Untitled Sermon

ntro- AE Welcome/glad you are here

Explain why you are here- help kids and parents understand where they are on their journey to follow Jesus and what their next steps might be. Parents we are talking to you mainly- Our goal is that through this class we give you tools and handles you may need to help you disciple your child on their journey to discover what is means to follow Jesus. We also want to prepare you for the pastor interview that you child with have with myself and Thomas.

Tell Kids about book and what they get to do during the meeting.

Colors, paper, book, candy

Before we get started let’s talk about the new membership process at Broadmoor.

Express interest

Broadmoor Basics

Pastor Interview

Approval from Senior Staff

Baptism if not previously baptized

Let’s talk about what that looks like for your children. Most of you are here because you expressed interest in your child getting baptized. So we want to define baptism for you. Baptism is the outward expression of the inward change.

Transition- Before we go any further, Thomas is going to talk with us about what that change looks like in our life.

Explain the Change- Thomas

What is the change?

Baptism is the outward expression of the inward change. This change is described in John 3 as “being born again”.  Jesus referred to this change when He called His disciples. Matthew 4:19 reads, “and he said to them, ‘Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.’”  When we decide to follow Jesus, He changes us at the soul level. For the disciples this looked like Jesus changing them from fishermen to “fishers of men”. Before a person can give their life to Christ they have to know why they need to give their life to Christ in the first place. So lets talk about the gospel.

Gospel- What is the Gospel?

John 3:16

1 Peter 3:18

John 1:12

Romans 5:8

The word gospel literally means good news. So simply put the gospel is the good news that Jesus is our savior.  I use four words to remember the gospel: God, man, Christ, Response. 1. God is holy and cannot be in community with sinners. 2. Mankind is sinful. We are sinners, and therefore have a broken relationship with God our creator. 3. Christ came to give His life as a sacrifice for our sins so that we can have a restored relationship with God. 4 Repentance is the only response to the gospel that leads to salvation.

Repentance- What is repentance?

Let's read 2 Corinthians 7:8-10 because it describes repentance and it gives us a glimpse of the role of the Holy Spirit in our salvation. In these verses Paul explains that repentance is a result of “Godly grief”. Godly grief only comes after an understanding of the gospel and our own sin, and the Holy Spirit is the one that both helps us understand the gospel and grieves us into repentance. Repentance is simply turning from our ways and turning toward Jesus. It means we trust fully in Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection to save us, follow Him alone as our Lord.

Acts 2:38

Acts 26:20

2 Corinthians 7:8-10

Becoming a Christian-How do I become a Christian?

You may be thinking that makes since but what does it look like for my kid/s to become a Christian. We often use the phrase “ask Jesus into your heart” when talking about salvation with kids. The important thing to remember is that nothing we “do” can save us. But when the Holy Spirit grieves us to the point of repentance as Paul described in 2 Corinthians then we are saved. This looks different for every person, but a lot of kids voice this heart change by asking Jesus into their heart.

Romans 10:9-10, 13

Ephesians 2:8-9

Acts 16:31

How do I know my child has experienced said change?

You should begin to notice changes in your child after they become a Christian and as they grow as a Christian. The Holy Spirit is the seal of our salvation and gives us fruit as we follow Jesus. Again this looks different for every person, but the fruit of the spirit listed in Galatians 5 is a great sign that your kid has become a Christian.

Fruits of the Spirit- Galatians 5:22-24

John 16:8

Transition- Amy is going to go through helpful handles for you to use as you disciple your children on the journey of discovering your faith.

AE- Remember- this is a journey! It doesn’t happen all at once. That is why is it SO important to disciple your children along the way. They don’t just pray and choose to follow Jesus and it stops there. They must continue to learn and grow. Here are some things that you can talk with your child about to help them understand a little better and to prepare them for some of the things that we talk about in the pastor interview. It is important that your child be able to articulate in some form the decision they have made.

God-

Who is God?

God has always existed. God is all-knowing, all-powerful, and all-present. God is the Creator of our world and people. He is our Redeemer and the only one true God. God is one, and He is God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. God wants us to know Him, so He reveals Himself to us through His Word, creation, prayer, and people. We cannot totally understand everything about God, but we can know Him and learn about Him.

Genesis 1:1-2

Deuteronomy 6:4

Psalm 93:2

Psalm 147:5

God created us, He loves us and He wants to be in a relationship with us. But as Thomas reminded us earlier we cannot because of our sin.

Jesus-

Who is Jesus?

Jesus is God’s only Son. He was born as a baby and grew as a boy. As a man, He performed miracles, He lived a sinless life. Jesus was fully God and fully human at the same time. Because Jesus loves us, He took the punishment of our sings by dying on the cross. On the third day, He arose. Following His resurrection, He went to be with God the Father in Heaven. He’s there today and will come back to earth and take all who have received His got of salvation to live with Him for eternity.

Luke 19:10

John 1:29

Matthew 16:16

Luke 2:10-11

Holy Spirit-

Who is the Holy Spirit?

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God who illuminates God’s word to us so we can understand the truth. He convicts us of sin and calls us to the Savior. He cultivates Christian character, comforts believers, and gives us the spiritual gifts we should use to serve God. He seals the believer until the day of redemption.

Genesis 1:2

Ephesians 1:13-14

Ephesians 4:30

Sin-

What is Sin?

Sin are things we do that God doesn’t want us to do. We disobey God. Our sin deserved the punishment of death.

Do you sin?? – If no, why do you need Jesus?

What are some of your sins?

John 3:36

1 Peter 3:18

John 1:12

John 3:16

Romans 5:8

One more thing to prepare you for the interview, we will talk with your child mostly. At the end we will turn to you and ask you to affirm your child’s decision. Explain what that looks like.

We don’t expect your child to have a seminary degree to confirm their decision to follow Jesus! This may seem like a lot to you but we want to give you ALL the tools that you need to walk alongside your child on their journey to discover their faith. Thomas is going to talk to us about Next Steps and what that may look like for your family.

Next Steps- Thomas

Everybody in here has a next step or possibly even steps. We want all of you to take your book home and work through it with your parents. At your own pace.

There are 3 groups of people here.. This was good and informative but my child is definitely not there. THAT IS GREAT!! This is the biggest decision your child will make and we want to make sure that they know what they are doing. Take what you have learned and heard today and continue having conversations at home. They will get there. Go through the book together. You believe your child is ready, you have seen change in their life- evidence of the fruits of the Spirit- they just need to pray and ask Jesus into their heart. We would encourage you to not push this step. Allow your children to tell you when they are ready to do this. Your child has prayed and asked Jesus in their heart, they know what they are doing and they are ready to get baptized. We would love for you to call Debbie Goelz, our new Nextgen Admin, and set up an appointment to meet with Amy and myself. It’s important that we say this: we believe that God is sovereign over ALL things! That includes your child’s salvation. This isn’t a process we want to rush. Doing this class, bringing them in to talk to me and Amy, and getting them baptized doesn’t seal the deal. What seals the deal is making sure your children understand what they are doing when they say they are asking Jesus into their heart! It is important to us that your children know without a shadow of a doubt what they are doing. What we do not want to happen is them get to middle school or high school and be unsure of if they made a real decision.

For some of you this process may happen quickly. You may already be to step 3 and you are ready to meet. Some of you it may take years! Your child is just beginning on their journey and they have some more things to learn first.. THAT IS GREAT! Allow your kids to drive this, don’t push them to do more than they are ready for.

I’m going to get Amy and Shaun to come back up here and we are going to do a time of question and answer and then Shaun will close us out with a prayer.

Does anyone have any questions??