5 Things Gen Z Seeks
We can remember them with the acronym APPLY.
Authenticity
You seek authenticity. You’ve seen disingenuous counterfeits. You have a hunger and thirst for authenticity, but where do you find that? You want something that’s real, and genuine. How has your search worked out for you? Where can genuine reality be found?
To find that you have to go to the beginning. Where did reality begin?
In the beginning was the word and word was with God and the word was God. He was with God in the beginning. “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
The word became a person and He was full of grace and truth. Authenticity is more than a concept. Authenticity is a person. Forget all the misconceptions you may have of Jesus. He is far different than what you think. If you can get past the misconceptions you have about Jesus, you will discover the one true, authentic person. He said I am the truth. The truth isn’t a religious system. The truth is a person. 1:19
That is my experience. Jesus is completely different than what I had thought. He became real to me when I was just 16..He has been real to me for decades now. I experience His authentic presence every day. I encourage you to reach out to Him in sincere faith. You’ll find that He meets you where you are, and will change the direction of your life. He will lead you into authenticity, the truth.
Peace. Emotional Stability
40 % of Gen Z suffers from anxiety and depression. That’s 2 out of every 5. Maybe that is you. Where do you look to for a solution for anxiety and depression? How is that working for you? Where can peace be found? Peace isn’t the absence of conflict or pressure, but is a spiritual quality. It’s actually a person. A name for Jesus is prince of peace. He is our peace. The Greek word for peace is eyeRAYnay and comes from the verb“EYEro”, which means to join, tie, or bind together. It means bringing together what was separated. The reason we lack peace is we are separated from God who is peace. All of us are born with a self-seeking nature that looks to live life independently from God. This is our human nature. Jesus came to bring us back to God.
Jesus the night before He was crucified said “
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”
John 14:27
He had peace even though He anticipated the worst suffering imaginable. That kind of peace He offers to us if we can believe. We need to be joined to Him. We need to be connected to Him. I’m not talking about a religious entity, I’m talking about being connected to Jesus Himself. If you will reach out to Him in faith He will reach out to you. In Jesus you will discover the peace that passes understanding, andwill learn how to walk in peace even when things are difficult. It will change your life.
Purpose
That you are here-that life exists and identity. That the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse.
What verse will you contribute?
You were created with a desire for purpose. You have been given a unique contribution to offer to the world. You have something to contribute that lasts beyond your own life. Do you know what that is? How do you discover it?
King David of ancient Israel said,
“I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” And, “All the days ordained for me were written in Your book, before one of them came to be.”
You are a work of art, and God’s masterpiece. All your days were written in His book, before one of them came to be. God wants you to discover the purpose for which He made you, that you can live all your days. But how do you do that? God revealed His purpose for Moses in the encounter with the burning bush.
You need to learn to hear His voice. He will reveal to you your purpose through His word. Now I don’t mean hear His audible voice. The apostle Peter in the Bible said he had heard the audible voice of God, but that we have the word made more sure. He said it was the Scriptures, what we call the Bible. We need to commit to know His written word, and as we learn to obey it, He will reveal His will and purpose for our life.
We learn to hear His word and take steps to act upon it, and as we are faithful in what He shows us, He then gives us more. It’s a step by step process. We will discover how He has shaped us to fulfill His purpose for our life. We will see how He has given us spiritual gifts, and also how He will use our heart’s desires, our abilities, personality, and life experience to offer our unique contribution to the world.
The first step is to receive the word of Jesus and begin a personal relationship with Him. His purpose was to come as a human being to reveal God to us, and offer Himself as the sacrifice for our sins, to reconcile us to God. We do that by repenting, which mean to change our mind, and receiving Him into our life.
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Living in community
It was said of Adam the first human being that is not good for man to be alone. Although this was said in the context of a woman being created to be with the man in marriage , it still speaks of it not being good to be alone.
“The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.””
Genesis 2:18
We have an innate desire for community. We were created for it. We were not created to live life alone.
Gen Z is the most connected generation on social media, but also the loneliest.
You want to belong, but belong to what?
What is the solution?
When Jesus was on this earth the first thing He did was choose 12 disciples. They were most likely 20 somethings. That’s who He chose to change the world. They believed in Him, but didn’t understand many things He said until after He rose from the dead.
He said we was leaving and going back with the Father, but He would send the Holy Spirit who would come to dwell in them. He told them to love one another. The day He poured out His Spirit, 3000 others believed in Jesus. They formed a new spiritual community called the body of Christ. They would follow Jesus in community with a spiritual fellowship.
You can find this spiritual community by doing what those 3000 did that day, and that is to believe in Jesus. Receive Him into your life. He will connect you to God and you will be connected to a spiritual family. This is the community your search for, and is found in Jesus.
When God created Eve, Adam was no longer alone, but they were deceived by the enemy, and lost their connect to God and to each other. What was supposed to be the perfect family, was now plagued with disharmony.
To rectify the situation the Son of God became a human being. He died for our sin so that we can be re-connected to God. The believers in Jesus form part of a new community called the body of Christ. It is a spiritual connection made possible by the Spirit of God. 1:08
Jesus said we must be born again by the Holy Spirit, and by His Spirit we have access to God the Father, and we also have fellowship with each other through Jesus. We can now experience community with fullness. The first step is to place faith in Jesus and invite Him into our life. Then we will have fellowship with Jesus and then with the spiritual family called the body of Christ. Fellowship is from the Greek word koinonia which means to have in common. What we have in common is the Holy Spirit, who joins us together spiritually.
Yearn Hope
What do you yearn for? On what do you base your hope on?
Hope is a favorable expectation.
Today it can be difficult to look at the world with all its problems and find hope.
The followers of Jesus had put all their hope on Jesus for 3 1/2 years. He told them He was going to be delivered up to be crucified, but they refused to believe it. When they saw Jesus be betrayed and then flogged and crucified all their hopes were crushed. It was the darkest night in their life. They endured Friday night. They endured Saturday. Their future was destroyed. Their hopes were shattered.
Have you ever had your hope crushed? Maybe you can relate to the followers of Jesus, and understand how they felt.
But Sunday morning came with a completely unexpected occurrence. The women who went to the tomb came back with unanticipated news. They said Jesus had risen from the dead and had appeared to them. Peter and John ran to the empty tomb. They saw that His body wasn’t there. That evening they were together behind locked doors for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus appeared to them and said “peace be with you”! They were overjoyed. Their hope was restored. This is the great hope for all humanity. Jesus rose from the dead.
Peter would later write,
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,”
1 Peter 1:3
God has given us a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.
If Jesus is your hope, then God has a sure promise for you.
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
Romans 8:28
You can live with a living hope that God will make everything work together for His good purpose for your life.
It all starts and ends with Jesus.
He is our hope¡