Remembering the Next Generation in Our Giving

Pastor Scott opened by saying this topic hadn't been tackled for a few years. He named a struggle in the American church: we have trouble looking beyond ourselves and our own moment. Drawing on the story of Hezekiah, he reflected on how easy it is to breathe a sigh of relief that our own lives are safe, even when the cost comes for those after us.

"What's so frustrating, the response of Hezekiah was, 'Well, at least I'm going to be okay.'"

He underlined that what we do today, especially in our spiritual practices and giving, doesn't stop with us. Our decisions ripple onward, forming the culture our children and neighbors inherit. Christianity is never just individual, it is generational.

When Rituals Become Teaching Moments

He reminded us that the habits we think of as rituals, gathering, singing, praying, communion, offering, are not empty routines. These are practices that communicate to others, especially the next generation, who we are and where our trust lies.

He spoke honestly about his own discomfort when communion became weekly, worried that it might become just a routine for us. But he recognized these rhythms are intentional:

"The idea is that when we're sitting in the pews, our children might be sitting with us and they're observing. They're watching us do these things because they're going to ask questions."

He recalled a lesson from Dr. Bentz: the difference between first, second, third, and fourth generations of churchgoers. The first generation is passionate and intentional, but by the third or fourth, faith can become inherited more as a custom than conviction, or left behind altogether. When we let spiritual practices hollow out, we risk teaching our children that faith is for public show, not personal or communal reliance on God.

Stories from the Pew and the Neighborhood

To ground this, Pastor Scott shared from his own childhood in Indiana. He didn't grow up in a churchgoing home, but neighbors, unaware of their impact, were quietly discipling him with kindness and stories of Jesus. Their seeds, planted, yielded fruit he suspects they never got to see. The lesson: none of us sees the legacy of our giving in full, but our part is to plant resilient, visible witness for the ones coming after us.

He also shared what happens when children see their parents or elders give out of scarcity, not surplus:

"If I would have seen my mom and my stepfather giving money that we did not have to give to a church, you better believe. You know what I'm going to do? What are you doing? Did you see what do you think God's using something here? God has in mind because he knows if that you're going to remain a people and you're going to stay in the promised land, you're going to have to teach your children."

He pressed us: when the hard questions come from the kids, that is our opening to testify. It matters, at home and in the church, that we connect what we have to God's generosity.

Israel, the Passover, and Remembering Dependence

Pastor Scott then moved from personal story to scripture, walking us through Exodus 13. Israel, fresh out of Egypt, is asked by God to commemorate their rescue with a meal and a sacrifice, marking every year what God has done. The Passover set Israel apart, not only because of the food or its meaning, but because it required costly giving. It put parents in the honest place of having to explain to their children why they would give up the best animal or resources.

"On that day, tell your son, I do this because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt. This observance will be for you like a sign on your hand and a reminder on your forehead."

Scott explained: the point wasn't that God needed what they sacrificed, but that Israel needed to remember their own dependence. Their children needed to hear, not just with words, but as they watched the adults trust God enough to give first and best back to him.

He drew a living parallel to today: just as Passover was not about keeping a ritual for its own sake, our offering is more than a budget need for the church. It is a marker of dependence, public, regular, and forming our identity as a people the Lord has set apart.

Sacrificial Giving as Spiritual Formation

Scott challenged the congregation not to see their giving as managing the church or keeping up appearances, but as an active ingredient in our discipleship, the way we let God loosen our grip on self-reliance and model trust for our children. He traced how giving out of surplus instead of sacrifice trains up not only indifferent givers, but indifferent children.

"When we do that, I don't know how much louder we could say it that we depend upon ourselves instead of God and our kids see it."

He returned to personal experience, remembering the lean years when Debbie and he were first married and giving sometimes didn’t make sense mathematically. Even then, God provided. He noted how easily even regular offerings can become rote, and why vigilance matters: every act either trains us to rely more deeply on Christ or quietly to edge him out for our own solutions.

Giving That Remembers the Covenant

The final section was a call to see giving as a response to covenant. Here, Scott explained clearly that, as he reads the Scriptures, the covenant with God is not automatic, it involves responsibilities. He insisted that if we want our children (and theirs) to remain in the life God offers, we must model and explain dependence, not leave it assumed. Sacrificial giving is about continuity of faith, a sign that grace is remembered and lived out:

"You have a covenant with the Lord. We call it the new covenant. And what the Israelites are learning right now is for us to remain in right standing with the Lord because of the free will he gives us. Well, there are things that we have to do and we have to be intentional to teach our children about those things."

He urged everyone, members or not, to give where need arises, always remembering that the act is for our transformation and our children’s. The test, he stressed, was not just what happens when we gather, but what fruit shows up in our families and our communities over decades. The real legacy is not the church’s size but whether the community is changed by the fruit of the Spirit rippling outward.

Living It Out

This week, let’s reflect honestly: what do our patterns of giving, financial, time, and attention, show our children and our neighbors about the source of our life? Each act of sacrificial giving is a testimony, not just a transaction. Our trust in God is taught as much by what we are willing to let go as by what we hold onto. May we practice this discipline not for display, but to remember and reveal that we belong to a faithful God.

Discussion Questions

1. When have you witnessed someone’s sacrificial giving make a lasting impact on a child or community? What stands out from that memory?
2. What questions have your children or others' children asked about why Christians give? How did you (or would you) answer?
3. In your own experience, how do rituals like giving or communion shape your sense of dependence on God rather than on yourself?