The Now Generation: Anchoring Gen Z in Absolute Truth

[00:00:47] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
What's up Central Campus?
[00:00:52] Come on, it is vertical student takeover today.
[00:00:55] We've got students everywhere.
[00:00:57] They were up here leading worship.
[00:00:59] They're in the back doing production, coffee shop, greeting you as you came in.
[00:01:03] They were even hosting our online campus today because we got people tuning in from all over.
[00:01:08] People in North Carolina, Georgia, South Carolina, New York, Florida, Maryland, Virginia, Washington, D.C., come on, California, and Arkansas.
[00:01:16] Give it up for our online campus.
[00:01:17] We are bringing Sunday night to Sunday morning all across this nation.

[00:01:23] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
That's right.
[00:01:23] Actually, if you are a student in here, 7th to 12th grade, wait, before I talk to y'all, everybody else, can we just give it up one more time for this generation who's passionate about the things of God, doing mighty works?
[00:01:37] Come on.
[00:01:37] So excited.
[00:01:38] If you're a 7th to 12th grader in here, I need you to do something.
[00:01:41] Ooh, it's not going to be embarrassing, I promise, but I want you to stand up because we want to put something in your hands.

[00:01:44] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
7th to 12th grade, stand up.
[00:01:45] We're at 7th to 12th grade.
[00:01:47] Stand up.
[00:01:47] I got people in aisles.
[00:01:48] We got some people over here.
[00:01:49] There we go.
[00:01:49] You're throwing your bracelets.
[00:01:50] There we go.
[00:01:50] Make sure you get your purple.

[00:01:52] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
Got a couple of you.
[00:01:52] yeah so you're getting a purple bracelet it says vertical youth make sure y'all get them make sure they get their purple bracelet yeah okay if you show up to vertical tonight 6 to 7 30 here at central campus with this bracelet you will get free pizza everybody loves pizza and everybody loves free things so i don't know why you wouldn't show up parents if they got a purple bracelet that means you are the uber driver so thank you so much for bringing them tonight to youth where they're going to encounter the presence of god and eat free pizza

[00:02:17] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
That's right.
[00:02:19] Pizza and youth go hand in hand.
[00:02:21] But hey, we kind of jumped into that because we were excited, but we haven't gotten a chance to introduce ourselves.
[00:02:26] If we haven't gotten the chance to meet you, we are Adam and Morgan Mulcahy, and we have the honor and privilege of being the youth and young adult pastors here at Freedom House.
[00:02:33] It's amazing getting to be a part of what God is doing in this now generation.
[00:02:38] And the reason we even get to be up here is because we do something a little bit different here at the church called a teaching team.
[00:02:44] We have a live communicator up at every one of our services every single weekend.
[00:02:48] And that's really because of our senior pastors, Pastor Troy and Penny.
[00:02:51] And it's there, it takes such a strong and humble leader to allow people like us to get up and bring a word on a Sunday morning.
[00:03:00] So can we give it up for our pastors real quick?
[00:03:01] Honor our pastors.
[00:03:02] They've really been spiritual parents to us.
[00:03:05] Pastor Morgan and I, we've been here for 13 years here at Freedom House Church.
[00:03:09] We've really grown up in the church.
[00:03:11] And as we were talking about this, we realized we've been doing youth ministry for 10 years.
[00:03:18] We've been involved in some capacity for 10 years, which is crazy to think about.
[00:03:21] We love it.
[00:03:22] It's been awesome to go from volunteers to leaders to getting to be the youth pastors.
[00:03:26] That's right, it's crazy.
[00:03:27] It's wild.

[00:03:28] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
That's crazy.
[00:03:29] Yeah, and honestly, I wanna add to what you said about our pastors because they actually were youth pastors in Richmond, Virginia.
[00:03:34] and so they've just been champions of this generation champions of us they're always like go bigger do more and we're thankful for that and so I just once again want to honor them because without them we wouldn't be able to be up here doing what we do and see these students lead the charge so can we give it one more time up for Pastor Troy and Penny we love them they're so great spiritual mom and dad and hey
[00:03:56] I'm going into it.

[00:03:57] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
Yeah, go for it.
[00:03:57] Go for it.
[00:03:58] Did you have something to say?
[00:03:59] I was gonna say something else.
[00:04:00] Go for it.
[00:04:00] Yeah, you're good.

[00:04:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
Okay, let me start.
[00:04:01] All right, we have been in this series called Hot Seat Summer.
[00:04:05] Ooh, hot seat.
[00:04:07] We've been asking the tough questions.
[00:04:09] And to meld Hot Seat Summer with...
[00:04:13] Vertical Student Takeover.
[00:04:14] We thought we would bring to you a topic that we're really passionate about obviously because we're youth pastors, but we really believe that this topic has to do and impacts and influences every single one of us in this room and joining us online.
[00:04:30] And so before we say our hot season number question, we just want to introduce the topic as this.
[00:04:34] Today we're going to be talking about Gen Z.
[00:04:36] Somebody say Gen Z.

[00:04:37] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
Gen Z, Gen Z, who are we even talking about?
[00:04:40] So Gen Z is actually one of, it is the largest generation to date in US history.
[00:04:46] So anybody born between 1997 and 2012, so if you're ages 13 all the way up to 28, you are part of Gen Z.
[00:04:54] odds are you have a student who's Gen Z, you know somebody who's Gen Z, you are Gen Z, maybe you work with somebody in that generation because there are 70 million people that are part of this generation.
[00:05:07] Again, the largest generation today.

[00:05:09] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
Yeah, that's crazy.
[00:05:11] And I feel like every generation just loves their generation, you know?
[00:05:14] They're like, ooh, we're the best.
[00:05:16] I was joking, first service, but I really feel like people born in the 80s are like, the 80s.
[00:05:20] Like, that was the generation to be alive.
[00:05:23] And it's like, but let me tell you, we're 90s babies.

[00:05:26] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
Come on.

[00:05:26] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
And I don't think you can beat.

[00:05:27] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
All right.

[00:05:28] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
Yeah.

[00:05:28] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
Some 90s babies representing in house tonight.

[00:05:31] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
Yeah, I don't think you can beat 90s R&B in 90s country.
[00:05:34] And like, I don't know, Polly Pockets, that's what I played with growing up.
[00:05:36] Anyway, and we could just have a conversation, couldn't we, about all the things that are nostalgic to our generation.
[00:05:42] We thought we would bring a few of those things to you about Gen Z just to kind of kick it off a little icebreaker.

[00:05:46] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
Yeah, a little get to know Gen Z.

[00:05:48] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
Yeah, so first and foremost, this is a generation of thrifters.
[00:05:52] They love a good thrift.
[00:05:53] Where did you get that?
[00:05:54] I thrifted it.
[00:05:55] I went to the Goodwill, which I'm like, wow, power to you, because I just get real overwhelmed in that store.
[00:06:01] I'm like, oh, Lord.
[00:06:02] So I'm like, I'm a size medium large.
[00:06:03] Please pick me up something the next time you find it.
[00:06:06] because you can go thrifting without me.
[00:06:08] Anyway, Gen Z, a generation of thrifters.
[00:06:11] What else?
[00:06:12] They are a generation that loves short form media.
[00:06:15] So we got TikTok, we got YouTube Shorts, we got memes.
[00:06:19] My dad used to call them Mimis when they first came out.
[00:06:21] Mimis.
[00:06:22] What was life before memes?
[00:06:24] We don't know.
[00:06:24] We don't wanna remember it.
[00:06:26] What else?
[00:06:27] This is a generation that loves specialty drinks.
[00:06:31] They love a little Sipco.
[00:06:32] My young adults, shameless plug, Wednesday night, seven o'clock here at Central, we meet.
[00:06:37] Always rolling up with Sipco or boba tea.
[00:06:40] You wanna go on your little boba tea rant?

[00:06:41] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
I don't want to go on boba tea rant because I'll be up here for too long.
[00:06:44] But I was talking to a couple of gentlemen, self-proclaimed boomers between services, and they were like, what is boba tea?
[00:06:53] Explain it to the people.
[00:06:54] It's hard for me to describe, but it's basically tea that's trying to choke you at the same time.

[00:06:59] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
It has like pearls in it.

[00:07:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
Because it has these little things, they're like syrup.
[00:07:04] I don't even know how to explain it.
[00:07:05] Find somebody that is younger than me and they'll explain it to you, all right?
[00:07:10] Because I can't do a great job of it.

[00:07:11] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
Sip, go, boba tea, we love a little specialty drink.
[00:07:14] And finally, just brace yourself, people.
[00:07:16] This one's really gonna mess you up.
[00:07:18] If you own something from the 90s or the 2000s, Gen Z would consider that vintage.
[00:07:25] And so we were at our like Norman campus which is a predominantly older campus and we were like one of them was like well what's after vintage and we were like antique we were like you might fall in the antique category I don't know I think we're in the vintage realm yeah maybe a little 90s jacket I don't know there we go all to say we all know that our generation loves we think we're the best they think they're the best too but how many of you know that in addition all those fun things
[00:07:53] This generation is facing very unique challenges, very unique opposition, very challenging and unparalleled circumstances that they find themselves in today.
[00:08:05] And actually a lot of people really doubt Gen Z's potential.
[00:08:09] So we were reading an article from 2024 as a Fox News article, and it labeled Gen Z as the wasted generation.
[00:08:17] A generation that, quote, is charting a future of mediocrity.
[00:08:22] Okay, well, we're just going to go ahead and start out by saying we reject that.
[00:08:25] Thank you.
[00:08:26] This is not the wasted generation.
[00:08:28] This is the now generation.
[00:08:30] God's not in heaven like, oh crap.
[00:08:31] He's like, oh yeah, get ready because I predestined this generation to be here for such a time as this to do mighty works that he's prepared in advance for them to do.
[00:08:39] Can somebody make a little noise for that?
[00:08:41] Thank God for his purpose and his plan.
[00:08:45] So this is not the wasted generation.
[00:08:47] However, we do understand that they're facing very unique challenges, and we wanted to present some of those to you today as we get started in this conversation.

[00:08:55] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
Yeah, so kind of we paint the picture because we realize that there is very real opposition that's coming against this generation.
[00:09:01] We probably recognize it, but we have some stats that are really showing the reality of what is coming against these young people.
[00:09:09] Again, this is the largest generation.
[00:09:11] They're also the most technologically connected generation of all time.
[00:09:15] They've all grown up with technology.
[00:09:17] 95% of Gen Z have a cell phone, which makes sense.
[00:09:20] When they're 13 to 28, most of them would, but when it comes to being so globally connected, that means that the world is also connected to Gen Z.
[00:09:30] So the influence of the world is also able to get at them in a way that is unprecedented.
[00:09:36] And they recognize that online is kind of a large part of their life.
[00:09:43] 85% of them would say that their generation spends too much time online.
[00:09:47] and then 68% of them would say that they wish they themselves spent less time online.
[00:09:53] So they recognize the implications of being online, being virtual and then most of them would say that they wanna do something about that.
[00:10:01] Something else that I think is very crucial to understand when we're talking about this generation is to recognize what they grew up in.
[00:10:08] We all remember five years ago, four or five years ago, the COVID lockdowns that wrecked the world and kind of everything turned upside down, right?
[00:10:15] We all remember that.
[00:10:16] We remember the impact it had on us and how crazy everything was.
[00:10:20] But you gotta think, four or five years ago, Gen Z was eight to 23 years old.
[00:10:25] like that is those are very pivotal years in a person's life and if you take a couple of years you say hey you can't be around people you can't go to church you got to be afraid of everybody you might die because of this unseen virus that's going around also go be in your home by yourself isolated from everybody right that's what they grew up in for a couple of years and we see the outworking of that so covid lockdowns was a huge thing and that plays out when it comes to mental health
[00:10:51] Gen Z is very aware of mental health, and when they were polled, this stat is crazy.
[00:10:57] 47% report feeling anxious either often or always.

[00:11:05] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
Almost one in two.

[00:11:06] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
Half of Gen Z is either always or often anxious.
[00:11:11] And then 22%, one in five, report feeling depressed.
[00:11:15] There's a mental health crisis that is coming against our young people.
[00:11:19] They recognize it because they're very attuned to what's happening, and they recognize it in their group, but it's something that we need to recognize when we're talking about this generation and what's coming against them.
[00:11:29] We also see that there's been a rise in subjective morality.
[00:11:32] Maybe it's due to their being so connected, but they realize, or they're seeing that your truth is your truth, my truth is my truth.
[00:11:42] That's what their belief is.
[00:11:43] In fact, one of the stats we saw said that 60% that believe moral right and wrong depends on an individual's belief.
[00:11:49] So over half, 60%, believe that you believe what you believe, and I believe what I believe.
[00:11:56] There's no absolute truth.
[00:11:58] And that is a lie.
[00:11:59] So we're here to say that today, that there is an absolute truth, it's found in the Word of God, and that's what we're gonna be pointing them back to, okay?
[00:12:05] That's what we're gonna say every Sunday night, we're gonna go to the Word of God, we're gonna show them the truth about what God says.
[00:12:10] The morality is not subjective, we have to rely on what God says.
[00:12:16] When it comes to identity and sexuality, we see this subjective morality playing out.
[00:12:20] Again, one in five, almost a quarter, 22 to 23% identify as LGBTQ.
[00:12:26] One in four.
[00:12:28] There is a social shift in that direction.
[00:12:32] And again, we wanna tell people that God loves them, but he loves us enough to not just let us stay where we're at, that maybe we're struggling with something, maybe that we have a bend towards something, but God has better for us.

[00:12:43] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
We're here again to share the truth with Gen Z. Yeah, because 64% of Gen Z would say that gender is fluid.

[00:12:50] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
Yeah.

[00:12:51] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
Over half would say, yeah, you know, it can change, your gender can change over time.
[00:12:56] And so here we are.
[00:12:58] With all of that challenge, we see it, it's evident.
[00:13:03] And it's very easy for us to feel like, okay, how is Gen Z gonna make it?
[00:13:09] Like, when we look around, we're like, yikes.
[00:13:12] How is Gen Z gonna make it?
[00:13:13] Well, we have come to present to you the word of God, who actually says something about this.
[00:13:19] God has a truth he wants to reveal to us today about that.
[00:13:23] As we look to answer our hot seat summer question, which is, how do we save Gen Z?
[00:13:28] How do we save Gen Z?
[00:13:29] And we're gonna be starting out and really basing our conversation today out of one specific passage in the Old Testament.

[00:13:35] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
Yes, we're gonna be reading out of 2 Kings chapter six, so if you have a Bible, you can open to that right now.
[00:13:39] If you have your phone, open the Bible app, Google 2 Kings chapter six, it'll pull up.

[00:13:44] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
Chat that thing, chat GPT.

[00:13:45] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
Yeah, chat GPT it up.
[00:13:46] Basically what I'm saying is you all have access to a Bible, which is an amazing thing, so you can read along with that.
[00:13:51] But I wanna give some backstory about what we're about to read, because we kinda jump in the middle of a situation here.
[00:13:57] So what's going on in this particular chapter is there's the Syrian army who is fighting against the Israelites.
[00:14:04] And they've been oppressing them, they've been coming and attacking them, and each time they show up, Elisha, the prophet, the man of God, hears from God and tells the king of Israel what's about to happen to where they avoid the attack.
[00:14:18] And this happens multiple times to where the king of Syria gets so fed up with Elisha that he puts a hit out on one guy.
[00:14:27] And he sends an entire army to go capture Elisha.
[00:14:32] So Elisha and his servant are holed up in this city,
[00:14:35] And then the servant goes out in the morning and we pick up in chapter 6 verse 15 and it says, When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city.
[00:14:50] Oh no, my Lord, what shall we do?
[00:14:51] the servant asked.
[00:14:53] Do not be afraid, the prophet answered.
[00:14:56] Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.
[00:15:01] and Elisha prayed, open his eyes Lord that he may see and the Lord opened the servant's eyes and he looked and he saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

[00:15:11] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
Yeah, so in the natural, Elisha's situation looked bleak.
[00:15:16] Like he wakes up, he has an entire army just against him.
[00:15:21] Very easy to understand why the servant would wake up and be like, oh crap, like what are we gonna do?
[00:15:28] Isn't that the same sentiment that we feel when we see Gen Z?
[00:15:34] We know the army that they're facing.
[00:15:36] We know the army that is surrounding them.
[00:15:39] Technology and global connectedness, mental health crisis, war on right and wrong, sexuality and identity confusion.
[00:15:45] We see it!
[00:15:47] And in the natural, it's looking really bleak, and it's very easy, just like the servant, to be concerned, to say, what are we gonna do?
[00:15:56] But we really believe that we've been positioned in this moment to come to you today, just like Elisha says, and to tell you, do not be afraid.
[00:16:05] That God has his mark on this generation, he has chosen it, and there are more for Gen Z than there are against.
[00:16:13] Come on, is somebody happy for the good news today of the word of God?
[00:16:17] You say, well, how do we know that?
[00:16:19] Well, we've got to go back to the word, verse 17.
[00:16:21] What does Elisha do?
[00:16:22] He prayed and he said, open his eyes, Lord.
[00:16:25] because in the natural it did look bleak but what we get to do is we get to say God show us with heavenly vision what you've positioned in this world in this moment for this generation because it is good and when we ask God to see with heavenly vision we will see all that he's up to and so that's what we want to share with you today is the hope that we've seen in this generation and how we can come alongside them to really see them move for God and do mighty things

[00:16:52] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
Yeah, and so church, we get to be a part of seeing God move in this generation.
[00:16:57] It is our responsibility and it's our privilege to come alongside them and help show them the calling that God has on their life.
[00:17:04] And so we have a mantra that we say at Vertical, and so we wanna share this with you today.
[00:17:09] It's three M's, so it's real easy to remember.
[00:17:12] You can write them down.
[00:17:13] And this is how we can interact with Gen Z.
[00:17:15] This is how, as Christians, that we should live out our life.
[00:17:18] And really with any believer, but specifically when we're talking about our youth, our seventh to twelfth graders, this is how we can save Gen Z.
[00:17:27] So our leaders know this, the three M's, the mantras at Vertical, they are Model, Medal,
[00:17:33] and Motivate.

[00:17:34] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
That's it, Model Metal Motivate.
[00:17:35] So if you showed up on a Sunday night and you were in our huddle, you'd hear that.
[00:17:38] We're excited to share those with you today.
[00:17:40] And under each of those, kind of explain more what we're talking about when we talk about saving Gen Z.
[00:17:44] Model Metal Motivate.
[00:17:45] Easy to remember, Model Metal Motivate.

[00:17:48] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
First M.
[00:17:48] Model.
[00:17:49] This means to demonstrate Christ-like behavior in our everyday life.
[00:17:52] As a Christian, this is what we are called to do.
[00:17:55] That we are called to resemble Christ in our everyday life.
[00:17:59] That we should be a light shining in the darkness no matter where we're at, whether it's here at church or whether it's in our schools or whether it's at our workplace.
[00:18:06] And in the New Testament, there is a book called Titus where Paul is writing to this man and he's showing him and telling him how he should live this out.
[00:18:15] Most of Paul's writings are to churches, and sometimes he's writing to individuals, like in this case, and he gives us this blueprint about what it looks like to model Christ.
[00:18:25] Titus 2, verse 7 and 8, Paul says this, he says, Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, and sound speech that cannot be condemned.
[00:18:39] As a Christian, when we are to model Christ-like behavior, that means that we have dignity for other people, we have integrity for ourselves, that when we speak, it should sound different than the rest of the world, that we should emulate Christ in every aspect of our life.
[00:18:53] And in doing so, we are modeling for the young people, for the generations that are coming after us, what it looks like to follow Christ.

[00:19:01] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
Yeah, we had the opportunity to have summer interns, high school students.
[00:19:07] We had nine summer interns for seven weeks.
[00:19:10] They were here almost every day.
[00:19:11] It was a lot of fun.
[00:19:12] It was great.
[00:19:13] But one of the conversations that we had with them was about who they see as their role models, you know, in the world, maybe not directly in their sphere, but like, who do you see that you're like, oh, I want to be like them?
[00:19:24] and it was really a sobering conversation because they basically said well we don't have a lot of good mentors like we can't really name them one of them even jokingly said well at least you had Mr. Rogers and I was like okay I like y'all remember Mr. Rogers he was like I don't know what he said but do good things he was like a guy on television who was at least trying to teach people to do the right thing and he this this student literally said who do we have
[00:19:55] Dang, church!
[00:19:56] Can we be that for this generation?
[00:19:58] Can we please be the ones that are modeling Christ?
[00:20:01] Listen, they're so hungry for it and they're not finding it on TikTok.
[00:20:05] They're not finding it on Netflix.
[00:20:06] They're not finding it at the schools and the universities.
[00:20:10] We can't expect the world to model Christ for our students.
[00:20:13] It really does start with us.

[00:20:15] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
Yeah, it really does.
[00:20:16] And if I could speak to the men for a second, we have a responsibility to lead the charge in this.
[00:20:20] In our homes, again, we are to model Christ.
[00:20:22] We should be the ones that are leading in that.
[00:20:25] But here in the church, we should be spiritual fathers as well.
[00:20:27] 23% of Gen Z are growing up in a single parent home.
[00:20:31] And now I know we have some amazing and strong single moms out here, but men, this is a challenge for us.
[00:20:37] That when we see a gap, that we should step in there and be spiritual fathers, be spiritual leaders to these young men and women.
[00:20:43] That they need us in their life, and so this is a chance and a challenge to call us higher.
[00:20:48] Let's bring them with us to the strong breakfast.
[00:20:50] Let's go to the lodge and show them what it means to have a life following after Christ.
[00:20:55] And for everybody in here, Paul says, follow me as I follow Christ.
[00:20:59] Every believer has that responsibility.
[00:21:01] To pursue Christ with everything that we have and in doing so model that for generations that are coming after us.
[00:21:07] This is our challenge.
[00:21:08] This is our charge.
[00:21:09] And I think sometimes we get caught up in this that we have to have all the right answers, that we have to have it all figured out.
[00:21:16] And honestly, that's not the case.
[00:21:19] These young people are looking for perfection.
[00:21:22] In fact, I think that it's okay for them to see us struggling with things.
[00:21:25] Parents in the room, it's okay for our students, our kids, to see us struggling with stuff.
[00:21:30] Again, age appropriate, but when we leave the gap between what we're believing for and what we're seeing, we're able to insert our faith.
[00:21:39] and when we bring our students alongside, then they're able to see that as well.
[00:21:43] We're able to introduce them to the faith of saying, hey, we don't see how this is gonna work in the natural.
[00:21:48] We see that the army's surrounding, but we have faith in a God that is bigger than what is in the natural.
[00:21:53] Invite them into that.
[00:21:55] It's okay to see the struggles, again, age appropriate, but it's okay for them to see those things.

[00:22:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
You know, we have a son.
[00:22:01] He's a little over one.
[00:22:03] You know, moms, maybe you can help me.
[00:22:05] After 12 months, do you keep going up in months?
[00:22:07] I'm like, 15 months?
[00:22:08] 28 months?
[00:22:09] How old am I?

[00:22:10] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
105 months?

[00:22:11] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
Anyways, he's a lot of months, but he's over one.
[00:22:13] And we've been teaching him how to pray.
[00:22:17] Do you want to share about this?

[00:22:18] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
Yeah, it's really cute, so he'll pray before he eats, he doesn't close his eyes, but he does fold his hands, and he'll say pray, and then we'll pray, and then in the middle of the prayer, he says amen, because he's really excited to eat.
[00:22:30] So, we're working on the timing, but it's great.
[00:22:33] But really, we've had this conversation, he's so young right now, but we're teaching him the things, the Bible says, teach a child the way that they should go, and when they're old age, they will not depart from it.
[00:22:43] And so, we want him to do those things, not because we just say to do them,
[00:22:48] but because he sees us modeling that in our everyday lives.
[00:22:51] That he prays because he sees mom and dad praying over our meal.
[00:22:54] He wants to pursue God because he sees us here at the church serving God.
[00:22:58] He wants to read the word because he sees us reading God's word.
[00:23:01] We wanna model that for him so as he's growing up, he's seeing that in our life.
[00:23:06] Right, authentically.

[00:23:06] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
Well, and here's the deal.
[00:23:07] Gen Z is so passionate about authenticity.
[00:23:10] Like they are over the fake, over the facade.
[00:23:13] They want real, they want genuine.
[00:23:16] And students can read our priorities.
[00:23:18] Like they are observant, they are so smart.
[00:23:21] You're like, holy cow, you are brilliant.
[00:23:23] And they can tell where we're genuinely placing our time, our talent, our treasure.
[00:23:29] So it really comes back to us, do we,
[00:23:31] Come to church because, oh, you gotta go to church.
[00:23:33] We have to.
[00:23:34] Or do we get to go to church because it's God's house?
[00:23:36] They can read that.
[00:23:38] They can read that on you.
[00:23:39] Am I reading my Bible because I have to or because I get to because I have a real genuine relationship with the Lord?
[00:23:46] That's up to us to model that authentically.
[00:23:49] And we're really praying for a conviction
[00:23:52] to come over the hearts of our parents specifically when it comes to having their youth in God's house.
[00:23:57] I think the world is trying to like, the enemy's like doing a good job at making other things seem like a priority on Sundays.
[00:24:05] I'm shocked that sports are having like tryouts and it's not even travel.
[00:24:10] It's just like, yeah, we're gonna meet on Sunday morning.
[00:24:12] We're gonna do our,
[00:24:14] I'm like, guys, the world is really reaching.
[00:24:18] Can I tell you there is nothing better than having your students in the presence of God on a Sunday morning and a Sunday night?
[00:24:26] Guys, Sunday nights, that's where it's at.
[00:24:27] We're here every week, 6 to 7.30, and we're here so that these students can be in community with one another.
[00:24:33] One of them said one time, when we were at the conference, we went to a summer conference, and she was like, it was just nice to know there are other people like me.
[00:24:40] It's nice to know there's other believers out there because she doesn't feel like that at her school or at her sports team.
[00:24:46] And on Sunday nights we meet up and we do think we get in the presence of God around one another and that's something that travel baseball cannot replace, their friend's birthday party cannot replace, the Panthers game, dear God, ain't replacing it.
[00:24:58] We need to pray for them.
[00:25:00] There's no better place to have your students than on a Sunday night here at Vertical.
[00:25:06] And we want to share specifically about one student.
[00:25:09] His name is Maddox.
[00:25:10] We have a photo of him.
[00:25:11] This picture was actually taken at one of our young adult services.
[00:25:14] Again, we show up every Wednesday night at 7 o'clock here.
[00:25:18] And so he just graduated out of Vertical and he's at our movement services now and a part of our young adult community.
[00:25:24] But Maddox lives closer to the lodge property in Marion, North Carolina than he does to Central Campus.
[00:25:33] And he beats us to youth.
[00:25:36] Like, we live 23 minutes away, and homie is there early, and he's usually the one, excuse me, sorry, I'm getting a youth vibe, and now I'm starting to use words like homie.
[00:25:45] All right.
[00:25:46] he shows up and he's usually the one locking the building at the end of the night his life has been transformed shout out to his parents for prioritizing the church uh and getting him here and him and then him emulating that and showing up here first thing in the morning all the way through to the evening he has a call of god on his life uh he's been to one of our one of our youth retreats god really spoke to us about him and all the future that he has um and so this this is an example
[00:26:12] of the power of being planted in the house of the Lord and it starts in our youth.

[00:26:17] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
It's good.

[00:26:17] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
It starts in our youth when we model.

[00:26:18] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
It starts there.
[00:26:20] So first we model Christlike behavior.
[00:26:22] We kind of landed on that for a while because I think it's one of the most important ones.
[00:26:25] Totally.
[00:26:26] For all of us.
[00:26:27] But the second M is metal.
[00:26:29] This means getting in their business.
[00:26:31] I want to give a shout out real quick to a leader that does this super well, Jordan Spencer, wherever, there he's at.

[00:26:36] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
Jay Spence!

[00:26:37] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
Jordan Spencer, let me tell y'all, so he's a former Marine, and he will call these guys on their crap.
[00:26:43] But y'all know, sometimes they need that.
[00:26:45] But the important thing is that when crap hits the fan in their life, they're calling Jordan.
[00:26:50] And that's what it means to meddle.
[00:26:51] It means getting involved in their lives.
[00:26:53] And that's for all of us, that we should be involved in one another's life.
[00:26:57] That regardless of age, that we should meddle in one another's business.
[00:27:01] We should be doing life together.
[00:27:02] We should know what's going on in each other's lives.
[00:27:05] The Bible says that we are called to bear one another's burdens.
[00:27:08] And in the book of John, Jesus says this.
[00:27:10] He says, My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.
[00:27:14] See, we only know Jesus' voice when we spend time with Him, when we're in proximity to Him, when we're in church, when we're reading our Bible, when we're in prayer.
[00:27:22] That's how we hear the voice of God.
[00:27:24] Same for our young people.
[00:27:25] The way that they're gonna hear our voice, the way that they're gonna listen to the wisdom that we have, the way that we're gonna be able to help steer them and guide them is only through proximity.
[00:27:34] If we're just in and out of their life, then they're not gonna be able to hear us.
[00:27:37] They're not gonna be open to us.
[00:27:38] This means asking questions, being curious, genuinely curious about what's going on in their world.
[00:27:44] Asking them open-ended questions and not being afraid when they ask us questions.
[00:27:48] Again, we don't have to have all the answers.
[00:27:50] We can go to the Word of God together to see what the Bible has to say.
[00:27:54] And I think that that authenticity, like we talked about, is what opens the door for students to be able to receive what we have when we meddle in their life.

[00:28:03] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
Yeah, do you wanna talk about the summer internship and how we like open-ended questions?

[00:28:07] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
Yeah, one of my favorite things was towards the end of the internship, we'd do a Bible study, or during our Bible study, we had a question time Q&A for the students.
[00:28:14] And let me tell y'all, Kaden said it earlier, like there's no junior Holy Spirit, there's no junior Jesus.
[00:28:20] Gen Z has real authentic questions.
[00:28:23] Good questions.
[00:28:24] Strong questions.
[00:28:25] Powerful questions.
[00:28:25] Deep questions.
[00:28:26] Questions that you and I probably have wrestled with.
[00:28:29] Yep.
[00:28:29] And it's such an inspiration.
[00:28:30] And I was just reminded, like, they don't need to have a dumbed-down answer.
[00:28:34] Come on.
[00:28:35] They have the same Bible that we do.
[00:28:37] They serve the same God we do.
[00:28:38] That's it.
[00:28:38] They have a calling on their life the same way we do.

[00:28:40] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
We do, yeah.

[00:28:41] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
God is not concerned with their age, that He's calling them out.
[00:28:45] Getting to be a part of answering those questions, getting to be a part of showing them what God says about them and what God says in His Word was so rewarding.

[00:28:54] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
Yeah, well, and when we meddle with this generation, it is important to understand that they are more disconnected from interpersonal relationships than any other generation because of social media and technology.
[00:29:05] It makes sense.
[00:29:06] On average, Gen Z consumes over seven hours a day of media.
[00:29:12] YouTube, social, video games.
[00:29:15] but 84% somewhat or strongly agree that in-person relationships are more valuable.
[00:29:23] So what does that mean?
[00:29:23] Yeah, they're on their screens, this is kind of the vibe and the life that they're in but man, they're waiting for you to ask them how they're doing.
[00:29:30] They're wanting to engage.
[00:29:32] I listened to this podcast one time.
[00:29:34] It was a pastor and a Gen Z student.
[00:29:37] And she was like, yeah, if you asked me to come sit with you or wanted to chat, I would.
[00:29:41] And he was just so shocked, I think, because he was like, you're not giving that impression.
[00:29:45] You know, like, oh, you're on your screens, like whatever.
[00:29:48] But they're just waiting because they understand that that's how we're designed, that's how we're created, to be in interpersonal relationships with one another.
[00:29:54] So we model, we meddle, and then now we motivate.
[00:29:59] We motivate.
[00:30:00] So the Bible is full of scriptures where it talks to brothers and sisters to encourage one another as we walk this journey out together.
[00:30:09] 1 Thessalonians 5 11 says, Therefore encourage one another and build each other up just as in fact you are doing.

[00:30:16] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
Again, Paul's writing to this church, he's encouraging them, and if you read this section, he's actually referring to the last days.
[00:30:23] He says, as the day draws near, we should continue to encourage one another.
[00:30:27] And if I could just, what I see from that is that Paul recognized that the church, the body of Christ, had a purpose.
[00:30:35] that regardless of what was going on in the world around them it may feel like the world is ending sometimes it may feel like this army is coming against gen z and yet there is still a purpose and a calling on their life and it's the same today students if i could just speak to you guys for a second gen z whether you're 7th to 12th grade whether you've graduated out you're in college high or you're you're 28 years old
[00:30:56] God has a purpose for you.
[00:30:58] God has a plan for you.
[00:30:59] He's given you gifts, and He's given you talents that He wants to use right now, that you don't need to wait until you're older, that you don't need to wait until you have it figured out, that God wants to use you right now in His house, in His place, to further His kingdom, to take those outside of the walls, share with other people the gospel.
[00:31:17] He has got a purpose and a calling for you.

[00:31:19] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
And can I add something to that?
[00:31:20] Maybe someone's in here, there's a few people in here who you, it's not modeled for you.
[00:31:25] Like, your family's not
[00:31:26] Modeling that for you.
[00:31:29] you can be the one yeah like you can be the one that sets the trajectory for your family again it doesn't matter about age you say i'm going to church today hey mom dad you want to come okay i'm reading my bible i just got into this new chapter in in the book of john you want to read with me hey pray for your family you you can break bondages off of your family you don't have to wait for your mom or your dad or your great grandma who's praying for you you've got that authority that's right the same power that raised jesus from the dead dwells in you come on you have that in you
[00:31:57] And so it's our job as we surround Gen Z to motivate them towards that because they're motivated by mission.
[00:32:03] Do you want to share a few statistics?

[00:32:05] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
Yeah, Gen Z is motivated by mission and we see that playing out.
[00:32:10] They're involved in this service.
[00:32:12] This is an example of what happens when Gen Z puts their hands to the plow.
[00:32:17] that they are putting on a church service that it's not relegated to just a Sunday night that they are here on a Sunday morning ministering to each one of us because this is the now generation.
[00:32:25] Gen Z, you are motivated by mission and God is calling you higher right now to put you on mission to go out and proclaim the gospel to further his kingdom.
[00:32:35] You don't have to wait.
[00:32:36] Step up right now.
[00:32:37] This is your time.

[00:32:39] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
So we model, we meddle, and we motivate.
[00:32:42] We give students an opportunity to put their hands to something that matters for eternity.
[00:32:46] And also, we speak to their potential.
[00:32:49] We say, yo, you've got it in you.
[00:32:52] Listen, whatever the world's trying to say about you or label you as, no, no, no.
[00:32:55] Mute.
[00:32:58] What does God have to say about you?
[00:32:59] Because that's definitely more important than the homie in your class that you're gonna sit next to for one more period and then he's gonna leave.
[00:33:06] God's with you forever.
[00:33:08] He's put a stamp on you.
[00:33:09] He knew you before you were even born and before you sat next to that guy.
[00:33:12] Mute.
[00:33:13] It's time to start walking in the destiny that God already put on you and he's gonna be with you.
[00:33:17] as you continue to take a step and a step and a step in the journey that he has for you.
[00:33:21] We're really passionate about this.
[00:33:22] We model, we meddle, and we motivate.
[00:33:24] And we're so thankful to be a part of this generation's life.
[00:33:27] And we hope that you're empowered to be as well.
[00:33:29] Will you stand to your feet?
[00:33:30] We're gonna close.
[00:33:31] We're gonna pray over some people.

[00:33:34] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
For everyone in the room that we are called to model, meddle, and motivate first and foremost because that's what we see Christ do.
[00:33:41] Christ did not just stay up in heaven, but he came down to earth.
[00:33:44] He modeled what it meant to follow God and modeled what a relationship with God looked like.
[00:33:49] He meddled in the business of humanity.
[00:33:51] In fact, he got 12 guys who most theologians believe were teenagers to empower them and motivate them to go out and to be the church and to share the gospel.
[00:34:00] We are a result of what they did 2,000 years ago.
[00:34:04] Jesus modeled, He meddled in our business, and He motivates us each and every single day.
[00:34:09] That all begins with a relationship with Him.
[00:34:12] We see we can't do this life on our own.
[00:34:14] We can only do it through the power of the Holy Spirit and it starts by making Christ the center of our life.
[00:34:19] Maybe you're in here and you've never started that relationship.
[00:34:23] You've never chosen to set aside yourself and to fully follow God and make Him the Lord of your life.
[00:34:28] Today is the day to start that relationship.
[00:34:31] To start a brand new life.
[00:34:32] and this is a decision that no one else can make for you it is for you alone it's between you and God so I'm going to ask everyone in here to bow your head and to close your eyes to make the most important decision of your life to choose to follow him to make Christ the center of your life if that's you and you're in this place today and you're ready to start following him
[00:34:52] you need a peace that goes beyond understanding you recognize that you can't do this life on your own you need your heavenly father to come down and to make you a new person if that's you in here i'm going to ask you to take a small step of faith and to simply raise your hand because i want to know who we're praying for today if you're ready to make jesus the lord of your life
[00:35:09] Raise your hand and we're going to pray this prayer together.
[00:35:12] We're going to say this prayer and then Pastor Morgan's going to wrap us up.
[00:35:16] And I'm going to ask the entire church to join in with us.
[00:35:18] Say, Dear Jesus, come into my life.
[00:35:21] I choose to follow you today, tomorrow, and forever.
[00:35:28] Lead me and guide me in your ways.

[00:35:33] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
and if you'll lift both hands God I thank you for every single generation in here that is blessed because you are in their midst Lord I thank you that they walk out knowing you better than they walked in today I thank you for every gen z in here if you're a student a young adult I thank you that there's purpose and calling that right now in the name of Jesus you're downloading into them you're showing them you're giving them hope I speak hope over this generation
[00:35:56] Calling, Anointing, Fresh Vision they go home they have dreams about the things that you want them to achieve and accomplish that point people ultimately to you God we thank you for that and we're going to sing a song of blessing and as we do God I pray you move in a mighty way continue to stir in our hearts we love you we trust you in Jesus name amen let's join the worship team as we sing this blessing of proclamation over our generation

[00:36:21] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]:
May His favor be upon you and a thousand generations and your family and your children and your children and their children May His favor be upon you and a thousand generations and your family

[00:36:47] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
Let us pray.
[00:37:10] Let us pray.