Sermon Tone Analysis

Back in May, we were going through a series called, "Raising Humans."

Our goal was to understand what the Bible teaches about parenting so we can all follow Christ in our families and help our children reflect Him and His glory.

This morning’s message is titled, “Like Father, Like Sons and Daughters.

As we close our series, we are going back to Deuteronomy 6 to remind ourselves of this most essential truth of Christian parenting: Your children will know Jesus the more you love and look like Him.

1.

Like Father, Like Mom and Dad

You know the phrase “you are what you eat?” Well, the Bible would say it differently.

The biblical authors don’t believe you are what you eat.

They believe you are what you worship.

Take Psalm 115:4-8 for example:

4  Their idols are silver and gold,

the work of human hands.

5  They have mouths, but do not speak;

eyes, but do not see.

6  They have ears, but do not hear;

noses, but do not smell.

7  They have hands, but do not feel;

feet, but do not walk;

and they do not make a sound in their throat.

8  Those who make them become like them;

so do all who trust in them.

You worship idols, you become deaf, dumb and blind, just like idols.

You are what you worship.

Which is why the first few verses of our passage were so foundational to the identity of Israel.

This was the cornerstone of OT faith:

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

5 You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.

6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.

Why was it so important to Israel to worship God rightly?

To love Him with their heart, soul and might?

To keep these words close to them in their heart?

Because you are what you worship!

If you worship God—the God of justice and mercy, holiness and grace—then you will become just and merciful and holy and gracious.

God wanted His people to understand His great love for them so that they would respond in worship and grow to become like Him.

Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; 6 and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.

God’s vision for your life and for your family is far beyond anything you can come up with on your own.

He wants you to become like Him! Holy and beloved, chosen and treasured!

He wants you to worship Him so you can become like Him!

Mom and Dad, God’s plan to transform your child by His grace begins with your gospel transformation.

Grace changes everything, and He wants to change everything about you by His grace in Christ.

Our kids learn to worship God by learning to worship like Mom and Dad.

Take v.5 and ask yourself, “Am I loving God with all that I am?”

With all your heart: Is God Himself, knowing and loving and dwelling with Him, is HE the greatest desire of your heart?

Can you say what David says:

O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you;

my soul thirsts for you;

my flesh faints for you,

as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

With all your soul: Who are you most deeply?

What defines the core of your existence?

Is it Jesus?

Is He TRULY Lord?

Do you build your life on the solid Rock of Christ, or on the sinking sand of anything else in this life?

With all your might: What do you strive most for?

What in your life gets your greatest effort?

What do you lay everything on the line for?

Career?

Comfort?

Family security and harmony?

Or do you believe Jesus:

33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

In Exodus, when Moses ascended Mt.

Sinai, he came back down with his face glowing with the radiance of the glory of God Himself.

The higher up the mountain, the closer he came to God.

The closer he came to God, the more like Him he became, the more he shone with God’s glory.

Where are you in relation to God?

He is inviting you to climb to Him, to dwell with Him, delight in Him, enjoy Him now and forever!

If you long to see Him, long to be with Him, you will climb that mountain, strive with your heart, soul, and might to be near to God in Christ every day of your life.

And as you go about your day, discipling your children, changing diapers, helping with homework, correcting them and enjoying them, you will shine with the radiance of Christ.

Everything you do will be tinged with God’s glory because you’ve become like Him as you’ve worshiped Him.

Your children will see that.

They will learn from that.

And they will desire to be like you, worship God with you, and so become like Him as they grow up to be like you.

Our passage assumes that our kids will ask us gospel questions—and that we will have gospel answers:

20 “When your son asks you in time to come, ‘What is the meaning of the testimonies and the statutes and the rules that the LORD our God has commanded you?’ 21 then you shall say to your son, ‘We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt.

And the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand.

22 And the LORD showed signs and wonders, great and grievous, against Egypt and against Pharaoh and all his household, before our eyes.

23 And he brought us out from there, that he might bring us in and give us the land that he swore to give to our fathers.

24 And the LORD commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as we are this day.

25 And it will be righteousness for us, if we are careful to do all this commandment before the LORD our God, as he has commanded us.’

What kind of questions do you have for your kids?

Do you know how you get gospel answers?

By climbing higher up the mountain, pursuing Christ more and more, cultivating a desire in your heart for Him above all things.

Your job is not to be Bible-answer-parent or to root out heresy from your 3 year-old’s worldview.

The best thing you can do for your children is to cultivate a vital, deepening relationship with Christ that spills out everywhere in your life.

Including your parenting.

2. Like Mom & Dad, Like Sons & Daughters

Earlier in the series, we mentioned that Paul subverted the patriarchy of his day.

A good Greco-Roman would have said, children obey your father.

Paul said, “children obey your parents,” and “honor your father AND mother.”

Then he LIMITED the father’s authority over his children—something unheard of in contemporary culture!—by saying, “fathers do not provoke your children to anger.”

(My kids remind me of this verse on a regular basis.)

In fact, the feminist movement would never have happened if Jesus hadn’t walked the earth.

That doesn’t make feminism Christian by definition.

But Christianity undermined repressive patriarchy in ways that nothing else in human history has.

That said, God does have a special role for fathers to play in the spiritual life and growth of their families.

Studies have shown that fathers wield a unique influence on the spiritual direction of the household.

So I want to say a few words especially to dads.

Like Father, Like Family

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