September 28, 2025 - Sunday PM Sermon Developing Spiritual Resilience (Matt. 13:18-23, 2 Cor. 4:8-9) - David Pahman Spiritual resilience- the continuation of religious beliefs and practices through changing events and circumstances in life. Job 1:21-22 - “The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong. Habakkuk 3:17-18 - “Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation.” According to 21st Century Christian “Churches of Christ in the United States” Number of congregations fell by 1,103 or 8.5% from 2000-2018 - 13,032 to 11,929 Total members of the churches of Christ Declined by 13.12% From 1,645,545 (2000) to 1,429,699 (2018) Congregation Size 65% of the congregations have 99 or fewer members with an average of 47 35% of the congregations have 49 or fewer members with an average of 29 Whose responsibility is it to prepare our young people for life in today’s culture? It is the primary responsibility of parents. The Israelites were to educate their children what God had done for them. Ex. 13:8 - "And you shall tell your son in that day, saying, 'This is done because of what the LORD did for me when I came up from Egypt.'” God’s truths were to be passed down from generation to generation. Ps.78:5-7 - …And appointed a law in Israel, Which He commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children;6 That the generation to come might know them, the children who would be born, That they may arise and declare them to their children,7 That they may set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep His commandments. Fathers, in particular, are to teach their children. Isa 38:19 - …The father shall make known Your truth to the children. Eph 6:4 - And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord. It is a non-stop process that begins at birth and continues through maturity. Deut. 6:5-7 - "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.” Grandparents, schools and other Christians have responsibilities Grandparents have an important role Ex 10:2 - "and that you may tell in the hearing of your son and your son's son the mighty things I have done in Egypt, and My signs which I have done among them, that you may know that I am the LORD." Deut 4:9 - "Only take heed to yourself, and diligently keep yourself, lest you forget the things your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. And teach them to your children and your grandchildren 2 Tim 1:5 - when I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also. Schools have great influence Acts 22:3 - "I am indeed a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, taught according to the strictness of our fathers' law and was zealous toward God as you all are today. The schools of the Chaldeans tried to hinder. Dan. 1:3 - Then the king instructed Ashpenaz, the master of his eunuchs, to bring some of the children of Israel …,4 young men in whom there was no blemish, but good-looking, gifted in all wisdom, possessing knowledge and quick to understand, who had ability to serve in the king's palace, and whom they might teach the language and literature of the Chaldeans. Other church members are to teach as well. Titus 2:2-6 - that the older men be sober, reverent, temperate, sound in faith, in love, in patience; the older women likewise, that they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things-- that they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be blasphemed. Likewise exhort the young men to be sober-minded, Suggestions for Christians in today’s world Help our young people to experience God – text, social media, home Bible studies, host teens and college students, singles and young couples, engage outside of assemblies, sing their songs along with old favorites, engage with them in worship, Help our young people to discern the culture around them to identify what is of Christ and what is not – reflect with others, engage in conversations, ask about their pressures Develop meaningful, intergenerational relationships –Singing nights, meals after services,
