Generation to Generation – Worthy of Worship
Scripture Reference: Psalms 145:1-7 Discussion Guide
Stu Quackenbush, Rockford Location on July 26, 2022
Big Idea: We must become people who are enamored with the person and the works of God in order to pass that love onto the next generation.
Where did you first hear the Gospel of Jesus? Was it from a family member, a friend, a mentor? Stu Quackenbush continues our summer series Worthy of Worship with a wonderful challenge to speak about the wondrous works of God, and be a part of sharing the gospel to the next generation.
Check out the below notes, questions and thoughts and discuss them as a group. Be sure to take time to open and read Scripture, praying with and for one another as you consider what it looks like to follow the way.
Everything in Psalm 145 is about God and directed toward God. It’s written by a person (David) whose heart is exploding in love toward God. You can fake a lot of things, but you can’t fake a heart that’s in love with God.
- Is your heart like David’s?
- 6% of American Adults follow a biblical worldview, and only 2% of parents with kids under 18.
- Hot seat: Stu tells a story of playing this game with his kids and his daughter asked him about his “haircut.” He’s told his kids many times about aging and that he’s losing his hair, however they keep asking. Kids need more than a brief explanation, more than words. We need stories, we need excitement, we need embodiment.
Group Question: Share with your group a funny question your kids (or grandkids) asked you when they were small?
Words + a heart that loves God, the works of God and is excited about that reality.
Psalm 145:4
• Commend: the word means teaching, but more than just explaining, it also includes praise.
• We pass down traditions and stories with joy and love.
• A heart that is enamored with the person and works of God will spill over in praise to the next generation.
• Number one question to ask, “How do I fall in love with the person of God?”
Group Question: What does/did family time look like in either your family of origin, or if you’re a parent, in the family that you’re raising? Do you have a time set aside to talk about things of God or does it happen more organically? What kind of challenges have you faced in this area?
Psalm 145:5
- What’s the difference between God’s mighty acts and his wondrous works? Wondrous: extraordinary or surpassing.
- The most wondrous work of all time is the cross. God, in his love, had a plan that Jesus would be our substitutionary atonement. We deserved eternal punishment, but Jesus stepped in and took our place. This must be the delight of our lives.
- Meditate: Not just emptying of minds, like the culture suggests. But the pushing aside of distractions so that we might be filled with the greatest thoughts, the person of Jesus, to understand who God is and his mighty acts,
- The greatest thing that gets in the way is that our mediations automatically go to the deepest loves of our heart. We must be intentional. If we blink, we will miss it.
Group Question: What helps you to meditate on the person of Jesus, the works of God or scripture passages? Do you have time set aside for this? Do you have a special place, or something else that helps you to focus in this way? If it’s a struggle to meditate, what do you think would help you?
Psalm 145:6
- Community (they) and personal (I).
- We tell the story of who God is and what he’s done, and then we personally declare his
greatness.
- A declaring that happens with our lips and how we live. Our kids need to see it and hear
it. We show it to our kids in hard moments, moments of conflicts, when they need correction, when we don’t want to be with them, when our emotion is going the other direction.
- A heart first filled with love of Christ and is now overflowing.
Group Question: Share a time when God did something wondrous in your life and your heart overfl owed with praise.
Psalm 145:7
- Pour forth: Gushing, can’t be stopped. Picture the Rockford dam in springtime.
- Is that my heart?
- Not at every moment, there are many times where it’s appropriate to lament and come to God and express our pain.
- Being transparent in pain is also a gift to your children.
- But, the best thing we can have is love for the works and person of God and that’s
what the next generation needs to overflow onto them.
- Sing aloud: The next generation needs to hear your singing.
- The music of our lives is our praise to God.
- The greatest way to effect the next generation is to love and praise the works and
person of God.
Group Question: Does your heart gush with love for God that overflows with praise? On a scale of 1-10, 1 being not at all – 10 being what you imagine it will be like in heaven, what number would give yourself?
How can we grow in true love for the person and works of God?
- Receive salvation.
- Read the Bible (first) and great books
- Pray and pray deeply
- Ask a great God for great things.
The number one prayer is, “God, Help me to love you”
Honest, so honest that we’re embarrassed.
- Ask a great God for great things.
- Guard what goes into your heart.
- It’s not legalism to pursue holiness.
- Dedicate yourself to learning to see and know Jesus.
“Look to Jesus. If you look to him, everything else is footnotes. All else will fall into place. If you do not look to Jesus, no amount of techniques or strategies will finally help you; all will be for nothing. Peel back every layer of distraction and look to Christ. “ Dane Ortlund
Group Question: Of all the ways Stu listed to grow in love for the person and the works of God, is there one that God is laying on your heart?
As a church, how can we help disciple the next generation?
- Serve your church – in whatever way is needed.
- Serve with kids and students.
- Pray for parents and their children.
• Pray specifically for our dads. Pray for conviction, but not crushing. • Know that you have a role and be faithful in it.
As a student, how can you help disciple the next generation?
- Look for those you can disciple.
- Most importantly, look around you and learn from the next generation.
- Have a heart that’s soft and willing to listen.
- Your parents are people just like you, be willing to forgive them when they mess up.
As a parent, what can you do right now to disciple your family?
- Rest in grace (Christ)
- There is more grace in God than there is sin in you.
- Examine your life and know the joy of repentance
- “One of the greatest evidences of true conversion is not sinless perfection, as some have erroneously supposed. Instead, it is sensitivity to sin, a renouncing of sin, an open confession of sin, and the joy of forgiveness.” Paul Washer
- Recognize every day that your kids are not the problem
- Be and ambassador and not an owner.
- Show your family both brokenness and real change.
The greatest risk to our kids is not our culture, or the political party they chose, or what they believe about various issues. The greatest risk is that we don’t love Jesus Christ enough. That we don’t seek the gospel with our whole hearts, so that our lives overflow and embody the love that they are to have for God. That’s what’s most dangerous, and its the one thing we can do.
Communion
- Consider the beauty of the gospel
- Repent of sin that caused you to abdicate your call as a parent
- Celebrate the body of Jesus was really broken and his blood was really shed, and we are now free.
Group Question: As a church, student or parent, what is one step you can take to disciple the next generation?
Big Idea: We must become people who are enamored with the person and the works of God in order to pass that love onto the next generation?