Discipling our Children
Notes
Transcript
What do I want them to know? Parents (physically and spiritual) are to teach our children
Why? God has empowered us and instructed us to do so so our children walk in the ways of the LORD
What do I want them to do? Parents to teach their children
Why? God has empowered us and instructed us to do so so our children walk in the ways of the LORD
ME/WE
One of the raging questions in the western world is who has the right, who has the responsibility, who’s role is it to raise our children?
We see people saying it is the state’s responsibility to raise our children let them raise our children and we see certain countries, states, and cities enacting and seeking to enact laws that they have the right to raise, teach, and disciple our children…specially when it comes to gender, sexuality, and racism.
Politicians have said “Parents should stop thinking of their kids as their kids but our kids”
- the San Francisco Chronicle had article this week that says “California should force parents to give away their children.”
We see others says it is the SCHOOL system (this is related to the state) to raise our children, disciple them…this is a hot debate…that parents have not right…- It is school and teachers that know best, parents are not educated enough, so let’s be the ones to teach them, and this often in reaction to parents are outdated and the school system is more enlighten
Other people say “I know what the answer is!” it is the churches responsibility to raise our children. We hear parents say the pastors are the trained professionals they “know” God’s ways better and sadly over the best couple of decades the churches message has been “we’re the professionals” we know best....but here’s the problem does the scriptures say “it is the churches responsibility to raise the children? No, the church is to foundational to a child’s life but it is not the primary discipler in a child’s life.
Secondly, time wise the church has 40 hour a year on average with a child and the parents have 3000 hours…which one has more potential for discipleship?
If child is being taught about Jesus at church but at home is being discipled in the ways of the world what is their most likely outcome?
To be like Jesus? No, like the world
TENSION
Who’s responsibility is it to raise our children?
Parents, both physical human, biologoical parents and also Spiritual parents
Don’t tune me out...Titus 2 we read older woman are to teach the younger woman…so if you have no physical kids you have spiritual children
“Now this is the commandment—the statutes and the rules—that the Lord your God commanded me to teach you, that you may do them in the land to which you are going over, to possess it,
that you may fear the Lord your God, you and your son and your son’s son, by keeping all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be long.
Hear therefore, O Israel, and be careful to do them, that it may go well with you, and that you may multiply greatly, as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey.
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.
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.
You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.
You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
What the scriptures say is “it is the parents who are to be the primary disciplers of their children?” not the world, not the state, not school, not primarly the church.
This too flies in the face of the modern belief because the modern belief is grounded in INDIVIDUALISM that children need to figure out for themselves what is right, what is good, children as old as 6 should have the right to determine their gender, what’s right.
Parents will say, I saw this all the time in youth ministry, that parents says “I don’t want to push my beliefs on my children, if a child wants to attend church they can attend church”
Here’s the irony…the rest of the world, a child’s friends, media, teachers, have no problem pushing, disicpling their beliefs on children. our children are being discipled, should we the parent not be the ones discipling our children?
YES
That is heavy responsibility, heavy load and it is at times.....and we get can get fearful of the load so abdicate our responsibility and beat ourselves up because we fail at parents (anybody with me?) The good news is scriptures know and God knows
And yes there is no perfect parent, don’t let the trip you up
good news the scriptures doesn’t say we need to be perfect to parent, but that we need to seek to disciple our children in the ways of the Lord.
Scriptures give us the way we can become a parent and a better discipler ((we are not left on a island) of our children and how we are to disciple (when and where).
First, lets talk about how do we as spiritual and physical parents disciple our children.
The scripture shows us how we become parents who disciple well is by being a good disciplee of Jesus. talmidim in Hebrew.
For us to be discipler, teachers that God has called us to our children, we need to be ‘children who sit under the teacher of God our Father.”
It starts with us. We learn how to be a good parent by sitting at the feet of the greatest parent, God our Father
That we are the Marys who sit at Jesus’ feet and let God our Father teach us.
We become better disciples of Jesus to our children by being disciples of our Father.
He disciples us, and we in return disciple others.
Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.
This is what discipleship is.....it is not just information, but imitation that leads to transformation.
This is true in all of life....it is not just information, I can know a lot about snow boarding, baking, gardening, read endless books, endless articles, listen to endless podcasts…but no one would call me a baker, snow boarder, gardener unless they see me doing those things.
This is where we get lost in the enlighted church, we make discipleship most informational and that is good, there is power in the Word, but it cannot stay there
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror.
For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.
But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.
We live out Deut 6:4-5
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
This moves to the next thing....what are we to teach our children??
2. Some of wondering of get anxious about what we are to teach?
And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.
Good News we have four places to know what we should be teaching our children
But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it
and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,
that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
We have Godly teachers, pastors, and parents, Timothy was his grandmother and mother and Paul.
What did they teach him? The Word
We have the Word of God, that is profitable for teaching, reproof, correction, training in righteousness.
The Word of God shows us the ways of God.
Church, pastors, parents disicpling us
Written Word of God
In the New Covenant we have the Word of God written on our heart
“This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds,”
Fulfilled prophecy of Jer 31:33
God writes His law on our hearts and minds.
Not only that we have 1 Cor 3:16
Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.
Don’t believe the enemy who says you cannot be a Godly parent, that’s not true, God has given us the ability to be good discipling parents.
it starts with being a talmidim of our Father
then we move to
Then from there we disciple our children and where are we to disciple our children?
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.
You shall teach them everywhere.
Let’s break that down.
We are to teach our children in 4 ways
Let’s unpack those four ways
Organically
We teach our children in the moment.
We teach them when we have more of something like some candy or food that it is good for us to share what we have been given.
When our children our struggling or anxious we can teach them to pray to the Lord
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.
Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand;
do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
When our children ask about dating and marriage. We can teach them about finding a spouse who is in love with Jesus.
Organically teach them includes to discpline them, just like the Lord discplines us for our good not harm.
Organic
For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.”
Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him.
Discpline them in a Godly way
Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
Systemically disciple our children
Going to church
And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works,
not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
It is not going to be option in our family and there are some days we are not going to feel like coming but we are going to commit to going because God’s call us to and it is for our benefit.
Have nightly prayers
Have weekly or daily devotions
Actionally
Many us have heard the saying “action speak louder than words” that pretty accurate, not always 100%.
We even Paul talk about this is what discipleship is.
Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.
We are to parent actionably not just with Words....
We are not going to be affective disciples if actionably our marriage is the opposite of what Jesus wants.
If we say to forgive as Jesus forgives but we do not forgive our spouse.
If we say to share but we do not share
If we say be good stewards of our money but we are always in financial abyss and do not tithe.
Actionably going to be affective disciples if actionably our marriage is the opposite of what Jesus wants.
I grew up in a family like this (not all my family, some of my family really love Jesus). Who we were on Sunday was different than Monday - Saturday.
it messed me up
But by the grace of God, God actionably loved me into His family, by sending His son into the world to pay for my sins and by doing so bringing me into the family of God.
If you are listening and you did not have good parents the GOOD NEWS IS GOD BRINGS YOU INTO HIS FAMILY and anyone into HIS FAMILY by the WORK OF JESUS.
WE ALL CAN CELEBRATE THIS WHO BELIEVE IN JESUS
Then God says to us by like me in my parenting, teach your children organically, systemically, actionably, and lastly sacrificially (I am not saying go to the physical cross like Jesus)....but going every day sacrificing for the other and for God.
We cannot be a go
Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.
I believe God is saying in 2022 that this is the year of the family
God is calling us to be the parents to our kids.
This first starts by sitting at our Fathers feet and then moving to organically teaching, systemically teaching, actionably teaching, sacrificially teaching.
What’s God calling you to do? To raise your children in the ways of the Lord in the ways of flourishing