Victory Church
The Great Opportunity
Archived – August 11, 2021

The Great Opportunity

August 11, 2021

The Great Opportunity

David Nixon

8.11.2021

We have one of the greatest & biggest mission opportunities the church has ever seen right in front of us.

The Great Opportunity

Current projections are that by 2050 42 mill Gen Z’ers will leave the church.

If we can revert back to Gen X retention rates that number drops to 20 million leaving the church and in essence 22 mill lives saved. (More than every revival in America combined)

Gen Z 1997-2012

  • Most diverse generation ever. 48% of US Gen Z’ers is non-caucasian, compared to 18% of Baby Boomers
  • 27% of US teens say they have had same-sex attraction in the past 3 months
  • 2001 57% of Americans oppose same-sex marriage, 2019 39% oppose same-sex marriage
  • 70% of US teens rarely or never talk about spiritual things with others who do not share their beliefs.
  • 51% of US Gen Z’ers classify as Christian
  • Only 1 in 4 (21%) Christian Gen Z’ers read their Bible weekly
  • 3% read their Bible every day
  • Gen Z says church is not relevant, and they have opted to find God elsewhere
  • Gen Z wants realness, 2 out of 3 rather be real than unique
  • Globally Gen Z teens have an average of 9.4 social media accounts
  • US teens average 7.5 hrs online daily
  • The average attention span of a teen today is 8 sec
  • One study said that Gen Z’ers listed listening and reading 5th & 6th out of 7 options for the way they learn best
  • 3 in 5 US Gen Z’ers say youtube is their number 1 preferred learning method
  • 75% of US Gen Z’ers say they know more than their parents about important issues b/c of social media

The Gen Z prob

Gen Z doesn’t find Jesus & the church attractive.

Conversation over information.

How has this happened?

The enemy intentionally overstimulates our appetites to create an over-saturated environment so we will never be hungry enough to crave Jesus.

We live in such a media-saturated world, constantly surrounded by images, sounds, and sensations designed to capture our attention.

 

So we become so full on all this other stuff we don’t have an appetite for Jesus.

Gen Z looks at us (the church) and says what we have to offer doesn’t look appealing to them.

What are we hungering and thirsting for?

God doesn’t rebuke hungry/thirst he rebukes us for eating spiritual junk

Isaiah 55:1-2 NLT “Is anyone thirsty?

Come and drink—

even if you have no money!

Come, take your choice of wine or milk—

it’s all free!

2 Why spend your money on food that does not give you strength?

Why pay for food that does you no good?

Listen to me, and you will eat what is good.

You will enjoy the finest food.

Matthew 5:6 NKJV God blesses those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled

Hunger isn’t the problem it’s what we are hungering for.

We have to show them (by our actions by our life) that what’s inside of us is the answer, that Jesus is the answer, that Jesus is the living water, the bread of life.

Mark 11:12-13 NLT 12 The next morning as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. 13 He noticed a fig tree in full leaf a little way off, so he went over to see if he could find any figs. But there were only leaves because it was too early in the season for fruit.

The tree was in full leaf (looked like it should have fruit)

It had the appearance of someone that is living a life in a relationship with Jesus

But after closer examination it was fruitless

That fig tree is like me, you, the church.

We give this outward appearance that we are living a life devoted to Jesus but Gen Z is watching and saying “hey we see it looks like a tree in full leaf/ in full bloom but after watching you, that’s not true.”

This is because they are seeing religion and not a relationship

They are seeing sin management instead of someone living the Gospel

We have to point them to the beauty of Jesus but we can’t do that if we aren’t there ourselves.

If someone were to examine your fruit what would they say?

When we discover something attractive, we long to imitate what we see.

They have to see the beauty of the Gospel in our lives.

The Solution

We have to see that we have the greatest mission opportunity in American history.

It starts 1st in the family & then the church.

One of the least impactful factors on their faith is their peers. Adults have the most impact.

What Can You Do?

#1 pray & intercede for them

Ask God to burden your heart for the things the burden Him

Ask Him to give you a heart for this generation

#2 Evaluate yourself

What would people say about you if they took a closer look at you

Are people attracted to you

John 15:8

#3 As a church, we have to model Jesus in our everyday lives.

We are all called to reach this generation.

#4 Do you have a hunger for Jesus?

What we find beautiful and fascinating will ultimately determine what we become.

 

Save PDF Locally

Click to save a copy of the filled-in notes to a PDF file on your device

Save PDF to Google Drive

(Android & PC Only) Click to save a copy of the filled-in notes to a PDF file on your Google Drive account

Send to Email

Enter your email address below to receive a copy of your filled in notes