what are we passing on to the next generation
"For when David had served God's purpose in his own generation, he cruel asleep; he was buried with his fathers and his body rust-covered" (Acts 13:36, NIV).
A relay race is run by a team of four runners. The offset runner carries a baton. After running a specified distance, called a "leg" the runner hands the baton to the next team member. The exchange must occur within a zone a few meters long. Timing is crucial. If the runners do not commutation the baton within this zone, the team is disqualified. The length of the race varies from 4 hundred to 6 thousand meters. In some relays each squad member runs an equal altitude, only in others run dissimilar distances.
The relay race is not necessarily won by the team that runs the fastest, but by successfully passing the billy in the substitution zone. That's right; races are won or lost in the passing of the baton. Teams can be disqualified past a bad pass. Passing the baton is essential to win the race.
Tony Wang in an article entitled "Passing the Baton" states the following is needed to qualify for a good pass:
- Both runners must be running then that they do not lose time.
- In that location must be trust and confidence that the squad member will manus it over properly.
- A runner receiving the baton cannot expect back or swerve out of his lane.
- It requires cognition of each other'due south ability.
- The runner passing the baton has to tell the other runner when to go. If he says, "Get!" too early, he won't have time to take hold of him and give him the baton.
- It besides requires strict obedience to the rules.
A lesson to be learned throughout the Bible is the importance of passing the billy from one generation to some other. This is clearly seen (to give a few examples) in Moses passing the baton to Joshua, David to Solomon, Elijah to Elisha, Jesus to His disciples, and Paul to Timothy.
It is not plenty to run the race. We also laissez passer our mission to the side by side generation. We must hand off the baton, at the right fourth dimension, and must do it well.
Jesus handed the baton to His disciples. They ran a adept race and passed the billy to the side by side generation. Timothy received the billy from Paul, and was instructed to pass it on to others (ii Timothy 2:2).
George Bernard Shaw said, "Life is no brief candle to me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I've got ahold of for the moment, and I desire to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to futurity generations."
Dale Burke in Less is More Leadership said, "Cipher feels meliorate than seeing a vision that y'all helped nativity exist passed on into the capable hands of others." Every bit a leader you must exist willing to permit go.
As leaders we should e'er be on the sentinel for the next prospective relay runner. We need three men in our lives:
- Paul—someone to whom we can be accountable. Anybody needs a pastor.
- Barnabas—someone to encourage us.
- Timothy—someone that we tin can mentor; to whom we tin can pass the baton.
The challenge for every Christian father is to successfully pass on His religion to their children.
Rowland Forman, Jeff Jones, and Bruce Miller in the Leadership Billy wrote, "Christianity is always simply one generation abroad from extinction…Jesus' mission has always depended on one generation of leaders handing the mission to the next. Where they have done so finer, their churches and ministries take continued to thrive. At present the mission is in your grasp."
Let united states of america look closely at a man that successfully passed a billy to the next generation. This is the Quondam Testament story of King David and Solomon.
Dream:
David had a dream to build a business firm for the Lord. Despite his practiced intentions, aplenty preparations, it remained an unfulfilled dream.
"King David rose to his feet and said: "Heed to me, my brothers and my people. I had it in my center to build a house every bit a place of rest for the ark of the covenant of the Lord, for the footstool of our God, and I made plans to build it" (ane Chronicles 28:2, NIV).
Destiny:
David passed the billy to Solomon. David's dream became Solomon's destiny.
"And y'all, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts. If yous seek him, he will be institute by y'all; but if you forsake him, he volition reject you lot forever. Consider now, for the Lord has called you to build a temple as a sanctuary. Be strong and practice the piece of work" (1 Chronicles 28:9-10, NIV).
All that David had without Solomon was a dream.
Pattern:
God provides the pattern for our vision. David without Solomon was a dream. Solomon without David was a destiny unfulfilled.
"Then David gave his son Solomon the plans for the portico of the temple, its buildings, its storerooms, its upper parts, its inner rooms and the place of atonement. He gave him the plans of all that the Spirit had put in his heed for the courts of the temple of the LORD and all the surrounding rooms, for the treasuries of the temple of God and for the treasuries for the dedicated things. "All this," David said, "I have in writing from the hand of the LORD upon me, and he gave me understanding in all the details of the plan" (ane Chronicles 28:eleven-12, NIV).
David had the dream. Solomon had the destiny. Both were committed to God's design.
Daniel Deck provided the seed thoughts for this lesson. In his sermon "Generation to Generation" he said, "When the younger full of strength and energy joins forces with the elder full of feel and wisdom the results tin exist powerful and long-term."
No generation stands contained of its predecessors or those that follow. Generations overlap. Each generation is equipped with men and women created for that generation.
Every generation stands on the shoulders of those that went on before. We build, not destroy, the foundation that is laid for united states. The church's success is determined by its power to survive and excel from generation to generation.
This takes us abroad from our relay race comparing only take yous ever noticed farmers in the field? Daniel Deck explains that the success of their harvest is vital to survival. When it is time to plant or harvest everyone is involved. Sometimes school is even dismissed and the field becomes the focus of everyone. It is not uncommon to run across 3 generations working in the field together, side-past-side, because success, survival, and the flavour demands it. Generations should learn how to run together; work together; know when to receive the baton, and how to continue the race.
Many times the mission, vision, purpose, or plan of God outlives a person. To encounter information technology fulfilled it must exist successfully passed to the next generation. Nosotros often think of generations in terms of age but it could mean much more than than this. Instead of experiencing generational friction and misunderstanding we demand to strive for unity and continuity.
Generations could also include, and still not be limited to: differences in culture (the way nosotros do things around here); differences in languages; relationships betwixt missionaries and nationals or pastors and members; methods in accomplishing the task; variation of ministries; tension of which Bible school one attended; differences between males and females; types of thinking; loyalties to certain leaders; educational backgrounds. Frequently tensions develop between these groups or generations. It need non be like that. We accept strength in our diversity. We run the race together, as a team, and pass the baton from one to another.
David's lifelong dream and eye's desire became Solomon's intense passion.
"My begetter David had it in his heart to build a temple for the Name of the Lord, the God of Israel" (1 Kings viii:17, NIV).
"I intend, therefore, to build a temple for the Name of the LORD my God, as the Lord told my begetter David, when he said, 'Your son whom I volition put on the throne in your place will build the temple for my Proper name'" (1 Kings 5:5, NIV).
The temple took 7 years to build, was a wonder of the world, and was congenital co-ordinate to David's dream and God's design. God has planted a piece of eternity in the hearts of men. Nosotros practise our office and then successfully pass the billy to the next generation. Thus, we keep the mission live, and the church marches on!
Past James G. Poitras
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Source: https://developandlead.com/2012/08/05/passing-the-baton-from-generation-to-generation/
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