Bows and Arrows
“What Are Bows and Arrows”
Scripture: Psalms 127:1-5
“Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain. in vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat - for grants to sleep to those he loves. Children are a heritage from the Lord, offspring a reward from him. Like Arrows in the hands of a warrior are children born in one’s youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. They will not be put to shame when they contend with their opponents in court.”
Introduction:
We are going to continue our series in Revelation next week, I feel like God is leading men to preach a specific topic today. Today was a first for me, as we dedicated Major and Navy to the Lord. This upcoming week we will be taking the youth to six flags, preparing and decorating for Vacation Bible School, and we will be gathering here sowing seeds in the lives of so many kids Friday and Saturday night.
So many is ready to throw in the towel and give up on the generation that is coming after us but I refuse to let Hell have our babies.
However, in order for them to be who they need to be in life, they need us to be who we are called to be.
Mom and Dad you can’t get mad at your children for not making church a priority if you viewed it as optional and not a necessity. This is why scripture says in the book of proverbs to train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will never depart from it.
This generation does not need people who can talk but can’t walk.
God has been dealing with me regarding our youth and our children. Monday night, we gathered in our children’s classrooms and anointed them and prayed for our children and our leaders.
The Monday before that we gathered in the youth room and prayed and the Holy Ghost came in so strong, God actually spoke a word to me that night about contending for the body.
You may not understand it, but I am claiming that in those children’s rooms today are Pastors, Evangelist, Prophets, laborers, Teachers, Worship Leaders….
I am believing that those teens who gather on Wednesday night are prophets to nations, men and women of character and integrity. I am believing that they are not a lost generation but a chosen generation, the remnant that God is raising up to carry revival!
But in order for them to be that, we must be who we are called to be. Spiritual leaders who are pointing them in the direction of Christ and in the paths that he has laid out for them. You may not be a preacher or a teacher, but you are a believer and your life will preach louder than a sermon ever will.
Momma, Let them hear you pray in Holy Ghost! Daddy, Let them see you worship! Church, let them see you get excited. Let them see you get under the anointing!
If you want them to be alive, then quit acting deceased. You cannot blame them for mimicking what they see.
Young people in the room, there is an importance of having people in your life who want you to launch into places that they never could go. People who genuinely want to see you flourish and succeed in the Kingdom of God.
Family, right now in the moment, you may not feel it yet or see it yet, but there are preachers in the room, Teachers in the room, Laborers in the room. However, God will use you with wisdom who are anointed by God to help them grow into the ministry that God is calling them into.
So today I want to preach to you the importance of Bows and Arrows.
- What are Bows and Arrows?
Now I know in the days we live in this is probably obsolete, but when I was growing up we didn’t have social media, smart phones, or anything of the sort. My Momma and Daddy didn’t even get me a phone until I could drive, by the way mom and dad, I think that is a great idea! Sorry young people, but the enemy is intercepting the minds of your generation through the tap of an app or on the search bar.
When I was growing up, kids were found being kids. Playing hide and seek, backyard football, basketball, and maybe even Cowboys and Indians.
Anybody ever played Cowboys and Indians by show of hands?
If you haven’t, your childhood was robbed. Cowboys and Indians was probably my favorite game to play growing up. It was more fun when you had multiple people. But if you were a cowboy, and you didn’t have a cap gun, you would look over the yard and find a stick that resembled a pistol and that would represent your weapon.
But being the Indian was way cooler than being the cowboy because if you were an Indian you had to make your own bow.
making a bow was a little challenging because you had to find a stick that would bend a little, cut some notches in the ends and tie a string or fishing line around the ends. Yet, sometimes the sticks we picked to be a bow, would break when you tried to bend them because they were too stiff for the job.
Stiff people will never make good bows.
Listen to me, If you can’t be flexible, if you can’t bend a little, if you can’t endure pressure…you will not make a good bow.
Making the bow was only part of being an Indian. Once you made the bow, you had to make an arrow because what good is a bow if there is nothing to be launched from it. We would find the young saplings or young branches, cut them off, and scrape the tips on the pavement to sharpen them a little to make them resemble an arrow.
An arrow is a little more complex than a bow because it has multiple parts. I have one with me tonight and so I am going to walk you through it.
First you have the “NOCK”. It is the piece that meets the string that has a groove in it. Next is the “SHAFT” which is basically the body of the arrow. Next is the “INSERT” which is where the point connects to the shaft. Then we have the “POINT”. The point is what helps the arrow stick to the target that it is shot at.
But as small as it may seem, the most important part of the arrow is the “FLETCHING”.
When we were kids we would shoot our arrows out of our homemade bows but they wouldn’t go far. Because without the fletching, the arrow is not balanced and has no guidance.
Today I am a bow. I am preparing to launch you and to help you meet your target. You, are the arrow. You have to trust that the bow is flexible enough yet sturdy enough to provide you the momentum that you need to go forward in your relationship with God.
You seasoned saints who feel that you serve no purpose and you have no place in the chruch listen to me…YOU are a bow in the kingdom of God who is making an impact on the generation to come.
Women, when you gather in that kitchen on Wednesday night, you are a bow. Men when you pick people up in the church van on Wednesday nights, you are a bow. Youth workers when you teach those teens on Wednesday’s, you are a bow. Children Church workers, when you teach those kids on Sundays and wednesdays, you are bows in the kingdom of God…
When you say a kind word to them, pray for them, encourage them, or sow into them…you are a bow!
Don’t ever develop the mindset that what you are doing doesn't matter when you are actively launching the remnant.
The Bible literally says that the Children are a Heritage from the Lord.
A heritage is basically an inheritance. It means “Something that is passing from one generation to the next”
I hope you love me because I plan on being here until retirement, amen? I told you when I interviewed that I wanted to pastor generations. But do you know what my prayer is? Lord, Let the next pastor be in that children’s room. God let the next council members, youth workers, cooks, bus drivers, worship leaders, children teachers….LET THEM BE IN THE YOUTH AND CHILDREN ROOMS.
Why do you pray that pastor?
If none of them picks up the mantle and carries it to the next generation, all of this stop here. If no one picks up the burden to reach the broken and bring them to Jesus, then it will die here. If none of them in the room desire to carry the church forward, then the next generation will have nothing to inherit from this generation.
Not only will it have nothing to inherit, but it will never get the chance to evolve into something relevant and necessary to address the needs of the day and hour that it will be in.
I spent a couple of hours on Thursday mentoring preachers within this church and helping them understand their calling. I love doing that because I want to be for them who I needed when I was in their shoes.
Do you know why its important for us to sow into the next generation?
We are literally training leaders who do not yet know that they are leaders who in time will develop other leaders.
It is a cycle that must continue for the church to finish the commission.
Young people in the room, let me talk to you today.
1st Timothy 4:12 says “Let no one despise your youth, but be a example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity.”
I do not look down upon you because of your age because I am prophesying in the name of Jesus that you are going to take routes that none of your family has ever taken. You are going places that no one before you has ever gone. Some of you will be the first ones in your family to be filled with the Holy Ghost. Some of you will be the first one in your family who is called into ministry. Some of you will be the offspring of those before you who were faithful and fervent in their prayer life concerning the will of God for your life.
But in order for you to go places in the spirit you need to Submit yourself to a Godly mentor who will give you sound, scriptural advice and who will help strengthen your character and your integrity.
Look at our original text in the book of Psalms. Verse 4 states that “Children are like arrows in the hands of a warrior.”
An arrow is sharp. It will take down whatever it hits. It keeps enemies from getting close.
An arrow allows you to conquer enemies without having run toward them.
The purpose of the arrow, is to go far ahead of the archer, but also protect what is behind it.
The arrow gives you reach, longevity, and potential to conquer what is in front of you before you ever arrive.
Listen to me, verse 4 is talking about you young people. You are the arrow in the hand of a warrior. While it may seem in the moment that you don’t matter. If you miss church you are not missed. Your absence does not put a damper on the service. You are not as wise as some people. You are not as advanced as others….
What good is a bow, with no arrows?
This is my beef with churches who do not invest in their youth and their kids. By choosing not to, they are choosing to die and go extinct.
But it is you….YOU…who will reach the target before I ever arrive..WHY?
Because my wisdom becomes your knowledge and you are learning things now that took me 26 years to learn. Because of this, you will go further at a much quicker speed than I have gone. Is that a bad thing? No! That means that I am fulfilling my calling a shepherd over a quiver of arrows who are sharp and ready to be launched.
Warriors are useless without the arrow, but arrows are useless without the bow.
Without the bow, you will get the opposite effect when it comes to an arrow. You can still take out an enemy, but without the bow the enemy is already on top of you before you can touch him with the arrow.
This is why a healthy church is a diverse church. A generational church.
Warriors don’t win battles with bows or arrows….they win them with bows and arrows.
It takes the old and the young. You are not useless. We are not unknowing. But without you, we are useless and without us you’ll be unknowing.
The arrow represents the next generation. The bow represents the wisdom, skill, and process of the tried and true previous generation.
If might be the arrows first flight, but it’s alright if it has a bow that has been tested over time to make sure that it is the proper guide for an arrow than can reach the future and protect the house and the city.
- Happy is the Man
Let’s continue breaking down this scripture from the book of psalms.
Verse 5 says. “Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them.”
In other words, Happy is a man who has many arrows.
I want you to understand the we have an adversary who is the devil. Peter tells us that he is seeking whom he may devour. Jesus tells us that the enemy comes to kill, steal, and destroy. Paul tells us in Ephesians 6 that he has “Fiery darts” or arrows that he is shooting at us in the spirit.
The enemy is threatening the present and the future of What is now.
One arrow will only get you killed.
You cannot go into battle with the enemy if all you have to fire at him is one arrow. One arrow is not enough, but many arrows ensure that the gates of the city and the doors of the house are guarded.
Listen, it is not the gun that we are afraid of when it is pointed at us…it is the ammunition.
Without the ammunition the gun is nothing but a hollow hunk of metal. Without the arrow, the bow is pointless. The enemy is not afraid of a bow that only has an arrow. He is afraid of a bow that can eliminate his threats with many arrows that can penetrate his strongholds.
A happy man is someone who invests in the next generation.
- The Value of the Bow and Arrow
We know the bow is useless without the arrows and the arrows are useless without the bows, right?
They only have true value when they are paired together.
By themselves, neither of them are valid weapons, but when you put them together, you can stand on the wall and take out the threat before they ever get to you or your city.
A bow without an arrow is nothing but a trophy of yesterday’s victories.
It is not useful. It is just collecting dust. Serving no purpose and attaining no value.
An arrow without a bow is a misguided projectile that can never hit its target.
It will always wander aimlessly through life, trying to hit the mark but always coming up short.
The bow and the arrow have to develop a mentor to mentoree relationship.
In order to build this relationship, the bow and the arrow must develop HEALTHY tension. Healthy tension will test them both.
The bow can only add value to the arrow if it can bend and be flexible. The arrow can only be valuable if it will submit to healthy tension.
The true value of the arrow is in its ability to be navigated by the bow.
An arrow that only flies its own coarse is as useless as a bow that cannot flex.
Only a flexible bow and a guided arrow can hit the mark.
Conclusion:
Hebrews 13:7 says “remember your leaders, who spoke the word of god to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.”
I thank God for the men and women in my life who prepared me for my launch. My Mom, Aunt, and Uncle instilled so much into me in the early years of my life. Watching them in ministry, prepared me for this momen. My uncle was the first preacher that I ever remember. He preached hard and was strict when it came to the word. Looking back, I needed that because without his influence, I may not have been prepared for my launch.
I remember the first miracle that I ever witnessed. Sister Sanford who pastors here in Cullman, took my hand and placed it on a woman’s leg that was significantly shorter than the other and said “Command the leg to grow.” I remember the amazement when it evened out with the other but without that instruction, I may not have been prepared to launch.
My mentors in the Kingdom of God, Pastor Danny Garrison, Pastor Neal Fowler, and Pastor Joseph Martin…without their guidance; I don't know if I would have been prepared to launch.
You never get to the point in life that you don't need a bow. You are always going to need someone to help you move forward in life.
Someday, someone will be having a conversation and they’ll say, had it not been for Ryan Wilburn teaching me and mentoring me, I don’t know if I would be ready to launch.
Some will say, if it wasn’t for Renovation church, I don’t know if I would be where I am today with the Lord. Some young person is going to grow up and remember everything you did to make an impact in their life.
On this side of eternity, we may never know the significance of our actions, but when we get to heaven and you are in amazement at what you see only to feel a tug at your robe….a child that says “thank you for your donation to that mission…because of your donation…I’m here today.”