Generations Intentionally Together
Pastor Mark continued teaching on what makes a sacred community different from casual church attendance. Sacred community goes deeper and asks more of us. Real relationships don’t magically appear. They take movement, effort, and intentional love. Proverbs 18 explains that if we want friends, we must show ourselves friendly. In other words, we have to participate.
He shared recent Barna research showing that commitment to Jesus has actually been rising for several years. Thirty million more Americans are now committed to Christ, and the younger generations are leading the way. Men are also making personal commitments at faster rates than women. Barna asked people what matters most to them in their faith, and the top answers included prayer, learning to pray, caring for those on the margins, helping others understand God’s ways, and forming healthy relationships.
When people outside the church were asked what they desire spiritually, their answers were things like inner peace, hope, healing, forgiveness, purpose, and truth. People are searching deeply, and they want what God offers.
But Pastor Mark also highlighted three caution signs showing where the church needs to grow.
First, evangelistic passion has gone flat. Christians no longer strongly believe it’s their personal responsibility to share their faith. Meanwhile, the world is hungry for hope, but only about 28 percent of believers are actually sharing the gospel.
Second, young women in Gen Z are disconnecting from faith at high rates. A large portion of 18 to 24 year old females now identify with having no faith at all.
Third, Boomers and Elders are only attending church about thirty percent of the time. This creates a shortage of mentors and spiritual parents for the younger generations who need them.
The challenge was clear: Gen Z and Millennials need the church more often, and the older generations are needed as steady, dependable guides. If we want to be the sacred community God designed, we have to build real, cross generational relationships.
Pastor Mark then invited Elders and Boomers to come forward and take a Gen Z prayer card, choosing one young person to pray for and intercede for regularly. This isn’t a discipling relationship but a commitment to spiritually cover the next generation.
He then walked us through Titus 2, which paints a picture of God’s design for the church family. Titus is told to promote wholesome teaching. Older men are to live wisely, demonstrate self control, be worthy of respect, and model strong faith, love, and patience. Older women are called to honor God by the way they live and to teach what is good. They are to train younger women to love their families, live wisely and purely, and handle their homes with care. Young men are told to pursue wisdom. Titus himself is urged to set an example in everything so that his teaching carries weight and cannot be criticized.
This passage shows a church where everyone is teaching someone, no one is left un discipled, no one drifts away, and no one sits isolated on the sidelines. No one is too old, and no one is too young. The church thrives when every generation is connected and invested in one another.
Pastor Mark reminded us that generational discipleship is built into God’s design for the body of Christ. It’s how we leave a spiritual legacy that lasts. We inspire each other, sharpen each other, and spur one another on. Scripture tells us to outdo one another in showing honor, and honor was a major trait of Jesus himself.
He also pointed out that wisdom often comes with age, but Scripture also tells young believers not to let anyone look down on them. They are called to be examples in speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity. Older generations are not too old to matter, and younger generations are not too young to lead.
Both are called to serve each other with humility. Older believers should resist a judgmental stance, and younger believers should respect those who came before them. Older men should intentionally seek out younger men to train, and older women should intentionally teach younger women.
We closed with this simple truth:
The church becomes a sacred community when every generation shows up, connects, and invests in the others. That's how we grow, and that’s how we build something that lasts.