AIHR WEEK FIVE Multigenerational Investors Instructions

June 15, 2024
AIHR

Multigenerational Investors
WEEK FIVE

WEEK FIVE Multigenerational Investors

We are multigenerational investors who invest with future generations in mind, the long-term work of God in our hearts, and a passion to steward faithfully all that God has entrusted to us for His kingdom causes.
By many human measures, Austin appears to be a flourishing city, consistently gracing “best of” lists and drawing people in droves with its Instagrammable lifestyle. Our city is becoming less “weird” and more wired. It’s no longer the quaint communal Austin of 20 years ago; every day it seems to grow into more of a futuristic secular boomtown.
People move to Austin filled with hope—hope for fulfilling and lucrative work that can help them reach personal and family goals, hope for safe neighborhoods and good schools for their children, hope that the much-hyped entertainment and food scenes are as good as social media declares them to be.
A person can move to Austin, find all those things, and show the world a convincingly happy life. But does reaching those goals and having those things really give lasting joy?
As disciples of Christ, we know nothing of this earth can lead us to flourish in the way our hearts truly desire. The world’s promises of satisfaction and fulfillment in our achievements, our wealth, our safety, and our recognition ultimately fail.
But we, the family of God, can rest. Our hope is secure in Christ. We don’t have to strive for the things the world values to build our own kingdoms, because God has already given us everything we need in His kingdom. We are His beloved children, and our identity and security are assured. We are free to experience real joy in using our resources to invest in eternal treasures that won’t waste away. We don’t have to worry about tomorrow, because God has already taken care of our needs here on earth and in eternity.
We are called to be good stewards, faithfully investing our time and resources now for multigenerational impact.
The legacies the world acknowledges and honors are often di!erent from those of God’s kingdom. If you’re investing money to yield profit in the future, what are you hoping to do with that wealth? If you’re aching to carve out more free time in your life, what will you spend that time doing? What are the ends you hope to achieve with the small deposits of time, money, energy, and imagination you are making now? What is enduring about what you hope to achieve?
We want to invest all our resources with future generations in mind. We want to be a church with the longterm work of God in our hearts and a passion to faithfully steward all that God has entrusted to us for His kingdom causes in Austin and in the nations.
C.S. Lewis famously wrote about keeping eternity in mind. He said, “if you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were precisely those who thought most of the next. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ine!ective in this one.”5
We want to build a healthy church that serves our city well now and years from now. We want to prioritize leaving a legacy of faith and resources that will facilitate future disciples of Jesus meeting together, worshiping God, and sharing the gospel with their friends and neighbors. We want to sow sacrificially today so that future generations may reap a harvest of righteousness and experience the blessing of faithful saints who have gone before and thought ahead.
COMMITMENT: I commit to investing my time and resources for ministry beyond my lifetime.

CONSIDER: REFLECT AND IMAGINE

THE HEART OF OUR VISION TO BE MULTIGENERATIONAL INVESTORS:

  • Our goal is not personal enrichment but sustainable and reproducible kingdom impact.
  • We recognize that investment involves both short- and long-term considerations and resources.
  • To do this well, we must invest our time, talents, and treasures beyond ourselves and our lifetimes.

SCRIPTURE MEDITATION AND MEMORIZATION:
Meditating on and memorizing Scripture helps us consider and rest in the promises God has made. It helps us hide His Word in our hearts so that we can build our lives on the firm foundation of His truth.
Take time now and throughout this week to meditate on and memorize Deuteronomy 4:9, which concerns being a multigenerational investor.

9“Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life.” (Deuteronomy 4:9)

PERSONAL REFLECTION:

  1. Sometimes when we hear the word “investor,” we may only think of financial investments.
    Deuteronomy 4:9 and Psalm 78:5–7, some of the foundational Scriptures upon which our Joyfully Devoted vision is built, speak of a di!erent kind of investment. In light of these verses, write down what it means to be a faithful steward of multigenerational investments.

  2. What from an inheritance is worth receiving? Reflect on the generations of believers before us. What inheritance in the faith did we receive from them? How did they model knowing and following Jesus for us? What from their example do you want to replicate for the next generation?
    What do you want to change in order to leave a better faith inheritance for those who follow us?

  3. Identifying obstacles to making wise multigenerational investments now gives us tangible things to pray for. Take a few minutes to fill out the chart below. What opportunities for investment already exist? What are some of the real obstacles to investment? How can you turn these obstacles into prayers to God as you make His gospel known to the current and next generations?

MULTIGENERATIONAL INVESTMENT: OPPORTUNITIES AND OBSTACLES

| Opportunities| Obstacles| Prayers
---|---|---|---
Personal/Family| | |
Church| | |
City/Neighborhood| | |

GROUP REFLECTION:

  1. Discipleship is at the heart of multigenerational kingdom investment. Discipleship is intentional investment in helping another believer grow into maturity in Christ. Who is in your spheres of influence with whom you could form a discipleship relationship so as to start investing in the next generation of believers?
  2. What role do you think communities and groups of people play in investing faithfully now to prepare the way for the next generation? How does the idea of investing in the next generation change when you consider doing it in community with other believers rather than on your own?
  3.  The Austin Stone elders have identified four primary ways we as a church can invest in the next generation. Read the definitions below, and then use the chart provided to dream about how God might creatively answer our prayers about investing in these things.

i. Future-proofed people – training leaders now who will lead when we cannot. We invest through training others while we’re still strong and able.
ii. Ministry-maximizing spaces – facilitating ministry in an expensive city. We invest through creating opportunities for creativity and collaboration in order to maximize ministry in the spaces we steward.
iii. Opportunity-ready balance sheet – creating margin and helping others create margin so we can be ready for ministry when God provides opportunities. We invest through “purchasing” future flexibility for the church.
iv. Beautifully true resources – creating tangible elements of the faith full of truth and beauty that will testify to what is true about God and draw people to Him. We invest through developing kingdom-minded resources we can hand to the next generation to help them grow to maturity in the faith.

MULTIGENERATIONAL INVESTMENT: IT TAKES ALL OF US

Future-proofed people| Ministry-maximizing spaces| Opportunity-ready balance sheet| Beautifully true resources
---|---|---|---
| | |

PRACTICE THIS WEEK:
Consider your week. What places and spaces are you already investing in? What relationships are you building? Are any of these part of the legacy you want to build for the next generation of believers? Can any of them become an investment opportunity to put toward a kingdom-minded legacy?
Dream about what God could do through the investments you’re already making and those you want to make in the future. Who could you partner with for even more impact?

PRAYER:
Lord, help me to think beyond self-enrichment and my own desires and needs. I want to use my time, talents, and treasures to honor You and invest in future generations of believers. I want believers in Austin to be known for their generosity, courage, and love, and I want to be a part of creating that legacy. Show me how to invest beyond my lifetime so that many may come to faith through the seeds I sow now. Help me consider what it means for me to commit to this vision of being a multigenerational investor. Amen.

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