The 18 years we have with our children under our roof seems like a long time, but is over in a blink. As we prepare our teenagers for adulthood and independence, we must leave behind protecting them from the dangers of this world to making them dangerous to the powers of this world.

Parents, as adults with firmly rooted faith, we should:
- encourage preparation for a flourishing faith away from home
- help them think through the hard questions in advance
- affirm practices and disciplines for continual growth in the Lord
- equip them to test every voice of authority against the authority of God's Word

Barna research estimates that roughly 70% of high school students who enter college as professing Christians will leave with little to no faith and projects that 80% of those reared in the church will be “disengaged” by the time they are 29. We want to launch our young adults into the world with everything they need to have a firmly rooted faith that can not only withstand the arguments of the world but  flourish.

In the world, students will be faced with hard questions about their faith. We want them to think through these under loving, wise leadership. To assist parents and students in this, Northlake has an opportunity for current seniors will meet to walk through some of the essential questions that they need to be able to answer as they defend their faith after high school.

High school graduation is a big moment in the lives of students, as well as the parents who have been training them up.  Once a year, we honor and celebrate these students in a special service called "Next Generation Sunday".  In this service, graduating seniors are recognized, challenged, and prayed over as they are sent out into their next phase of life.