I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also. (2 Tim. 1:5)
Expanded Passage: 2 Timothy 1:3-5
Jonathan Edwards was one of the leaders of America’s First Great Awakening, a revival that swept across the colonies in the 1700s. Contrary to the popular perception that America had been a stronghold of Christianity ever since the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock, church attendance in Edwards’ day was no more than 15 percent of the population. God lit a spiritual fire in the church he pastored in Massachusetts, and through his faithfulness and that of other committed leaders like John Wesley’s friend George Whitefield, the young American colonies experienced a transforming revival up and down the Atlantic seaboard.
Two generations later, America needed reviving again, and once again faithful leaders stepped forward to champion the faith. One who played a major role was Timothy Dwight, president of Yale University. His stirring chapel messages sparked a revival on that campus, and students carried the flame back to their home churches. This Second Great Awakening had much in common with the first, including the fact that Timothy Dwight was Jonathan Edwards’ grandson.
In the New Testament church, Timothy benefitted from a heritage of intergenerational discipleship. Not everyone does, of course. The task for the second-, third-, or fourth-generation Christian is to keep the legacy intact. The task for the first-generation Christian is to create a new legacy.
All Christian families start with a first generation.
Make regeneration a priority for every generation of your family.
Bob Black is a third-generation Wesleyan minister and professor emeritus of religion at Southern Wesleyan University (SC).
© 2026 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.
