Monthly Newsletter
July 2025
To Him who loves us, and set us free from our sins by His blood. And He has made us to be a Kingdom, priests to His God and Father .
Revelation 1:5-6
Freedom is not free! We are reminded every July 4th (among other holidays) that we live in a free country. What an amazing blessing! With all of our problems, divisions and issues we are still thankful to be in this nation. The danger we face is that we have more and more people who are so disconnected from the sacrifices that brought us here, that we are in danger of forgetting them or even jeopardizing our freedoms.
But even worse than that would be forgetting the ultimate sacrifice that brought us real and lasting freedom. What a dangerous place to be if we forget or forsake or downgrade the Sacrifice of Jesus Christ on our behalf. To lose our freedoms in a country is bad, but to forsake our God and Savior is even worse.
Unfortunately we face this very real danger in the body of Christ. It has been discovered that there is a Four-generational shift that occurs in every church.
Generation number 1 does the pioneering work. This is the generation that makes the sacrifices and lays the foundations.
Generation number 2 does the deep work of finishing and fighting for the work.
Generation number 3 often reaps the results of the hard work and has a tendency toward reaping what others have sown and resting in what others have won.
Generation number 4 is the one who has been on the receiving end of so many blessings and benefits that it often times ignores the steps that were taken to get them there and thereby loses the ground that the other generations worked to establish.
So, which one of these generations would describe you? Where would you evaluate WBC at currently? You see, there is nothing necessarily wrong with the first 3 generations. Each have their mission and their blessing. Each have their hard work and sacrifices but each also have their joys and triumphs. And as long as each generation is investing in the next one, the work continues.
But God stop any one of us or all of us from ever becoming Generation number 4 in the body of Christ! That is the generation of entitlement, laziness, self-centeredness and ultimately the generation that loses all that the previous 3 had worked so hard to accomplish. Generation number 4 cares more about their own preferences over the mission of the church. Generation number 4 is more caught up in their own lives than investing in the next generation. Generation number 4 mistakenly believes that they are the end of everything that was done before them, rather than seeing themselves as the next conduit of God’s work. Generation number 4 may idolize the past while they grumble about the future. Generation number 4 believes the best days of God’s work are behind them rather than involving them. Generation number 4 lives in nostalgia rather than vision. So again I say, God help any one of us or all of us from becoming generation number 4.
To the generation 1 pioneers, keep trailblazing in new and exciting ministries. To the generation 2 fighters, keep holding the line. To the generation 3 harvesters, keep your hand on the work. And to all of us, keep moving forward for the next generations of pioneers, fighters and harvesters! And let us all do this knowing that our freedom wasn’t free. Our blessings were purchased by the Sacrifice of Jesus Christ! And so were our responsibilities.
To God be the glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
Honored to be your Pastor,
Pastor Brandon
Revelation 1:5-6
Freedom is not free! We are reminded every July 4th (among other holidays) that we live in a free country. What an amazing blessing! With all of our problems, divisions and issues we are still thankful to be in this nation. The danger we face is that we have more and more people who are so disconnected from the sacrifices that brought us here, that we are in danger of forgetting them or even jeopardizing our freedoms.
But even worse than that would be forgetting the ultimate sacrifice that brought us real and lasting freedom. What a dangerous place to be if we forget or forsake or downgrade the Sacrifice of Jesus Christ on our behalf. To lose our freedoms in a country is bad, but to forsake our God and Savior is even worse.
Unfortunately we face this very real danger in the body of Christ. It has been discovered that there is a Four-generational shift that occurs in every church.
Generation number 1 does the pioneering work. This is the generation that makes the sacrifices and lays the foundations.
Generation number 2 does the deep work of finishing and fighting for the work.
Generation number 3 often reaps the results of the hard work and has a tendency toward reaping what others have sown and resting in what others have won.
Generation number 4 is the one who has been on the receiving end of so many blessings and benefits that it often times ignores the steps that were taken to get them there and thereby loses the ground that the other generations worked to establish.
So, which one of these generations would describe you? Where would you evaluate WBC at currently? You see, there is nothing necessarily wrong with the first 3 generations. Each have their mission and their blessing. Each have their hard work and sacrifices but each also have their joys and triumphs. And as long as each generation is investing in the next one, the work continues.
But God stop any one of us or all of us from ever becoming Generation number 4 in the body of Christ! That is the generation of entitlement, laziness, self-centeredness and ultimately the generation that loses all that the previous 3 had worked so hard to accomplish. Generation number 4 cares more about their own preferences over the mission of the church. Generation number 4 is more caught up in their own lives than investing in the next generation. Generation number 4 mistakenly believes that they are the end of everything that was done before them, rather than seeing themselves as the next conduit of God’s work. Generation number 4 may idolize the past while they grumble about the future. Generation number 4 believes the best days of God’s work are behind them rather than involving them. Generation number 4 lives in nostalgia rather than vision. So again I say, God help any one of us or all of us from becoming generation number 4.
To the generation 1 pioneers, keep trailblazing in new and exciting ministries. To the generation 2 fighters, keep holding the line. To the generation 3 harvesters, keep your hand on the work. And to all of us, keep moving forward for the next generations of pioneers, fighters and harvesters! And let us all do this knowing that our freedom wasn’t free. Our blessings were purchased by the Sacrifice of Jesus Christ! And so were our responsibilities.
To God be the glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
Honored to be your Pastor,
Pastor Brandon
