Equipping – A Dream for the Next Generation
Pastor Tan Thai · Mar 1, 2017
This sermon calls the church to equip the next generation to stand firm in faith within an increasingly urbanized, secular, and pluralistic society, just as Daniel remained faithful in Babylon. The true dream for our children is not fame or wealth, but building their lives on the unshakeable foundation of God.
The sermon opens by introducing the church's equipping ministry through the Five Circles of Commitment model and the Spiritual Life Development Process, comprising classes 101 through 401. The pastor emphasizes that the church cannot only equip current believers but must also think seriously about preparing the next generation—children and youth growing up in an increasingly complex world.
The central section focuses on the image of Babylon in the book of Daniel. Daniel and his friends were taken captive to Babylon as teenagers aged 15–17, renamed, forced to learn a foreign language, and made to serve in the court of their enemy. The pastor connects this ancient Babylon to modern megacities such as Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Los Angeles, and New York—places where the church's children will live and work in the near future. Urbanization brings with it temptation, competition, secularism, and religious pluralism, making it increasingly difficult to maintain faith.
King Nebuchadnezzar's dream in Daniel 2 is used to illustrate Babylon's dream: the golden head represents human power, fame, and greatness. Yet the entire statue stands on feet of iron and clay—a fragile foundation. A small stone, cut without human hands, strikes the statue and shatters it, then grows into a mountain filling the whole earth. That stone represents the kingdom of God established through Jesus Christ—the only foundation that will never collapse.
The pastor poses practical questions to parents and grandparents in the congregation: what is their dream for their children? Education, wealth, and status—or a life built on Christ? The example of Abraham in Hebrews 11:8–10 is presented: he left his homeland and lived as a foreigner because he was waiting for a city with a firm foundation, built and established by God. This is the model of faith that places its hope in the eternal kingdom rather than the temporary kingdoms of this world.
The sermon concludes with a call for the whole church to work together to equip the next generation. Parents must live authentically in their faith, bearing the fruit of the Spirit in daily life, because their lives are the first Bible their children read. The pastor quotes C.S. Lewis: seek heaven first and you will gain both; seek the world, and you will lose both. This is the pastor's heartfelt message to every child, teenager, and young adult in the congregation.