To Every Generation…
By Bill MacLeod, Director, MissionConnexion
As a child I remember holding up a mirror to a larger wall mirror and the reflection made it seem as if I was looking down a corridor of mirrors that was infinite, without end.
In Exodus 20 God lays out the Ten Commandments for Moses but rather than them being a set of “rules”, He is underscoring the special, personal relationship He yearns to have with them. In verse 6 he makes an unusual statement when he says:
“Showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments…”
Like looking at a mirror reflected in a larger mirror…there is no way for us to comprehend the extent of the Lord’s great love for us.
If a biblical generation is 40 years, then it means that God’s love lasts at least 40,000 years! If you are an Ancestry.com amateur genealogist, you know that if you can trace your family tree back to say, the 1600’s, you have accomplished something very significant. Yet that only represents 10 generations out of a thousand!
Our theme for MissionConnexion Northwest 2024 is: “To Every Generation and Nation” taken from Genesis 9 and God’s challenge to Noah. Like looking in that endless mirror, I wonder what it would take not only to reach every generation with the gospel, but what would it represent for us as the Church today to mobilize every generation, in our own generation?
Our keynote speakers will be addressing that question, and our Leadership Connexion event will especially be dealing with that question in depth with help from you who attend.
My paternal grandmother was a devout follower of Jesus who would try to talk with us kids about the things that meant the most to her. My folks took us to church, but faith in Jesus was not something living and vital as it clearly was to “Nana” and for the most part, I was not interested.
However, my sister came to faith, and I watched her life for about a decade, then just before I started college, I realized with some urgency, my own need for a Savior. Today along with my wife, we are grateful that our adult children are all following Christ, and talking to their children, our grandchildren, about Jesus. Faith is contagious and supernaturally, “catching” in our little family microcosm, and the gospel is being transferred.
No matter what you feel your family tree has or hasn’t ‘produced’ so far, as you contemplate the generations who have gone before you and imagine the generations that will succeed you, I hope you desire to be a living “link” in the chain for God’s redemption story. I also hope you will join us this January 19-20, 2024, and discover how you might take a step to help fulfill the vision of going “to every generation” in some small way… or, as the Lord allows, in a big way.
