If we look back at the the way that God has worked in and through this church, the way that he's sustained us, uh we see God's hand time and time again. Uh some of you might know u moments of that story. Some of you have been here, a few handful been here for for a long time since nearly the start. Uh but Horizon started in a lounge room. And it started in a lounge room with just a handful of people that really felt this conviction that uh God was calling them to plant a lifegiving church.
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And so from the very beginning we carried this vision of being a church uh that would help people love God, love each other uh and love life. And we met together um prayed for a number of months in in the lounge room. And then we had our first public service um over at Chapman Primary School just kind of a few minutes away. But it's remarkable when you think about it because the story of Horizon Church actually started a long time before that kind of first public gathering.
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But years later the first service of at Horizon took place in the same suburb that they had originally moved to in a school hall where if you stood on the front of that school block you could actually see the house that they had first moved into. What an incredible thing it is. They had no idea at the time that when God was calling them to CRA what God was wanting to do. They just heard the call of God and and they went all in in obedience. But God was preparing well in advance the seeds of a church that would become Horizon.
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God has taken us from that journey from a church plant of 10 or so people in a lounge room to a church of about 30 meeting at Chapman to a church community here of around 150 people who call Horizon home. Now the remarkable thing is the research and all the advice that you get if you're planning a church. It says you need 50 people to plant a church. You need 50 people who are committing to plant that church. Otherwise, chances are the church will not run be running after 2 years. And yet, Horizon planted with a fraction of that. What a testimony that is to God's faithfulness, but also his sustaining power for that team who have faithfully served.
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God doesn't think just in terms of days or moments or years. God thinks in generations. I want to highlight this truth for you uh this morning in Deuteronomy 7. We're actually going to bounce around. Normally, if you if Horizon's your home, you know that this is the case. We normally have one passage that we work through verse by verse. This morning, we're actually going to jump around so you can turn there, but the words will be up on the screen as well.
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This vision of Jesus for generations. This vision is more than just a tagline or a catchphrase. Often that's what we think of slogans or that they're just kind of some kind of clever branding. I want you to capture this morning that this idea of Jesus for generations is a spiritual conviction. It's a vision that comes from this incredible truth that we see throughout the Bible. And that is that God is a generational God.
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Understand therefore that the Lord your God is indeed God. He is the faithful God who keeps his covenant for a thousand generations and lavishes his unfailing love on those who love him and obey his commands. So Moses challenges the people with this powerful reminder that God is steadfast. He is faithful and he's deeply committed to his people.
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God's love is for mature Christians. God's love is for those who are new to faith. It's upon families and singles. It's those who don't have children, those who do. It's just like the multi-generational nature of our church. God's love is for you. Regardless of the season that you're in or the journey that you've walked, God's love is for you.
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I love the fact that God takes an old Abram who has no heir and he takes him and says, "Look up at the sky. That's your future. Look up at the stars. That's your future." It's outrageous, isn't it? And and to Abram, it appears completely impossible. Abram has no clear path forward, but he trusted God anyway. He trusted God anyway.
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See, God says, "Mark this moment. Create a memory." I want you to literally set up a visual reminder not for you but for the generations because God knows that there will come a time where the future generations will ask questions and God says that when they do I want you to have something to point to. I want you to have this visible testimony of my faithfulness, that I rescued you, that I have provided for you, that I brought you into this land, that I promise.
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Scripture is really clear. It says, "Tell them because this is a posture of a generational people. People who declare the stories of God's faithfulness. because we're reminded that the power of passing on the stories of God's grace and his rescue and his power builds faith in other people. You see, those stones were not just for those people there. They were actually to be a visible reminder of God's faithfulness."
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The reality is this. You and me are here today because of Matthew 28. We're here today because of Matthew 28. Because the disciples took that call really seriously because they took the call really seriously. The fact is you and I know Jesus. or if you don't know Jesus this morning, you're hearing about him this morning because all the way through history, God has called people to think not just in terms of the here and now, but to think generationally.
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There's something really special, I think, about being in a church that is made up of lots of different people, different ages, different stories, different life experiences, all gathered together around the same hope in Jesus. I I find it encouraging to look around on a Sunday and I I get a different view to what you get. like I get to look at you from the front, but um I find it really encouraging to look out on a Sunday morning and to see people who have been following Jesus for decades uh sitting next to people who are have only just started taking those steps in their in their walk with Christ.
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That's what it means to be a generational church. Not just being in the same room on a Sunday morning, but rather being part of the same family. being called together for the same mission mission and with the same story of faith. You know, that's the radical thing about the church right from the earliest pages of Acts. What set the church apart was that it stretched across cultures, across life stages, across backgrounds and journeys.
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If we really believe that God has called us to be a generational church, to think generationally, then each of us has a responsibility. Each of us carries a role of helping others come to know Jesus. And this is where it gets personal because this vision is about everyday faithfulness. It's about responding to that same call that the disciples responded to as Jesus gathered them together as Jesus says to them, I want you to be disciplemakers who courageously share your faith.
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When one person makes a decision to follow Jesus, it's never just about one life being changed. That one decision creates a ripple effect that can influence a whole family. It can shift the culture of a friendship group. It can break generational cycles and create new spiritual legacies. The result of your courage to share your faith and the work of the Holy Spirit. The reality of of that is that people you have never met, people perhaps in another city or another generation will be transformed by Jesus.
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Scripture actually tells us a different story because it reminds us again and again and again that the decisions you make today in faith matter. Not just for you but for the people that will come long after you. That's the generational impact of living out your faith.
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