Josh Howerton - Rescuing a Generation from Critical Theory, Queer Theory and Humanism (01/12/2026)
- Watch
- Donate
- Contact us
Summary:
The preacher’s key message is that the Christian life is a relay race where each generation must faithfully pass the baton of faith to the next, drawing from Hebrews 12:1-2 and the «cloud of witnesses» in Hebrews 11. He warns that failing to do so risks a generation arising that does not know the Lord, as seen in Judges 2:10, and urges believers to invest everything in the next generation. Ultimately, true success for the church and individuals is measured by successful succession—ensuring our children and grandchildren know, love, and follow Jesus.
Opening and Series Conclusion
LakePointe family, can you guys, just one more time, at all of our campuses, tell our high schoolers how proud we are of them for leading our services today? Man, it was awesome! I felt worship well up in my heart seeing that. Well, hey, if you guys have your Bibles, head over to Hebrews chapter 12 and then put your finger in Genesis 25. We are going to take a wild ride today!
This is the last week of our «Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop» series, and here’s where we’re going today: this is why we can’t stop and we won’t stop giving everything we’ve got to the next generation that is coming after us. We’re giving everything we’ve got to lead into this.
The 60th Anniversary Story
I came across this story this week about a husband and a wife who were celebrating their 60th anniversary together. Just so happens, an angel of the Lord appears and tells them that he is going to grant them each a special request on their 60th anniversary. The wife immediately gets these big doughy eyes and says, «My request is that my husband and I will be able to travel the world together in our old age.» Poof! As soon as the smoke cleared, she had tickets in her hand.
The husband hung his head in shame and looked at his wife, then hung his head in shame again and said to the angel, «My special request is that I’d be married to someone 30 years younger than me.» Poof! As soon as the smoke cleared, he was 90 years old. That’s it.
The Sudden Reality of Aging
Now listen, here’s why I say that: hard gear shift. Someday, poof! The smoke is going to clear, and you’re going to be 90 years old, or you’ll be up there. In that moment, if you have a heart for the things of God at all, something in that moment will be crystal clear to you that might not be crystal clear right now. I want to make it crystal clear, so if you’ve got your Bibles, head over with me to Hebrews 12:1 and 2; that’s what I’m going to read.
I am a coffee drinker, so Hebrews is my favorite book of the Bible. Come on, somebody! I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry—that’s my bad.
Scripture Reading: Hebrews 12
Hebrews 12:1 says, «Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross.» Side note: do you know what the joy that was set before him was? It was you!
The Bible says that the saints are the quote «glorious riches of the inheritance of Jesus Christ.» So when he was standing in front of Golgotha, looking at a bloody, horrible death on a cross, part of the answer to «What would make it worth it to endure that pain?» was you—the possibility of redeeming you from the curse of your sin, paying the atoning debt that would free you from the penalty of sin so that he could have eternity with you. You were the joy that was set before him! Despising the shame, he is now seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
The Importance of «Therefore»
Now let me just riff on this for a second. The verse starts with the word «therefore.» If you’ve been around Bible teaching at all for a little while, you know that anytime you see the word «therefore, » you have to go backward to see what the «therefore» was there for. I know this is deep! This is a really deep Bible fact here: Hebrews 11 comes before Hebrews 12.
If you’ve been around the Bible at all, you know that Hebrews 11 is one of the most famous chapters in the Bible; it is what we call «the Hall of Faith.» It consists of 16 successive stories about men and women going all the way back to Genesis, stretching all the way forward to the book of Hebrews, to the church to whom the book of Hebrews was written—16 stories telling the stories of the faith of men and women who had come before the Christians to whom the book of Hebrews was written.
Remembering Generations Past and Future
Now, here’s why this is important: it’s essential for us to know and remember that there were people of faith who came before us. When we forget that there were Christians who came before us, we sometimes stop remembering that there will be people who come after us, and we actually have a responsibility. It is incumbent upon us in this generation, in our moment, with our resources, to pass the baton of faith from one generation to the next. Hebrews points this out.
The Christian Life as a Relay Race
I love this so much because Hebrews actually uses the word «race» as the analogy for the Christian life. When you became a Christian, you may not have thought of it like this, but we tend to think this thing is a race, and we think of it like a sprint—it’s all about energy. «I’ve got to run my race in this moment; at this time, we live in such an individualistic, self-obsessed culture that everything is about ‘I, ’ ‘me, ’ ‘me.’» We take selfies, not «usies, » and so we think it’s all about us running this race. But when you became a Christian, you may have thought, «Okay, it’s all about sprinting, about energy.»
Well, the thing about energy is that it evaporates, and eventually, something more important than energy comes along. Somebody may have said this to you: «Hey, it’s not a sprint; it’s a marathon.» And while a sprint is about energy, a marathon is about rhythms. Can you put one foot in front of the other, mile after mile? Let me say it like this: can you be in the Word day after day, week after week? Can you gather with the people of God on a Sabbath, decade after decade? So a sprint is about energy, while a marathon is about rhythm.
But what Hebrews is telling us is that actually, the Christian faith is not primarily a sprint or a marathon; it’s primarily a relay race. According to the book of Jude, we’ve been handed something—the faith was «once for all delivered to the saints.» There is an unbroken succession from the apostles, to whom the faith was entrusted 2,000 years ago, to you. We have been given this baton of the faith, and it is our responsibility to pass it down.
The Critical Baton Pass
Here’s the thing about a relay race: it’s all about the baton pass! Here’s my analogy: I’m an Olympics guy. Some sports dudes are Olympics dudes, and some are not; I’m an Olympics guy. So when the Olympics are going on, I’m all about Team USA! I wake up every morning Googling; I want to see the Americans at the top of the round. My favorite track event to watch is the men’s 4×100 relay. There are all these mechanics to it, there’s always drama, and people are always getting disqualified. It’s really interesting.
If you watched the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, you know this: the men’s 4×100 relay team was the dream team—a heavy favorite to win. Three of the top 10 fastest people in the world were on one team, and everyone thought these dudes would just hop, skip, and jump to gold. Not only did they not get the gold, they failed to even qualify! Here’s why: a relay race is not about how fast the runners are. A relay race all comes down to what’s called «the exchange zone.» The exchange zone is 20 meters; that is the only place where one runner is allowed to pass the baton to the next runner. The success or failure of the race all comes down to what happens in the exchange zone.
In 2021, during the Olympics in Tokyo, this is what happened: in the second leg of the event, a brother reached back and accidentally chokeslammed his partner. The baton failed to get passed, and even though three of the 10 fastest dudes in the world were on the same team, they lost the race and didn’t even qualify! Take that down.
Our Responsibility Today
Here’s my point: in a relay, it doesn’t matter if you have the fastest runners; what matters is: did you pass the baton? LakePointe Church, what the book of Hebrews is telling us is that their responsibility in that race is our responsibility in this race. Our job is to pass the baton of faith from this generation to the one that comes after us. You need to know this is true for you.
Think about this: God looked at everyone who would ever exist anywhere, plucked you out of eternity, positioned you in time, proportioned your gifts, talents, and resources, and planted you in this house. Now, we’ve been given a baton of faith. God has given us a responsibility in our generation to pass the baton of faith to the next generation. This is bigger than us.
Hey, LakePointe Church, tag, you’re it! For your days, you are holding the baton, and the success or failure of the race depends on what we do in our generation.
The Consequences of Dropping the Baton
Now, have you ever thought about this: why is it so urgent? Well, here’s why. Think about what happens if we don’t. Let me read you one of the saddest verses in the Bible. This is in the book of Judges. I know everybody woke up this morning saying, «I hope he’s in Judges today!» Here it is: Judges 2:7-10. I want to focus on verse 10: «And the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great work that the Lord had done for Israel. And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of 110. They buried him within the boundaries of his inheritance in Timnath-heres, in the hill country of Ephraim, north of the mountain of Gaash. And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers. And there arose a generation after them who did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel.»
Now think about this: why is it important that we can’t get complacent? Why can’t we just settle in and be like, «Oh man, I came here today, and we have the seven campuses, the buildings are nice, the air conditioning—or actually heat—is on, I can get my coffee, the worship is good, and I’ve got my seat; this is good.» Why can’t we get complacent? Because think about what happens if we fail to pass the baton in our generation.
Think about what Joshua saw with his own eyes: Joshua had personally been redeemed from slavery in Egypt. He starts the biblical narrative as a slave in Egypt. Joshua, with his own two eyes, had watched Moses walk up to the Red Sea, hold a stick in the air, and the mighty power of God divide an ocean. It was his feet that sunk into that dry ground and walked through that sea. Joshua had watched Moses ascend Mount Sinai. He saw the fire of God descend on the mountain. He saw the stone tablets on which the finger of God etched the perfect, loving law of God. For 40 years, Joshua woke up, came out of his tent in the wilderness, knelt down, and picked up manna from heaven that God himself had miraculously provided.
When the children of Israel reached the point where they had to enter the Promised Land, do you remember this? It was Joshua, one of the leaders of the people. It was Joshua’s feet that, when they touched the edge of the Jordan River at flood stage, God split the Jordan River, and again, Joshua walked forward on dry ground and led the people through it. Joshua with his own two eyes had lifted his voice and shouted, and he watched the walls of Jericho fall by the mighty outstretched hand of God. In one generation, Joshua went from slavery in the land to possession of the land; he had seen it all!
But it’s not worth applauding because he dropped the baton, and a generation after him arose that knew not the Lord or his mighty works. The book of Judges records the story of the children of Israel sliding into godlessness and eventually judgment. The gospel, listen, the gospel is always one generation away from extinction. You, me, we have been entrusted with these days we have on this Earth to pass the baton of faith to the next generation.
How to Pass the Baton: Genesis 25
Now, here’s the question: how do you do that? Well, I pointed this out; Hebrews 12:1 begins with «therefore.» In Hebrews 11, it tells the story of these 16 baton passes. What’s interesting is that half the chapter is devoted to three men: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—a grandfather, a father, and a son—three successive generations. It tells the story of how this baton gets passed. It points back to Genesis 25.
So here’s your homework, especially for my fellow dads: your homework this week is to go home, pray, and ask God to speak to you. Read Genesis 25 and look for how God uses fathers to pass generations of faith in the scriptures.
Genesis 25 is the baton pass chapter because it records two baton passes between three generations. It includes the baton pass from Abraham to Isaac and then, in the same chapter, the baton pass from Isaac to his son Jacob—three generations! Now, we’re going to do a little theology here, really quick. What a lot of people miss about the book of Genesis is that there’s like a spine to it. There’s one phrase repeated over and over again that forms the spine of Genesis, and it’s the phrase: «These are the generations of…» Genesis 2 begins with «These are the generations of the heavens and the Earth.» And then, that phrase is repeated 10 times: «These are the generations of…» and in Genesis 37, it ends with «These are the generations of Jacob.» What the Bible is showing us is this: watch this—the book of Genesis is a book of generations. When God wants to generate something great, his plan is to do it through generations.
God’s Design for Fathers
Now, what I’m getting ready to say in the next four or five minutes is both a little heady and, as we say a lot at LakePointe, it’s more BC than PC—more biblically correct than politically correct. But we’re going all in! God’s plan, listen, is for fathers to pass wisdom and righteousness to the sons. Now, fathers and mothers, but I’m using the language of the Bible—fathers to pass wisdom and righteousness to sons.
Here’s what’s interesting: God is a holy spirit whose plan is to pass wisdom and righteousness from fathers to sons. But Satan is an unholy spirit, and whatever God creates, Satan counterfeits; whatever God creates, Satan corrupts; whatever God builds, Satan breaks; whatever God inaugurates, Satan comes to oppose.
So where God is a holy spirit that turns the hearts of the children to the fathers, according to the book of Malachi, Satan is an unholy spirit, and his goal is to turn the hearts of the children against the fathers—that’s his goal!
Satan’s Schemes: Technology and Ideology
Now, track with me; let’s go a layer deeper. The Bible says that Satan is «the father of lies, » so his primary weapon is not artillery. The Bible says his primary weapon is ideology, and our goal as the church is to be a pillar and buttress of the truth; that we tear down, that we destroy arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God.
Because Satan—track with me, we’re going a layer deeper—because Satan is the father of lies, his primary weapon is not artillery; it’s ideology. In our generation, there are two things that Satan is using to turn the hearts of the children against the fathers and to cut off the baton pass from one generation to the next in the faith. Here are the two things: he’s using technology and ideology.
Now, if you don’t—let me click on this and go deeper. There has been more technological advancement in the world in the last 120 years than in all of human history before that combined. What does that do for our generation right now? God has plans; Satan has schemes. My job is to expose one of the schemes of the devil so it doesn’t happen to you and your family. More technological advancement in the last 120 years than in all of human history previously combined. What that’s doing is creating an illusion—I highlight the word illusion—that a younger generation is actually smarter and wiser than an older generation.
We are the first generation in human history to have the illusion that a younger generation is smarter, better, and wiser than the previous generation. Oh, by the way, that’s not going well for us! Here’s what that’s doing—check this out!
What’s happening is that a younger generation knows how to take a 0.5 selfie, and they know how to convert a file to a PDF, but how many of us understand that what’s more important than knowing how to take a 0.5 selfie are things like how to love a woman for an entire lifetime, how to build a family, how to build a business, or how to walk through life in pain and suffering and become a person of maturity and joy? Those things are a little more important than knowing how to convert a file to a PDF, and then that creates the illusion that the younger generation is smarter and wiser than the older generation, and Satan starts flipping the flow of the baton pass!
Three Ideologies Turning Hearts
Now let’s layer deeper. It’s not just technology; it’s ideology. Satan, the father of lies, uses ideology, not artillery. I’m going to give you three primary ideologies that in our culture are getting stacked on top of one another to turn the hearts of children against their fathers. Listen, I’m an old millennial—I’m 40—right in the middle. Can I just say something to you right now? If you’re like my generation and down, you will be so much smarter, wiser, and happier if you go against what the brain of our generation says and have the humility and wisdom to look at godly people older than you and say, «Please teach me. Can I inherit what you’ve earned?» Your life will be totally different!
Now, let me explain the three ideologies that Satan is using to turn the hearts of the children against the fathers: number one, critical theory. Now, let me give a quick caveat: I am not saying that all accusations of racism are wrong or silly. I have children of color myself! This stuff matters. But listen to me: critical theory is an ideology that postulates that all institutions are inherently racist because racism is embedded in the institutions, and everyone who either built or participated in those institutions is by default guilty or complicit in that racism. What that inherently means is that, oh, by the way, all of your parents and all of your grandparents were all racists too.
So what this does is, when there’s a generation that’s steeped in that ideology, it starts to instill the belief: «My parents are racists, and I have to oppose them for justice.» That’s number one.
Now, let’s go to ideology number two: queer theory. I know all of you were hoping to hear about queer theory today! Church, queer theory is the belief—again, I don’t have time to go into this—that instills the belief that all of your parents’ and grandparents’ ideas about gender, marriage, and sexuality are outdated, primitive, oppressive, and repressive. Thus, it instills the belief that «in order for me to truly be myself, I have to rebel against them.» So critical theory does, «My parents are racists; I must rebel against them for justice.» Queer theory instills the belief: «My parents are bigots; I must rebel against them to truly be myself.»
But watch this! There’s a third ideology that’s really steeping my generation down, and I’m going to call it a humanistic therapeutic worldview. I’m not saying that all therapy is bad; it can be really helpful. But when it becomes a totalizing worldview through which you view every problem in the world, what a therapeutic worldview can instill in you is the belief that «my family of origin was the origin point of all the pain and trauma in my life.» That means my parents were the origin point of all the pain and trauma in my life, and I have to separate myself from them to be happy.
So watch this! Are you seeing what Satan is doing in our generation? He’s stacking these three ideologies on top of one another so that the children start thinking about their fathers: «My parents are racists; I have to oppose them for justice. My parents are bigots; I have to rebel against them to truly be myself. And my parents are the origin point of all the pain in my life; I have to separate myself from them to be happy.»
Do you see what Satan is doing? He’s turning the hearts of the children against the fathers, where God is a good father that loves his kids. He wants fathers to rise up who have a heart to love their children and pass wisdom and righteousness from one generation to the next, and the gospel can get all up in there. The gospel can change all that; it can redeem it; it can save it; it can reconcile! Jesus can do all that!
The Reversal in Our Generation
So, check this out: what we’ve got to understand—let me go one last layer deeper—where God’s design is for fathers and mothers to pass wisdom and righteousness to the children, here’s what’s happening: in our generation, parents out of fear of being labeled toxic and cut off by their children, instead of passing wisdom and righteousness down to the children, are agreeing with them. So instead of wisdom and righteousness getting passed down, foolishness and wickedness is getting passed up! This is the scheme of Satan in our generation.
But how many of us know Jesus can change all that? He can redeem it; He can reconcile people; He can heal! He can do all that!
The Positive Example: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob
You’ve got to understand this is what God’s doing. Now, this is what Satan’s doing. I want you to see what God wants to do.
So, Genesis 25, you have these three—so that’s the bad, that’s the bad example of how Satan flips it. But watch what happens and can happen in your life, in your family’s life, and in our church’s life when generations come and wisdom and righteousness get passed down. Genesis 25 is your homework. I’m not going to read any of it; I’m just going to give you examples. It’s the baton pass—Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Now think about this: three generations—grandfather, father, son. Abraham was the first believer in his family. The book of Joshua tells us Abraham’s father was a pagan who worshiped demonic false gods. So that was the negative baton that passed from Abraham’s father to himself. Because of that, Abraham—he’s kind of like a blessed mess; his life was really blessed, but it was a huge mess. Abraham had three wives; he was a total liar. He lied about his wife Sarah being his sister because she was attractive, and he was afraid dudes would kill him to try to sleep with her. So he’s like, «Oh, she’s my sister.» He was just a messed-up guy.
And when Sarah couldn’t get pregnant, and God had promised Abraham a son, Abraham sleeps with somebody else to try to accomplish the promises of God. Just a blessed mess! But the positive is that Abraham was the first believer in his family tree, and he changed his family tree.
Can I say something to some of you? Some of you right now are the first believer in your family, and you’re like, «My life is a mess.» Yep, but it’s going to be a blessed mess, and you’re going to change a family tree. Your grandchildren are going to be different because you bent your knee to the lordship of Jesus! That’s right, man! You’ve got to commit, because you bent your knee to the lordship of Jesus, and generations are getting changed by what you’re doing.
So Abraham handed faith to his son Isaac.
Now, here’s the pattern you’re going to see. When the baton gets passed, one generation’s ceiling becomes the next generation’s floor. Isaac is a little better than Abraham. Isaac had the exact same situation as Abraham, where he was waiting for a promised son, and it wasn’t happening. But where Abraham slept with someone else to try to accomplish the promise, watch what Isaac does—Genesis 25:21: «Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife because she was childless. The Lord answered his prayer, and his wife Rebecca became pregnant.»
So where Abraham failed because he passed a baton of faith, his son Isaac succeeded. Isaac, his whole life, had one wife; he was faithful to his wife; he was a believer, and he was a man of prayer because he received the baton from his father.
Now, then Isaac passes the baton to Jacob. I’m going to read you the description of Jacob’s birth: this is Genesis 25:24. «When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb. The first to come out was red, and his whole body was like a hairy garment; so they named him Esau.»
Now, real quick pause here: I love showing you when archaeology and sociology affirm theology. You see this all throughout Genesis, where archaeology is constantly confirming what the Bible tells us. My favorite of this is the Encyclopedia of Biblical Archaeology—they’re always digging up stuff and going, «Oh, that did happen; we can confirm that in the archaeological record.» They found something to confirm that the hairy ginger Esau actually existed. This is what they dug up: they found this, and it confirms—there you go, that’s Esau! Take that down; I’ve got to preach.
Alright, verse 26: «After this, his brother came out with his hand grasping Esau’s heel, so he was named Jacob.»
Now check this out: Jacob is a little better than Isaac. Jacob wrestles with God; he experiences intimacy with God; Jacob births the 12 tribes of Israel and becomes the nation that fulfills the promise. Did you see this? When the baton gets passed, the father’s ceiling becomes the son’s floor.
And here’s my point: because the baton was passed and not dropped, each generation’s ceiling became the next generation’s floor. That’s what happens when fathers pass it to their sons.
The Need for Fathers
Now, can I just say this? I will not stop beating this drum. In our culture, we’re doing the opposite. What we’re doing is breaking down men and then trying to get the government to do what the dads are supposed to do. We’re looking at the government and saying, «Oh, they’ll provide for you; they’ll protect you; they’ll educate you; they’ll indoctrinate you.» And people say, «Oh, more government!» Listen, we don’t need more government; we need less government and more fathers!
That’s what we need: less government and more fathers. God’s design is for the fathers to pass it to the sons!
A Personal Testimony
Now, this message is a little more emotional for me than usual because that’s the story of my life. Every time I stand up here, I’m a little surprised this stage doesn’t cave in because every time I’m up here, three men are preaching to you: Jerry Howton, Rick Howton, and Josh Howton.
Let me show you this: this is my papa, Jerry Howton. He’s given like Vince Gill vibes, and I look like a squishmallow. That’s my papa, Jerry. He’s now with the Lord. Jerry Howton was a good man. He grew up in abject poverty in the Ozark Mountains. He was the son of an egg farmer, came from absolutely nothing. But somewhere along the way, Jerry Howton bent his knee to the lordship of Jesus. He was faithful to one woman for his entire life. He loved his kids, worked 50, 60, 70 hours a week, and poured himself out to provide for his children and to love his wife and pass a baton of faith to the next generation.
I’m so proud of this man! He was the first man in our entire family to graduate from college. Show this! That’s my papa. He graduated with his undergraduate degree when he was 50 years old. He was so proud—first in our family to graduate from college! And then eventually, he became a preacher. He got a Bible degree and became a preacher, never pastoring a church of more than 150 people. Just traveled around preaching in old country churches his whole life.
But watch this! Because he faithfully passed the baton from one generation to the next, Jerry Howton’s ceiling became my dad, Rick Howton’s floor. This is my dad, Rick Howton. So this is my dad, Rick; that’s my mom, Julie, and that’s me doing my thing. So this is Rick Howton. My dad is probably the best man I’ve ever met—best man I’ve ever met! And because Jerry Howton passed the legacy of faith, my dad got to grow up around the things of God and in the Church of God, and he married a good, godly Christian woman—my mom!
And listen, y’all: my mom got Jesus into me. From the time I was born, she was reading a children’s Bible to us every night, and we were in church every time the doors were open—Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night. I got to elementary school, and I was doing teen Bible quiz—those little nerdy Bible competitions. I got into middle school and did teen Bible quiz. All the things! Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night. She wanted me so full of scripture that if a mosquito bit me, I’d fly away singing, «There’s power in the blood!»
So my dad married a godly woman and stayed faithful to her his entire life. He loved his kids and eventually became a pastor too. In fact, this picture is of me and my dad standing outside the church my dad started in Nashville. My dad literally passed the baton from the church my dad started to me, and I pastored that church for 10 years.
Watch this! Jerry Howton’s ceiling became Rick Howton’s floor. Rick Howton’s ceiling became Josh Howton’s floor. Let me show you this picture—this is a picture of Pastor Steve Stroud and me on this stage in December of 2018. This is the moment that Steve passed the baton of LakePointe Church to me. And when that happened, here’s what a lot of people said: «Josh, why’d you pick Josh Howton? He’s only 35 years old! How’s a 35-year-old with only 10 years of experience going to pastor a church like LakePointe?»
Here’s my response: because when I got to LakePointe, I was 35 years old, but I had 80 years of ministry experience! I had 80 years because my father and my father’s father passed a baton to me. So that their ceiling could be my floor.
The Call to Invest in the Next Generation
Man, can I just say something to you, fathers and mothers, spiritual fathers and spiritual mothers? Our job is to invest everything we’ve been given into the next generation of faith so that our ceiling becomes their floor and they inherit something better than we’ve been given, and they go farther than we went. That’s our job! That’s literally why God put us on this planet.
So, LakePointe Church, let me just land it right here: here’s my big point—success for this church, success for LakePointe Church, success is succession! Success is succession!
So listen, the win for us as a church is not, «Oh, we’ve got seven campuses!» The win for us is not, «Oh, the rooms are full!» The win is not, «Oh, the worship was really good!» That stuff matters! But what really matters is when every person within the hearing of my voice goes the way of all the Earth and we’re in our graves: did we pass a baton of living faith, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, so that our children and our children’s children know him, love him, and will be with him in eternity, advancing his cause in their time on Earth?
And then they go to be with us: will we have done that? That’s the only thing that matters! Because the gospel is only one generation away from extinction, and LakePointe Church, that’s why we are all in on our next generation ministries and reaching the next, next generation for Christ! Ninety-four percent of people who become Christians do so before the age of 18. Our highest energy, our highest resources, our highest focus—that’s our highest ROI mission field!
So listen, we are all in, and I need you to understand how small things that you do now pass a baton of faith that changes generations after generations.