Discipleship in the Home

Baby Dedication

Psalm 90:12 “12 So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.”

We want to be good at numbering these precious days.

“The job has been given to me to do. Therefore it is a gift. Therefore it is a privilege. Therefore it is an offering I may make to God. Therefore it is to be done gladly, if it is done for Him. Therefore it is the route to sanctity. Here, not somewhere else, I may learn God’s way. In this job, not in some other, God looks for faithfulness.”—Elisabeth Elliot

Bible Reading

Deuteronomy 6 is what the Jews called the Shema.

It was how they saw God educating them and educating their families, therefore, educating them as a people.

Deuteronomy 6:4–9 (KJV)

4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:

5 And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.

6 And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:

7 And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.

8 And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes.

9 And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.

Introduction

Concerning this story: Shaking the tree like in prescribed in the OT. So much here. Read 1 Samuel 1-3.

Let me tell you about two different families; Hannah and Eli.

Nursery closes 10 minutes after the service. You need to give your child to the Lord without leaving them at the church.

Family discipleship cannot start with the child.

Deuteronomy 4:9“9 Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons’ sons;”

Train up a child in the way he should go—but be sure you go that way yourself.

Hannah certainly provides an example in this area as demonstrated by her son. 1 Samuel 2:1 “1 And Hannah prayed, and said, My heart rejoiceth in the LORD, mine horn is exalted in the LORD: my mouth is enlarged over mine enemies; because I rejoice in thy salvation.”

Love for Christ must be found in our heart before it can be found in out homes

Deuteronomy 6:5“5 And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.”

Starts with love before describing behavior

Starts with love before giving a review of the 10 Commandments

Our lives flow from our hearts

What stirs your affection for Christ?

Worthy investment of time.

Kids are constantly asking for stuff.

Don’t give everything away where you do not have time to invest in your relationship with the Lord.

The Bible is God’s self disclosure to us.

If you don’t look to the God of your Bible you will be making one of your own imagination. Which always looks like you.

Your kids need guidance, and you are their guide.

Deuteronomy 6:6–7“6 And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: 7 And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.”

You are making disciples, the question is what kind of disciple we are making.

Your words, your time commitments, your finances, your emotional highs and lows, your relationships, and your spiritual habits together form a portrait of what is really valuable to you

“The process of shaping the child, shapes also the mother herself. Reverence for her sacred burden calls her to all that is pure and good, that she may teach primarily by her own humble, daily example.”—Elisabeth Elliot

“A father is a looking-glass, which the child often dresses himself by; let the glass be clear and not spotted.”—Thomas Watson

Transitional Statement: Praying for our children helps us remember the gift that they are in our lives. 1 Samuel 1:27 “27 For this child I prayed; and the LORD hath given me my petition which I asked of him:”

Children are never too young to learn what Christians believe and why

Some research indicates

As much as 46 percent of youth have spiritually “checked out” at the end of middle school

Most students’ worldviews are “set” by the time they are 13 years old.

"Don’t think that your children will embrace convictions into their adulthood that they have never reasoned through from Scripture." Raising God’s Kids in Sin City: David Teis (slide)

We must disciple our kids to know how to think Biblically we cannot outsource this responsibility.

Conversation with a basketball coach at Christian school. “You glad you can let your guard down?”

We must teach our kids how to handle God’s Word so they can identify the truth for themselves.

We will not always be there for them to help to know what to eat nor what to believe.

We cannot teach them to just rely upon categories

Let me explain from quote in MBA

The danger of dividing up the world into simplistic ‘safe’ and ‘dangerous’ or even ‘Christian’ and ‘non-Christian’ categories is that our kids will eventually (and perhaps accidentally) swallow a lie from something they thought was safe or Christian, or reject a truth from something they thought was dangerous or non-Christian… Why? Because it gives them the mistaken impression that as long as they categorize something correctly, they can turn their brains off and operate on autopilot.

Transitional Statement: God never calls you to a task without giving you what you need to do it. He never sends you without going with you.

We are always also dealing with the thing that shapes, directs, and controls the behavior of your children: the heart. So we have many opportunities for discipleship.

Deuteronomy 6:7“7 And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.”

Bible is telling you to intentionally, fold discipleship into your life.

Do you have a place to sit in your house?

Have you walked anywhere with your children?

Do you have a place that where you sleep?

1. Our time is limited so we need to use all of it.

1 Samuel 1:22 “22 But Hannah went not up; for she said unto her husband, I will not go up until the child be weaned, and then I will bring him, that he may appear before the LORD, and there abide for ever.”

Creating intentional time built into the rhythm of the family’s life for the purpose of thinking about, talking about, and living out the gospel.

Everything that you do with your family becomes a part of your family rhythm.

Your rhythm is what your family will consider ordinary, what you do every day or regularly that feels normal.

Family discipleship should not only be something to “add” to your family’s routine; it needs to be woven into all of it. It needs to be ordinary.

The Great Commission is for you to make disciples of those who do not follow Christ, including those born or brought into your home

Look at more tonight, but “go there and make disciples” requires intentionality for our path.

The capacity of your children to worship is the most important biblical insight for parents

1 Samuel 1:27–28“27 For this child I prayed; and the LORD hath given me my petition which I asked of him: 28 Therefore also I have lent him to the LORD; as long as he liveth he shall be lent to the LORD. And he worshipped the LORD there.”

Hannah knew she would be raising a worshipper.

The question is not if our kids will worship but what or whom will they worship.

What captures your attention with your children?

Work harder at getting out of work than doing work.

The circle of friends they crave to be accepted by.

The messiness of their rooms.

Arguing over things that seem so unimportant,

Their materialism and love for clothes and shoes.

The fact they know what kind of phone everyone has.

The list gives examples of what captures their interest and controls their time. These all are indicators of things they are choosing to worship in their lives.

Since your children are worshipers, you must be committed to helping them see the glory of God.

Since sin tends to blind your children to their own hearts, because sin is deceitful, we must look every day for opportunities to be an instrument of seeing in their lives.

The center of the foolishness for our children and us is a denial of God. Psalm 53:1 “1 The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity: there is none that doeth good.”

The problem is theological.

With the limited time we have let us help them understand their identity was worshippers.

1 Samuel 3:9 “9 Therefore Eli said unto Samuel, Go, lie down: and it shall be, if he call thee, that thou shalt say, Speak, LORD; for thy servant heareth. So Samuel went and lay down in his place.”

Eli teaches Samuel to respond to God as a “servant”

One of the great gifts we give our children is helping them know how to respond to God.

Great obstacle is us losing our servant orientation in life.

If you are not resting in your vertical identity, you will look horizontally, searching to find yourself and your reason for living in something in the creation

If you are not resting as a parent in your identity in Christ, you will look for identity in your children.

With out limited time let us be fully present.

There are new way to have a non-present, presence.

People recording the firework show.

Kids are losing their accents in rural parts of the country. Because they are hearing more from people on Youtube than their family.

Kids suffer when we are negligent in their lives. 1 Samuel 3:13 “13 For I have told him that I will judge his house for ever for the iniquity which he knoweth; because his sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not.”

Didn’t happen over night, but grew during a time of neglect.

2. We need to be prepared to respond in special moments.

1 Samuel 3:4–5“4 That the LORD called Samuel: and he answered, Here am I. 5 And he ran unto Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou calledst me. And he said, I called not; lie down again. And he went and lay down.”

We must capture and leverage opportunities in the course of day for the purpose of gospel-centered conversations.

The middle of the night is not my favorite time to capture moments, but sometimes they are the most important.

We always need to be intentional, but we don’t always need to be structured.

We have the responsibility to help them learn how to respond to the Lord.

We need to know where are kids are at in life to best be able to help them respond. 1 Samuel 3:8 “8 And the LORD called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou didst call me. And Eli perceived that the LORD had called the child.”

We should help our kids recognize when the Holy Spirit is speaking in their lives.

Dealt with many teenagers through the years that lacked assurance in their salvation because every time they felt conviction for sin they could only relate it to their time of salvation.

Our kids need to know how to hear to hear from God

We have the responsibility to help them know how to react to the pressures of this world.

It is 10 pm do you know where your children are? PSA in the late 60s through late 80s

The days are evil, do you know where your children are?

Easy to act like a Christian. It is harder to react as a Christian.

As a parent you’re not dealing just with bad behavior, but a condition that causes bad behavior.

Saddest verse concerning parenting. 1 Samuel 2:12 “12 Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial; they knew not the LORD.”

Eli’s question to his rebellious sons. 1 Samuel 2:23 “23 And he said unto them, Why do ye such things? for I hear of your evil dealings by all this people.”

We need to talk about the things of God consistently, clearly, and being creative in looking for these times together.

Jesus takes the moments..

Widow offering.

Brothers fighting over being the greatest.

Tower has fallen and killed many.

Rich young ruler comes to Jesus

We can take these moments..

During times of needed correction.

Addressing the root of the problem in recurring issues.

Looking passed the behavior and asking our children what is going on in their hearts.

On our drive home from church.

One of the great values of a routine devotional time in the house, is that when we talk about aGod for even 5-10 minutes together 4-5 nights a week. we are more likely to continue those conversations in our daily lives.

3. We need to recognize and celebrate the milestones of their growth.

1 Samuel 2:19 “19 Moreover his mother made him a little coat, and brought it to him from year to year, when she came up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice.”

Marking and making occasions to celebrate and commemorate significant spiritual milestones of God’s work in the life of the family and child.

We have Celebration Sundays. Those are big days for us as a church. We know God is doing things outside of those days.

Application: We need to eat more cake.

The church has a vital, supportive role in family discipleship

Galatians 6:10 “10 As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.”

Any of you eat Oikos yogurt

The church should never be quiet about the family because God’s word certainly is not.

God teaches us about our relationship to him through family.

God teaches the inherent value of children.

God created, loves, and wants faithful marriages.

God commands that children are to be cared for and trained

God commands that parents are to be honored and obeyed.

God tells and shows us what to teach children.

God does not take family responsibilities lightly

A Christian home is more than a house full of Christian people.

Family discipleship is leading your home by doing whatever you can whenever you can to help your family become friends and followers of Jesus Christ.

Eli allowed the things of God to become common in the life of his sons.

Son’s of Eli felt entitled to what belonged to the Lord. 1 Samuel 2:16 “16 And if any man said unto him, Let them not fail to burn the fat presently, and then take as much as thy soul desireth; then he would answer him, Nay; but thou shalt give it me now: and if not, I will take it by force.”

Why did the sons think they had rights to what belonged to the Lord?

Eli honor them above the Lord. 1 Samuel 2:29 “29 Wherefore kick ye at my sacrifice and at mine offering, which I have commanded in my habitation; and honourest thy sons above me, to make yourselves fat with the chiefest of all the offerings of Israel my people?”

Parents we have taken our kids to a dangerous place when we had days, time, and resources that belong to God over to them.

Closing / Summary

Giving our children to the Lord is a holy endeavor and must be a daily decision.

Our children don’t have a clue why they do the things they do.

We are born believing their best life will be one lived for themselves.

The gospel frees us from this, . 2 Corinthians 5:15 “15 And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.”

Helping your children to understand why they do what they do is doing gospel work.

Nothing is more important in your life than being one of God’s tools to form a human soul.

Follow me in Psalm 51. This is outlined in “Parenting: The 14 Gospel Principles that Can Radically Change Your Family”

Your Children Need to See Their Sin, So They’ll Cry Out for God’s Mercy. Psalm 51:1 “1 Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.”

Your Children Need to Understand the Nature of Sin, So They Don’t Minimize Its Danger. Psalm 51:1–3“1 Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. 3 For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.”

Your Children Need to Understand That Their Problem Is Not with Their Parents, but with God. Psalm 51:4 “4 Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.”

Your Children Need to Understand That Sin Is a Nature Problem That Produces Behavior Problems. Psalm 51:5 “5 Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.”

Your Children Need to Understand That Since Sin Is a Heart Problem, the Only Solution Is a New Heart. Psalm 51:10 “10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.”

Your Children Need to Be Taught to Run to the Only Place of Hope: The Forgiving Grace of God. Psalm 51:14 “14 Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.”

These are the truths that we call the gospel. Let this guard our conversations with the time God has given us with our children.

Let us use our time wisely,

Let us capture the teaching moments.

Let’s celebrate the milestones in life that demonstrates these truthes are being embraced.