a spilling of His Holy Spirit over all generations in the last days. Go with me to Joel chapter 2. And I tell you, by the way, this week, if you have time to read the entire chapter of Joel 2, it is a powerful chapter. It also refers to this chapter in Acts chapter 2, where tremendous things happen in the primitive church with the Holy Spirit.

But look at what Joel 2 says, verses 28 and 29. It says, So, after doing all those things, the Lord says, I will pour out My Spirit over all people. Their children and daughters will prophesy. Their elders will have dreams. And their young will have visions. In those days I will pour out My Spirit still over servants, men and women alike. This is tremendous because it is breaking the scheme that everyone had in mind at that point in history. This idea that the Spirit of God will be poured out not only in those with authority and authority, but in servants and servants. Not only in men, but in women. Imagine. Not only in the elderly, but also in the young. In other words, over all generations. But what good is a spilling of the Holy Spirit over all generations if we only live a one-generation life with our own generation? How sad that there are churches that are one-generational because there are only one or two generations represented. Or even worse, how sad if there is a multigenerational church with one-generational individuals. We have to unite the generations. Now, I want to show you something in the Bible that is very curious. It's very alarming, and I want to talk to you about the danger of a unigenerational mind.

Come with me to II Kings, chapter 20. I want to give you context before I read. We are going to talk about a king in Kings called King Hezekiah. Come with me, Hezekiah. King Hezekiah. It is interesting because there is a story about King Hezekiah where he was in a great illness, so sick that he was on his deathbed. And he cried out to God for mercy and grace. He cried out to God. He said, God, look what I have lived my life for you. I cry out to your grace and mercy. And the Lord heard his prayer and had mercy on him. He healed him of his illness to death and added 15 more years to his life. Now, the next story that we read here in II Kings, which you can also find it in Isaiah's book, is the story of when Hezekiah received some guests from Babylon. And these guests from Babylon, he wanted to show off. And he began to show his treasures to these guests from Babylon. He began to show his treasures. And it was as if his ego touched him. And he began to say, look at everything I have. Look at everything I have done. And he showed them absolutely every corner of the palace, of the treasures that they had accumulated from their ancestors, of the riches of the people. Everything, everything, everything. He showed them to these people from Babylon. Imagine. So, the prophet Isaiah comes to King Hezekiah and asks him who these people were and what he was doing with them.

And King Hezekiah tells him, no, Isaiah, look, I showed you all my possessions so you know who I am, so you can see that I am great. And look how God responds to King Hezekiah through the prophet Isaiah. Second Kings 20, verse 16. Then Isaiah, the prophet, said to King Hezekiah, listen to this message of the Lord. The time is near when all that is in your palace. How much? All that is in your palace. All the treasures that your ancestors have accumulated until now will be taken to Babylon. There will be nothing left, says the Lord. Pause. I want you to think about this for a moment. Ask yourself, if you were there in the sandals of King Hezekiah and God had just responded to you about the foolish things that you have done, explaining to you this punishment that all that you have and all that your ancestors have accumulated will be taken and lost. Would you say, oh well, okay. Or would you throw yourself on the ground and cry, Lord, forgive me, I beg you for mercy, don't let that happen. Which of the two? Yes, of course, of course. Now, verse 18. The prophet continues. Some of your children, Hezekiah, will be taken to the desert. They will be made eunuchs. If you don't know what that is, look it up. They will serve in the palace of the king of Babylon.

As slaves, as servants and slaves. Okay, pause. The Lord clarifies the punishment for his need that all that he has and all that he possesses, all the riches will be taken. And then he goes one step further and says, Hezekiah, your children, your own children and your descendants will have to go through horrible experiences as part of the punishment for your need. How many here would say, well, okay, fine. Or how many would say, Lord, please have mercy, forgive me. Look at how Hezekiah 19 responds. Then Hezekiah said to the prophet Isaiah, This message that you have given me from the Lord is good. Okay, pause. How, Hezekiah, how are you going to say that? You are going to lose all that you have and all that your ancestors have accumulated. Your children and your descendants are going to be punished. Ah, ah, look at what he says. Well, the king thought, at least there will be peace and security while I live. Are you seeing this? This is a unigenerational mentality in its worst and greatest version. And this is the temptation of every generation to focus on me. Pleasure for me, punishment for others, well, it doesn't matter, as long as I'm fine. Imagine, this is what Ezequiel shows us, the danger of a unigenerational mentality, which I believe is an abomination to the God of generations. Because a healthy human being owns what he has to own for the benefit of his children, his descendants and the members of his family. Now, one more thing, I want to mention some of the greatest treasures you will find in life, you will find them by connecting and interacting with people who are not of your generation. How would you live if God promised you, if God's promise is that every time you sit down with someone outside of your generation,

whether older or younger, he would bring so much blessing and spiritual wealth, greater than earthly wealth, to your life? How often would you sit down to share life and moments with people from other generations? Well, something supernatural happens when we interconnect the generations. From the beginning, there has been a war against the unity of the generations. In fact, in John 17, Jesus prays that famous prayer of unity. He prays, Father, you in me, I in you, and I in them, and he prays for the unity of his disciples and for us, and since then we can see that the enemy clearly has a goal of dividing and separating. Now, one of the strategies of the enemy, to divide the generations, is that many times each generation speaks a language a little different from the previous generation and the old generation, and the more time passes, the less the language of this generation is similar to the language of the next generation. Many times there are words and phrases that one uses, or one used that today are not used, or phrases that are good for one, but are bad for the next generation. Why? Because the generations sometimes change, and sometimes it's funny, but sometimes those things cause disconnection, frustration, disconnection of languages from one generation to another. I remember that sometimes, when I was young, the youth said certain things and the older people said, what nonsense is that? And the young people said, no, you are the old fool, you don't understand. But then you get older, and now you have young children who say nonsense, and I say, I've never heard anything more stupid in my life, and the young generation says, you are the old fools, because we come from a generation… How many have found themselves saying the same things that your mom and dad used to say? Because you are no longer Jacob, you are Isaac, or maybe Abraham, right? Interesting, interesting. Today's main idea, God wanted His Church to be multigenerational, so that the Gospel can be faithfully transmitted from generation to generation. Ok, let me quickly give you four keys to unite the generations, and then we will talk about the strengths and weaknesses of each generation.

Ok, four keys to unite the generations. Number one, identify their strengths. That is, you are from one generation, identify the strengths of the other generations. If you want to connect well, if you want to relate well with the other generations, identify their strengths. If you don't use the lens first, it will be very frustrating. First, if I am in the generation of Isaac, I want to identify the strengths of the generation of Jacob, which are the strengths of the generation of Abraham. Second, identify their weaknesses. Because each generation has its blind spots. Yours, mine, all generations. Third, take advantage of their strengths. If you have people in your life from another generation, take advantage of their strengths. Let's take advantage of their strengths. Let's empower those people from other generations to fulfill the call and the endowment that God has poured into them and given to their lives. Perhaps the youngest generation can move faster, but the older generation can move more wisely. Both are important. And fourth, use your strengths to help their weakness. That is, if you are in the generation of Abraham, use your strengths to help Jacob's weakness, Isaac's, and vice versa. Now, these are simple things, but they can be very powerful. Let's talk now about the strengths and weaknesses of each generation. Put your hand on your heart with me. Now, I commit myself not to be offended when the first generation says, I will not be offended. of my generation. Thank you. Thank you for not being offended.

I will not be offended. Let's talk first about Jacob's generation. Jacob's generation is the generation of those I will not be offended. I will not be offended. who are in their 20s to 40s. Their strengths are their energy and their time. I will not be offended. Jacob's generation has more energy than any other generation. Where is Jacob's generation? Amen, amen, okay, okay. They didn't convince me, but okay. Their energy and their time. Also, from the point of view of time, think, for example, of an investment. If you say, I have an investment and I am going to give it a maturity time of 5 years, because there is a potential of 5 years of profit, okay, fine. But if I tell you, there is a maturity time of 50 years, we are talking about a great possibility of return of the investment. Is someone with me? In other words, when you are in Jacob's generation, your strengths are your energy and that you have the time to fulfill the call that God has called you to live. And to top it off, when you are in Jacob's generation, if you are wise, you can learn from Isaac and Abraham's mistakes so as not to fall into the same problems, okay? Now, what are the weaknesses of Jacob's generation? Inexperience and immaturity, okay? When we are in Jacob's generation, in that youth, there is still inexperience. In those years, 20s, even 30s, come some of the first real challenges of life that we have to face, that prepare us for tomorrow. Why? Because Jacob's generation sometimes tends to be impatient, easily distracted, and sometimes overconfident. So, Jacob's generation, recognize that you are still learning and that it is time to mature in life and mature spiritually in Jesus, okay? Let's go to Isaac's generation. Isaac's generation is between 40 and 60 years old. His strengths are his strength and his resistance.

Many times, Isaac's generation has the greatest strength and resistance in the place. I am not necessarily talking about brute physical strength or stamina. I am talking about the ability to carry more weight in life. When you are in Isaac's generation, you have the ability to carry, to sustain more weight in life. As we age, when we are older, we have to carry certain weights because we cannot carry all the weights as we carried them in Isaac's generation. And when we were young, like Jacob, we thought we could carry all the weight in the world when it is really crushing us. But in this season between Isaac's generation, we can really sustain a lot. Now, Isaac's generation's weaknesses can become selfish and distracted. Let me explain. Ask me why. Because many times people see their 40s and 50s, as they say in English, as their prime, as the maximum time of potential in life. Therefore, Isaac, many spend their 40s and 50s chasing things that matter less at the expense of those that we will learn over time are the most important. We have to be careful, Isaac's generation. There is a temptation in the 40s and 50s to be selfish and to occupy all our time, success, strength, and attention in ourselves for our benefit at the expense of others, including our next generation. And we end up being distracted by our goals instead of focusing on our calling. Abraham's generation. Abraham's generation, which we would say is 60 up, as Buzz Lightyear says, to infinity and beyond. Abraham's generation, their strengths are their wisdom and their testimony. A wisdom given by God and earned by faithfully walking with God for years and years, which leads to their testimony, which is a testimony of the fidelity and power of God in their lives. Now, the weaknesses of Abraham's generation. Their reduced capacity and their nostalgia. I explain. Many times at 70 and 80, we no longer have the same capacity as we had at 30, 40. and 50. Energy, resistance, even mentally. And that is fine, because it is a season in

which God calls us to be specialists and not generalists. Now, there is also the temptation to the generation of Abraham, there is the temptation of nostalgia, and I explain it, when you have seen the testimony of God and the fidelity of God in your life and the power of God, the temptation can be, for the generation of Abraham, to believe or think that the way in which God worked back then, in those powerful times of ours, is the same way that He has to do it today. And that is not necessarily correct. Nostalgic, yes. Correct, no. And why do I mention this? I mention this because I think of churches that through the years I have met and pastors throughout Latin America and even in the United States that I have visited, helping them to take steps to grow their churches, where many churches have aged. And we do not see a multigenerational wealth, we see an older generation that has had this mentality, is that they have to sing the good choirs of my days, of the 60s, the 70s, the 80s, those are the hymns that have power. Now, each one has the right to thank God for what he lived, but the moment you think that today, the young people of 2026 are going to be singing the hymns of 1960, it is a mistake, because remember that in the 60s, those hymns, perhaps, or those little choirs that you had, were new there, but for those who were grandfathers, they were the new ones. And suddenly, each generation has a mentality. So, look at what I have learned. What Christian grandfather would not give everything to see his grandchildren and great-grandchildren worshiping the Lord, reading the word, connected in a ... Who does not? So, so, generation of Abraham, do not fight for today's generation to sing your hymns. No, no, no, no, do not consume the seeds, but give seeds to the new generation. Let God do what he wants to do in this generation, because suddenly it will sound a little different, suddenly it will look a little different. Each generation looks different, even the hairstyles look different. Each generation has the ugliest hairstyles I have seen in my life. Today's young people have the ugliest things in life. I mean, I'm not saying, I'm not pointing out anyone, but you know that hairstyle that looks like a llama had spat it in the head and it exploded and stayed, I mean, an explosion like that. But you know what? All our generations have those same horrible cuts, amen? You have photos, you have photos, I have seen them, I have my photos. And the ones who make the most fun of those generations are the ones who have no hair, so be careful, be careful, be careful. My point is this, my point is this. I have, I decided when I took the leadership of this church, we are going to honor the past, but we are going to keep our eyes open to the future. We are not going to compromise the seeds

that we save for the future because we want to consume the best now. And at the same time, we are not going to fight for the nostalgia of how it must be the queen of Ballena 60 and it has to be only the hymns. Brother, if you think with that mentality, unfortunately that church is going to die and die. And unfortunately there are buildings that decades ago were holy places and Christian temples that today are restaurants and bars. Because the church died. Why? Because they were not multigenerational, they were not intergenerational with faith. Is someone following me? Here we believe in the next generation and we give them space because there is something else. Next Sunday, the next generation will be here leading the services. Don't miss it. The beauty of seeing the intergenerational connection. How beautiful that someone 80 years old sits with someone 20 years old and that the 80-year-old realizes how God is doing new and different things in these times. And the beauty of seeing someone 20 years old sit with someone 80 years old and that 20-year-old realizes that the same faithful God is still faithful yesterday, today and always. And he is good. Okay, so what do the scriptures say to each generation? I want to close with biblical advice for each generation. Since we have strengths and weaknesses, biblical advice. To the generation of Jacob, 20-40 years old, first advice. First advice. Know your place. Know your place. And this does not mean that you are not important, it does not mean that you do not have a voice. On the contrary, 1 Timothy 4.12, Paul writes to young Timothy and says, Do not let anyone underestimate you for being young. Be an example for all the believers in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity. In other words, Jacob's generation, Do not let people underestimate you for the number of your age in your license. It is not a season of silence, but it is a season of learning and honor. Now, be careful, because some, when they are 23 years old, think that they know everything. And when they reach 28, they realize that they know nothing. So, be careful. Therefore, it would be wise, when you are 25 years old, it would be wise, in your repertoire of friends, to have friends in 35, 45, 55, 65, and even 80. Ask me why, ask me why. Because if you only surround yourself with others of 25, how will your friend help you, who just turned 25 yesterday, to navigate life and the difficult things of the 25 years, if he is barely in the same season as you.

How about if you have some multigenerational voices? I need, at 25, I would need to have people in their 50s, who are 25 years ahead, who could help me navigate decisions, issues, life. And how about 30, 40 years more? That could be a great advantage. Their strengths can help my weaknesses, and vice versa. Only a fool considers and thinks that he knows everything when he is young. But a wise young person is a person who sits with older people, who interacts because he knows his place. Second, Jacob knows your call, he knows your call. In our 20s and 30s, we have to clarify the call of God in our lives. Why did he put us on this earth? What is our purpose? Because if you think your purpose is to do this work, it is because you have not understood the purpose of God. You can have a job, but you have a purpose. The question is, what is your purpose? And it is so important, at that age, to discover that. First, Timothy says it in verse 14, Do not neglect the spiritual gift that you received through the prophecy, listen to this, that you received through the prophecy that was pronounced near you. When the elders of the church, who are they? The elders of the church put their hands on you. What a tremendous image the Bible gives us, when the older generation imposes hands, prays, blesses, and speaks life about the younger generations. And I ask myself, is this happening here? If I talk to teenagers, with those in their 20s and 30s, would they tell me that some of you in your 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, are imposing hands, praying and declaring life about them, prophesying? I think that maybe some of you, but what if that happens more? What if you, when was the last time, those who are in Abraham and Isaac, that you were able to impose hands, pray and bless for someone younger, in another generation, pouring life into them? When was the last time?

What if that started to happen? What if in our groups, that we have, we had groups where there are people in their 20s, connected with people in their 40s, with people in their 60s, mixed, learning and growing together? It could be incredible. To the generation of Isaac, biblical advice. First, remember your mentors. More than any other generation, the generation of Isaac, we must remember our mentors. Hebrews 13.7 Remember the leaders who taught you the word of God. Think of all the good that has come out of your life, and follow the example of your faith. Can I tell you something? Remember that you have not reached where you have reached alone. I have a mentor who tells me, Virgilio, if you see a turtle on top of a car, it did not get there alone. And sometimes you and I get to have some success in life, and we think that we got there alone. Brother, you are a turtle, and so am I. We did not get where we got alone. Remember your mentors. The Bible speaks to us again and again about the importance of honoring the older generations. The question is, do we know how to honor? Honoring is not just saying, Oh, you are such a beautiful person, you are so good. No, it is studying their lives. It is studying how the Holy Spirit has used them,

and has empowered and endowed them, and follow the good example they have left, and learn from them, bless their lives, and help strengthen their weaknesses. Second, Isaac's generation, remember your mandate. Remember your mandate. I believe that the greatest call when we are in Isaac's generation is the call to raise up the next generation through our children and grandchildren. To raise up the Jacobites, the Joses. First, Timothy 1.18, I pray, my son, I entrust you with this commandment so that, according to the prophecies that were made before about you, you may be present for them in the good battle. You and I, Isaac, we have to prepare the next generation to fight the battles they have to fight. And that is why I long for the generation here of Isaac and Abraham in this church not to be disconnected from the generation of Jacob or the young. To be aware of what is happening with Vertical Kids, what is happening with BSM, the adolescents, what is happening with the young adults. How can I help them? How can I serve them? How can I invest? How can I pray for them? That is what we need. Isaac's generation, it is possible that we are raising up and raising up the generation that will lead the last great movement of God in this world. And it is our responsibility to raise them up in the holy fear of God. It is our responsibility to teach them at 4, 5, 6 years old about how God split the Red Sea in two. About how God led his people to victory. How Jesus performed miracles. How Jesus rose from the dead to offer us eternal life. Not for us to come to the church and be passive Christians. Acting as if we had forgotten that Jesus is going to return to his church. Hello, Jesus is going to return to his church. He will return. He is coming again. And that is getting hotter every day. I don't want to get to the end of my life and say, Oh well, at least I did well. Like King Seguías. I want to get to the end of my life and say, I wore out.

Until the last drop, Lord, for you, for your purposes. And one of the ways we can honor God, in Isaac's generation, is not to focus on just us. And not to spend all the success and all the strength only on us. But to raise up the next generation. To take the best seeds and plant them for the next generation. For a good harvest. I refuse to fail in this call. And I feel as a pastor and as a father, as a father of children, as a pastor and as a spiritual father, I feel that this is so important. I refuse to be a self-focused, unigenerational generation. Negligent in preparing the next generation or investing appropriately for them. I am very passionate about this because I feel that it is in the heart of God and in the design of God. And as a church, we need all your help. Some of us have children, some small, some already teenagers, some young adults. And we need your help in each part and each generation. Why? Because it is the family of God that helps us raise up the children of God. Finally, Abraham's generation. Abraham's generation. Sixty upwards. Sixty and to infinity.

Don't give up. Don't give up. I want you to listen to the words of Caleb. Caleb at the age of 85. Oswego 14, verse 10. It says, Now, as you can see, in all these 45 years since Moses made that promise, the Lord has kept me alive and in good health, as he promised, even while Israel wandered through the desert. Now, I am 85 years old. Listen to this. I am as strong today as when Moses sent me to that journey, and I can still walk and fight as well as I did then. What a tremendous Caleb, isn't he? Listen to me, Abraham's generation. You still have things that God has for you. There are still things that He wants to do in you and through you in this season of your life. Maybe you withdraw from your work, but you don't withdraw from your calling to the kingdom. And as a pastor of this church, I want to affirm you today, Abraham's generation, you have a role to play, and we need you. Jacob's generation and Isaac's generation, we need you, Abraham's generation. Don't give up. Allow your strength, your strength to be used, your wisdom, your testimony. And another thing for Abraham's generation,

take care of your health as much as you can, because if you are not healthy, it is difficult to pour into others what you don't have. So, as much as you can, take care of your health. In your old age, don't give up. Take it seriously. I'm praying for all the generation of Abraham, the oldest ones. I'm praying for an unction of Caleb here in the Vertical Church. May the Church be known by the most vibrant, most vital people, most fruitful in the name of Jesus. The Church with the strongest grandparents and great-grandparents in the world. The generation of Caleb, in the name of Jesus. How tremendous it is when there are grandparents and great-grandparents integrated, healthy, strong in faith. Wow! And lastly, the generation of Abraham, don't be silent. In other words, testify. Psalm 71, verse 18. Now that I am old and canny, do not forsake me, O God. Allow me to proclaim your power to this new generation, your powerful miracles to all who come after me. This is not the time to be silent. This is the time to raise your testimony. We have to practice what the Bible teaches us, what the Bible says. Proclaim to the next generations how good and great God is. Amen? Family, this is very important to God. And we are a generation of disconnecting. We are a generation of forgetting. We are a generation of losing the convictions we have. And at the same time, we are a generation of awakening. We are a generation of spiritual awakening. We are a generation of a great movement of God over the world.

So, in conclusion, the generation of Jacob, do not isolate, do not disconnect from the wisdom of the older generations. The generation of Isaac, do not be selfish in spending everything you have on yourself. Do not consume the seeds you can invest in the future. And Abraham, the generation of Abraham, do not give up. Do not neglect your calling to the kingdom that continues until the day Christ calls you to his presence. What can we do practically speaking? Intentionally sit down with people from other generations. Sit at the table with people from generations older than yours. Sit with people from generations younger than yours. If you are the generation of Abraham or Isaac, mentor someone who is in the generation just behind you. If you are young, serve with passion. Since you have energy and you have time, serve the Lord and serve others. Invite other generations to your life. Rejoice in being unigenerational. Because that is not the heart or the design of God. Today's main idea, God wanted his church to be multigenerational so that the gospel can be transmitted faithfully from generation to generation. Let us pray. Lord, thank you for your word that helps us, guides us, and strengthens us. Today, Lord, we have understood that you are a generational God. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Thank you for each generation represented here in this church. Forgive us, Lord, for the ways in which we have isolated ourselves, we have judged each other, or we have neglected the generations that surround us. Lord, we ask that you can unite our hearts. Help the younger generation to walk with humility and spiritual hunger. Help the intermediate generation to walk with responsibility and purpose. Help the older generation to walk with audacity and a sense of legacy. Lord, make this church, the Vertical Church, a multigenerational family, an intergenerational house, full of honor, wisdom, truth, and the power of the Holy Spirit.

Let faith endure with strength through each generation until Jesus returns to his church. We ask this in the precious name of Jesus. Amen, amen, amen.