It Takes More Than One Wheel

Therefore I, Yes Ephesians 4 1 This is what we focus on all year. All year. This scripture has been wrecking me all year so far. But another translation says, walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called. And so it doesn't say think worthy, feel worthy, post worthy, or even attend worthy. It says walk worthy. In other words, let your life move in the direction of the calling God has placed on you. And today I want to talk to us as a church family about what it looks like to walk worthy when it comes to the next generation. Because church, hear me, what God is doing in our students is not separate from what God is doing in Legacy Church. It is a part of it. The students isn't just a Wednesday night thing. The students is not just the, oh, that's in the other room, or the kids ministries just back there. When we talk about one body, we are talking about all of us. All of us together. It means every single person here. So sometimes we need to be reminded that even in the kingdom of God, we are not disconnected ministries. We are one body. So today it's not just student Sunday. It's not just look what happened to conference Sunday. Today is a calling Sunday. It is a reminder that God has entrusted us a generation. And the question is not, do we have students in the building? The question is, are we helping them walk worthy of the calling on their lives? Because that question is not only for pastors. It is not only for the youth leaders. It is not only for parents. It is for all of us. So do not tune out today. Listen online. If you have, if you are a single parent, you have the willingness to be able to, you're a single young adult. You're maybe an auntie, an uncle. You don't have biological kids yourself. Don't worry. That is why you are part of the body of Christ. To be spiritual mothers and fathers. To be spiritual uncles and aunties. All the things brothers and sisters in Christ. And I'll get more into that, but I wanted to start off with the title of my message is, it takes more than one wheel. And what this means is that this tricycle is what Holy Spirit showed me.

And what he showed me was that this is what it means for our students to be able to go off in the way that they should go. And what he showed me was that, you know, when a child is on here, it's so funny because as parents you get so excited. You're cheering them on and you're like, yes, do it. Yeah, like they're in a race or something, but you're like so excited. But what are you doing? You're walking alongside of them and cheering them on. To encouraging them. To telling them they're going in the right direction. To telling them you can do this. To telling them keep pedaling. But some of us have made this unbalanced. Made this unstable. The front wheel represents the student. Because one day the student ultimately has to drive their faith. Has to drive their life. That is what the front wheel is. The back wheels represent the home, the parents, the guardians, the people that are entrusted to these children as legal guardians. And then there is the church, the family of God. But let me explain to you what happens. Is that somebody who has been a youth pastor for over a decade, then a young adult pastor, is that I have seen time and time again, whether you want to believe it is true or not, is that your students lack the faith that you are wanting from them because they do not see it at home. Why? Because they've heard you talk so much about bad about the church. They hear complaint after complaint. Criticism after criticism. They don't hear forgiveness. They don't hear repentance. They don't hear what the Bride of Christ is meant to be. All they hear is what the church isn't doing. But what's funny is the church only gets 75 minutes of your children. So, I say this with all grace today. Not guilt. Grace. Hear me. Because I feel that I have

been called at such a time as this, right now, to deliver this message. Because why? Because I did not become a lead pastor to have a church to be able to be filled with people who do not care about the next generation. The next generation is who is coming up next. Do they know Christ? Do they know Christ from your household? From your walk of life? It takes both. It takes both to being able to go forward. And that is what Holy Spirit convicted me of. Is that then the church thinks that we've done our part because we have a student ministry but yet you do not serve in the student ministry. You don't serve in the kids ministry. You don't serve anywhere. But yet we are supposed to want them to love Jesus. To have the importance of Christ Monday through Saturday, but you only prioritize Sunday. Family, we are people all called to play a part in this body. But most importantly, you are called as parents to play a part in your household. And I want you to hear this, is that there is forgiveness. There is repentance. There is grace. There is love. But if you do not turn to showing them to worship, to showing them how to speak kindly, how to forgive, how to speak love, how to be able to say, no, the church is God's bride. And we are going to serve that church. We are going to be a part of that church. This is how a student continues their faith. But students, I want you to hear this. It takes you to start pedaling. It takes you to start driving. It takes you to start going and leading your faith itself. There was this moment that I had with my oldest and I started telling her, hey, it's great that we do nighttime prayers, but it's very important that you now start learning how to pray yourself. By yourself. Why? Because mommy and daddy are not going to always be there. And I need to know that you're going to call on his name when we're not there. Because that is the only name that can change your circumstance, that can change your life. Because you cannot pass down a faith that you do not possess. I say this with all passion and conviction because I believe this as a youth, as a youth pastor, former youth pastor, former young adult pastor, but somebody who got saved at 15 years old. At 15 years old, I went to youth group because there's cute boys. Don't judge me. Why'd you come to church? All the single people are like, yeah, you know what I'm talking about. But God got a hold of me. God got a hold of me and I had no idea what he was going to do. I heard this message from this woman who was hurting, who was in pain, but yet she was giving glory to God and coming to invest in students. I don't know if every student saw this in this moment, but I saw

it and it spoke to me deeply. It was Holy Spirit leaning in on me and saying, I'm a father. I'm a good, good father. You're talking about somebody who was raised by a single mom, by a drug addict dad, and who was absent in my life. And I was raised Catholic. I had no context to this Christianity, denominations, all the things. But a Pentecostal church got a hold of me. And there was something in that time, all the older saints, you'll get that later, young people. They're all excited. But there was something in there that got a hold of me and it was Jesus. It was Jesus's love. It was his forgiveness. It was something that I never even grasped, but I felt. I felt through the leaders. I felt through the people in the church. I felt this. And now let me tell you this real briefly. The church was not perfect that I grew up in. I saw all sorts of messiness, but you know what? It didn't distract me from what God had called me to. It never, it never made me go or go far from that, from Him. I stood put in the church. As just as much as glory I can give you for the church, I can give you all the messiness as well, but I'm hanging on to knowing who God's bride is and what I stand for. And it's not for me to tear it down, it's for me to build it up and serve it. And some people in here, you have a complaint about Wednesday night youth. What's funny is I haven't seen the the increase in students serving on Sunday. Why? Why? Because you told them this isn't a place for them? Because you told them they're too young? You told them, oh there isn't a youth group, so there's nothing for you to do? No. I was 15 years old and I joined a usher team, because God told me. I asked God, I said, where do you want me to serve? I served the usher team. I didn't have a parent leading me. I didn't have anybody telling me what to do. I read the Word. I took what my pastor said and I applied it. Can you show this picture real quick? When you look at that, you don't see anything special about that girl. You don't look at that girl and say that's gonna be the next legacy youth pastor, or legacy lead pastor. You don't say that. You didn't even say pastor. But it was God. It was God that used a foolish teenager who was just willing to say yes to Jesus and say, I believe in this. I know what I felt. I know what he gave me. I know what he's done and I'm gonna hold on to it. I'm gonna hold on to it. I'm not gonna give an excuse. I'm

gonna hold on to it. He changed my life, but it was not that the fact that anybody saw anything automatically special about me or could see even what he was gonna do through my yes. Through my yes came my mom being saved. Through my yes, my family came to Christ. Through my yes, I saw plenty of family members and now I get to look at all your faces. Students, a teenager said yes. A teenager. And the same goes for Pastor Justin. So here at Legacy Church, we believe in this generation. We believe in your calling as students now. You do not need to wait till you're 18, whatever. My seven-year-old is serving at this experience right now. She did not wait for mom and dad to tell her to start serving. She did not ask if it was okay for her to start serving. She said, I want to serve. A seven-year-old is serving in your kids ministry, talking to your kindergartners right now. If it's good or not, I don't know. But Juju, Miss Juju told us. Write this down. Discipleship is not one person doing everything. It is the people of God walking together in the same direction. Parents, you need the church. Church, we need to partner with the parents. We need each other to be able to grow and to fan into flame this generation. These generations of young people. And I'm going to show you why this is so important. In Scripture, there is many places that God warns us and gives us vision for. But again, hear the grace that I'm speaking of. Parents, it does not mean that you need to have a sermon every time you're warming up chicken nuggets, okay? No. You don't need to—y'all laugh, because that's what your kids are being raised on. No judgment, no judgment. I'm the chicken nugget life. But seriously, like, I've learned, and Holy Spirit really convicted me of this. He said, Delicia, and me and Pastor Justin, it's been this constant discipline we've been having to have. He said, Delicia, your kids don't get the rest of you. They get the best of you. And I had to understand that when we started Legacy Church, I needed to make sure that— that's great, I can go have coffee and disciple and mentor and do all those things, but what's more important is for me to disciple my kids. What's more important is to making sure that they can look at me and see Jesus. Not, it's only on Sunday for everybody else.

But they can see me and want a relationship with me and want to be able to pursue God because they say mom and dad knows a real God. There are students in this room, who need to know that somebody sees them, that somebody is praying for them. That is what helped change my life. That is what helped keep me in church. Students never negate that the fact that this weekend happened because of people who one, gave for their generosity to making this student conference happen. Two, because people are praying for you and they believe in this generation. And three, because there was somebody that said these students matter. And they showed up. These adults showed up. There was plenty of adults who did not have any students and showed up for free to serve your students. And every adult I can tell you and speak for them, they came because they believe in you. They came because they're saying I am part of this body and I want to be help to this body. And that is you. But somebody needs to believe in them, church. Somebody needs to look at a student. Don't pass these students in the lobby and never give them eye contact. Pause and say, hey, I see you.

I see you serving. I see what you're doing. Keep going. Because as parents, you would want that for your own kids. So let's be a body in helping in that way. The second thing to write down is discipleship is not a meeting we attend. It is a life we invite others to. It is not a meeting we attend. It is a life we invite others to. Invite them to seeing your life. Invite them to be able to see you leading in the church. Your kids do not prioritize Jesus because they have seen that you do not prioritize Jesus. And that is with all grace and love that I am saying this. Because I want people to recognize people in this community and say, that's because of Legacy Church. That's because people there know God. That's because those people love, live, and lead like Jesus. Can they say that about you? Outside of these four walls. Deuteronomy 6, four through nine says this. Listen, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord alone. And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. Listen, repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home, when you are on the road, when you are going to bed,

and when you are getting up. Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders. Write them on the doorpost of your house and on your gates. It is not just bring them to the church, it is bring God into the rhythm of your life. Bring God into the rhythm of your life. And Legacy Church, this is where we have to be honest. If our faith only shows up on Sunday, we should not be surprised when the next generation thinks Jesus is only relevant on Sunday. But when they see us worship in the sanctuary and forgive in the living room, something happens. When they see us lift our hands in the church and humble our hearts at home, something happens. When they see us open up the Bible here and live the Bible out there, something happens. This is how faith gets passed down, not perfectly, but faithfully. This is a warning that God gave us in Judges 2.10. After that generation died, another generation grew up who did not acknowledge the Lord or remember the mighty things he had done for Israel. Okay, Deuteronomy 6 shows us vision, tells you how, tells you, hey, say this over and over and over again. You should be speaking about me. You should be showing them. They don't know how to deal with hard conversations or hard people because you show them that mom and dad are gonna take care of it

instead of you allowing them to learn how to take care of it. Do you see what I'm saying? There is a point when these training wheels are off and you're just riding along the side of them. still cheering them on, and helping giving them advice. Some of you have older kids right now, and you're wondering like, well my time's up, I'm an empty nester. No, no, no, no, no. I'm talking to all of us. All of us. Why? Because you don't retire from serving God. You don't retire from your calling. What did we just read in Scripture? We are all called to lead a life worthy of our calling, right? So that's everybody, until you see Jesus one day. Until you see Jesus. I know that you feel sometimes like, oh but PD, I'm just living my best life right now. Like, I'm done with the kids. Yes, but there's many more spiritual kids that need you. That need you. That need your voice. That need your help. Single moms, single dads that need that support. There's a beautiful couple in this church who moved here, empty nesters, and they have been a blessing to a few main key couples. And they babysit, they help take care, they help become what? The family of God for them. There's been multiple, like, things of that nature that have happened here, that have happened through here, and has been such a blessing to so many people. Parents, you should not feel alone. You should feel supported by the church. And then the church, we should help bring support to the parents. Let's help in what ways God has called us to, but don't forget this. What Judges 2 gives us as a warning. The Bible says that after Joshua and his generation died, another generation grew up and did not know the Lord or the works he had done for Israel. Okay, go back to that scripture real quick. Can you show it? Another generation grew up who did not acknowledge the Lord or remember the mighty works, things that he has done for Israel. That should shock us and really put a pause in our life right now. Why? These were the people who got freed from slavery. These were the people that saw the Red Sea part. These were the people that saw manna be arrived every single day in the desert. These are the people that saw miracle signs and wonders, but yet the generation after

them did not know of God. Why? Because they did not speak of him. Because they did not show the next generation. Church, Legacy Church will not be that church. We will make a part for this generation and to tell the next generation about the goodness of him. But they have to see it. They have to hear it. They have to be a part of it for them to take that. But again, they cannot possess a faith that they do not have personally themselves, and so we have to pass that on to showing them for them to experience it for themselves. To know, oh, God did that in P.D.'s life? God did that in Pastor Justin's life? What? God did that? I share my testimony, and kind of because we had to, because we're preaching a lot, and one of the things it really grew in me was to how important it is to share my testimony with my kids. Because they don't see a perfect parent. They see a parent that needs God, and that relies on God. They do not get told that mommy and daddy never have problems, never have struggles, never, I'd never have disappointed God. They are brought in to showing, hey, so don't diminish, oh they're too young. They're too young to know that. They're too young. No. God, if God has given you that access to share with them, give it to them. Share it. Your testimony has power. Your testimony has power. Do not leave it up for them to figure out themselves. Your testimony has power in that. The third thing that I want us to write down and to think about, as we are just thinking about this scripture, something that Pastor Justin brought up as well last week, is that he talked about Timothy. and how Paul wrote a letter to Timothy, and how Paul was actually a mentor to Timothy, and he had his grandmother, praying grandmother, and he had a praying mother as well. But it took a Paul to be able to encourage him, to be able to speak life and partner with his mom and grandmother, and to just say, hey, I see you. I see your genuine faith. I see what you're doing, and I want to encourage you to keep going, to fan into flame what that is. And I love that. I love that, and I was reminded when I saw that scripture that he shared, it was so hard to not see Pastor Justin in it. It was so hard not to see him as a young man without a father figure, and to seeing a praying grandmother, who's now with the Lord, and a praying mother, and they surrounded him in the church with people to speak into his life.

And because of men and women who chose to say something and to partner with his mom and grandmother, he's standing before you, because there was people that looked at him and said, I see that gifting inside of you. I see that. How many more students do we have that just need us to look at them and say, I see you. You are that physical representation of who Jesus is to them. Joel 2 28 and 29 says this, then after doing all those things, I will pour out my spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, and your young men will see visions. In those days I will pour out my spirit even on servants, men and women alike. Students, hear this. You do not have a junior high holy spirit. You do not have a high school holy spirit. You have the same spirit that's dwelling inside of me in you. You have the same powerful God that is in me that is in you. It is not the immature spirit. It is none of that. He gives you the full holy spirit to be able to have access to yourself, to be able to lean in, and to be able to hear from yourself. And I think that that is so beautiful when it comes to God and how he cares about our people. I want to share with you guys just some research that talks about what holy spirit is already convicting us of. Barna reported that 77% of U.S. teens said that they were at least somewhat motivated to keep learning about Jesus throughout their lives, with 52% saying they were very motivated. Barna also reported signs of increased engagement among younger generations, including pastors saying they are seeing higher engagement among Gen Z and many churches. Yes, praise God. That's something to be excited about, because what is that telling us? It's telling us that there are so many hungry young people. There are so many hungry young people, and if we catch them before they are 18, they have a higher increase in knowing and following Jesus, and having Christ at the center of their life, and leading families, and leading in workplaces, if they know Jesus before they turn 18. This is research that shows how important our kids ministry is, our student ministry is, and this generation is, but it's even showing us even more how vital it is for our voice to speak to them. They might not always use our language, they might not always know our songs, they might not understand our traditions, they may not always ask questions in the ways most adults are comfortable with, but many of them are hungry. They want the truth, but most importantly, they want the authenticity. They want someone to tell them there is more to life than anxiety, achievement, comparison, and confusion. They want to know if Jesus is real.

They want to know if the church is safe. They want to know if adults will listen before they lecture. They want to know if their questions disqualify them, or if there is room to wrestle their way towards faith. And Joel too tells me that God has a vision for them. So students, let me say this clearly. You are not too young to hear hear from God. You are not too young to hear from God. You are not too young to have a gifting from God. You are powerful because of God living inside of you, and you're not too young to lead. Lead now. You just had an amazing student conference. Some of you are a part of that. Some of you maybe you weren't. You're just coming for today. That's okay. This is for you. To understand that there is people that are praying and willing to support you as the body of Christ, but what are you gonna do with that fire now? What are you gonna do with that fire? Are you gonna keep going? Don't let it dwindle. Don't let it go out. Remember that there are so many people cheering you on and wanting to fan that flame for you. In church, we need to remember cynicism kills stewardship. If all we see is what is wrong with a generation or the church, we will miss what God is doing in and through it. This generation, write this down, this generation is not a problem to solve. They are a promise to steward, and I believe God is asking Legacy Church to steward them well. Steward them well. Timothy was not perfect. Timothy was a young person. Timothy was not loud about his faith. He was just sincere about it. He was just so sincere about it, and Paul saw that in him. And there is some praying grandmothers, praying grandfathers, praying aunties, praying uncles, all within this church that we are calling you to saying right now, I want you to just pause for a second and realize how have you been looking at this next generation? How have you invested in it? Because stewardship is investment. It's investment. It takes up your time. It takes up your uncomfortability. It takes up a moment for you. It is not an easy thing. It is very much a, I have to do this, let your flesh die and let your spirit rise, to supernaturally handling kids, or to being able to guide them and lead them, or to saying, hey, I don't have all the answers. I need the church support. It takes that.

And I just want to encourage us all, is that God has called us to be a church of this generation. Students, you are the generation of now. Not next. Now. And I want you to know that and to believe that with all your heart. Every Timothy needs someone who will recognize the fire and help fan it into flame. Not shame it into flame. Not pressure it into flame. Not compare it into flame. Fan it into flame. With prayer. With love. With truth. With patience. With encouragement. But most importantly, with presence. It is a very holy thing to go in the nursery and serve the nursery and holding a baby. For a mother or father to sit here in the experience. It is a very holy thing to hold a sign and to welcome every person that comes in this place with a smile. Because maybe they haven't gotten that. Church, do you hear me? Do you hear what I'm saying here? And I pray that your hearts are open right now to receiving this word and not letting it go. It's so vital for you to play your part in the body and for the next generation to know who He is. I firmly do not believe that the next generation should not know Jesus. They should be more inclined to going after Him and live for Him than we've ever seen before. But you have a part to play in that and to change that. You have that part. And some of you today are going to feel stirred up of, OK, PD, what should I do? What should I do? Well, students, I want to say this. There's no excuse on why you're not serving on Sunday. This is your church. This is your home. This is where you get fed. Sign up. Serve your church. Because it does nothing for me. It does everything to build character in you. For anybody else as adults, if you have a lot more complaints, PD's here today, not PJ. So, I need you to understand, you could go to any church, you could go to any church and you can take all that criticism with you, but I need people who are willing to be on a walk and on a journey with God, who have forgiveness, who has grace, who sees people and sees that they need Jesus even more. Everything I did at 15 years old to here in serving God and honoring God and to obeying God and the mistakes I've made and I've gotten back up because of Him, is all developed to

me as a person, is developed to me as a follower of Jesus. What we think is that we're helping the church, but what you forget is that it's helping you to become more like Him. He doesn't need you, He wants you. He doesn't need you, He wants you. That's a loving Father. That's a loving Father who's saying, I love you, I want you and I want to be in relationship with you and it created me and prepared me for things that I can tell you and stand before you today that I am lacking nothing because of my God, because of what He has done in and through me, He has provided for me because in ways, more ways than I could ever think or imagine because I said yes to Him, because I said yes to Him, I will obey you, I will trust you, even when I don't feel like it, even when I don't see it, I'm going to trust you because you're a good, good Father. You're a good, good Father. It is something holy about being a part of the body of Christ. And for everyone else, if you're saying, okay, PD, I got to change some things at home, I want to encourage you, take baby steps, take baby steps, just let them pray with you consistently. Pray on the way, when you're driving them, when school starts, pray. Take a moment to just take five minutes and say a gratitude of what God has done. I pause with my kids before they go and I'm like, hey, let's just make sure we thank God. We just thank God for this moment, for these things that we're able to do. The next generation will not be discipled by our intentions, they will be discipled by our investment, our investment. Good intentions are not bad, but intentions alone do not disciple anybody. Investment does, presence does, prayer does, consistency does, love does. So maybe your response today is to serve in student ministry. Maybe it is to serve in the kids ministry. Maybe it's to become a life group leader. Maybe it's to pray weekly for students by name, whatever it is. Maybe it's to support some parents here in the church.

Maybe it's to invite a young person into your life and say, I am for you, you can come for me for anything. Maybe it's that, but maybe it is to stop saying someone should do something and start asking, Lord, what are you asking me to do? Because Legacy Church, this is our family, these are our sons and daughters, and we are going to walk worthy together. Together, amen? Hey, if you're still watching at this point, I believe that it's not an accident. I believe that if you're feeling something in your spirit, that is God trying to get your attention and invite you into a deeper relationship with him. And so if you're ready to take that step, I want to walk you through what that looks like. It's simple. We're going to say a prayer together, and it's just you acknowledging that you believe that Jesus is who he says he is, and that you're willing to commit your life to following him and learning what it means to be a son or daughter of God. So repeat after me if you can. Jesus, here I am. I believe that you love me, that you died for me, and that you want a relationship with me. I acknowledge that I'm a sinner and I need a savior. And I'm committing to learning what it means to be a follower of Jesus. If I mess up, I will not quit. because you've never quit on me. I invite your Holy Spirit to lead me and guide me in your truth from today on. In Jesus' name, amen. Hey, we're proud of you. That's a huge decision, and we don't want you to feel like you have to figure it all out on your own

from this point. We have a value, a legacy that says we follow Jesus for ourselves, but not by ourselves. So I would invite you to text the number below, follow the instructions, and we're gonna send you resources so you can learn what it means to be a follower of Jesus and be on this journey of faith. Congratulations, your life will never be the same. Thank you for watching. Hope you enjoyed the online experience. Hey, if this message impacted you, make sure you like, comment, subscribe, and share it with a friend so we can continue to share the gospel. Hey, here at Legacy, prayer is our priority. You have any prayer needs, you can send them to prayeratlegacyaz.church. If you'd like to financially partner with Legacy, you can text any dollar amount to 84321. You can also download the Church Center app. Visit our website at legacyaz.church. Click on Ways to Give. You'll find links to support Legacy Church. You can find us on social media. Otherwise, go out and love, live, and be like Jesus. We'll see you next week.