Flourishing Family Life

Flourishing family life. Occasionally in our home we have what we call a bits and pieces tea.

And basically what we do then is it's a kind of random assortment of all the stuff that's been

left over from previous meals. You know, the two rogue sausages that are sitting in the freezer,

the kind of margarine tub filled with bolognese sauce, a bit of cheese, and we just stick it all

out as a way of kind of using up all the odds and ends that have been sitting about in the fridge

and in the freezer. And there's a sense in which this talk on family is going to be a bit like that.

It's going to be an assortment of different points that have occurred to me about family life. Some

are going to be very direct biblical points. Some are going to be, I hope, common grace observations.

And some of the applications are going to be based on the trials and errors of my personal experience.

So a bit like that family tea, some bits might be a bit more nutritious than others. Some might be a

bit more to your taste than others. So to mix the metaphors, there's an element in which as I kind of

put stuff out, if the cap fits, wear it. If not, feel free just to leave it behind. So we don't have a

main Bible reading tonight because we're going to do a bit of a Bible study and we're going to pick up

on some of the places where family is talked about in the Bible. In terms of my own credentials,

just my own family situation, there's a picture of my wife and three children being married for 21 years.

I think that picture's about two years old now, but we have three children, a daughter who is 16,

and two boys who are now 14 and 10. So I suppose I've got a bit of experience in terms of bringing

up kids and going through some of the phases, particularly of early family life. But I want

to be very clear that I am not a specialist on family life. I'm not standing here pretending in

any sense to be some kind of guru on the issue of bringing up your children. But I have been asked

to speak on this subject of flourishing family life. Now, as regards the word family, of course,

we can think about that in a number of ways. We can use it to describe any grouping where the parts

have a strong connection to each other. So I talk about the FIEC family of churches quite a lot as I go

around. Indeed, the Bible itself describes the bonds between Christians as being familial,

that is of a family nature. Our Christian relationships to one another are described

in the New Testament in family terms. If you go to, put my glasses on here, usually I can see

things that are that far back, but I'll just get the copy at the moment. But if you look, for example,

that well-known passage in 1 Timothy, Paul writes to that New Testament pastor overseeing that church

in Ephesus, and he says,

Do not rebuke an older man harshly, but exhort him as if he were your father. Treat younger men as brothers,

old women as mothers, and young women as sisters with absolute purity. You see, he's describing

our relationships within the church as Christians in family terms. Because the spiritual reality is

that as Christians, we are part of one family. We are part of God's family. Whether we like it or not,

we are related to each other in Christ. That is just true. That is just a fact if you're a Christian

here tonight. So Paul uses this domestic template of family life to instruct us and to help us to

understand what he wants our church family life to look like. And if church family is in some sense to

reflect domestic family life, then our domestic family model ought to be a good one. It will help us.

The better our domestic family model is to know then how to conduct ourselves and to relate to each

other within a local church family, to set a good example to each other. Now, of course, this is a

two-way street, isn't it? Both our church family and our domestic family should inform each other.

They should be a good example to each other. They should be mutually strengthening. But the main focus

of the time that we have this evening will be on the domestic family, domestic family life.

Take that as the subject in mind in the context of the series that you've been doing. The family,

typically of mum and or dad and children. It's a family that most of us either grew up in or perhaps

are bringing up now. And it's the family that if we weren't brought up in that environment,

I think most of us would nonetheless want it for our own children if we are to have that blessing.

It's the family which has historically been described as the basic unit or building block of society,

sometimes said in the wedding ceremony about the family being that basic component of human society

as the primary place of nurture for children. The place where we will learn our most basic values

and behaviours. The environment that more than any other in human terms that will shape us and form us.

Now the biblical model, the biblical ideal for the family begins with a man and a woman united in marriage.

We go to Genesis. We get that creational template, don't we? Genesis chapter 1.

Genesis 1 · chapter mention

Male and female, he created them. God blessed them and said to them,

be fruitful and increase in number. In other words, go and have children.

Fill the earth and subdue it. And then later on in Genesis chapter 2 when we have the account of Eve being formed

Genesis 2 · chapter mention

and Adam and Eve being placed together in the garden.

Genesis 2.25 tells us,

For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be united to his wife,

and they will become one flesh.

Very clear in the Bible and throughout the Bible that God's context for family life,

for bringing up children is that environment of a mother and a father united together.

Male and female, equal but crucially different and complementary in what they bring to the family,

committed to each other for life.

Just as Adam was not complete on his own in the garden,

a family in that sense is not totally complete without those partners.

Now please, please don't mishear me at this point.

My own wider family, two of my sisters are divorced.

One is a single parent.

I have Christian friends who have been bereaved.

And if you are in that situation or have been through that situation,

you certainly don't need me or anyone else telling you how painful and traumatic and scarring that experience is.

We live in a fallen world.

Many families do not have a united mum and dad.

All of us need to be very humble and sensitive to that fact.

But equally we recognise the sadness of those situations.

We would wish it to be otherwise.

We would want ideally those situations to be different.

Because we know the pain and difficulties that arise when the biblical model isn't in place.

Where we recognise why the Bible model is such a precious gift from God.

Actually it's in those very situations that being in a church family is such a blessing and help to us.

I'm very blessed to be married to a godly wife, Jessica.

And I have, as I mentioned, a 16 year old daughter.

And I'm very blessed particularly because my wife is such a great example to my daughter

of what a godly woman looks like.

My daughter can observe that every day.

With the best will in the world,

I am never going to be able to model to my daughter what a godly woman looks like.

But suppose, Lord forbid, that Jessica wasn't there.

My daughter would still have lots of wonderful examples of godly women in the local church to observe.

Indeed, that's exactly what Paul calls for in Titus chapter 2.

Titus 2 · chapter mention

It says of the older women,

they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children.

And he mentions the men as well.

Well, similarly, encourage the young men to be self-controlled.

And everything set them example by doing what is good.

You may be bringing up boys and they don't have a Christian dad around.

They don't have that kind of role model.

Well, at church there are men who can, in part, make up for that.

So Christian men, just as an aside,

don't vacate Sunday school and youth work and just leave it to the ladies.

You're needed more than ever in those ministries today.

Our young boys in church, our young men,

need to see Christian men living out the Christian life,

taking on those responsibilities,

and having those role models and examples before them.

And not to think that Christian ministry is just what the women do

when they come to church.

Now, those are some general background observations.

Let me move on to some maybe more practical suggestions.

But I do this with a cautionary note.

Because there are general principles,

clear principles that we get from Scripture,

such as prayer and sharing God's words.

So, for example, if we look at Deuteronomy, chapter 6,

Deuteronomy 6 · chapter mention

Israel is commanded.

Israel's parents are commanded.

These commandments that I give you today

are to be upon your hearts.

This is the law, all of God revealed word to them.

Impress them on your children.

Talk about them when you sit at home

and when you walk along the road,

when you lie down and when you get up.

This is a commandment,

an exhortation that family life should be saturated in God's words.

Clear call of Scripture.

But I don't want to be too prescriptive,

on the other hand,

in exactly how parents do that.

Yes, the word of God should be central in our family lives.

But the New Testament isn't highly detailed or prescriptive

about the precise organization of family life.

It doesn't give us a timetable for family devotions

or for bedtimes, for that matter.

Because, of course, all families are different.

There are families that are small and tidy.

There are some that are just big and messy.

Some are blended, as they say today,

with the challenges of that.

Parents from different families

have different working patterns

that affect the routines

and the calendar of family life.

If you have kids,

you'll know that what works with one kid

doesn't necessarily work with another kid.

Think of discipline, for example.

And if that's true within a family,

then all the more between separate families.

I grew up in a big non-Christian family.

I was the youngest of six children.

Both of my parents had drink problems.

My mother eventually went to Alcoholics Anonymous.

Growing up in my house as the youngest,

there was all sorts of stuff went on.

There was teenage pregnancy.

There were affairs.

There were debt problems.

Remember there was a fist fight

in the hall on one occasion.

It was all very chaotic.

Sometimes I say,

what a Christmas that was.

But it was reassuring then to find out

that when I became a Christian in my teens,

that the Bible is actually full

of dysfunctional families.

But God's grace is big enough

to work and to bring good out

even in those kind of families.

Think of Jacob with his 12 sons

from four different mothers,

all at loggerheads.

David, a family riven with jealousies

and rebellions against him.

Well, you know, if God could save me

randomly from my big messy family

by sending a Christian group

into my primary school,

and if he could then save my atheist mother,

as she was very adamantly

throughout my teenage years,

she used to come to some Christian activities,

you know, the parents' nights,

that kind of stuff,

and whenever they prayed,

she would just sit bolt upright,

looking about,

having nothing to do with this nonsense.

But if he could save her in her 70s,

if he could save my sister out of the blue

just two weeks ago,

then let me say there's hope

for all our families.

There's hope for your family,

no matter how messy and dysfunctional

it might appear to be.

Don't despair if your family feels

a little bit all over the place,

spiritually speaking.

God's grace in families

is greater and far more active

than we think.

That said,

God's grace doesn't leave us floundering,

does it?

It comes to us to help to move us

and our families

onto being better families.

God's grace is always given

to help us to be the people,

to be the mums and the dads,

that reflect God's good model

of family life

more and more

as we go through life.

And because, of course,

God is the architect of family life,

then his model,

his template,

is the best one.

It's for our good.

It's the one in which our families

will be most satisfied

and most complete.

Now, I've mentioned that families

are different,

so I don't want to be overly prescriptive

in terms of applications.

There's no one-size-fits-all

in terms of the precise timetables

and arrangements

that an individual family might make.

Equally, families go through

different phases

and you have to adjust

as you go through

those different phases,

don't you,

of family life.

I read an article,

an interview,

I think it was,

with Michael Parkinson,

and he described his kind of family life

as he looked back on it

as being like a big W.

And you started off

on a high

married bliss,

those first honeymoon-esque years together.

And then the first children come along

and that's good for a little bit,

but then, of course,

you're just assumed

and nappies and sleepless nights

and all that kind of stuff.

But then, of course,

as they grow out

of those very early years,

this was his experience,

then they get into that

quite innocent,

kind of lovely,

playful,

very, very dependent upon you

kind of phase of life

when you go to the zoo

and everything's just great fun.

Back up again.

And then, of course,

they become teenagers.

And it's stressful

and it's angst

and it's all this kind of stuff.

And then they kind of grow out of that

and they go into adulthood

and you have this mature

kind of adult

kind of friendship bond

with your children.

A W.

I quite like that anyway.

So take the practice

of family devotions,

reading the Bible

with your children.

Obviously,

that is going to look different

depending on what age

your kids are.

What worked

when they were very young

might not be that helpful

or workable

when they get older.

It's just kind of common sense,

isn't it?

Our kids are 10,

14,

16.

Our family Bible time

is at the evening meal.

Mornings don't work for us.

That's just our bad planning

or organisation.

But the mornings just tend

to be too chaotic,

too pressurised,

and too prone

to interruptions.

Who's seen my so-and-so?

I can't find this,

etc.,

etc.

So we have it in the evening.

We have a bit more control

over that time.

It's a bit more settled.

But your family might be different.

That's what I'm saying.

Sometimes in the evenings,

it doesn't happen in our house.

People are away

or they've got to leave

or whatever.

We use daily reading notes

for our evening Bible time.

We read a short passage

and we read the comment

from the book on it.

And we might say

one or two things about it.

We might not.

Having that resource,

we have found,

is very helpful.

Because otherwise,

it's quite easy

to run dry.

You always think

you'll have something

to say about a passage,

but this number of times

you feel that what you're going to say

is going to be pretty predictable

and cliched.

And it avoids just repetition.

And we go round at the end

and we ask for prayer requests.

And a lot of the time,

I'll be honest,

there's not much forthcoming.

Nothing greatly dramatic.

It's a bit kind of same old,

same old.

But it means that

if there is something big

or pressing

that does come up,

then the setting for it

has been established.

But of course,

that spiritual interaction

in families

between parents and kids

isn't just about

set-piece formalities.

It's not just about

the dinner table

and out comes the Bible.

It is about talking about

spiritual things naturally.

That is what the thrust

of that passage in Deuteronomy

is about, isn't it?

It's about as you're walking

along the street,

as you're going to bed.

It's just to inform

and to kind of come into

all these different situations.

It's not to be compartmentalized.

This is the time we do

the religious stuff, kids.

I think a lot of our children's

discipleship has been done

with them sitting at the end

of our bed

before they go to sleep

unloading issues

or having questions.

My wife has discipled my daughter

so often in that way.

She tends to appear

quite late in the evening

if my wife's trying to get to sleep

and sits on the end of the bed

and wants to talk.

And that's a great opportunity

for discipleship.

Or just finishing

a conversation off in prayer.

Just, well, let's just pray about that.

It doesn't have to be elaborate

but natural.

There's a really key thing

that we can help our children

with us into

is just setting a model

of natural everyday prayer.

Modeling honest, reflective prayers

prayers don't have to be strident,

don't have to be flowery,

but just rooted

in a confident, secure

relationship with God.

Prayers that don't seek

to have all the answers

or even to expect

all the answers

but simply just ask

a loving Heavenly Father

to help in that situation

at that time.

Crucially, of course,

are our prayers

for our children

if we're parents.

Great quote from

George Philip

from his daily readings

on the book of Job.

He says this,

He, Job,

knew he could not

keep his children

from living in the world.

That would have created

a spirit of rebellion

against the holiness

and narrowness

of their father

as they would have

perhaps seen it.

So he surrounded them

by prayer continually.

Parents, your children,

out of love and respect

for you,

may behave at home

but unless they have

a faith that is real,

you will never know

what they are doing

when they are away.

Better get down

on your knees.

You know,

it's such a powerful quote.

I highlighted it at the time

and remembered it

in this preparation.

You know,

unless you are going

to bring up your children

in some kind of

Truman Show type construction,

your kids are going

to be exposed

to our society

in all its rotten forms.

If they go to school

and they have a smartphone

or they have a friend

with a smartphone,

they'll see porn.

Just accept that fact.

They swim

every day

in the cultural sea

of sexual chaos

and materialism.

So acknowledge it.

Talk about it.

Not stridently,

but compassionately.

Acknowledge the fact

that other people

don't share your views.

Live differently.

Don't pretend

that it doesn't exist.

Don't go into some sort

of denial about it.

And let me suggest

that more than you

condemn and oppose it,

show the goodness

of God's alternative.

I wrote a little article

a little while ago

on transgender.

It's a big cultural

issue now,

isn't it?

On the back of other

sexuality issues,

transgender is the thing

which really now

is the new frontier

of social revolution

and cultural change.

And of course,

there's a number

of approaches

people can take

to that issue.

One of them,

maybe a traditional

Christian one

in many ways,

is the slam it

and ban it approach.

It's absolutely terrible.

We should have some laws

against this kind of thing

or certainly not get rid

of any of the laws

that might be against it.

But actually,

I think we have to

acknowledge that we

live in a society

where people are going

to have that choice.

Might not like it,

but we have to acknowledge

they might have that choice.

Medicine and society

is going to support them

and facilitate them.

But actually,

what we want to say

as Christians is,

you know,

there is an alternative.

There is another way

to go

to recognize

there's a God

who made you,

who made you male

or female.

Didn't make a mistake

when he did that.

God who loves you.

God who understands

that every part

of every one of us

is messed up

to some degree

or another.

And a God

who in Christ

came to save you

and wants

by grace

and by the Holy Spirit

to help you

to move

to actually

being the person

he made you to be

content

in your own skin

and not have

to go through

all that trauma

and rigmarole

of trying to be

something

which actually

God never wanted

you to be.

There's an alternative.

But over all

these things,

pray.

Pray for their souls.

Pray for the

seed of God's word

to fall on good ground

in their hearts

as they come

to church

week by week

and YFs

and Bible studies

and around

the dinner table.

Pray for God

to have mercy

upon them

to rescue them

from this present

evil age.

One of my sisters,

my four older sisters,

was the real

black sheep

of the family.

She fell out

of school

without any qualifications,

got into all sorts

of problems

and bother.

Back in the 1970s,

she was given

a real hard time

by one particular

teacher who obviously

just saw her

going off the rails,

so to speak.

And she used to

say to her,

I'll use her name

if you won't mind,

she used to say,

Fiona Hunter,

if you don't

sort yourself out,

you're going to

end up slicing

bacon behind

the deli

in Woolworth's.

Remember the days

that Woolworth's

actually had a deli?

Anybody remember

Woolworth's?

Back in the 70s,

it was actually

a deli in Woolworth's.

And that was,

from this teacher's

point of view,

you know,

working in the deli

in Woolworth's

was the very

definition of failure

in life.

But I won't be

too pietistic about it,

Lord knows my heart.

We have often

prayed

that our children

would work

the deli

in Woolworth's

if that means

going on with

Christ

rather than

becoming another

nominal,

former church

going kid

who's now a

high flyer

and raking it in.

And that's a real

test of our

convictions,

isn't it?

Because the reality

is that what

we want for

our children

is pretty much

what we want

for ourselves.

So pray over them.

Don't be naive.

Pray that God

will rescue them

from this present

evil age.

Finally then,

discipline

and grace.

Of course,

in all this,

you need to have

boundaries,

don't you?

My father-in-law

used to say to me

as I hauled

one of our children

away from the

dinner table

for playing up,

he said,

don't worry Andy,

you've got to

bring them up.

And indeed,

that's a biblical

command.

Ephesians chapter

Ephesians 6 · chapter mention

6 and verse 4,

we are told,

fathers,

do not exasperate

your children,

instead bring them

up in the training

and instruction

of the Lord.

Some versions

say the discipline

of the Lord.

Hebrews goes on

to tell us

that the Lord

himself disciplines

the one that

he loves.

the instruction.

Well,

we thought about

that a bit,

haven't we?

That biblical

input and

teaching that

is to be

central to

our family

lives and

however that

is administered.

But discipline,

of course,

is setting the

limits of what

is acceptable

behavior.

And like the

Lord who

enforces,

at times,

discipline in

our lives,

the lives of

his own

children,

we do it

because we

love them.

Discipline is

vital to

protect them

and to

develop good

character.

One boundary

that we've

tried to

enforce in

our own

family,

and believe me

it's a

constant battle,

so don't

in any way

think that

this is

something that

we have

gotten top

of.

But one

boundary that

we try to

enforce is

how people

speak to

each other

in our

home,

how the

children

interact with

each other.

As you know

what it's like,

constant put-downs

and meanness

and picking

fault.

And the

point we

try to

make to

them is

that that's

the kind

of thing

that you

have to

put up

out there.

That's the

kind of

thing that

you're not

going to

escape from

when you're

in the

playground or

in the

street,

that kind

of abuse

and nitpicking

and fault

finding and

just general

meanness.

But in

this place,

in this

home,

is a place

where you

should be

able to

escape from

that.

You

should be

safe here,

you should

be respected

here.

That's not

acceptable here.

This is to

be a haven

for people

who have to

put up

that kind

of stuff

out there.

Actually,

you know,

the church

should be

like that,

isn't it?

That's the

point of the

church family.

You go to

work,

you go out

in the

street,

you interact

with people,

you might

be subject

to kind

of meanness

and unfairness

and insult

and difficulty.

The whole

point of

these instructions

about holiness

in the church

and how

we're to

interact with

each other

in the church

is that the

church should

be a haven,

should be a

place where

you come to

and you're

not subject

to that

kind of

stuff,

you're free

from that

kind of

stuff.

This is the

place where

you will be

loved and

respected and

cared for.

People don't

get treated

the way they

do out in

the street

when they

come in

here.

And that

should be

true in

our families.

Again,

exactly how

you work

these things

out,

what your

precise

boundaries

are,

what the

sanctions

that you

want to

impose are

in terms

of discipline,

that's going

to vary

from family

to family,

even as I

mentioned

from child

to child.

Let me

just make

two observations.

One is

that discipline

is never

going to be

popular or

gratefully

received at

the time.

It's a very

obvious thing

to say,

isn't it?

But I

think we

need to

make that

point

increasingly

today,

because what

it means

is that

your

relationship

to your

child

cannot be

based on

being

BFFs.

That means

best friends

forever.

Low.

Your

relationship

with your

child is

not about

being a

BFF.

My

father had

six kids.

he spent

most of

his adult

life raising

children.

My brother

is 16

years older

than me.

He's at

the end

of the

spectrum.

So you

can imagine

his whole

life was

basically

just children.

And I

don't think

that he

ever gave

a moment's

thought as

to whether

his kids

liked him

or not.

But he

looked after

us.

We knew

where we

stood,

and that

ultimately

gave us

much more

security

than a

pal who

was trying

to get

our

approval.

Secondly,

discipline

needs to

be

complemented

with

grace.

Because notice

those verses

that we

read,

the same

verse in

Ephesians

that talks

about

discipline,

about

instruction,

about

training,

says,

fathers,

do not

exasperate

your

children.

Always

tempting,

isn't it,

to raise

the bar

up behind

you in

life.

So we

set our

expectations

of others

on the

basis of

where we

are now,

as opposed

to where

we might

have been

ourselves

in the

past.

Part of

me is

horrified of

the thought

that a

30-year-old

me would

have been

an elder.

But I

was.

And I've

got to bear

that in

mind when

I'm looking

at other

people today.

It's the same

with our

kids,

isn't it?

There is a

danger, I

think,

sometimes in

hot house of

evangelicalism,

of expecting

teenagers to

behave like

seasoned

saints.

Youth in

the Bible is

often recognized

as a time of

recklessness and

excess.

David says,

remember not

the sins of

my youth,

Psalm 25.

In

Timothy, we

are called

on to flee

youthful passions

or to flee

evil desires

of youth.

Youth is a

time, perhaps

more than

most, where

lots of

grace is

needed.

If you

are on

your

teenagers

back

constantly,

they're not

going to

notice when

you're actually

trying to

warn them

about something

that's really

serious,

because it's

just you

picking faults

again.

You pick

faults about

the colour

of my hair,

about my

bedroom, and

now you're

just picking

faults.

But actually

this thing is

quite serious,

but it just

all disappears

in the

noise.

What is

vital is

that we

model to

them,

unconditional

love, and

a consistency

in our

own faith?

Let me

finish this

rather scattered,

I told you

it was going

to be a

bits and

pieces talk

with a

quote, I

love this

quote.

This is

one of my

tutors at

Bible college

used to

say this

to us,

there's no

such thing

as perfect

parents, and

the ones

who have

got lousy

kids.

I love

that, there's

a lot of

truth in it.

It should

humble us,

and it

should make

us all

calm down

a little

bit when

it comes

to this

subject.

But of

course there

is a

perfect

parent,

isn't

there?

The

God and

Father of

Jesus

Christ.

And yet

even his

children are

far from

perfect in

this world.

Whether that

was Israel,

whether it's

Christians now,

that of

course is no

fault in

God's part,

but a

reflection of

their fallenness.

That means

that regardless

of our best

efforts and

all the good

wisdom in

the world

that we

could share,

there are

no guarantees

in family

life about

how things

are going

to work

out.

The best

families can

see children

go awry.

Corinthian

church sat

under the

care and

teaching of

the great

pastor and

theologian

Paul himself.

It doesn't

get any better

than that,

and yet

they seemed

to get

just about

everything

wrong.

You see,

remember that

no one

loves your

kids or

your family

more than

God does.

Matthew

7 in the

Sermon on

the Mount,

these great

words,

if you

then,

though you

are evil,

know how

to give

good gifts

to your

children,

how much

more will

your Father

in heaven

give good

gifts to

those who

ask him.

You see,

God is

right behind

us when

we ask

for good

things.

He's not

going to be

less kind

and less

generous to

you and

your family

than you

are.

So whatever

your family

situation,

whether it's

good or

bad,

you can

commit it

to the

Lord.

You can

do so

in the

trust and

in the

confidence

that he

will work

out his

good

purposes

for those

that you

love.

You can

commit them

to a

loving

heavenly

father.

And one

of the

things you

can ask

him for

is for

your

family.

I know

that as

you ask

for your

family with

those good

desires,

that he

is willing

to bless,

to help,

to carry

you in

your family

and to

do his

good work

in you

and among

those

precious to

you in

that place.

Let's

pray.

Father, we

thank you

for family.

We thank

you that

every one

of us

has

experience

of family

in some

way or

another.

And we

thank you

that even

as we

reflect on

families that

fall very

far short

of your

good standards,

of your

template for

life, yet

we in

Christ can

be brought

into a

family which

is being

worked out

according to

those good

purposes,

that family

that will

transcend this

life itself,

that we will

be your

children, the

children of

the one

perfect

Father.

So,

Father, I

just pray that

you will

bless these

random

thoughts to

us, that

the things

which haven't

been helpful,

that perhaps

have been

arbitrary, will

be quickly

dispensed with

and forgotten,

but Father,

where you

have spoken,

where you

have breathed

truth out

through your

words and

through our

thoughts tonight,

that they

would help us

to have

families and

to be parents

and grandparents

and brothers

and sisters

and church

members who

reflect something

of your

goodness and

your love and

your care for

us.

So we commit

these things to

you now and

ask your blessing

upon us for

Jesus' sake.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.