Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

In every biological realm the protection of children is done in a very safeguarded conservative way.

Kangaroos hold children in their pouches.

Snakes burrow their eggs under a nest of the earth.

The polar bear typically gives birth to twins and they stay by the mothers side for 2 years to learn survival skills in the arctic.

The mother elephant adjust her walking speed to that of her new child to ensure they are protected from all harm.

The cheetah usually retreats to isolation and teaches her young from 0-18 months how to hunt and how to survive in the wild.

Similarly the human mother and father create ways to protect their child based on need.

The new mother typically stays in for 6 weeks in effort to protect the new baby from inhibitors of a healthy immune system.

Historically, even slave masters knew the power and benefits of motherhood, protection and breastfeeding in which they would enlist female slaves to take care of their children.

The protection from a mother is not for the daily immediate protection only but protection for the potential the child has to ensure they reach that potential here on earth and prepare them for a life in Jesus and eternal life with him.

I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.

We Must Protect Our Children

In order to protect our children we have to be in tune with God.

In effort to see the gifts that he bestows us reach their full potential we have to be good stewards of them.

Our children are gifts, and God expects us to protect them at all cost.

When it is time to protect your child you have to drop everything for your family.

No job, no appointment should ever get in the way of you taking care of your children.

God expects immediate action with our children.

Now when they had gone, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up!

Take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is going to search for the Child to destroy Him.”

Sometimes we cannot waste time in protecting our children, sometimes we have to make sudden changes to ensure the safety of our children.

Joseph did not have time to weigh pros and cons when God says Go it is time to Go. as verse 14 explains Joseph got up in the middle of the night and left for Egypt.

Some problems cannot wait until the morning to fix.

Sometimes things have to be fixed the night of.

I remember as a child there were times that my mom had to call a family meeting in the middle of the night to ensure we were protected and ready for tomorrow.

Sometimes it may not be the job you want or it may not be the neighborhood you desire to live in but sometimes it is what is best for your children.

It was no longer about Joseph it was about preserving Jesus for God’s end result.

verse 15 states He remained there until the death of Herod.

This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet.

Out of Egypt I called My Son.

Understand that God is always going to put you in places where you will have the most help.

It may not seem like it initially but God always takes care of his children.

It probably took a lot of faith to uproot his family to Egypt but low and behold there happened to be a large Jewish population in Egypt at the time.

Understand that the protect your child has different strategies but the ideology of protection never changes.

In elementary school it might be moving them to a different school because of negative influences or bullying.

It may be spending more time with them as a teenager to really understand what they are going through.

It may be Godly advice about a relationship or a career choice when they become adults but we must always protect our children because they are a gift from God.

The Outcome of Your Protection

I was able to watch the Trayvon Martin documentary and it has been prevalent through the situations of many like himself and Tamir Rice that our children are not as valuable to society as they are to us.

Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth.

This isn’t just a societal effort to destroy the next generation in our own backyard but this was a globalized effort to destroy the gifts of God in efforts of sons.

The protection and cultivation and discipleship of our children begins at birth.

Christianity should be at the forefront of their rearing from birth.

Jesus was presented and circumcised on the 8th day, the plan of raising him under the admonition of the Lord began while he was in the womb.

We cannot expect our children to live Godly lives if we do not live our the will of God consistently ourselves.

Now His parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover.

And when He became twelve, they went up there according to the custom of the Feast;

It is always evident outside the home how a parent prepares the child inside the home.

A child should see his parents pray, a child should see his parents read the word of God, a child should see his parents be hospitable.

If Christ is not a priority in your life, do not be upset when it is not a priority for your child when they grow up.

It is no mistake that we often get caught up in our lives that we lose track of our children.

They do things and caught up in things without our noticing, but when we have done everything we can to prepare them for this world and given them the tools to handle things in a Godly way we can have the trust that everything will be alright.

Mary and Joseph lost track of Jesus but because they prepared him in the way of the Lord they found him doing the Lord’s business.

Do not inhibit your child from coming to God.

But Jesus said, “Let the children alone, and do not hinder them from coming to Me; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”

If they want to pray encourage them.

If they want to sing encourage them.

If they want to preach encourage them.

If they want to teach encourage them.

If they want to minister to the homeless encourage them.

If they want to bring a friend to church encourage them.

If they want to do anything in the kingdom encourage them.

In conclusion children are a gift from God, he is the reason we have them.

Children are a heritage from the Lord, offspring a reward from him.

Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are children born in one’s youth.

Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them.

They will not be put to shame when they contend with their opponents in court.

God has given your children gifts, let their gifts come to their full potential by protecting them so when it is time to work for God and live for Jesus they know exactly what to do.