Are there difficulties in church? Of course there are difficulties, but don't let your children be offended and defiled by difficulties that they're not up to handling. You've got to teach them a great attitude.
Jesus loves His church. Even if it's imperfect, He's committed to make it perfect, and He's going to do it, so we need to just keep great attitudes.
You can intentionally leave a legacy by considering: finances; family experiences; and building a life of faith in the family, and in your own life. Those are some key areas that every one of us could consider.
For those who perhaps say: my family's grown up, and I missed all of that. I should have had this 20, 30 years ago. Nevertheless, here's the great thing about the gospel: we always get a new chance.
Maybe we've lost some old ones, but if we pray, we can put many things right where we failed. Sometimes it's a matter of prayer, and when you get your heart right with God over the areas of failure, and you start to believe God, something happens in the children that turns their heart.
It's never too late. It's never too late to do something - and for all of us, we have people in our community, waiting for us to impart a legacy of our faith into them. It's called discipleship. It's called advancing the kingdom, and every believer is called to build at home, in the local church, and into the community where God has called us to be.
For those of you who've come from a family where actually it was just a total mess, and a disaster, and you've been left with tremendous pain, think about this: that God can restore you and heal you. You can recover from that damage, and there are still people you can leave a great legacy to.
There are people you can choose to invest your life in. We'll get on to that a little bit later – first, I want to talk about what Jesus has given to us; so no matter what was left to us from our family, you and I can rise up, and we can make a difference with our life. Our life can be different. Our life can leave a legacy.
Some of the greatest men of God came from some of the most disastrous situations, but God is great in mercy; and His great love, with which He loved us, can raise us up and give us new chances.
That's the great message of the gospel. Next time I'm going to share about the legacy Jesus left to us. One of the biggest things is: you all get a second chance - and another second chance, and another second chance. Everyone gets a chance to get it go again - and we should take that chance.
Closing PrayerFather, I just thank you for every person here. I pray for those who are parents; I pray Lord, that the impact of what I've shared would touch their heart, and their life; and that they would begin to resolve, and think through, and plan how to grow a great legacy for their family.
Father, I just pray for those who have wrestled with family failure, family damage, family wreckage, the iniquity of previous generations bringing destruction. Father, I pray that peace would come to them, that Lord you give them a new day, a new chance, a new opportunity.
Father, I pray for each of us that we would not live for the moment, and live for this day and live for ourself, our life being just one selfie after another; but rather we would begin to catch a vision of a next generation needing to hear the gospel, people around us in desperate need.
Father, I pray that there'd come a fresh revelation: that we have what we have, because men died and gave their life for it. Help us honour the roots of our faith, and leave a great legacy for the next generation.
Just as we finish tonight, now I just ask you to identify what the Holy Spirit is speaking to you about. What did God challenge you on today? What will you do about it? Is there something to repent of, something to put right? Is there something to decide to do? When will you do it? Make the decision: today is a new day.