God Comes Where He's Wanted

Judges 6:11-14, 24-26

The angel of the Lord came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites… When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, "The Lord is with you, mighty warrior." "Pardon me, my lord," Gideon replied, "but if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? … Where are all his wonders that our ancestors told us about when they said, 'Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?' But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian." The Lord turned to him and said, "Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian's hand. Am I not sending you?" So Gideon built an altar to the Lord there and called it The Lord Is Peace. To this day it stands in Ophrah of the Abiezrites. That same night the Lord said to him, "Take the second bull from your father's herd, the one seven years old… Tear down your father's altar to Baal and cut down the Asherah pole beside it. Then build a proper kind of altar to the Lord your God on the top of this height. Using the wood of the Asherah pole that you cut down, offer the second bull as a burnt offering."

I am responsible to create an environment with my life that leads to the worship of Jesus in the next generation.

The New York Times — Opinion — David Brooks: "We're Living Through the Great Detachment"

David Brooks "If you lead a life designed to maximize personal independence and autonomy, you'll get to live a relatively unrestricted life…. But you're more likely to live a low-energy life, slower to harbor those great loves for people, places, God, vocation and nation that arouse fervent passions and yield ardent lives… If, on the other hand, you resist the autonomy ethos and put loving passion at the center of your philosophy of life, you will find yourself tied down by all sorts of obligations — to things like a spouse, kids, community, God and a vocation. But your love for these things will constitute fires in the heart, …"

Alan Hirsch "The ultimate solution to the problem of spiritual complacency is to create a systematically embedded culture of holy urgency."

The Altar of the Home Has Been Broken

• Adam
• Abraham
• Exodus
• Moses

Deuteronomy 6:6-9

"These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up… Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates."

Generational transfer was not a wishful byproduct of Israel's existence, but the core purpose of the nation; to form a people who would perpetually host His presence.

Joshua 24:15

"… choose this day who you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household we will serve the LORD."

Judges 2:10

"… Joshua, son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died… After that whole generation had been gathered to their ancestors another generation grew up who knew neither the LORD, nor what he had done for Israel."

God never gives up on generations, even when we count them out.

• Era of Decline
• God Reveals Himself
• Promises Deliverance

Gideon

• No Identity → "Mighty Warrior?"
• Bad Theology → Suffering = God's Absence
• No Mission → Partnership in restoring Shalom

Was he ready to fight for future generations, even if it cost him everything?

• Baal → Wealth & Power
• Asherah → Sexuality & Military Protection

Jonathan Haidt "Safety-ism is the cult of safety — an obsession with eliminating threats (both real and imagined) to the point at which people become unwilling to make reasonable trade-offs demanded by other practical and moral concerns."

Tophet of Carthage Excavation - 1921

"Sacrificed to Baal"

Jesus & the Altar of the Home

Matthew 18:4-5

"…whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me."

Matthew 18:6

"If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea."

Matthew 18:10

"See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven."

Matthew 18:14

"In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish."

Judges 6:27

So Gideon took ten of his servants and did as the Lord told him. But because he was afraid of his family and the townspeople, he did it at night rather than in the daytime.

Jerub-Baal - "One who battles Baal"

How do we all establish the altar of the home, regardless of our age, marital status, or season of life?

1. Discipleship to Jesus Will Involve Blessing Young People

Formation of young people was not an optional add on to the mission of Jesus, but rather His core strategy in founding the church.

Who will take spiritual responsibility for the young people of New York?

York Prep

Ashley Anderson → Mack Morgan → Raegan Griffith

2. You Can Take Generational Responsibility

Whatever the enemy has used in your family line to try to destroy you, will be the very thing that God will use through you to reach others.

3. Unleash the Destiny of Every Young Person Around You

Barna Group — Most U.S. Teens Want to Learn More About Jesus"Throughout the rest of your life, how motivated are you to continue learning more about Jesus Christ?"

• Very motivated: 52%
• Somewhat motivated: 25%
• Somewhat unmotivated: 6%
• Not at all motivated: 10%
• I am not sure: 7%

• Joseph - 17 yrs
• Samuel - 10 yrs
• David - 15 yrs
• Jeremiah - 14 yrs
• Josiah - 8 yrs
• Esther - 13 yrs
• Mary - 14 yrs
• Jesus - 12 yrs
• Disciples - 13 to 20 yrs
• Timothy - 16 yrs

Release the destiny of young people.

• Donald Smith - 16 yrs (The Great Persecution)
• Lonnie Frisbee - 17 yrs (Jesus Movement)
• Asbury Students - 19 yrs (2023 Outpouring)
• Agnes of Rome - 12 yrs
• Charles Wesley - 22 yrs (Great Awakening)
• Florrie Evans - 19 yrs (Welsh Revival)

Release the destiny of young people.

1. Desperate for a lost young person in your life to give their life to Jesus
2. You're a family and wanting to devote your home altar
3. You feel invited from God to break a generational sin pattern
4. You are a young person, and longing to see your generation revived