Made for More | My Generation | Jeremy DeWeerdt

City First Church, how are we all doing today? How are you feeling? Good. Hey, look at these amazing people behind me. Come on, give them a round of applause. Now some of you might be like, well, who are they? Well, this is our City First Leadership College, ladies and gentlemen, and today is their graduation at 6 p.m. tonight. We're going to have a ceremony. Y'all are invited to come if you would like to, but we wanted to recognize them this morning for all of our locations because you don't realize this, but over the last year, they not only have been studying and taking classes, but also they have been serving behind the scenes to make this church run, and we want to honor them for the hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of hours of effort that they have put into this year. We love them so much, and honestly, as a church, it would not be the same without them, and every year, we honor them, and some of them are going to be coming back for more further education for another year. Some of them are graduating, and they're actually launching into the next season, and so we want to take a moment, and we want to pray over all of them God's blessing as they move into this next season or this next year, so could you go ahead, bow your heads, and close your eyes with me, and while I say a word of prayer, Lord, I just thank you for these students. I thank you for the City First Leadership College, and Lord, right now, we as a church, we pray over them, and we pray a blessing upon them, Lord God, for this next season. For those that are coming back, I pray that you'd give them a great break, and may they come back ready and hungry to learn more about you, and for those that are graduating and moving on into the next season of life, God, I pray that you would protect them, that you would empower them, that Lord, you would fill them with your spirit. I pray that Lord, when they speak, and when they minister, and whatever they do, that they would have favor from heaven, and that Lord God, you would use them in a mighty way. Lord, I pray, an old-fashioned term, but make them into world changers, God. I pray that this world would not be different because of each and every one of them, and God, in a very special way, may they sense our affirmation and our appreciation and gratitude for all that they have done over the months that they have been here serving at City First. We love you in Jesus' name, and everybody said amen. Come on, give them a huge round of applause, huh? We love you guys. You may go ahead and follow Jen there. I asked a few of them, like, you wanna preach? And they're like, I got this. No. So anyway, we are in a series right now, and it's called Made for More, and this month we are talking about the important subject of living a life of significance and purpose, God's significance

and his purpose, and we're in our fourth week of this. We conclude it next week, but really, the main purpose, if you've ever asked yourself, why am I alive? Here's the reason why. The main purpose you were created is for a relationship with God and to worship him, all right? Purpose is the original intent for the creation of a thing, so if you wanna know why something exists, you need to ask the inventor or the creator, and so the truth is that your purpose is given to you by your creator. We are firm believers that you are not here by chance or mistake or after billions of years of pond scum kind of rubbing together that all of a sudden you evolved. We believe with all of our hearts here at City First that there's a creator God that created you for a purpose and on purpose, and if you agree with that, put your hands together, right? So I have a question for you. The question is this. If you could live in any generation or any era, what would it be? Like, if you could pick, now, obviously, you were born when you were born. You didn't get to choose that, right? But if you could choose, if you could choose an era, if you could choose a generation to be born into, even if it was another one, which one would it be? Some of you might say, well, you know what? I wish I was alive during the 1950s. They call it the golden age in America. This is the post-World War II era, Americana, simpler times, family values, economic boom. There was stability, optimism, rock and roll, drive-ins, and diners, right? Some of you might say, no, no, no, I'd wanna live in the 1920s. This was the era of glamour and jazz and Art Deco and flappers and the Prohibition-era rebellion and energy and fashion and kind of fearless fun. You're like, that'd be fun, I'd like to do that. Some of you are like, nope, I wanna be a cowboy, right? Like maybe it was the pioneer in the Western frontier era, you know, the 1800s in America, rugged individualism, open land, adventure, self-reliance, survival, freedom, grit, I wanna be a cowboy, baby. Remember that song? Anyway, yeah. Or maybe it was like during the 1980s. This was the pop culture powerhouse era, right? You know, blockbuster movies, arcade games, MTV, economic optimism, big dreams, bold fashion,

Atari, anybody own an Atari? Atari, right? The 80s, the best movies, the best TV shows, and the best music. Kind of can tell which era I'm from, right? I have a friend of mine who, a little bit older than me, and he said this, he goes, if he could pick any era, it'd be the Victorian era. I was like, really? He goes, yeah, it was like, you know, 1837 to like 1900, elegance, manners, refinement, you know, classic literature, art, architecture, aesthetic beauty, cultural rituals, you know. The main reason, though, he told me he wanted to live during the Victorian era is it was actually a tradition that when you ate in the Victorian era, whoever was preparing the meal actually prepared two desserts. So every dinner that you had like at home, whoever prepared it prepared two desserts. You had two desserts with every meal. I could be persuaded to go back to the Victorian era. That sounds pretty fascinating. So you ever wondered why you were born when you were born? Like you could have grown up in ancient Greece or during the time of the Renaissance. He could have had you born during the Civil War era or maybe thousands of years ago during the, you know, Persian Empire or something like that. Why now?

Why here? Why where you are at? In fact, if you think about it, it's even remarkable that you're even here. Like let's go back six generations. That's about 150 to 180 years, okay? Six generations bring you back into the mid 1800s or so or late 1800s, okay? And here's the thing. You have these numbers of direct ancestors. First of all, you have two parents. You have four grandparents. You have eight great grandparents. You have 16 great, great grandparents. You have 32 great, great, great grandparents. And you have 64 great, great, great, great grandparents. Meaning six generations back, it took 64 people for you to be here. Now you multiply that by all the thousands of decisions these people are making, the health outcomes, the wars that were survived, the illnesses that were avoided, the near death experiences and the relationship choices that were made and the odds that you are even here are astronomical. In fact, biologists and statisticians estimate that the chance of you being born as you is about one in 400 trillion. I want you to think about that. Even from a secular standpoint, do the math.

You are not random. You are not random. You're here today for a reason. And you're not just a product of probability. You are a result of providence. Do you hear that? So why now and why here? And today we're gonna talk about the fourth purpose in this series. And the purpose is this, is that you are saved to serve. Saved to serve. Now, I'm gonna make sense of all this in a moment. Part of the reason why God saved you, part of it, not the entire reason. Part of the reason is because you are to serve your generation with his purpose. And I wanna take a moment, I wanna look at a verse in the New Testament. And the verse in the New Testament is actually talking about an Old Testament king, one that probably you've heard of before. And his name is David. David was probably the most prominent king mentioned in the Old Testament in Israel. He's the one that as a boy defeated Goliath. He grew up to become a king. He conquered all of the enemies of the nation and actually brought peace to the land, handed the baton of the kingdom to his son Solomon.

And this is what the Bible says about this King David in the book of Acts. It says this. Now, when David served God's purpose in his own generation. I want us to marinate in this a moment, okay? When David had served God's purpose, when? In his generation. In his generation. What'd he do? of God's purpose, not David's own purpose, God's purpose in his generation, he fell asleep. Falling asleep was kind of an old fashioned way back then of saying that he passed away. Now this verse tells me three things about us. Number one, God assigns each person to a generation. In other words, David was assigned to that generation, you're assigned to your generation. Number two, God has specific purpose for that generation that he wants to fulfill through his people. In other words, that there's a purpose God is trying to work now and it takes us to be a part of it, he includes us into it. Third thing I learned about this verse is this, once a person's purpose is complete, he brings them home. It tells me that God measures life many times not in terms of years, but in terms of purpose. And you know, it's interesting when it comes to this one and only life that we have, we need to live it before we leave it. And some people aren't living it and they end up leaving it.

Number one thought I wanna leave with you today is this, is that you don't get to choose your generation, but you do choose your impact. Like David didn't pick what generation that he was born in, you don't pick your time, but you pick what you do with the time. Sometimes it's easy to complain about where you're at in life. Like I hear it all the time and I've even fallen into it sometimes, you complain about, you know, the neighborhood you live in, the city you live in, the job you have, the school you go to, you complain about it. But I will tell you, God is more interested in what you do than where you're at. In other words, He wants you to bloom where you're planted. Even if where you're planted is not your forever place. It may be as a place that you don't even like right now, but where you are planted is where you must bloom. In fact, and I would say it this way, don't complain, proclaim. Where you're in the space, proclaim God's goodness about what God is doing in your life and in that place. Proclaim God's hope and His love in that space that you find yourself in. I'll sometimes tell people, you know, when you stop whining, that's when you start shining to your generation. If you just whine, everybody's whining right now. But when you start shining,

even places that aren't desirable places or circumstances become places that can become light to other people. You know, another person in the Old Testament used their voice to make an impact and her name was Esther. Some of you have read the story of Esther. It's a great story, by the way, if you've never read it. Esther was a young Jewish woman who had become the queen of Persia after a nationwide search. And once she became queen, she learned of a plot within the kingdom to exterminate all of the Jewish people. She was also a Jew. And in fact, when she had spoke with her cousin Mordecai, Mordecai said, hey, listen, this plot is going on. You're the queen and maybe you should talk to the king. Now that sounds pretty simple in today's world because we don't understand how the dynamics were with kings back then. But if you were a king back then and someone came into your chamber uninvited, you could have them executed. Even if you were having a bad day, you could have them executed. Even if it was your wife, the queen. So Mordecai telling Esther, go in and talk to the king, that was actually kind of a risky thing to do. But here's what Mordecai was saying. He's like, you are now positioned in a place of influence. In a very famous verse, he says to her, he's like,

you know what, you could be positioned for such a time as this. Such a time as this. So with courage and wisdom, she approached the king and he permitted her into his presence. And she told him about this diabolical plot to exterminate an entire race of people. And he helped put a stop to it. And she, long story short, she saved literally a race of people. God used her position, her place, but she had to choose to use her voice. Now I'll say this, most of us will never have an opportunity to speak. to a king about saving a race of people. And if you don't watch out, you could listen to my little story right now and go, that's nice, Pastor Jeremy, but this is a little bit above my pay grade. I'm not gonna be talking to the president anytime soon or a king or a prime minister or something like that. Don't lose the plot here because this story may seem above your reach, but it really isn't because you have been positioned where you are at, where you work, where you go to school, where you live, the family you're in, the friendship groups that you have, you've been positioned for such a time as this to be able to make a difference in people's lives with God's purpose,

like for your kids, for your coworkers, for your neighbors, for your families, to serve your church, for those that you come in contact with, you have been given an ability to make a difference. Even if you sit there and go, oh, he must be talking to everybody else but me. No, no, no, I'm talking to you also. And let me give you some really practical handles on how you can do it, all right? I'm gonna shotgun these really quickly, but here's practical ways to have a godly impact. First of all, you serve right where you're at now. You serve right where you're at. Don't wait for a perfect role. Don't wait until you become perfect as a parent. Don't wait until you become perfect as a student or a perfect employee or perfect before you serve your church, but rather instead serve right now where you're at. Number two, be present in your relationships. In other words, get up in the morning and think to yourself, you know what? Who can I talk to today? Who can I text today? Who can I encourage today? Who can I invite to church today? Who can I give a smile to today? Here's another way. Engage in community impact.

In other words, volunteer locally right where you live. Support a school, mentor a student, even join a serve team here at City First. Again, it could just be a community impact. Maybe you're baking cookies and bringing it to a neighbor, or maybe you're taking a coworker out to lunch. You just do something to make an impact. Use your platform for purpose. Your platform may be a classroom, a boardroom, or maybe the front porch of your house, but use whatever platform you have been given. It doesn't require this platform to make a difference. You have a platform. Use it, use your voice, use your influence, and pray like your generation depends on it, because I believe it does. The one weird thing about how we now silo generations, like I'm Gen X, right? There's millennials, there's Gen Z, there's boomers before them, builders, there's now Alpha, or the next generation, some call it Gen Zero. I mean, there's all these different generations. The problem with that is this, is that we start to look and go, well, this is who I am, because I'm part of this generation. No, no, no. Pray for the next generation. No, no, no.

Pray for your generation, and be a difference maker in your generation, and don't just capitulate to the overall mindset of your generation, but rather work God's purpose into the friendships and relationships you have within your generation. Intercede for your family. Intercede for your city. Intercede for the people you go to work with or to school with. Start something small, but meaningful. In other words, get involved in a life group. Start a care group. Maybe cook a meal for a neighbor once a month. Do something that may seem super small, and the whole time you're thinking, how is this even making a difference? It's making a difference, because little by little, seed after seed after seed is planted into relationships, and eventually, God grows the fruit. Live like legacy matters. Ask yourself, what seeds am I planting that will outlive me? I have a friend who is a builder in Wisconsin. He builds houses. He's not the GC. He's actually the guy who's building the houses, putting up the two-by-sixes and the two-by-fours,

and he builds fabulous houses. He takes his time, and he builds them literally from the ground up, and I can tell that after he gets done building a house, he stands there, and he says, this is my contribution, because within the four walls of this house will be stories and families and get-togethers and laughter and sometimes tears, and he is contributing to his generation. Something that will outlive him, right? Speak up for what's right. Esther did that. David did that. Esther used her voice for the voiceless. And you don't say silent when you're actually positioned to speak. Both David and Esther served the good of the people, but listen, they did not serve the will of the people. There's a difference. You sometimes are gonna have to serve the good of the people around you, but not necessarily capitulate to what they think is good. Like living out God's purpose sometimes means you go against the grain. I've discovered this, that a lot of times God's purpose and culture's purpose rarely align. So sometimes you stand up for a godly purpose because you know in the long run that is going to be better for everyone around you.

Sometimes the called needs to call things out. And sometimes you serve your generation, your family, your friendships by standing up and say, no, we're not gonna do this anymore. We've had generations of alcoholism in our family, but it stops now. We've had generations of sarcasm in our friendships, but it stops now. We've had generations of poor performance in this school, but this is gonna be the class that gets 4.0s. You see, you stand up and you say, no, no, no, no, no. I'm gonna stand up and I'm gonna call out some things and we're gonna rise up and we're gonna level up. What also you need to do, your generation needs what you carry. Needs what you carry. I love it, it says in Romans chapter 12, verse six, says this, we have different gifts according to the grace given to each of us. You are given gifts on loan from heaven. Your talents and your abilities are not just something you've crafted, but rather they're on loan from heaven to make a difference in the community and the lives of people around you. You've been given a gift. Some of you have a gift of speaking. Some of you have a gift of hospitality. Some of you have a gift of serving. Some of you have a gift of sales.

Some of you have a gift of being able to be a good listener. I mean, there's all kinds of different gifts out there and we're to use these things together so that fitting together God's plan comes to fruition. It's kind of like this puzzle over here. I don't know if any of you are puzzle people, but this is a 2,000 piece puzzle in this little box, right? And for those of you that are puzzle people, you know that, I mean, it's one of these things, you get all these pieces of the puzzle. It usually comes in some sort of a picture. In our little metaphor here, this is the picture of God's purpose. And together, we fit together like pieces of a puzzle, creating a picture of God's purpose. But what happens for those of you that are puzzle people, what happens after you spend days, maybe weeks, maybe for some of you big puzzles, months, putting together a puzzle and it's missing one piece? Isn't that absolutely frustrating? It literally, the absence of one piece ruins the entire picture. Did the dog eat it? Did someone lose it? If it was our house, Paxton probably put it down the register into the duck work. That's what he does. I don't know why, but it's so frustrating. You get to the end of the puzzle and you spend all this time putting things together

and there's one piece missing. And I want you to know that's what it's like when you hold back on what God has placed inside you. God's picture, even this church, the picture of City First is not complete without you. And so I wanna do this. Heads up, everybody, all right? All right, now listen. Some of you need to take a piece of that puzzle home and remember that God has you fitted into this culture, into his grander picture on purpose. And if we don't exercise the abilities that God has given to us for his kingdom purpose, the picture is not complete. God designed you to fit in this time in history. He wired you for something your generation needs. It may be your faith, it may be your wisdom, encouragement, leadership, convictions, creativity. I don't know what it is, but without it, something is missing from God's plan and his picture. Your gifts are timed and appointed for your generation's needs. Do you hear that? Your gifts are assigned to this generation. David served his people in his time. David is not responsible for anyone else's era, and neither are you. You're responsible only for your own. So your skills, your wisdom, and your experience, and faith are uniquely needed now.

Not 100 years ago, not 100 years from now, but now. Lastly, don't waste your window. Don't waste your window. All of us are given a window of time. This is our life. Like you don't have forever, you just have this moment. The Bible even says that once David had served God's purpose for his generation, he fell asleep. And someday, we're all gonna fall asleep. Life is short, and legacy is not guaranteed. It's literally built. Does that make sense? And your window is now, it says in Ephesians 5, verse 15, it says, be very careful, then, how you live, making the most of every opportunity. About 10 years ago, I was flying out of Chicago, O'Hare, to go to a speaking engagement somewhere else. And I got to the airport a little early, and so I went into the airport lounge, the United Lounge, and if you go in there, it's like, there's food, and there's drinks, and there's comfy chairs. And so I grabbed food and something to drink, and I went into the corner, there's this big couch that was kind of in the corner, and there's peace and quiet, no babies are crying, no loud noises or announcements, and it kind of felt like I was sitting in a living room, and I just sat there and chilled out. Time flew by, and I looked down at my watch, and I was like, oh, man, time flew by really quick. It got away from me, and the plane was boarding,

and so I got all my stuff, and I started to head to the gate and into the craziness and the loudness of the terminal, and about 30 yards away from the gate, I looked, and the gate attendant was shutting the door to the plane. And I looked around, and the entire gate was empty. It was empty chairs. In fact, everybody had boarded, and I was late. Now, this was before the era of text messages and text notifications, all right? And I ran up to the desk, and I went to the gate agent. I was like, I'm so sorry. I'm supposed to be on this plane. And she was like, well, I'm sorry, but I can't open the door because we have a policy. Once we shut the door of the plane, and we shut the door of the gate, and the jet bridge backs away from the plane, we no longer can open it up and get you on there, and so she's like, you gotta take the next flight. And I begged her, and I apologized. I'm like, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, but I need to get on there. I'm speaking at a place. Like, I gotta get there to speak and get on the stage. And she's like, I'm sorry, but you missed your flight. I couldn't believe it. I had to call the host of this conference and tell them, I'm sorry, I missed my flight. I was so embarrassed. I was so ticked off at myself.

Like, I literally could look out the window, and the plane is still at the gate. Like, it's right there. Like, I need to get on it. Like, do I do an Ethan Hunt, Mission Impossible thing and try to get on this thing or what? Like, I don't know, but I couldn't get on it. I could see it, but the window had closed. Ladies and gentlemen, listen to this. My comfort made me miss my window. I was sitting in the lounge, chilling like a villain, loving it, thinking this is awesome. Life is great right now. I'm so comfortable, and I missed my window. And this is maybe a godly wake-up call for some of us here that right now our comfort has created a distraction, and we aren't taking advantage of the window that God gave us, this one and only life. You don't have forever. I don't have forever. We have this window, and at some point it closes, and your generation needs you. Your family needs you. Your workplace needs you. Your school needs you. Your neighborhood needs you. David didn't get to serve in another generation. He had one shot, and he used it. And some of us, we keep on waiting for the perfect time to live for God or to serve his church or to step up.

up and take a stand at whatever place we're in in life, and I'm just sitting there today saying don't don't miss your flight because you thought you had more time. This is your window and as your pastor I just want to take a moment I'm gonna shotgun some things to you. Again I'm giving you handles here. I'm taking it out of theory and I want to make it practical. How can you not waste your window? Well first of all stop delaying what God already told you to do. Some of you God already spoke to you and and you're like I need God to speak to me. Well why would he stutter? He's already told you. He already told you what what he wants you to do. He's already nudged you. He's already bumped you a little bit. Made you a little uncomfortable. Stop delaying what God already told you to do. Also treat time like a gift. It's not a guarantee. I don't know if we have tomorrow, next year. I get asked all the time what's your five-year plan? I'm like I have a five-year plan and I hold on to it very loosely. Ask people in 2019 how their five-year plan went. COVID, remember that? 2020. Kind of blew everybody's five-year plan off course. So here's the thing. We should have a plan for the future but we better we better take advantage of the time that we have today. Some of us we're delaying a phone call to tell somebody we love them. We're delaying writing that note. We're delaying having that conversation. We're delaying starting that dream. Whatever it is because we're thinking ah we'll do it later. No no no. Time is a gift. It's not a guarantee. It might not be a later. Say yes to the nudge of the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit nudges you, respond. Don't just go oh well yeah I'll shelve that. I'll put a file in it. Put a pin in it for later. No no no. When the Holy Spirit bumps you, you know what? Start moving. Start responding. Start obeying. Shorten the gap between conviction and action. Because sometimes we get a conviction and it takes a long time to become action. Now again yes do your due diligence. Pray about it. Plan. Go seek spiritual advice. All the things right? But but don't just sit on the conviction. Rather put it into action. Don't let perfection paralyze you. Some of you are waiting for everything to get perfect before you move forward. It never will be perfect. Before you take that step of faith. That's why it's called faith. It's

not it's not there's there's nothing there except faith. And you're going well God I'm gonna I'm gonna do it you know? And and and here's the thing. It's gonna be scary. And it's gonna require risk. And it's gonna require that you get on your knees. Yes exactly. Don't wait for things to get perfect. And ask God to show you what you can literally do today. You and I 1,000% are not gonna be standing before a king today advocating for a race of people. None of us will do that today. But we are standing somewhere where we could use our voice, our abilities, or influence to make a difference in the name of Jesus. Every one of us can do that. And sometimes it just requires us to get up and say God help me not to get comfortable. Help me not to get distracted. What is it that you want me to do today? And it might be as simple as smiling at somebody in the cubicle next to you and asking them to go to lunch and paying for their lunch. It might be as simple as saying hi to a neighbor. It might be as simple as inviting a fellow student to come to youth group on Wednesday night. It might be as simple as just building a house. But my point is this, is whatever you're doing, do it all to the glory of God and say God I want to be like David and serve my generation. Let's pray. Heavenly Father I pray right now that God you would help us to have a conviction that the time that we have been given is precious. Lord there are things in our heart, there are people that you've called us to reach out to, to influence, to help, to love, to lift their arms. And Lord whatever it is, even today I pray may we serve our generation. Because we were born now for a reason. We were born in this generation. for a divine purpose. Help us to continuously serve our generation with your purpose. In Jesus' name, and everybody said, amen. Come on, let's give God a huge round of applause. Hey, maybe you are watching today and you are hearing about Jesus and the plan that he has for you,

and you've never made that decision to make Jesus the leader and the forgiver of your life, to take a moment to begin that relationship with him. The Bible talks about how we've all missed the mark and all we have to do to receive God's grace and to begin that relationship with him is to just simply confess with our mouth that he is Lord or savior of our lives. So if that's you today, I'd like to take a moment and lead you in a prayer. And if you'd like to begin this relationship with Jesus, all you have to do is repeat this prayer after me. Just say, dear Jesus, I know that I've made mistakes and I need your forgiveness. I believe you died for my sins. I invite you to be the leader and forgiver of my life. In Jesus name, amen. Well, if you prayed that prayer today, we just wanna take a moment and say congratulations, because that is the best decision that you could make. It's the most life-changing prayer that you could pray. And as your church, we wanna come alongside you and help you. We wanna give you this free resource that's gonna help you in this journey of following Jesus. It's called New Beginnings. Simply scan the QR code that is on the screen to receive your free copy. And then we've got a few other next steps we wanna tell you about,

but I'm gonna invite McKenna to join me here. That's right. One of the next steps that we have here at City First Church is to join Growth Track. And what Growth Track is, is a four-week program designed to help you discover your purpose, your gifts, and the God-given design that he's placed over your life. It starts every single Sunday, the first Sunday of every month, okay? So if you're wanting to take that next step in your faith, grow in who you are, we encourage you to check out our website or our app to sign up. That's right. And around here, we believe in the power of prayer. So if you need prayer for anything at all, at any point throughout the week, jump on the City First app and you can request prayer on there. And there's a team of people that pray for every single request that is coming in. So if you have a prayer request, we've got your back. Jump on the app and request it. And then also, since we're talking about the City First app, if you hadn't had a chance to download it, be sure to download it. It's a great resource. There's daily devotionals on there. There's ways that you can grow in your faith,

get more connected, and follow along with all the events and special things we've got coming up this summer. Yeah, that's right. Well, you guys, best thing that you can do is to come back next week as we wrap up our series, Made for More. We hope that you've enjoyed it just as much as we have, but we love you guys and we'll see y'all next week. Have a great week. Bye.