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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.
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.
We were supposed to finish the series on May 27.
Instead, I thought I would practice what I preach and welcome another human into our household.
Margaret Grace Locke—Margot—was born on May 23rd—3.5 weeks early.
She made her presence felt for sure.
She is sweet and precious and funny and gorgeous and our whole family is in love with her.
Today, we're going to finish the series we started in May before Margot so rudely interrupted us.
Maybe now that I have 4 kids, I'll have that much more credibility to teach on parenting.
Week 1, we talked about having a gospel vision for our households, and learned that God’s vision is for our kids to know and love Him, and that WE would be the ones to teach them.
In Week 2, we said we need a Copernican Revolution in our parenting, that our families should not revolve around our kids or the parents, but around Christ in submission to His will.
And Week 3, we discussed Grace and Limits, that as the Father disciplines us, so we should discipline our kids in a way that teaches them God’s Law and helps them understand the story of the gospel.
This morning’s message is titled, “Like Father, Like Sons and Daughters.
As we close our series, we are going back to to remind ourselves of this most essential truth of Christian parenting: Your children will know Jesus the more you love and look like Him.
In the first sermon of this series, we said that gospel truth is caught, not taught.
We said that the way we embody the truth of the gospel in our lives and households is going to determine whether or not our children really understand and believe the truth of Christ.
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 for example:
Your children will know Jesus the more you look like Him and show your need for Him.
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!
He wants that for you, mom and dad.
He wants that for your kids.
He wants that for you.
He wants that for our kids.
And the primary way your kids are going to get that is NOT through Sunday school.
I love Grace Kids, I love what our teachers do with them, and the ways Cornelia leads our CM to disciple and form our kids to worship Christ.
But Cornelia is not the primary discipling influence in your child’s life.
Neither are their Sunday School teachers.
Our kids HAVE to be formed in Christian community—we all have a role to play in their spiritual formation.
But God’s design is that the primary discipler and spiritual influencer in the life of a child is his or her mother and father.
Your kids become what they worship, and they will only worship God if they’ve learned by your example.
Listen, one hour/week of Sunday worship can transfer some data to your child.
And the rhythm of worshiping God every Sunday with the church is a huge and necessary part of a child’s spiritual formation.
But if the gospel they hear on Sundays has no discernible impact in their parents’ lives, in their home life, in their lived experience Monday-Saturday, the gospel will go in one ear and out the other.
In Week 1, know & love God, you would be the one to teach them how.
Many people answer: I’ll take them to church!
And it’s my church’s job to provide sufficient goods and services to the effect that my kids will become Christians!
Right?
In fact, Sunday school may actually hurt their spiritual future.
At church, they’re getting enough to be inoculated from a gospel infection.
If they understand the message of the gospel, but see none of its fruit in their parent’s lives, they will be never get infected by the truth and wonder of the gospel.
They’re getting just enough exposure to it to avoid being transformed by it in the future.
Wrong.
One hour/week can transfer some data to your child.
But if the gospel they hear on Sundays has no discernible impact in their parents’ lives, in their home life, in their lived experience Monday-Saturday, not only will that gospel message go in one ear and out the other.
Sunday school may actually hurt their spiritual future.
In fact, they’re getting enough to be inoculated from a gospel infection, getting just enough exposure to it to avoid being transformed by it in the future.
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.
What truth do you hold most dear?
Is it the gospel of Jesus Christ and His undeserved love for you?
Or is it conventional wisdom?
How to have good manners; succeed in school; win friends and influence people?
The truth YOU hold most dear WILL BE the truth your kids hold most dear.
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?
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