Fathers As Disciple Makers

The two great pillars upon which the kingdom of Satan is erected, and by which it is upheld, are ignorance and error: the first step of our manumission from this spiritual thraldom consists in having our eyes opened, and being turned from darkness to light, Acts 26:18.

Acts 26:18 ESV

18 to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’

The Westminster Confession of Faith: Edinburgh Edition To the Christian Reader, Especially Heads of Families

the examples of Abraham, of Joshua, of the parents of Solomon, of the grandmother and mother of Timothy, the mother of Augustine, whose care was as well to nurse up the souls as the bodies of their little ones

Ephesians 6:4 ESV

4 Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

we can all agree that God wants us to take the Gospel to the nations, but sometime we neglect taking the Gospel to our own family.

here’s a question for you? if you are the leader in your home…

“why do i sometimes struggle to disciple my family?”

not sure where to start?

nervous that you won’t have an answer to their questions?

maybe you think that “we shouldn’t push anything on our kids, we want them to figure out what they believe for themselves”

[you hear parents say something like that sometimes but you see their 4 year old wearing a Florida Gators hat, shirt, shorts and even shoes!]

here’s the deal, whether it’s our main passage today in Deuteronomy, numerous exhortations from Proverbs, Jesus’s Great Commission in Matthew 28 or some of Paul’s letters in the New Testament...

God has commanded us to make disciples & discipleship starts in the home

- I want to start by talking a little bit about discipleship in general.

Our chief passion must be God and God alone

If we are not passionate about God we will not teach our children about God properly

-one of the biggest oppositions to helping our family grow in discipleship is the culture we live in.

-parents have to work hard to build a Christ-centered home and NOT a kid-centered home.

-Parents have to constantly strive to take their kids out of the center of the family and remind them that Christ is the center.

#1 way to do that is to teach them about The importance of God’s Word

Revelation vs. theology

theology is what we say about God

Revelation is what God says about God

(we love theology) talk about theology, compare theologies, etc.

here’s the deal.... theology:

- can be true but also can be false

- can stay the same but can also change

Revelation:

- is always true

- always stays the same

How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord

Is laid for your faith in His excellent Word

What more can He say than to you He hath said

To you who for refuge to Jesus have fled

-listen to what the Bible says in Deut. chapter 6:

Deuteronomy 6:4–6 ESV

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.

Shema (Hebrew for “hear”) Major Passage in OT

quoted by Jesus in all 3 of the synoptic gospels (matthew, mark & luke)

the commandments provided the framework within which the people of God could express their love for God… and those commands were to be upon your heart… they were to continually think of them and meditate on them , so that, obedience would not be a form of legalism. instead, it would be a response to who God is and what he has done.

“on your heart” (verse 6)

-we have to love God’s word. before we can make disciples, we must first be followers; followers of jesus. how’s your prayer life? do you spend time in the Bible? are you loving others around you? how are we going to disciple our children if we aren’t following Jesus ourselves?

-bible intake

Having understood the commandments themselves, they were then responsible for their children… look at what it says in verse 7...

Deuteronomy 6:7 ESV

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.

Teach them diligently - sharp sword or arrows - to teach incisively. The idea here is that just as words are cut into a stone tablet with a sharp object, so the Law should be impressed on the hearts of the children of every generation.

Moses here is teaching the priority of belief in one God (vs. 4) but also a means to preserve that belief. the teaching of future generations is paramount!

“talk about them” (verse 7)

the commandments were to be the subject of conversation all the time! at home and away from home, during the day and during the night.

in short, the commandments were to permeate every sphere of life.

has God’s word been permeating every sphere of your life over the last 3 months?

[conversations with people being bored,, looking for things to do]

Is God’s Word on your heart?

-don’t let discipleship be isolated to sundays; let it become natural as you move throughout your day. it’s not weird for your kids to hear you talk about what you love and what you’re passionate about. so talk to them about God and what he’s teaching you. Ask them what he is teaching them.

You can’t delegate discipleship. You take the lead and look for opportunities to “talk about these things” as you go. Try to create places where your kids ask questions. Use family devotion times, serving together, going to church together and asking them what they learned as ways to have some conversations.

And be patient, because most of those conversations will be short and fruitless, but there will be one every so often that is powerful and transformative.

he continues with the importance of God’s Word in verses 8 and 9...

Deuteronomy 6:8–9 ESV8 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.

The Book of Deuteronomy 4. The Principal Commandment: To Love God (6:1–9)Whether taken literally or metaphorically, the signs described in vv. 8–9 indicate that the individual (v. 8), his home, and his community (v. 9) were to be distinguished in their character by obedience to the commandments as a response of love for God.

God’s love and His Word were to be the central interest of a man’s entire life!

just as the israelites were to know God’s Word and then teach it to their children, you need to read and understand the bible for yourself so that you can teach it to your children

[trying to teach something you’re not passionate about]

2 Practical ways to begin making disciples in your own home:

1. Family Devotions

Jesus Story Book Bible by Sally Lloyd-Jones

Jesus Centered Bible

2. Praying with & for your Family

(quote from p. 117)

“Instead of exhausting ourselves trying to shape the outward behavior of our children by enforcing a list of house rules, let us exhaust ourselves in our prayers, asking Christ to transform their hearts."

along those same lines, Tim Keller, in his book Prayer, said,

“Our prayers should arise out of immersion in the Scripture. [We] speak only to the degree we are spoken to. . . .”

If you want to be a better prayer, spend more time in the Word.

Talking with Jeff Bell last night. I asked him what his parents did as he was growing up that he thought helped push him toward loving Jesus as an adult. He said they read the Bible together, took him to church, prayed together, but the most important part was that his parents were consistent in doing all those things.

[Compound Effect by Darren Hardy]

what small decision will you make today that done consistently over a long period of time will have a huge effect on the spiritual health of your family?

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