Hope - Next Generation Ministry

We are less than thirty days away from the start of this year’s World Cup! The opening game features Russia, the host country, versus Saudia Arabia. The next generation has taken up with the sport of soccer and I believe that in time, soccer could become our country’s favorite sport (Sorry USA, you didn’t make it this year). Soccer truly is the world’s game.

I have always enjoyed the sport myself, having played in countless recreation, challenge, and college games. Now, I referee the sport and enjoy that aspect as well. Like the Olympics, the World Cup always reminds me of the gospel and God’s love for the nations! I have a shirt with a soccer ball on it that is made up of the flags of many nations. The shirt reads John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.” It is always a good thing to use flag ceremonies, international games, or international news as prayer prompts to remind you to pray for the nations.

But the World Cup also reminds me of heaven. In my last post, I subtly stated that hell has become a forgotten subject. Well, heaven has too. We don’t talk as much about heaven as we should. Heaven is going to be a wonderful place! As a child, I would sing, “Heaven is a wonderful place, full of glory and grace, I want to see my Savior’s face because heaven is a wonderful place.” Jesus is heaven! Heaven will ultimately be about God, not us. His glory will shine through us, but note, the glory will be his. It has to be this way because He is God and we are not. He is the Creator. We are the created. He sent his Son to die for us. We just received the gift. Events like the World Cup are a great time to share God’s love with those who are different than you. When you’re talking soccer with someone, why not sneak in some talk on heaven and how one can go there.

Revelation 7:9–10: ⁹After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, ¹⁰and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”

Edward Donnely says, “Throughout eternity, we will have the joy of meeting millions of brothers and sisters of whose existence we had previous been unaware. The multitude is ‘of all nations, tribes, peoples and tougues’ . . . We will encounter Christians from every century, nationality, and culture. All types of personality will be present. Every kind of experience will be represented. Every believer will tell his or her own story of God’s mercy – each one unique. There will be no monotony . . . There will be no quarrels or squabbles. Theological disputes will have been resolved and personal disagreements will be impossible. There will be no denominations, misunderstandings, ignorance, or pride . . . there will be no cantankerous family members in heaven, for all believers will be holy and admirable. Their personalities will be radiant with Christ-like beauty. To love such beings will be a joy, not a duty.”

Don’t you want to go there? Where the lion lies down with the lamb? Where heaven becomes earth and where even our natural bodies are raised into a better body? I do!

I don’t think we will play soccer 24/7 in heaven. We will need time to come before the Lamb and praise Him too. But, I do think some of us will play soccer!

When I played college soccer, my team played against the NAIA national champions. We only lost 13-1. But what I remember even more was how everyone on the opposite team was speaking a different language, literally. They were from different countries, but they played as one. In Heaven, we will all speak the same language! We will all play for the same team!

Talk to the next generation about hell, but tell them about the glories of heaven too!

I live in and am from the southern US. For the past couple of days and weeks, I have had to sit back and watch the devastation brought upon my heartland from both Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma. My relatives are from Texas, I have many friends that live in Florida, and I once lived the Charleston, SC area. Not to mention that my current home state of Georgia is still feeling the pain. It hurts. It hurts to see the people and places you love ravaged by the storms of this life. It hurts to see and hear about those who have lost everything.

Is there any good that can come out of natural disasters? Sure, there is. On my way to church every Sunday, I read a church sign that says, “turn off the news and love your neighbor.” It took two hurricanes, but for the first time in a while, the news has actually been worth watching. Why? Because humanity’s love for one another has been accentuated. People are pouring in from all over the country to help out their fellow man and the news is capturing it! I would rather hear about people helping each other out than Antifa or Trump or whatever is happening out at the University of Cal Berkeley.

Is it fair that some people have lost everything and others have not? No, but life is not always fair. There are some who question God in times like this. It’s ok to question God. But you will hear some people say they don’t believe in prayer because they don’t believe in a God who would allow suffering to happen. Some of these people get angry at God and allow the root of bitterness to seep in. God has not asked us to be able to understand everything that happens in this life. However, he does ask us to trust him.

I have three major takeaways from the storm that you can share with the next generation:

We all face storms in our life whether they be emotional, relational, financial, spiritual, or physical storms. Jesus too faced a storm one time while out in the middle of the sea (Mark 4:3541). Where was he when all the disciples were worried for their life? He was in the bottom of the boat, asleep. Relax! Jesus has got this. He is in control and you are not.
In Luke 13:1–9, Jesus tells those who are present that yes, there are freaky things that happen to some that do not happen to others, but that neither party is better than the other. Some people’s houses were completely torn apart and their life taken away by the hurricane while all the houses down the street were left completely intact. Jesus’s message to the group left alive is simple: “Unless you repent, you too will likewise perish.” The time to come to Jesus is now.
In a postmodern society where everything seems to be either a joke or inconsequential, a storm such as Hurricane Irma can knock a sense of seriousness into people who have lost a grip on reality. When you lose everything you have, you don’t care if the person helping you to rebuild and restore is a Republican or a Democrat.

Let’s use moments like these to teach the next generation that God is good, even when things in the world are not. “And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings . . . “ (Romans 5:2b–3a).