The Last Arrow | Student Pastor Zach Hammond

Everyone tonight, if you'd stand to your feet, we're going to go to Psalms chapter 127. Psalms 127 and verse number three. Very familiar text tonight on this back to school evening. We know that tonight anointing our students, praying over our students, and then going through the building, anointing this facility and all of our faculty is a part of who we are and what we do around here. And there's been a little bit of just a stirring and an expectation uh throughout uh this entire week of inservice. I was talking to um brother Sullivan, Sister Rickettts in a text feed and just I believe God is stirring us, getting us prepared to do a great thing among us. We're excited. We have a wonderful, wonderful senior class and we're believing that God is going to do great, great things among us. If you enjoyed the word of the Lord this morning by pastor, want you to let him know by giving him a hand. Thankful. Thankful the word of the Lord. Now, I have I have nothing nothing at all ever to or ever will correct with his sermon. However, his closing remarks I have to correct him tonight to let you know there is nothing more than likely that's going to be said tonight that you haven't already heard. And um you know I hope uh I hope most of you came just expecting to feel the presence of the Lord. And it's uh it's not by anything that I will do or can do. Uh but I believe the word of the Lord is for us and our students tonight. Lo, children are a heritage of the Lord, and the fruit of the womb is his reward. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man. Somebody say, "Mighty man." >> So are children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them. So you have a happy man and you have a mighty man. You have one man that has a quiver full and you have one man that is actually using the arrow. Arrows in his hand and arrows in his quiver. One is mighty and one is happy. Tonight I hope that everybody's happy that they have kids. Sometimes it might be a little bit of a debate, you know, but hopefully everybody's happy that you have them if you have them. But I'm hopefully tonight that it's not just happy that you have them. I hope that we turn our parents and our church into mighty leaders >> who not only are just seeing students and thankful for them, but that they become something that we launch out. He says, "Happy are you if you have a quiver full of them, but what good are they if they're just in the quiver? They shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with enemies in the gate." Psalms 127 is such a referenced text and such a familiar text. I hope tonight to bring a little bit more clarity if I can or perhaps perspective to the idea of a generation um being referred to as an arrow. So my title tonight is simply this, the last arrow. The last arrow. If you would lay down your Bibles, would you lift both your hands to the Lord tonight? And would you just pray that powerful prayer of surrender? Lord, we're nothing without you, Lord. We are lost without you, Lord. Your word is everything we need tonight, Lord. There's not one eye that hasn't been dotted, not one tea that hasn't been crossed, that's forever settled in this room tonight. If we will just get it settled, Lord, in every heart. Lord, I pray that every mind that has questions that you would do what only you can do and step in and answer. Lord, every heart that is troubled tonight. God, I pray that peace that passes understanding would move into this room tonight, Lord. I pray that you would encourage us, that faith would rise in this room, and that you would bless every person in this place, Lord, and bless our school year in the name of Jesus, we pray. And everybody said, "Amen." >> Come on, everybody said, "Amen." >> Amen. >> Amen. I got with our students Wednesday night. Everybody say, "Amen." >> Amen. >> There we go. There we go in Jesus name. And Wednesday night we got upstairs and I think they were all kind of partially asleep. And so I said, I'm not not trying to, you know, offend you or nothing, but we're we're still in a Pentecostal church if we're in the youth room or we're in the connect room or we're in the classroom or we're in the hallways or we're in the lunchroom. Can I get an amen? >> Amen. Before an arrow ever sits in a quiver, before it ever fills the pull of a bow string, it must be formed. In the ancient world, making of an arrow was not a casual craft. It was something that was taken very serious. It was careful. It was timeconsuming. The shaft began as a green piece of wood and it would be chiseled down carefully. It became soft and pliable, extremely vulnerable long before it became hard and balanced. The archer would cut it, dry it slowly, heat it, press it, scrape it, straighten it to do whatever had to be taken, whatever action had to be taken to cut it so it would fly true. And I I borrowed these, if somebody's wondering why my arrows are pink, I borrowed this from brother Cogdale. So you can take that up with him. I think he did it as a joke on me. Joke's on him. So, it's not mine, it's his. Um, but uh but u it's funny. I appreciate that. We'll talk about that later. Um but the enemy has always sought to destroy something when it's being formed. So, it doesn't have to worry about it being in flight. You can see it that way. We have settled. However, I talked to our teachers and I'll make a little bit of a point tonight about the forming of a young person. We are very good in the age of information that we live in to simply inform. But our goal is not just to inform, but to truly form students for flight, form students to do something great, form students that can make impact. >> He does not wait. The enemy does not wait until the arrow is sharp and balanced ready to fly. He targets it when it is being formed, when it's being shaved down, when it's being manipulated. He says, "If I can never let it get into its full shape, then I never have to worry about its attack. I never have to worry about it piercing the air. I never have to worry about it coming against me." And he attacks our generation today through broken homes, through confusion, through identity, through premature exposure to a world that is polluted and messed up and rebellion in your teenage years. Before you know it, you have a warped arrow and the trajectory that's supposed to happen at 18 is not happening till 22 or 25 or perhaps even later. and to face face issues. And that air arrow is never a challenge to the enemy. It's never a challenge to the culture it was supposed to oppose. But most of all, it was never it's never going to fulfill its God-given purpose. And so, we cannot be ignorant of Satan's attack. The adversary knows, and I want to make sure that we understand this tonight, the adversary knows that if he can warp this arrow while it's being formed, he will never have to face it in battle. That's why Psalms 127 says, "Children of the one's youth." The early years are not just cute and convenient seasons. They are critical to the next season. They are critical to the forming of an individual. The character is being molded. The direction is being set at that moment. Parents, uh, grandparents, church, we are influenced. You say, "Well, I don't have kids in this church." We are influencing them by the culture that we set. Maybe you're a Sunday school teacher. Maybe you work in the academy. Maybe you work in the preschool. We all play a part in the forming of what is going to be trajected into the next generation. So we cannot be ignorant concerning Satan's attack. Parents, we are not just raising kids. One generation, we are not just raising another generation. We are overseeing the formation of what could be the last arrow in the last days. We never know when the last generation will be propelled off of the string from one generation to the next. We never know, brother Thompson, that pastor preached so perfectly this morning. If we're we're trying to figure out when he's coming, we're wasting our time. But no man know the day nor the hour. And I want to make sure that when the trumpet sounds that I'm not wasting anything that God has given me. I don't ever want there to be a quiver full of potential that should have been sent out. I don't want there to be anything in my life. And so, the enemy is not waiting politely for you to turn 18. The enemy is not waiting for you to get married. The enemy is not waiting. He wants to pollute your mind to give you as much baggage and as many identity issues as possible right now. Doesn't matter what age you are. It doesn't matter. He he wants to expose you to something that causes you to look at life differently. The enemy is not waiting. The adversary is influencing our world around us to fall prey to the same tactics that had been used since the very very beginning. >> I have a lot of different statistics, but something I came across this week that I thought was very interesting that you look through the scripture. I don't have time to take you through the pages of scripture, but you look at it in Moses, from Moses to our our savior Jesus Christ that it was the goal to to drown Moses before he would drown them. We see that it is something that that that you know, Pharaoh and Herod and all of the wicked rulers, it didn't matter to them. They were willing to reveal their hand. And so we see that any time that the backsliden Israel, the people of God, backsliden Israel, had an issue with this attack of the enemy, we could call it a demonic spirit, an adversary that has influenced the world. He wanted to destroy the children. And so anytime you see that that there was they were worshiping, you'll see there was a god that again a little G god when we say god that they were worshiping named Moolok. Anyway, anytime they were worshiping Moch, brothers, sister, they had to sacrifice a child. >> They had to sacrifice a child. And anytime they would begin to worship Moolok, there was another one that you hear a lot about called Baal. Bale. Bale was the god of the turning away. But the only way you could worship Bale was was animal sacrifice. And it was all about, I'm sorry, was animal worship. So they would be the opposite of what God was calling. Said, "Bring that goat. Bring that ram. bring whatever you got and you kill it. Now, they would come and they would put it and they would worship it. They would put things upon they they would they would they would put ornaments upon they would put all sort of things. It's quite interesting. It was the direct opposite. But when they were going to they were going to worship one, they would automatically have to worship the other. And so, you could see this happen and you would see that there is this this spirit that comes against the the the the generation. Israel begins to backslide and all of a sudden you see that they are they are doing the opposite of what God calls sacrifice and worshiping animals but they're also destroying children and worship to another. But there was one other little G god that they that named Ashtarath that they would also worship and it was the god of immoral perversion. >> It's quite interesting that these three go hand in hand. They're going to kill. They are going to sacrifice infants while worshiping animals and being immorally perverted. >> These three went hand in hand. They were considered the demonic trinity of backsliden Israel. Before the Catholic Church had their triad, there was a triad of of the backsliden Israelites, the people of God of Mole, Baal, and Asharath. And they all were to be working together >> in the in the dividing of not only are you going to kill a generation, but you're going to worship these animals that God said to sacrifice. Then comes immoral perversion. just so happens you think, "Oh, that's just in the Bible. That's just weird stuff going on." Back in the Bible days, 1973, the United States passed three laws in the same year. In the same year that the United States gave rights to tortoises and porpuses, abortion became legal and the mass distribution of pornography was all passed in the same year. >> We in 1973, the United States gave way to the same demonic trinity. >> Yes. that backsliden Israel would fall to each time they would turn away from God. It's no coincidence >> that we are facing what we're facing in America today because we have to be cautious and be be we we have to be so concentrated and we and you say why do we have a school? Why do we do this? That's why we because we realize that the devil is trying to kill them in their forming stage so that they never gets launched against him. The devil is doing any and everything to make sure that he never has to face them as a praying adult because he wants to pollute their mind. He wants to throw them in the river. Now he wants to >> anything he can do >> to pollute the mind. Parents they are after our kids. Church they are after our kids. The only difference I want you just to look around. The only difference between you and the person that you grew up in the youth group with is a few decisions >> that were not just decisions that anybody wanted to happen. But what they were exposed to a few things that maybe you weren't exposed to. >> They happened upon a website. They got in the wrong car. >> They were at the wrong place. I never meant to be here. That's the story of it all. Right? But in their forming stages, something caused the trajectory to be off. It's incredible. I don't have time to go into it tonight. I've got way too many notes as it is. But you get you you start traveling a mile. If you're off one degree, >> when I begin to launch this thing, if you were to shoot this thing across here, if I'm off one degree here, I'm going to be way off by the time we get to the back door. How do they get there? How did they get slight exposure? >> Yes. Be intentional because the enemy is. >> Be aware because the enemy is. Students, hear this tonight. The pressure you feel at home, the correction, the boundaries, the moments that feel hard, that feel like somebody's coming against you, the structure you feel, that is the forming process. Don't fight the forming. I know it don't feel good. I know some of you look back at me like, "Hey, you're embarrassing me. Hey, I don't know why you would say that to me. I don't know why you'd pull me aside and talk to me. I don't know why you would say that to me. Why? Because I know how important it is that you be formed now." >> The devil is coming at you. The enemy is coming at you. The world is trying to conquer you. It is so important young men that you adhere to the pressure, to the carving, to the shaping. Young lady, have somebody in your life. You would say, "Hey, I I need I need you to be honest with me." The real enemy is the one who whispers telling you the process is unnecessary. You should just stay tolerable. You should stay soft. You should stay moldable. You don't have to straighten out. You don't have to straighten up. you can just bend to whatever, do whatever. He wants you to be warped before you leave the house. He wants you to be warped before you graduate. So before you talk about or we ever talk about releasing arrows or filling quivers, we must first understand the battle of the arrow is won or lost in forming shaping. Why are we so intentional about what is being taught in Sunday school? Why are we so intentional about bringing everybody in here every single day? We going to bring the students in here and pray. Why? Because we are forming and shaping a generation. We are forming and shaping an army for the gospel. We're good. We're really, really good. And I want us to really understand this. And I know I'm taking my time tonight and I'm going to be slow. This is not going to be your normal Sunday night. probably nobody's going to run or anything, but that's going to be okay. We're really, really good at informing our students. But being able to answer the question is good, but better than that, even more important than that, than being able to explain why that is the answer. >> Just because you can pass a test and get all the answers, can you tell me why that's the answer? formed to the pattern of this world or formed to the pattern of this word. I I spoke to our teachers on Friday and I wanted to share this with you because I want you to know what our intentions are. I want you to know parents what our teachers and what our administration is is is striving to do. We're not here just to inform. We want to form this generation. So, we're looking to do five things this year. One, we're mo looking to move from compliance to conviction. Don't just teach them what to do. Help them understand why we do what we do. I don't want to just follow rules because you're in the room. Because when you're not in the room, >> if they don't know why we want to move number two, from protection to preparation. Don't just protect them from this world. Prepare them for the world they're going to enter into. It's inevitable. You're not going to protect them. You can't make every decision for them. You can't bubble wrap them. You can't do any of those things enough. They're eventually going to enter a world that they're either going to be ready for or not. >> Preparation. Pastor preached about it this morning. Number three, answers are great, but discernment is better. We want to move from answers to discernment. Don't just give them the answers. Teach them how to think biblically. Think wise. Number four, from dependence to ownership. Don't solve every problem for them. Give them opportunities. Give them opportunities to fail. Give them opportunities to lead. Ultimately creating the fifth point is we want to create students. We want to turn students into leaders. We don't want to start forming leaders when they turn 19. We want to start forming them now so that they can be who God wants them to be. So we have to ask ourselves parents and teachers, did I help form someone today? >> That's ultimately the answer, the question that we have to answer. Did I help form somebody today? Did I put my hands and help form what God the potter is trying to shape in these students today? And then students, you have to ask the question, was I moldable today? >> Did did I give in to the forming today that was supposed to be taking place? Did I help a student become a little more courageous today, a little more responsible? Did I become a little more discerning today? Students, you become a little more compassionate or resilient, a little more confident in what you believe, a little more like Jesus. >> That's the goal. Just a little bit of forming each day. And you'd be surprised where we would be when we walk across this stage to grab a diploma >> because this could be the last arrows. There's coming a day when they're going to graduate. We won't be able to control the world they enter. We won't be able to control the ideas they encounter. We won't be able to control the people that they'll meet. We won't be able to make those decisions they'll make every day. But we can influence right now who they become. >> That's right. >> Not simply to give them their knowledge, but to develop wisdom and how to think. Not simply to give them rules, but to develop convictions that are their own that says, "I can stand. I can stay the course. I can fly. I can do." God has called this generation to do greater things. >> I want them to prepare them to live faithfully in a world that is opposing their everything that we teach and stand for. quiver is not a place no one you care to bring me that preach to you for just a moment I'm just going to use these three things I'm not going to be very long tonight oftent times the quiver as mentioned in the psalm is something as a place of storage that is preparation for soon being released or launched the quiver is not a place of rejection it's a place of pastor preached this morning. I could just this thinking through my my thoughts for tonight. I think he should have just preached part two. But the the the preparation is key. >> Not going to put someone in the quiver until we feel like they're prepared to shoot because when it comes to battle, when it comes time that there is something that has to be conquered, when somebody needs to be prayed for, somebody needs to be taught a Bible study, someone needs to be given an opportunity, someone that has been prepared. And so this is a place that may seem like a waiting room. It may seem like a frustrating place to young people, but you're you're you're hidden. It says there in the passage Isaiah 49:2, "And he had made my mouth like a sharp sword. In the shadow of my hand hath he hid me like a polished shaft or arrow in his quiver hath he hid me." I know the feeling. Although I'm getting older, I know the feeling of feeling hid >> in the quiver. Ah, they just don't want me to do anything. They just don't want to use me. They just don't want to. I just need more opportunities and you become frustrated or whatever the case may be. Arrows have to have a time of forming, but then there's always there's always a staging place before you are launched. However, however, these arrows are never meant to stay here. They were never meant to stay here. Many of us, again, I know there's many simple talking points throughout this entire concept, but but many of us, we just reached the quiver of the pew and we just become comfortable. We have been formed by the doctrine. We've been formed by all the things that we've been taught. And perhaps you've graduated. Perhaps you've gotten married. Perhaps now your parents, but you've just become comfortable in just being known as an arrow. Never been launched out, never made any impact against the enemy, never really challenged the oppos the the opposition that we face. But but man, we we're here and we But you're never meant to stay here. An arrow that remains in the quiver is useless. It only becomes what it is designed to be when it leaves the hands of a warrior. Parents home is not a permanent storage place. >> It's a launching pad. >> The goal of parenting is not to keep the arrows close. It's not to fulfill my dreams I didn't get to fulfill. is to release with enough force and direction and integrity that it hits a target God assigned for it. >> You hear me? I just I could be transparent a little bit tonight. >> You don't get to choose. You don't get to make certain decisions. You just get to be a part of the forming stage. There's certain things that God, when we release it, it's no different than us coming up here and dedicating them as a baby and say, "God, we're going to form it. God, we're going to keep it. God, I'm going to make sure that it's ready. That when you launch it out at 18, 19, 20 that I am giving, you will direct its path. God, you will take care of it. God, you're I trust you with it. >> It's not always what we think it ought to be. It's not always what our parents think it ought to be. it. But but I'm telling you, God has a plan. God has a way that is perfect. >> So parents, I challenge you to put pressure on these young people to teach them to put tension upon them because ultimately it is going to be it's going to be the tension that determines that determines everything. Everything is determined by the generation that holds holds this bow right here. I know many of you are not uh just thinking, man, this is a odd odd message. I promise you, we're going to get somewhere here in a minute. Most of these students aren't going to remember anything other than this right here. The tension. Tension. I see brother Bruce ducking. I ain't going to shoot this thing. I'd be in big trouble. The tension placed on this determines the trajectory. >> The problem is many are not ever notched to the string. They were ne they're never notched in. They never feel the tension at all. till all of a sudden they're in a college classroom and somebody starts challenging their faith. >> Somebody starts questioning, "Why do you do what you do? Why do you go to church three times? Well, you're telling me you only believe there's one God?" >> They begin to challenge any and everything there is about about God who they've been raised. They've been formed, but they've just remained in a safe place. They've never been put in a place that's going to challenge, that's going to stretch them, that's going to force them. Because parents, tonight, I want you to understand that in order for us to fulfill our God-given purpose, this bow must be bent. >> It must get some tension every now and then. I must put them in a place where they can fail. >> That's so hard, man. I I see so many times it's like you see a young person about to learn a lesson and boom, mama stops it. Daddy comes in for the rescue. I don't want to deal with the consequences. I don't want to deal with the skit knee. I got scars all over my head, body, everywhere. Brother Perry, why? teach me the things that I ain't gonna do again. >> Guess what? There's some of those things I'd probably still be ignorant of. >> You'll only shoot a nail through your finger one time. >> There's certain things you'll only do. You if you're roofing a house and you think, "Oh, this is not that far." And you jump off, you'll only do that one time. It's it's so interesting to see that we are so we we've been so hyper hyper managed that a lot of the the generation that we see upcoming at this moment they've never felt the pressure >> of anything >> and so they cave to literally everything. >> You know I have to tell this story and this is really going to show that I'm humbled tonight. Growing up, I had a had a cousin. So, he was older. He was my dad's first cousin. He was older. And so, I referred to him as an uncle. He passed away a few years ago. He took me hunting for my first time. And I was lucky enough to shoot something. And so, then I was into it. You know, I didn't realize that that didn't happen every time. So, I was all in, you know, and uh about a year later, I wanted to bow hunt. And so my dad took me down to a place. It was Mr. Walt. I'll never forget this man. He's a very interesting man. It was Mr. Walt's bow shop. And I I grew into a relationship with this older man. And he said, "Listen," he said, "Uh, we're going to test you out." So, I got a little he he started testing me out. And everybody that shoots archery will begin to laugh here, but I couldn't pull very much. All right. I was pretty scrawny and I couldn't get back. back. I mean, I was pulling I was trying to pull like 35 lbs or something. All right. And I mean, I've got this thing all up in the air and doing all this stuff, trying to get it back. I couldn't get it back. He said, "Listen, you got to be able to pull 45 pounds to shoot a deer. If you can't pull 45 pounds, just going to injure this thing. You're not going to hurt it. You're not going to kill it. You're you're not going to do anything but damage it. I mean, you'd have to get super lucky to kill it with anything even at 45 lbs. He said, "We're going to have to really bulk up the end of it with some kind of, you know, head to where you're really slower it's going, but it's really going to do some damage going through, and I'll save all of you animal lovers the the thoughts or anything like that." But here's the embarrassing part. Brother Shannon, my sister was there. She's a little bit bigger than I was at the time. Everybody always thought she was older, and she is not. for all of you that still think that. Um, well, he added on about 45 pounds and she just turned that thing back and pulled it straight back and I was standing over there going, "It's not good, boys." Of course, she paraded that. And if she's watching tonight, she's smiling ear to ear. She paraded that through every any and everywhere. School, it didn't matter. She could pull and it's still a joke with some of our family and friends. She could pull more than me for quite some time. And I'll be honest with you, right now, if we went out and shot, she could probably shoot better than me. She was much more steady than my dad or I either one. She shot a deer with a bow before either one of us did. But man, it really royally ticked me off that I couldn't pull that bow back. So, man, I got to pulling and a pulling and a pulling and a pulling every day. Every day. I wanted to get it to where I had enough strength. And those of you that know, it's different pulling a bow back with an animal standing in front of you than it is just shooting out in the yard. So you say, "Hey, if you before you're going to pull 45 back with a deer standing there, you got to be able to pull about 50 pounds or maybe a little bit more to be comfortable and not run it off." And all I'm thinking, man, I I I got to I'm never going to get there. I mean, I was I was just thinking about this process that without the right amount of tension, it really doesn't matter how sharp or how precise. It doesn't m you could form it. It could be the perfect arrow. It could be aimed in the right place, but without the right tension, >> it's never really going to make impact. The students that are going to make impact. The generation that's going to make impact are the students who've been pulled and tested and tried. It's it's tension that causes the right trajectory to make impact. It's let me put it where it's character before it's a platform. >> It's depth before its visibility. It's sewing before its reaping. its formation before its influence. It's it's important that there's some tension. There's some spiritual depth to their life. And I I just want to I I want to pre-warn I'll just be honest. I'll go ahead and put out a uh you can you can call me, you can text me, we can set up a meeting. But man, I've already been in prayer and I've already been stirred in my spirit and I know everybody's not going to like it. But this year in chapel, we're going to have to see some prayer in the in the altar before we give people a mic on the platform. >> Because until there's some spiritual authority, until there's some moments of tension at an altar of repentance, we're not going to be able to be impactful here. So, if we can't pray in the mornings at 8:00 a.m. and we can't preach with the preacher and we can't love one another and we can't be kind on the basketball court, there's no way and no reason for us to be holding the mic because the trajectory is never going to land. I >> I don't I don't again, oh, they're just kids. No, the devil knows. >> That's right. >> H God forbid. We be ignorant concerning. >> He's done it from the very beginning. But guess what? The arrow, the arrow carries the identity of the warrior who releases it. That's why you wanted to get your bow set up by Mr. Walt, the bowman. when he set it up, it flew right. He He was a master craftsman of making sure that that thing pulled to your perfect your perfect length. It was set up to where everything was right. And so what does that mean for you parent? Every arrow that leaves a parent's hand bears its mark. either by the way that it was fletched with pink fletching, the way that it was shaped, when it strikes, when it hits its target. We see that scripture tells that if you study the the the the waring, if you study, and I again, I don't have time to get into so many of these details because I want to get where we're going tonight, but that they would know who hit them by the fletching. They would know who had attacked them by the way the arrow was shaped. They would know by the way that it was carved, by the way it was done which enemy had struck them. So dad, mom, are you caving to the desires of this generation that will possibly limit the distance they go? Are we stretching them in prayer at home? Are we stretching them in scripture at home? Are we stretching them in submission at home? >> You say, "Well, how in the world do I do that?" Well, when they come home and say, "The teacher said this and I got in trouble for this." Don't automatically just blast the teacher. >> In fact, they should never hear it. >> Let it be a conversation that happens with the authority. If I disagree with a coach, a teacher, a pastor, anybody, first of all, I need to pray, get full understanding, but I'm definitely not going to allow my young person, my child, a student to hear me going against authority. It's the last thing they need in the forming. It's the la the last thing they need. I I I know I know it's not popular. >> I know everybody wants to stand up for Sally and stand up for Johnny, but s Sally and Johnny are sinners just like you and I were. >> I got in trouble. I got sent to the principal's office. Believe it or not, I had community service. >> I did it. >> Thank God we didn't have social media. >> Thank God we didn't have Yeah. I didn't do it. >> I didn't do it, but I was standing there. All right. Now, all of you are curious. I'll just tell you real quick. Had a fell in my class made a Drano bomb in between AP English and Spanish 2. I'll never forget it. They got this stuff out of his trunk. We're walking from one building to other. He takes that aluminum foil, puts I ain't going to tell you the rest cuz you'll be doing it tonight. Shakes that thing up. All of a sudden it gets hot. He throws it in a trash can cuz he gets scared and it blows that trash can to smitherings. Spanish 2 classroom happened to be right up under right up under the administration's office where my principal and head basketball coach who happened to be the same person office was. That didn't suffice them. So they did it again. This time when he threw it, it went up under a car. I'm just standing watching. You are who you hang out with. All right. So, I planted trees with O Coney County, whatever department for about five weekends. Confession's good for the soul. But never one time did my dad go in. He didn't do it. >> You know what? My dad never my mom never even went to the school. Didn't call my coach. My called my coach called me into the office and wanted a conversation with me. Said, "Hey, what happened?" Said, "This is what happened. I have nothing to do with it. Still getting community service." We've got to be careful what we are forming in their minds. >> Every single one of us have some form of authority. We'll continue to. And it's stretching us. It's stretching us every time that we have an opportunity to show them the principles of the word of God. Are you letting them feel the tension of life or are you just telling them, "Well, life's just not always fair." Huh? God, help us that we have students that are launched out. >> Your children are going to carry our spiritual DNA. Our children are going to carry our spiritual appetite into places that we will never go. The question is, will they hit the target? And when they arrive, will they be able to say they came from the house of FAC? >> Because the warrior's hand determines not only the arrow's destiny, but more the arrow's quality and effectiveness. Ancient archers spent more time on their own strength and stance and aim and polishing the shaft and making sure that everything is perfect. Parents, again, our dedication matters. >> Our holiness matters. >> Our prayer life matters. I know pastor's going to pray, but I've got to pray. I've got to make sure that I am ready to fight for my own home. It doesn't matter what anybody else does. You say, "So and so doesn't do that, or this kid's doing this." I've got to make sure that I am ready for my house. That's for me in my house. I don't want any strayward arrows. I don't want anything coming out that I could have avoided years ago. Oh, quiver is a strategic military advantage. Sister Ericson said it the other day. He said, "Man, some of these folks are really having a lot of kids. It's growing a church. Some of these churches that are 70, 80, 90 years old, that's how they've done it. Making sure that they are raising up a generation. >> A family is not just a collection of individuals that we love. It is a spiritual fighting unit. >> Do you see it that way that I change? It's not just husband and wife and some kids and a house. It's a a unit that God puts together to be able to accomplish anything spiritually. >> Yes. >> When parents and children are aligned, the household becomes a threat to the kingdom of darkness that it could never accomplish all by its own. And I'm here tonight because I was an arrow shot. My family, they formed me. They shot me. And although some of the people that formed me are dead and gone, I am still a part of them releasing an arrow. Every arrow needs a target. We need to talk about it in our homes. We need to talk about our priorities. We need to set priorities. Let it not just be assumed. We don't assume anything else when it comes to spiritual things. We need to talk about it. >> Talk about it. Have conversation about, hey, this is why we go to church. This is why we pray. This is why we do what we do. If not, they're going to scroll through something. If not this year, next year, or the year after that's going to tell them something directly opposite of what we claim to believe, but they truly have not been >> aligned. They don't understand why. I know tonight. I know tonight you just feel like I'm just kind of rehashing things that we've talked about, but I've got to remind you and I've got to bring back to you time and time again the importance of us being intentional about our students. 2 Kings 13 and verse number 15. If you know the Bible, you knew I was going here. And we will close here. And Elisha said unto him, take the bow and arrows. And he took unto him bow and arrows. And he said to the king of Israel, "Put thine hand upon the bow." And he's put his hand upon it. And Elisha put his hands upon the king's hands. And he said, "Open the window eastward." And he opened it. And Elisha said, "Shoot." And he shot. And he said, "The Lord the arrow of the Lord's deliverance." The arrow of the Lord's deliverance. And the arrow of deliverance from Syria. But thou shalt smite the Syrians and Aphek till the till they have consumed them. And he said, Take the arrows. This is a famous story. And he took them. And he said to the king of Israel, "Smite upon the ground." And he smoked thrice. That's three times. And he stopped. And the man of God was wroth. The man of God was angry with him. Thou should have spoken five or six times, and thou had smitten Syria, till thou had consumed it. Whereas now thou shalt smite Syria but thrice. But Elisha died, and they buried him, and the bands of the Moabites invaded the land at the coming in of the year. He says, "You are the Lord's arrow of victory." He says, "This is the the Lord's arrow of victory." We are perhaps you're you're you're holding the bow spiritually. Perhaps you're stewarding your home. Perhaps you're bringing them to church. Your children are the arrows. We see that in Psalms. We see generationally, it's the story here. But the real force does not come from our parenting skill alone. It comes from the hand of God >> being upon our lives, our family's lives, forming and launching all of the things that we've talked about. We can't do it without God. >> We can't do it without the presence of God. We see that in the ancient near east, we see one recognize the way to declare war was to send an arrow of identity into the territory >> of the adversary. >> In other words, he shot the arrow or they would perhaps throw a spear into the enemy's land. Elisha is not giving a random object lesson of shooting an arrow out a window. He is instructing the king to perform a prophetic act of war. >> So he says this is one generation here and he says I'm going to put my hands upon your hands. The prophet of God put his hands upon the next generation said the king's hands. He said we're going to shoot it. And this first arrow is not merely victory. I is a possibility, but it is God saying, "I am authorizing you to reclaim what the enemy has taken. It's not just a random shot in the dark." And that's why that is so frustrating to Elisha that he had a full understanding. Perhaps us from the outside looking in, we don't understand what was going on. He's like, "Why is he so angry about not smiting?" Because you got to understand that the back the the the the whole uh storyline or the whole history of war. He had just declared victory over the enemy. >> He understood what was t the king had just declared victory over the enemy. And so it merely was this. How much victory do you want? >> How much victory do you want? From one generation to another. Elisha is there about to die, brother Landry. And he says, "We've done launched it out. The victory is won." How much victory do you want tonight? Spiritually, God has initiated through the cross, >> full deliverance, >> full victory. >> We've read the back of the book. Parents form the arrows, stretch the bow, students strike the ground. It's simple. The victory has already been won. I'm not sure many times what we're confused about, what we're distracted about, what we're trying to accomplish many times because everything has already been accomplished through the cross. And so all we have to do is be obedient. But limited victory comes from limited obedience. So what happens is because he only strikes the ground three times, he leaves victory on the table. What does that mean? That means another generation is going to have to fight him. That means they're still going to it. Literally he dies and said the Moabites come in there. There's victory here, brothers. All he had to do was smite the ground. Victory is is based upon, hey, how much victory do you want? I don't mean mean any harm, but I don't want my kids fighting the same devil I'm fighting. I don't want them fighting the same issues I'm fighting. I don't want there to be a generational curse passed down. I don't want a student not worshiping because I didn't worship. I don't want a student not praying out loud because I didn't pray out loud. You say, "What?" Only if it comes down to just merely passion. It's the desire to say, "Hey, am I just going to sit back and just merely just pat the ground? Just go through the motions." But he says, "Victory is yours if you want it." Victory is yours if you want to be passionate about it. Victory is yours if you want to. It's unique in scripture. Every place, he says in Joshua 1:3, every place that your soul of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you as I said unto Moses. Anyway, and and he pretty simple there. He says, wherever you put your foot, there's victory. So, what is it? More you walk, the more you win. It's simple. Did you know that word tread is the rock in its original text which also means to bend a boat? It is merely the same thing he's referencing back when he uses this term. It's the same word that's used when he says I pulled it back when my hands on the king's hands and we shot it out the window. He says I will give you every place that you're willing to fight for. If you're willing to fight, I'll give you the victory. If you're willing to be passionate about it, I'll give you the victory. Parents, if you'll just try a little bit more, he's going to give you more victory. Students, if we'll be a little bit more passionate this year, God will do greater things in our midst. I I just want I just want to stress to you tonight that everything we're doing is forming >> what could be the last >> arrow. So the man of God before he dies shoots an arrow. It's the last thing he does. It's the last arrow that the double portioned prophet would shoot. And it was an arrow of desire that before I die, could I just see somebody who wants it as bad as I do? Brother Jacob Gahesi, he wanted the world. Couldn't find anybody. You've heard me talk about it before. It was a double portion and it kept doubling. Which means again there was victory, miracles, a mantle left. Young people, if I could turn my attention to you tonight, the prophet shot the last arrow and died angry. He died angry. I don't want one generation to die sorrowful because this generation just didn't want it as bad as they did. That's why I preached to you and I preached to you and I preached to you and I preached to you about we can't become complacent. We can't become happy with where we're at. I know that we're living in houses we didn't build and vineyards we didn't plan and all those things. But you got to be more passionate than ever before. This is not a time to be laxed. This is not a time to just say, "Hey, I'm just going to cruise through high school. I'm going to cruise through my senior year. I'm about out of here. I'm about to get all this this wrapped up." No. I'm calling you tonight, young people, to more passion. >> I'm calling you. You say, "Why?" Because more passion equals more victory. The more that you seek God, the more that you will find God. And I'm telling you tonight, if you will seek him, you will find him. But most of all, you're going to see victory in your life. If you'll stand to your feet tonight, the last thing the prophet does is releases an arrow and ask another generation just how much victory do you want? Just as my point tonight as we reference this may be the last arrow of the last days. This generation could be very well could be the generation that sees the coming of the Lord. >> As Elisha shoots that last arrow, giving all that he has, could I make a plea with every person in this place tonight to not wait. >> I don't ever want to be caught storing up what God's called me to shoot. I don't care your age. Doesn't matter if you're a trends setter. Doesn't matter if you're a kindergartener tonight. God's got something that he's given you that he wants you to send out. God wants you to do something in his kingdom. Don't get focused on storing that we never shoot out. Preservation could be the worst enemy at times. Risk is a part of a meaningful life. So don't let fear make your decisions. Don't let risk keep you from stepping out. Courage is merely just a choice. And we were made for way more than just survival. Because your potential parent, what you've got in this quiver, young person, all your potential is something that we are going to be judged by how we steward. I'm going to give account. You're going to give account for the gift of a young person, for the gift of a child. So I ask you, what arrows are we launching? What arrows are we launching? There's some in this room, I know you've got giftings, you've got callings, you've got purpose. But I want you to remember that it's all about opening the door for somebody else. There's some in this room tonight that you've been gifted and you're you're you're going to change the course of history. I believe not only for this church, but the spreading of the gospel through your time and your talent and your treasure. But we can't become distracted by the things around us and we just become comfortable. We just become almost complacent in that I'm here. Elisha, if he does one thing that we can see, it's that he finishes completely empty. He's a type and shadow of Jesus. If anybody could have hung on the cross and say, "I should have done more. I could have done more." It's Jesus. He could have done anything. He could have called down angels. He could have healed everybody. His potential was limitless. But he he hung on that cross and he said just as Paul said, "I finished my course." He said, "It is finished." When it's all over, you realize there's going to be a group of young people when the trumpet sounds. There's going to be a 15year-old when it's all over. We don't get to wait till we're 35. We don't get to wait till we're 40. We don't get to wait till we're married and everything's checked off the bucket list to pour it out to God. I'm here to tell you I I just want to preach to you for just another second. Many of us are comfortable here and we want to keep our kids here because it's if I could just get to Friday at the end of the week and nobody's been hurt, nobody's made made any mistakes and we hadn't lost a job and nobody's been in a wreck and we haven't had anything, that's a good week. No, it's not. What have we done to form and shape somebody else? What have we done to make impact in the kingdom of God this week? Where is our time went? Where is our Could we evaluate? Because I'm telling you, when they're 21, it's difficult to straighten that arrow. When they're 19, it's difficult. But oh God, help us tonight to train them, to form them, to shape them, and be intentional. This is not a time, and I I want to be as kind and as sweet as possible tonight, but this is not a time to be distracted. I love everything that we do, and I know different things teach them different things, but nothing teaches them what this house of God teaches them. Nothing aligns God's gifting and God's calling for their life more than this place does. And so I challenge you tonight as we here in a moment. Here in a moment, we're going to have all of the students come and we're going to pray over the students. I'm going to have brother Isar pray over the students and we're going to pray for the Cedars of Hope Academy and their school year there in Lebanon that we're thankful to be a part of. What a powerful testimony of forming and shaping a generation in the midst of a nation. You're talking about shooting some arrows into a dark place and claiming victory in a dark place. God, help us to be intentional. But once our students come, I wish that every parent, every trends setter, every person, what good are we if we don't have a future? I'm thankful for what we've got right now, but what good are we if we don't have a future? What good are we if we don't have an arrow in the air? What good are we if we don't have someone that's claiming victory here in our future? So, I want to invite all of our students, all of our students. I know it may take a minute. I know it may take a minute for everybody to come up, but all of our students, kindergarten all the way up through college students that are going back to class, I don't want one arrow to be wasted. I don't want one young person to waste a moment, an opportunity as they gather in as close as you can. church, if you could hear me. Elisha's last arrow was not about him. It was not about him at all. It was about what's going to happen after I'm gone. What's going to happen years from now? We want it to look just as holy. We want it to look just as pure. We want them to be dancing and shouting and running the aisles. We want everything to be impacting our world the way it is right now. And so I challenge you tonight if you believe in this generation and we are going to partner together throughout this school year. I know we're going to pray over our teachers and faculty and I I pray that you are you are passionate about that when you walk through this building. But I wish you'd gather up around these students and students. I wish you'd lift your hands and close your eyes right where you're at right now. Lord, we pray over these students in the 26 27 school year. Lord, that you will help us mold them and shape them and form them. Lord, I pray that you would help us, Lord, mold their minds, shape their desires. Come on, parents, I wish you'd gather in. Come on, trends centers, I wish you'd gather in and help us. I know you can't lay hands on every one of them, but would you just make contact with somebody in front of you that they feel Lord, we love our students, God, we place them in your hands, Lord. I know that we want to keep them insulated. We know, God, our intentions are trying to keep them, God, but I pray that you would help us to teach them to bear the yoke of their youth, God. Lord, help us to challenge them in areas where they need to be challenged. Lord, help us to prepare them for a world that we cannot control. Lord, we need your guidance. We can't do it without you. Lord, put your hands upon our hands. Lord, put your hands upon our hands tonight. Lord, we want them to see greater victory. Lord, we want them to see greater victory. Lord, we want him to see, God, greater things are yet to come in this city. Greater things are yet to come in this generation in the name of Jesus. in the name of Jesus. Come on students, that's it. With your hands lifted, would you lift your voice up right now? Come on, lift up your voice right now. Come on, buy into it. I'm going to be greater this year. I'm not going to lack passion. Come on, smoke the ground, Lord. I want more, God. I want more. God, I want more. >> >> Heat. Heat. >> >> Come on parents. Come on saints. Come on saints. Help us pray. Come on. If you have a a the distance to be able to reach in and put your hand on the shoulder of a young person, I wish you'd do it right now. Lord, we want to see it. Lord, we want to see these young people, Lord. Full of passion for the things that matter. Lord, full of passion, Lord, for the things that are true. Lord, we want to be a holy generation. Lord, we want to be a royal priesthood. Lord, we want to present to you a spotless bride. Oh, God, help us. God, help us. Come on, young men. You got to be leaders. Come on, young men. We need leaders of passion for the things of God. Come on. We need young men that'll lift up their voice and pray. Come on. We're shaping you. We're forming you. We're not going to make it unless we learn to pray in the name of Jesus. Heat. Heat. >> >> Lord, we thank you. Lord, we thank you for this opportunity tonight. Lord, we want to pray over God, the Cedars of Hope Academy, Lord, there in Lebanon. God, I pray that you would let them see revival. Lord, let them see fruit of their labor, God, like never before. God, I pray that you would continue to open doors, God. I pray that you would help them to continue to form and shape arrows, God, that are going to pierce the darkness, God, that are going to make impact in the kingdom. Lord, I pray, God, that your judgment and sister is on in the name of Jesus. Brother Jake, would you pray over our students tonight?