A bit over a week a go, I and some of the other kids an youth leaders went up to town for a training night all about “Generation Z” which is our current teenagers.

And it was a fascinating night as Claire Madden described to us this generation of young people, how they think, what makes them tick, and how they view the world.

I found it particularly interesting however, when she was describing how teenagers today do their homework…

Let me ask you, when you were doing your homework as a child, and you came across a word that you didn’t understand, what would you do?

For example, you’re reading your text book, and you come across this word: “Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia”

You might look it up in the dictionary…or a thesaurus…or even an encyclopaedia.

But that’s not how generation thinks. For many young people today, they don’t need a dictionary or encyclopaedia, because they have their very own homework assistant who’s name is “Google”.

So all they need to do is say, “ok Google, define “Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia”

…and they’ll get their answer straight away.

Now sometimes when you go to these information nights, especially about cultural trends or understanding how generations are engaging (or not engaging) with faith, you can come away feeling discouraged.

The world is changing, young people are walking away from faith, the church is declining, etc. etc. etc.

But actually for me, I came away filled with hope.

And it’s not because they presented the silver bullet idea to making faith stick with young people, or had the latest program to put in place.

But it was because the presenter started her entire presentation by reading Psalm 100:5.

[Psalm 100:5 NIV] 

For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations.

 Cultures change and generations change…but the goodness, love and faithfulness of the Lord God is unchanging and continues from generation to generation.