All of us want our kids to grow up and be successful. We want them to have good grades, to be a starter on the team, to get accepted into a good college, and to land a good paying job. But the things our culture tells us we need to do in order to help our kids be successful is very different from where the Bible says our focus on our kids should be. We spend a lot of time trying to make sure our kids get ahead in this world, but what are we doing to make a difference in their lives for eternity? In week two of this message, Pastor Sean shares how we all, whether we have kids or not, can shape our priorities and our influence over the kids God has put in our lives in order to help them be successful in the things that really matter.
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MESSAGE NOTES
Matthew 16:24-26
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. 25 If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. 26 And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?[a] Is anything worth more than your soul?
What is we are raising our kids to gain the world at the expense of their soul? If this is true, have we really been good parents?
Genesis 1:28
Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.”
- The first command that God gave was the make babies.
- The second was the fill the earth with kids and to work.
- We were created for the glory of God, to make a family, and to find productive work in the world. In that PRIORITY
However, our culture teaches us something different.
- Get your education, finances, and career established first.
- Then find a relationship, move in together, and see how it goes.
- Maybe even have a kid or two (but not too many because it costs too much).
- Then get married and if you have time, check of some of the “God boxes”
We are living the complete opposite way that the Bible tells us to.
Psalm 127:1-5
Unless the Lord builds a house,
the work of the builders is wasted.
Unless the Lord protects a city,
guarding it with sentries will do no good.
2 It is useless for you to work so hard
from early morning until late at night,
anxiously working for food to eat;
for God gives rest to his loved ones.
3 Children are a gift from the Lord;
they are a reward from him.
4 Children born to a young man
are like arrows in a warrior’s hands.
5 How joyful is the man whose quiver is full of them!
He will not be put to shame when he confronts his accusers at the city gates.
In every home, God needs to be the main ingredient.
- What does that mean to you?
- You see having kids as a gift
- You equate more kids as joy, not a burden
- You see your role as an archer, sending them out into the world to do the same
Psalm 78:1-7
O my people, listen to my instructions.
Open your ears to what I am saying,
2 for I will speak to you in a parable.
I will teach you hidden lessons from our past—
3 stories we have heard and known,
stories our ancestors handed down to us.
4 We will not hide these truths from our children;
we will tell the next generation
about the glorious deeds of the Lord,
about his power and his mighty wonders.
5 For he issued his laws to Jacob;
he gave his instructions to Israel.
He commanded our ancestors
to teach them to their children,
6 so the next generation might know them—
even the children not yet born—
and they in turn will teach their own children.
7 So each generation should set its hope anew on God,
not forgetting his glorious miracles
and obeying his commands.
4 STAGES OF PARENTING
- Disciplinarian (ages 1-5)
- Trainer (ages 5-12)
- Coach (ages 12-18)
- Mentor/Friendship (ages 18+)