Conversations about God

One of the most awesome, and at the same time, most challenging responsibilities God gave to mankind is parenthood. There is something about being a parent that brings about great joy, feelings of accomplishment, satisfaction, wonder, and unconditional love. Parents have a sense of great joy when they see their child take their first step, or say their first words, or head off to their first day of school, or go off to middle school, or graduate from high school. Parents have a sense of accomplishment when they teach their child a task and they see their child accomplish that task without any assistance; like placing the round block through the round hole after numerous tries, or learning a new song for a school play and delivering their rendition flawlessly, or sitting up most of the night going over math problems for a test and they pass the next day with flying colors. We also get feelings of satisfaction when our children wash dishes, mow the grass, pick up their room, or drive their sibling to an appointment - all without being asked. We get a sense of wonder when they succeed at things we never thought would happen; like getting a job when we’ve begged them over and over to get one, or going off to college after a difficult time in high school, or seeing our adult children become parents themselves. And we get to know and feel what it’s like to unconditionally love another human that is made in the image of God. The love a parent has for their kids is something special…no matter how many times they might disappoint us…we still love them. That love is still there even if they might not deserve it.

I personally love being a dad. As some of you may know, I have a beautiful 21-year-old daughter named Klaudia and a handsome 11-year-old son, JP. And I have loved seeing my kids grow up, doing new things, living their lives, being happy, and interacting with their friends, and even getting out there on their own. I love my kids and want the best for them. I don’t want to see them make the same mistakes I made growing up or live the same life I lived prior to my acceptance of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. And while loving my kids, I struggle at times seeing them make mistakes. I worry about them not living a life God would want them to live. I worry for them as they go about their lives out there in the world. I worry about their witness to the lost. I want what’s best for them…I want them to enjoy what we have in Christ Jesus. Living a life worthy of Him.

I am sure those of you with children in the home feel or had the same feelings in the past concerning your children and their walk with the Lord. If you have yet to start a family, I am sure you will have some of the same feelings and struggles with your kids. Those of you with adult children may have dealt with or deal with many of the worries and happiness mentioned here. Raising kids is an awesome responsibility. It is fun, and it is challenging.

The responsibility for raising children belongs to the parents of those children. It’s how God designed it….it is God who designed the family unit. The family unit consists of a man and a woman with one or more children. As we read in Genesis chapter 1 verses 27 and 28, God created man and woman in His image as the basis for family and He commanded them to multiply. The fact that God created all things signifies that God is to be the center of all things. The command to multiply signifies that family would come about through the man and woman relationship, which is what we call marriage. In Genesis we see that God walked and talked with the first man, Adam, in the garden He created for mankind. The time God spent with Adam and later Eve, the first woman, was one of nurturing, teaching, sharing, loving, and discipline. We see God as a parent being connected to His kids and having conversations with them about Himself. Adam and Eve had done the same with their children; nurturing, teaching, sharing, loving, and disciplining. Adam’s and Eve’s children passed on their heritage to their children, and their children did the same, and so on. Man and woman, husband and wife, are to join together in relationship, they have children, and they raise their family to the glory of God. In the book, the Heart of the Gospel, the Theology Behind the Master Plan of Evangelism, Pastor and author Robert Coleman surmised that in creating the two sexes, God created the basis for family and for a properly functioning community and harmonious social structure.

The husband, wife, and children have distinct roles within the family unit. The husband is to love God, love and cherish his wife, bear primary responsibility for the marriage, has ultimate authority over his family, teaches his children, protects his family, and is to provide the basic necessities of food, clothing, and shelter for his family. The wife is to love God, have children with her husband, maintain the household, teach her children, protect her children, and be her husband’s helper and companion. Husbands and wives might have differing responsibilities, but they are co-equals.

Children are to obey, honor, and love God and their parents. Children are to assist their parents in the care of the home and in the care of their siblings. Marriage and family are part of God’s grand purposes in Christ Jesus.

When it comes to conversations about God, the Bible is silent on the church’s responsibility as sole trainer and disciple maker of children. The Bible is silent due to the overwhelming evidence that discipleship of children is primarily the responsibility of the parents. Parents are instructed to teach God’s ways to their children – to have a family connection and conversations about God. As the primary disciple maker, parents are to live out their faith and model the gospel for their children each and every day. The gospel is the most vital segment of truth and the family home should be steeped in the gospel truth. Parents must teach their children about God, His Son, His Spirit, His character, His nature, His Word, His creation, His church, salvation, His commands, His mission, and about the things to come. Children must understand who God is and what He is like. Children must understand that while He is three He is one. Parents must teach that God’s Word is perfect, inerrant, and inspired and centered on the life and ministry of Jesus. Children must realize and live out a life on mission, His mission, fulfilling His command to make disciples. God’s children must have God’s love for the nations for the salvation of the nations.

Some of you might be thinking that’s an awful lot of responsibility….. the truth is… it is a lot of responsibility. It’s a responsibility you signed up for the second you became a parent… the second you accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. So please know that God gave us some guidelines to follow, some instructions to help us in our parenting of the children He graciously gave to us. And it all starts with Him.

Let’s open our Bibles, phone apps, or whatever you use to read the Bible to the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy, and go to chapter 6, verses 4 through 9. From the English Standard Version of the Bible it reads…

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. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”

In verse 4 we see the “Shema” which is a statement of faith that was recited daily by Orthodox Jews … in it we see affirmation that there is but one God – there are no others – there are to be no others. The Hebrew word ehad is translated as “one” which signifies unity as well as a numerical oneness. The word also conveys uniqueness. As Christians, we interpret this numerical oneness, this unity, this uniqueness as the Trinity – God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. The word “one” listed here is also the same “one” used to describe the oneness of Adam and Eve as husband and wife …. the same oneness used for all husbands and wives.

In verse 5 we are given the command to love God with every part of our being. Every aspect of our existence is to be in loving service and submission to God. Love is an act of the will of an individual. The individual believer is commanded to willingly love God…..to love Him as a matter of choice in total sacrificial submission. God gave us the example to follow. The act of His will as demonstrated in 16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

– Jesus loved us and died for us - as an act of His will. We also see the Great Commandment in verse 5. Please turn in your Bible to Matthew chapter 22 verses 37 through 40. It reads….37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

Here, Jesus confirms the command to love God. To love Him with every part of our being….heart, soul, mind………The heart is where emotions stir… the mechanism that pumps the life blood through the body … reaching every part of the body … and contains what is really in a person. The soul is the spiritual part of a person … it’s what leaves the body and goes to the Father in heaven at the point of physical death. The mind represents the intellect …. the thoughts of a person … the storage container of everything learned. We are commanded to love God with each of these parts of our being…. heart, soul, and mind.

Now let’s turn back to Deuteronomy verse 6. Here, God tells us that His command to love Him and the oneness that is Him is to be on our hearts – dwelling in our very being. His Word is to be on our hearts and we, as Christians, become living proof of that truth–the truth that is in Jesus Christ. Everything we do, everything we teach, everything we share with our kids, and with everyone else centers on God and loving God. The sharing of the Gospel with our kids and with the lost, and with everyone we come across is to be centered on God and loving Him.

One of my seminary classes was called Family Discipleship – it was all about family connections and conversations about God. Family discipleship involves the intentional training of children by parents concerning devotion to God, His Word, and obedience to our Savior. In the class I learned about the three models of family discipleship that take place in churches all over the country. The three models are the family-based ministry model, family-equipping ministry model, and the family integrated ministry model. In the family-based model, the church handles the vast majority child discipleship. This is useful when you have a bunch of kids at church that have parents unwilling or unable to disciple their kids. In the Equipping model, the church does some child discipleship but equally equips the parents and holds the parents accountable for training their children. The Integrated model entails the elimination of most of the child programs in the church focusing solely on equipping parents. Each model has its

One of my seminary classes was called Family Discipleship – it was all about family connections and conversations about God. Family discipleship involves the intentional training of children by parents concerning devotion to God, His Word, and obedience to our Savior. In the class I learned about the three models of family discipleship that take place in churches all over the country. The three models are the family-based ministry model, family-equipping ministry model, and the family integrated ministry model. In the family-based model, the church handles the vast majority of child discipleship. This is useful when you have a bunch of kids at church that have parents unwilling or unable to disciple their kids. In the Equipping model, the church does some child discipleship but equally equips the parents and holds the parents accountable for training their children. The Integrated model entails the elimination of most of the child programs in the church focusing solely on equipping parents. Each model has its strengths and weaknesses, and it caused a ton of thought throughout the class. The class made me question and reflect on my efforts in discipling my kids. It made me wonder if other parents are relying primarily on the church to disciple their kids. It made me wonder how our church at that time did in equipping parents and if the family discipleship model is sufficient. One thing became crystal clear despite the family discipleship models and all the other learning that took place – discipleship is a parent’s responsibility. It really does not matter what the church has to offer the kids in way of discipleship – the reality is that discipleship of kids belongs to parents.

strengths and weaknesses, and it caused a ton of thought throughout the class. The class made me question and reflect on my efforts in discipling my kids. It made me wonder if other parents are relying primarily on the church to disciple their kids. It made me wonder how our church at that time did in equipping parents and if the family discipleship model is sufficient. One thing became crystal clear despite the family discipleship models and all the other learning that took place – discipleship is a parent’s responsibility. It really does not matter what the church has to offer the kids in way of discipleship – the reality is that discipleship of kids belongs to parents.

A parent’s responsibility to disciple their kids, as commanded by God, is seen in Deuteronomy verses 7, 8, and 9. Let’s read these verses again. “7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”

Here we read that parents are to have conversations about God, teaching what it means to fear God. Teaching kids to read, study, meditate on, and know God’s Word. Teaching and explaining obedience to our Savior. Teaching kids to love God and what it means to love Him. God and His word are to permeate the home, fill the air of the home, and discussions within the home. Those far from God when entering a Christian home should have no doubt who lives there …. They should know that God’s people live in that home. All things God are to be modeled by the parents. Parents are to live out and model the behaviors that are consistent with a follower of Christ. Parents should be seen by their children praying, reading the Bible, and displaying the Fruit of the Spirit.

Here we read that parents are to have conversations about God, teaching what it means to fear God. Teaching kids to read, study, meditate on, and know God’s Word. Teaching and explaining obedience to our Savior. Teaching kids to love God and what it means to love Him. God and His word are to permeate the home, fill the air of the home, and discussions within the home. Those far from God when entering a Christian home should have no doubt who lives their …. They should know that God’s people live in that home. All things God are to be modeled by the parents. Parents are to live out and model the behaviors that are consistent with a follower of Christ. Parents should be seen by their children praying, reading the Bible, and displaying the Fruit of the Spirit.

We find the Fruit of the Spirit in Galatians chapter 5 verses 22 and 23, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” We also read in that we are to be imitators of Christ: “5 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children.”

Our children should see us serve and love on others and our brothers and sisters in Christ – modeling the love of Christ. We see this in : 34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Our children need to see us take up our crosses daily in our sacrificial followership of Christ. Just look at

23 And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”

Our children need to see us be the spiritual leaders of our home. In modeling what we teach our children in discipleship of our children reinforces the lessons taught to our children. What you teach…do. What you want them to model….do. The way you want them to act and behave…….do. Your kids are watching. Teach them to do as they should…how they are to behave and act….how they are to love our Savior and one another.

We learn from verse 6, “6 Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.” This awesome verse of wisdom tells us…tells parents that if we raise our children in the ways of our Savior as we go about our lives, His ways will stay with our kids as they go about their lives…. and those ways will not leave them when they get older. If we teach our kids about sacrificially loving and serving God and everyone we come across…it will stay with them…they will remember it…..they will not forget. If we teach our kids to trust in God and model what it looks like to trust in Him…..our kids will never forget it…it will stay with them…they will remember it….it will be ingrained….it will be deeply rooted. Parents have the awesome responsibility to nurture, to admonish when needed, to lovingly guide, and to prepare their kids for adulthood….and send them out in to this harsh, lost and dying world…..to send them out equipped for every good work…..the work God gives His people…to reach those far from Him so that they may know Jesus as Lord and Savior.

Lastly…..are you living your life on mission for Christ? Are you a Great Commission worshipper of Jesus Christ? Worshipping Jesus through the Great Commission, which is found in the Gospel of Matthew chapter 28 verses 18 to 20 and it reads…

“18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. (Being God, Jesus has all the authority needed to give you this command)

19 Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

The Greek word for “Go” in verse 19 means “as you go about your life.” So - as you go about your life point people to Jesus. He is with you as you point people to Him – and once they come to Him, you are to train them…disciple them…about Jesus, His Word, and His ways. Parents… you are to disciple your kids and point your kids to Christ. It is your responsibility.

Ask yourself….. Am I making disciples of my kids? Am I pointing my kids to Christ? Am I pointing others to Christ? Am I connected to my kids and do I have conversations about God with them?

Let’s pray…….