June 1, 2025 Faith Begins at Home: The Church Makeover | Psalm 78

Today we will reflect on Psalm 78, The Church Makeover. Psalm 78 is written by a teacher or leader in Israel. The teacher calls the people to listen to the things of old, things our ancestors have told us. One of the important roles of the church is to keep retelling the story of God’s relationship with his people. We retell the family story, reminding ourselves of God’s covenantal faithfulness and our unfaithfulness, calling ourselves back to serving God, following his laws and decrees, and coming alongside our families as a church family to retell the family story in our homes by telling how God is the foundation of our own personal and family stories .

Transcript

Psalm 78:1-7                                       The Church Makeover

Psalm 78 is written by a worship leader and teacher in Israel, Asaph. Psalm 78 is one in a series of psalms by Asaph which focus heavily on God’s rule over his people and the nations. Psalms 77 and 78 both focus on remembering how God has saved his people time after time after his people rebel against him time and again! These are not just stories, they’re our family stories too. Asaph tells the history of Israel, and the “praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, his power, and the wonders he has done.” They’re reminded of the statutes and decrees God has given them to shape them into a people who reflect God to the nations and bless them. Over and over again, God commands the people to tech them to the next generation so they don’t forget God and who they are as God’s people.

Asaph is concerned about the kind of legacy that Israel is passing on to the next generations, and that the most important legacy is our spiritual legacy; for our generations that’s the way we relate to, respond to, and represent Jesus in our world. Each of us receives a spiritual legacy from the generation before us, and we will all pass down a spiritual legacy to our children and grandchildren. It’s up to us as families and as a church family, as to what that legacy will be. Over the past few weeks, we have focused heavily on making a deliberate decision to serve the Lord, to follow God’s laws and Jesus’ commands, focusing on building a strong foundation on Jesus for our children, and the importance of the extended family begin part of shaping our children’s faith on God and Jesus through the Holy Spirit. Throughout Scripture, one of the principles we learn is that the way we live, your behaviour and beliefs, will be passed on to the next generation. 

We saw this principle referenced in the 10 Commandments in Deuteronomy 5:9–10, “You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.” God through Moses, is spelling out the reality that how you live, the things you do, the faith and trust you place in Jesus, or lack of faith, doesn’t just impact you, its impact is felt generations down in the lives of your loved ins. As parents and grandparents and extended family, we pass things down to the children and youth in our families every day. They’re watching us, listening to the things we say and how we say them, they’re learning from us and imitating us. the question isn’t whether or not we’re passing anything down to our children, but what are we passing down to them. When our words and actions don’t match, it’s our actions that will leave the stronger impression.  

The church’s role is to provide healthy family support. How can we empower families to pass on a life-changing transformational faith in Jesus to our children? Asaph encourages the people in verses 2-4, “I will utter hidden things, things from of old, things we have heard and known, things our ancestors have told us. We will not hide them from their descendants; we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, his power, and the wonders he has done.” We’re called to help families to talk about God in all places and at all times. John Piper writes, “If there is one memory that our children should have of our families and of our church it is this; they should remember God. God was first. God was central. There was a passion for the supremacy of God in all things.” When we talk about God and Jesus as families, share what you’ve learned about Jesus at church, in our Bible studies, from podcasts, videos and how we see God at work in our own lives and families. 

In Bethel, we’ve made it a priority to teach the children what we’ve learned in the Bile, telling the stories of God and his relationship with his people. Psalm 78 is a retelling of God and how he saves his people. Asaph reminds us of how often and quickly we turn away from God, of how rebellious and ungrateful we easily become, it’s part of our sinful nature. Scripture reminds us of God’s continual covenantal relationship with us. He’ll punish, but never abandons us. He saves us again and again. We hear the stories of Noah, Jonah, David, Daniel, Peter, and others. We learn of Jesus and how his disciples experienced getting to know him and finally understanding who Jesus is as the Messiah; the very Son of God who took our sins to the cross and washed them away through his sacrifice, and who has ascended to heaven and is preparing to return and reunite heaven and earth. 

But our children need to hear our testimonies and how we see God working around us and in our lives. Sharing how you saw God at work today, sharing stories like, “When I was younger, Jesus helped me through this time,” or “I experienced God’s comfort, or hope, or challenge, when ….” A spiritual legacy begins with them knowing that they belong to a family and church where we still today experience the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, his power, and the wonders he has done. In Bethel, Tammy is our Faith Formation Coordinator who finds and develops materials for us to take home: devotions like the Ascension Day to Pentecost devotion emailed to you, the Faith Formation board of resources found in the Sunday School/nursery hall, and calls us to prayer and regular Scripture reading. If we want our children to have a faith that shapes their lives, what they believe, and their character, we need to model it through a personal relationship with Jesus.

Verse 5, “He decreed statutes for Jacob and established the law in Israel, which he commanded our ancestors to teach their children.” It’s important to invest in our families to help them teach our children by God’s Word. In the Bible God reveals himself to us and guide and shape us in how to flourish as his children whom he’s created and called us to be. Satan’s actively trying to shape our children in his image. He uses everyday things like the internet, music, tv, or video games to fill their minds with his lies, telling them through our culture that they deserve more, they can be anything they want, and the world owes them. When you bring Jesus into the center of your home, he gives us wisdom and paths forward to live Jesus’ way of community, sacrifice, grace, and forgiveness. 

It begins with God’s statutes and decrees and teaching them our children with the commands Jesus gave us. We need must teach and model what following Jesus looks like in our daily lives. Our youth ministry has begun All Aboard evenings where youth, parents, and mentors gather together to learn and talk together about issues that impact our youth so we can learn together how to support each other and grow in our faith. We’re looking forward to how to even more intentionally connect home and church to help our children grow in their faith. God’s given us his Word, it’s crucial that we be intentional in teaching and applying it. 

The goal is “so the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children.” This spring at Tuesday Night Youth, the high school group studied the 10 Commandments, not just the letter of the commands, but going deeper into the commandment’s spirit. As we went deeper, we saw how easily we break them, how something as simple as having lucky socks leads to idolatry. In 1 Peter 3:15-16, Peter reminds us to, “in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.” Grounding our children in Jesus so they make faith in him their own, are able to share it, and live it out is at the heart of our call as families and a church. 

Asaph writes, “Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget his deeds but would keep his commands.” Obedience flows out of faith and trust in God, out of gratitude for how Jesus saved us from our sin and equips us to live so others can see our faith in Jesus. It’s all about trust and obedience and investing in the next generations so that they’ll follow God in their decisions, choices, and behaviour. We’re those future generations Asaph is writing about, and we are looking ahead to even more future generations who will serve the Lord and follow his decrees and commands. It begins with our trusting God. If we don’t really trust Jesus and show it in following his commands, why should our children? We want our children to make choices to honour God, it starts with making sure our choices honour God. 

Our goal as Bethel Church is to provide real support to all our families and households so all our homes are places that shine the light of Jesus into our community. Our desire is to help and equip our families to pass on a transforming, life-changing relationship with Jesus, rooted in the saving work of Jesus. Bethel can’t do it for you, but we can do it with you; we’re committed to walking alongside you in this journey of faith.