Ephesians 6:1-4

Well, as Nathan said, my name is Kyle Webb, and my wife and my dad and my son are all here this morning.

We have been just overjoyed to be a part of this faith family for the last few weeks.

We've only really been coming here. I think this is our fifth week we've been here.

So just a little warning to those of you who might be visiting.

Be careful when you ask to get involved, okay, around here.

You might be preaching within five weeks of being here.

And I say that just jokingly. I love Nathan, and we were great friends in college,

and we've kind of been separated for a while, and it's good to be back near him.

Good to be back near the Shell Nuts, who I also knew in college, and the Cheathams.

You know, it's a great privilege and joy to be with you here this morning, to have the opportunity to share his word.

I love, this is something I love to do.

This is something that God has really instilled in me with the desire to do, is to share his word.

So what I'd like to do this morning is I'd like for you to turn with me to Ephesians 6.

Nathan mentioned to you that we're going to be talking a little bit about the biblical basis for family-integrated churches.

So I know in some ways this morning that I'm kind of preaching to the choir,

because you're already a family-integrated church.

Most of you, or some of you at least, will know a lot of this already that we're going to be talking through,

but it's a great reminder for us as a faith family to be able to recognize this is why we do the things we do.

And if you are a guest, you've been visiting recently,

this is likely some of the reasons why we do things the way we do here in this church.

So it's kind of twofold.

If you're new here, then you kind of get an understanding, further understanding of why we do this this way at this church.

And you also get an understanding of, for those who have been here for a while,

just kind of a reminder, this is why we do this.

And I have to confess to you something before we jump in this morning.

I'm a recovering student pastor.

I feel like I'm at an AA meeting.

I'm Kyle, and I used to be a youth pastor.

And a lot of what I want to share with you this morning comes out of my convictions

of what happened during that time, those years that I spent in student ministry.

And so I just want you to know that.

I want to share with you this morning some statistics that are just sobering to me.

Recent statistics are showing that we are losing a generation.

For instance, studies are showing now that we're losing anywhere from 75% to 88% of our young people

by the time that they are freshmen in college.

By the way, if you look around, not necessarily in here, but you look around in churches

and all of our churches across America, and there's a generational gap of college students,

20-somethings that are by and large missing.

And I commend college students.

We have a lot of college students in the room this morning.

And this is even during the summertime when a lot of the college students are away.

So that's really incredible.

This church has been able to sustain that college group, this generational gap that exists in most churches

and across America.

If you look at most churches, though, you're going to see a generational gap of 20-somethings

and going into 30-somethings even, where these people, they're going off to college,

these students are going off to college, and they're not returning.

I want you to think about this as well.

Right now in our culture, our birth rate is below replacement rate.

Replacement rate is 2.1 children per family.

Right now in America, we're at 1.9.

Now it's not as bad as most of the industrialized world.

France is at 1.5.

Italy is even worse at 1.1 children per family.

And what this means is that we're not having enough children for our culture to continue to survive.

We're slowly dying generation by generation.

France has a birth rate of 1.5.

However, the African Muslims and Arab Muslims who have immigrated into France,

their birth rate is 6 children per family.

This means that by sheer numbers alone, France is going to be within two generations of a Muslim country.

Why?

Because the people in France, just like us,

they want prosperity more than they want children.

They want prosperity more than they want the blessings that God has given us through children.

Now let me put these two pieces of statistical information together for you

and let you know why this matters to us here in our culture,

why this matters to Christ's family church.

At two children per family, believers, we're really no different than the rest of our country.

At almost two children per family,

and we're losing at least 75% of our young people by the freshman year of college,

that means that we need two Christian families

to get one believer into the next generation.

Let me make it even more plain.

There are 16 million Southern Baptists on paper.

It doesn't mean they're all worshiping this morning,

but there are 16 million Southern Baptists on paper.

By these numbers, next generation, 4 million.

Third generation, 1 million.

Fourth generation, 250,000.

It's more than just numbers now, isn't it?

Oh, it's okay.

We'll just bring it up through evangelism.

Now that's interesting.

In order to replenish those numbers through evangelism,

we'd have to reach at least three lost people per Christian in our country.

Right now, Southern Baptists are reaching one lost person per 47 Southern Baptists.

Let me make this plan to bring it home.

Christianity in America is dying.

Just plain and simple.

Christianity is dying in our country.

And this is what our answer has been.

In our churches and across the United States,

our answer has been,

let's divorce ourselves from this topic.

Let's separate ourselves from this emerging tragedy that's going on in our country.

And let's give our children to the student ministers and to the children's ministers

and let them take care of it.

Youth pastor will straight them out, right?

Well, that's a valiant effort, but it's simply not enough.

Dr. Reed, one of my evangelism professors in seminary,

wrote this in Raising the Bar.

He says that over the last 30 years,

we have seen the largest increase in numbers of professional youth ministry degrees

and parachurch organizations designed to reach youth.

And we have seen the greatest decline in youth baptisms ever.

So we have more people who vocationally are trying to reach young people.

We have more organizations who are trying to reach young people.

And yet we have fewer baptisms than ever.

So they say, well, those youth pastors, they're just not doing their jobs.

No, youth pastors for the past 30 years have been trying to do the job

that God has given you as parents to do for your children,

to raise them and encourage them in the admonition of the Lord.

And this is what we're going to see this morning,

is that before the church was established,

before Jesus ever established his church,

that God established a family.

And one of the major functions of the family

is to raise children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

And so before we dive into this text,

I want to consider three simple foundations

that are going to guide us as we go through this text this morning.

The first is that the Word is sufficient.

God's Word is sufficient.

I must confess that I'm not really an expert at much of anything.

I don't really consider myself an expert of really much of anything at all.

And I'm certainly not an expert on parenting.

And so I hope that you find it comforting this morning

that I don't feel like it's my job or my position

to tell you how you need to be parenting your children,

to give you parental advice.

I just don't think that that's what God's called me to do this morning.

And it's not my goal to give you my personal philosophy on parenting.

My goal is to expose this Word, which is true in our lives.

And to expose what God has told us about parenting.

And by the way, for those of you who are single in here,

this message is for you as well.

Those who are single or maybe you're married but don't have any children.

Because we as a faith family need to absorb ourselves into this faith family

and be able to encourage the parents,

be able to help the parents as they try to raise their children in a godly manner.

So for you this morning, if you're single,

maybe one day you'll get married.

Maybe God's leading you toward that.

Maybe God's going to bless you with children one day.

And so hopefully these words will be true and ring true into your lives,

into the future as God leads you in that direction.

And my goal is to expose this Word that's true,

that's really foundational for all of our lives, for all parenting.

I'm going to stick as quickly, as closely to God's Word as I can.

And it's not that God's kind of wishing that He had a revised New Testament

saying what would be more relevant into a culture today.

It's not like God's sitting around thinking,

man, if I could just write a whole New Testament

that we could teach parents more about what it means to be parenting in today's culture.

But God gave us exactly what we need in His Word.

We have everything we need, which raises the level, which raises the importance of God's Word.

When we gather here as a faith family,

we've got to realize that we're teaching from a Word that God has given to us,

that has everything pertaining to life and godliness.

And so there's no different this morning.

We need to unpack what the Word has to say about parenting.

Now, I know as soon as I say that,

there's going to be parents in this room that are thinking,

now, Kyle, it's great and all, it's very interesting that you're saying all this,

but I'm not sure that Habakkuk and 1 Chronicles

has a lot to say about the situation that I'm in right now.

And you're probably right.

I think I would go so far as to say this,

I don't believe that this book was written to give you all the answers

to all of your parenting questions.

Believe me, one of the things that I'm looking forward to

is when Joseph can actually communicate to us.

He's 16 months old.

It'll be really great when he can actually communicate what's wrong

because as it is right now,

he just likes to scream when something's wrong.

And we don't know whether we need to take him to the hospital

or to give him a bottle.

Sometimes we're just kind of wondering,

what do we need to do with him?

And Habakkuk really isn't telling us,

giving us the answer to that.

You know, Habakkuk's not really fueling the answer for something like that

in our parenting.

However, this is the way the Word is sufficient.

And don't miss this because this is the key in our lives.

The most important thing that you can do for your children

is to grow into the image of Jesus Christ.

In Leviticus and 2 Chronicles and Habakkuk,

they all speak to that.

And your kids need to see Christ in you more than they need to see the philosophy of Dr. Phil.

So let's not bypass this Word,

which is sufficient for all life,

for all godliness,

for all parenting.

The Word is sufficient.

And it's the means by which God is transforming you

into the image of Christ.

Secondly,

second foundation this morning,

the home is central.

This is where we get ourselves into trouble.

And not in this church,

but in churches across America,

we get ourselves into trouble here

because we live in an age of professionalism.

We hire out even responsibilities,

our own responsibilities as parents.

We want our sons to be good athletes,

so we send them to the ball coach

to teach them skills

so they can become the best athlete possible.

We want our daughters

to get the best possible education,

so we send our daughters to the tutors

so that she can get her grades up

and so that she can make better scores on her SATs.

And then what happens is

we transfer that into the church world.

And in the church world,

we send our children to the student pastor,

to the children's ministry

to get the best possible biblical education.

What we're going to see this morning

is that from the very beginning,

God has established the home

as the central and primary method

from transferring His Word

from one generation to the next generation.

It's not the responsibility of youth pastors

and of children's pastors

to teach or to evangelize your children.

As a believer in Jesus Christ,

it's your responsibility

to disciple

and to share the gospel with your children.

I want you to hear loud and clear

that it is not the church's job.

If you're a believer in the room,

it's not the church's job

to evangelize your child.

What we're created within our Christian culture,

our church culture in America,

is an atmosphere

where it's almost like

we're saying,

listen,

we've got your kids,

you don't worry about it.

We're professionals.

Don't attempt this at home.

And it's wrong.

And it's unbiblical.

And I'll tell you from firsthand experience

that student ministry is ineffective

the way we currently do it

in America.

And I want to encourage parents today

that you have everything that you need

to disciple your family in the home.

Everything that you need

is right here in God's Word.

The Word is sufficient.

The home is central.

The gospel is necessary.

We've got to have the gospel

being taught in our homes.

You have to teach our children.

We've got to teach your children the gospel.

The gospel is not something

that we just hear in prayer,

prayer,

and move on with the rest of our lives.

The gospel is incredibly important in the home.

It's our source of salvation.

And by the way,

it's our only source of salvation.

I don't think I have to tell any parents

in the room this morning

that your child

has the propensity to sin.

They kind of come out that way, right?

They come out ready to take you on

with their best shot.

I know this from having a 16-month-old

and already he's tried.

Don't get me wrong.

He's the biggest blessing in my life in the world.

But he's also sometimes the biggest challenge

that I've ever experienced.

Because children,

they come out as sinners.

And guess what?

You're a sinner too.

So what happens when you put sinful children

and sinful parents under the same roof?

You've got yourself a challenge, right?

Some of you in here might just have an amen

to say to that.

Some of you are just saying,

that's me.

You're speaking to me right now, Kyle.

And here's the deal.

You won't find this in many books

or many seminars

or any self-help type conferences.

But what your children ultimately need

is the gospel.

See, in a lot of books that you read,

you'll see a lot about behavior change.

This is how you change your child's behavior.

But the ultimate reality is

that until your child has the gospel,

until Jesus gives us new hearts,

there's no hope for change.

And as a parent,

until your child is able to receive Christ,

until Jesus is able to impact them

and change them from the inside out,

you've got no hope for change.

We need new hearts.

Our children need new hearts.

Not just to be saved from the penalty of sin

and just move on with our lives.

We need new hearts.

The gospel is our source for transformation.

This is Ephesians 5.18,

the context in which our passage this morning is found.

Be filled with the Holy Spirit,

the Spirit in you through the gospel,

transforming you.

No matter how much we teach our children to be good,

there's no way for them to follow God's word

apart from the grace of God working within them

and changing their hearts and their lives.

And so it's with these three foundations

that we dive into our text this morning.

Ephesians chapter 6,

Ephesians 6 · chapter mention

starting in verse 1.

I know this is a long intro,

but just bear with me.

We needed to get through some stuff

before we dive into the text.

Ephesians 6, verse 1.

Ephesians 6:1

And children,

obey your parents and the Lord,

for this is right.

Honor your father and mother,

which is the first commandment with a promise,

so that it may be well with you,

and that you may live long on the earth.

Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger,

but bring them up in the discipline

and instruction of the Lord.

You look at all four verses in this passage,

and all four verses,

parents are emphasized.

In verse 4, it's fathers.

In Scripture, we get this picture

that fathers are to be the leaders in the home.

They're supposed to be responsible

for the spiritual formation of the family.

Not sole responsibility,

but a leading responsibility.

You see back in Ephesians 5,

one chapter before where we are this morning,

Ephesians 5, it doesn't get any clearer.

The husband is the head of the home.

Husbands need to lead families.

It doesn't mean that, man,

that we're supposed to lord over our wives and children.

It's not like we should say,

me, man, you, woman, me, say, you do.

Right?

We're supposed to love our families,

Ephesians 5 says,

as Christ loved the church

and gave himself up for her.

Men, it's time that we step up to the plate

and give ourselves up for our families.

The sacrificial love

that God has called us to,

men in the room.

So what does this word say to parents?

What is the application here to parents?

God gives you children by His grace.

God gives you children by His grace.

Verse 1,

Obey your parents and the Lord.

Verse 4,

Bring them up in the discipline

and instruction of the Lord.

The whole picture here

is bookended in this passage.

It revolves around God.

The picture is that God

has entrusted children to the parents.

Parents, your children are not your own.

They are God's.

And you are stewards over them.

And God has called you

to do something with them.

And in this passage,

God has called you

to raise them up

in the instruction

and discipline of the Lord.

Not only does God give you children

by His grace,

God gives you children

for His glory.

You look throughout Scripture.

You look all the way back to Genesis.

And you begin to see that God,

everything that He does

throughout history

has been for His glory.

Genesis is where Abraham

receives the blessing.

God gives Abraham a blessing.

He's going to be the father

of many nations.

Why?

Scripture says it's for God's glory.

The walls come down at Jericho.

For whose glory?

For God's glory.

David is able to slay Goliath

for the glory of God.

So that a nation

would come to worship

and so that all people

would see that God

is the kind of God

that takes care of His people.

And that God would be glorified in that.

Even down to the cross.

Jesus died on the cross.

Yes, because of our sin.

And we get to benefit

from the sacrifice

that Christ made.

But it was ultimately

for God's glory.

So God has given us children

by His grace

and for His glory.

And I want to put that

next to what the world says

about being a successful parent.

Because there's a huge gap

between what the world says

as being a successful parent

and what the Bible says

as being a successful parent.

The goal of biblical parenting

is not to help your children

get a good education.

The goal is not that you see to it

that your children

have the best grades.

Go to the best college.

As the best education.

Now I'm not saying

that education is bad.

There's certainly

some validity in the statement

that we need

to honor and glorify God

with our minds

to the best of our ability.

I believe that that's true

and part of that is education.

But what we run into

a problem is

when we put grades

and we put education

far above relationship

with Christ

in our homes.

The goal of biblical parenting

is not to help your children

be a great athlete.

The goal is not

to make your children

the best

at every single sport

that they play.

It's not running yourself ragged

throwing the kids

in the minivan

running them around

all over town

trying to get to every

sporting event

that they play.

To win trophies

that will eventually

sit around

gathering dust

in some room

that you never go in.

That's not the goal

of biblical parenting.

The goal of biblical parenting

is not for your child

to go on great dates.

The goal of biblical parenting

is not to help your children

in glorified divorce practice

which is what dating

essentially is.

Where children

and teenagers

and sometimes younger

even onto their college years

are involved

in exclusive relationships

sometimes even

sexual relationships

only to move on

to somebody else

the next year.

It's glorified

the divorce practice

and parents

we should not

be encouraging it.

The goal of biblical parenting

is not to help

your children

have a great career.

Likewise

the goal

is not to help

your children

make great money.

See the problem

with all of these

is that there are

worldly views

of success.

And not what the Bible

teaches

is successful.

I'm not saying

these things

are inherently bad

I'm saying that

we're teaching

our children

what it means

to be successful

in the world's sight

not in God's sight.

And even in our churches

we're teaching

our children

that they need

to be successful

in this world

and this is simply

not true.

But here's why

this is important

and this is why

this is so subtly

dangerous to us

because the picture

that is so common

is that we

tell our children

that they need

to get good grades

that they need

to be dating

the cutest guy

or girl

in high school

that they need

to be good at sports

that they need

to work hard

and play an instrument

so that they

can be successful

in this world.

All along

we teach them

these things

and every single day

we prioritize

a worldly view

of success

and yet we're not

teaching our children

to serve

the Lord

in their lives.

We're not

prioritizing God

in our homes

and in our families.

And God help us

if our answer

is to say

well we attend

church every week.

so you give

a couple hours

every week

to God

while pouring

hours upon

hours upon

hours of your

time and effort

into taking

your kids

to ball practice

and to their

ball games

and to gymnastics

and to the dance

team and everything

else that is

wrapped in this

secular world view.

This is what

Bodie Bauckham

says, author,

professor, and pastor.

He says in his book

that's called

Family Driven Faith

he says if I teach

my son to keep

his eye on the ball

but fail to teach

him to keep

his eyes on Christ

I have failed

as a father.

We must refuse

to allow trivial

temporal pursuits

to interfere

with the main thing.

No sports endeavor

will ever be

as important

as becoming a man

or a woman

of God.

Later on he goes

in his book

he goes on

to share about

this family

who's struggling

with their college

student.

Thomas had grown

up in the church

and he was a

regular in the

youth group

and he attended

Disciple Now.

He went to all

the youth group

meetings on a

regular basis.

He went on

the mission trips

with the church.

When Thomas

got into college

things began to

change.

He stopped

attending church.

He began to

struggle in class.

Upon further

investigation his

parents found out

the reason why

he was failing

his classes

was because he

was out drinking

at night.

with his

buddies and

often times

missing classes.

Finally Thomas

was suspended

from the college

baseball team

because the

result of a

random drug

test revealed

that he was

using anabolic

steroids.

The story

kind of begs

this question

what happened?

What happened?

How could this

happen to such

a promising

young man?

this is what

Bodie Bauckham

says.

He says,

this man and

his wife had

gone to great

lengths to see

to it that

their son became

the best

baseball player

he could be.

This also

meant that

during the

summer and

fall church

attendance was

sporadic at

best.

Like many

parents they

found themselves

traveling to

tournament after

tournament and

praying for the

opportunity to be

out on Sunday

since that meant

that they were

playing for a

title somewhere.

What they

didn't realize was

that they were

teaching Thomas to

prioritize baseball

over the fourth

commandment.

They were

teaching Thomas

that he should

honor the

Sabbath and

keep it holy

unless it's

baseball season.

Thus when Thomas

got to college and

he had to choose

between going to

church and hanging

out with his

teammates the

foundation for his

decision had

already been laid.

In other words

Thomas' lack of

commitment to

spiritual matters

laid the groundwork

for his moral

compromise.

Let me tell you

something.

In this room

this morning

don't think

that this

situation won't

happen to you.

I've seen it

as a student

pastor over

and over

and over

again and

it's especially

true for

parents that

prioritize all

these other

things over

your child's

spiritual formation.

The reality is

that if dads

in this room

are more

passionate about

teaching their

sons how to

swing a baseball

bat than they

are about teaching

your sons how

to study the

Bible then

we've missed

the point.

If moms in

this room are

more passionate

about teaching

their daughters

how to wear

their makeup

than they are

about what it

means to have

a gentle and

quiet spirit

then we've

missed the point.

The danger is

that one day

our sons and

daughters are

going to stand

before God in

heaven with all

of these things

that we've told

them are important.

all these things

we've told them

that would make

them successful

and they're

going to be

standing before

God on that

day and all

of that is

burned up in

the fire.

They stand

before God

as beggars

on that day

and it is

completely and

utterly our

failure as

parents to

have taught

them what was

truly important

in their

lives.

The goal of

biblical parenting

is not to

raise our

children in a

worldly success.

The goal of

biblical parenting

is to help

your children

accomplish a

great commission.

That's the

goal of

biblical parenting.

That is

God's view

of success.

And it's

there from the

beginning of

scripture.

God says to

his people,

you raise your

children to

know me,

to love me,

to serve me.

You raise

your children

to spread my

word, to

make me known

in all the

world.

Is that what's

really driving

our parenting?

Is that what's

really driving

us as parents

today?

Are we

fueling the

great commission

to make

disciples or

are we

hindering?

I've had

parents come

to me as

a student

pastor saying,

I would

never let

my child

go into

a third

world country.

It's just

too dangerous.

I've had

other parents

say, I

would never

let my

child go

into a

country that

was closed

because of

the danger

level that

there is in

that country.

That's because

we've come to

the point in

our Christian

walks where

we value

long life.

You won't

find that in

the word of

God.

You won't

find valuing

long life.

What you

will find is

valuing,

sacrificing

your life,

giving your

life up for

the sake of

the glory of

God.

Jesus had

twelve

followers.

Twelve,

he had more

than that.

Twelve close

followers,

these disciples.

Judas

committed

suicide.

Ten others

died on

account of

sharing and

spreading the

gospel of

Jesus Christ.

Do you

think that

they would

have done

it all

over again

and done

something

different to

spare their

lives?

I don't

think they

would have.

The

twelfth one

was exiled

on account of

the gospel.

John was

exiled on

account of

the gospel.

You simply

won't find it

in scripture

where God

values long

life.

In fact,

you find the

opposite.

Here's where I

want to take

you to another

location in

scripture.

Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy 6 · chapter mention

chapter 6.

If you would

turn there

with me.

Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy 6 · chapter mention

chapter 6,

the fifth book

of the Bible.

Another place

where we

really don't

have time to

go this

morning,

we're running

out of time.

In Genesis

18-19,

when God

speaks to

Abraham about

his children,

it's the first

time the

teaching is

ever mentioned

in God's

word.

It's mentioned

in the context

of family.

It's God

saying to

Abraham,

Abraham,

instruct your

children in

my ways.

Instruct your

children in

my commands.

It's the

first picture

that we see

of this word

instructing.

It's used

in the context

of a father

teaching his

family or

leading his

family in

God's word.

Then you

get to

Deuteronomy

6.

This is what

Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy 6:4

6 verse 4

says.

Hear,

O Israel,

the Lord our

God,

the Lord is

one.

There's a

statement of

faith and

based off

that statement

of faith.

Love the

Lord your

God with

all of

your heart,

with all

your soul,

with all

of your

might.

These words

which I

am commanding

you today

shall be

on your

heart.

You

shall teach

them how?

Diligently.

To your

sons and

shall talk

of them when

you sit

in your

home.

And when

you walk

by the way,

when you

lie down,

and when

you rise

up,

you shall

bind them

as a sign

on your

hand,

and they

shall be

as frontals

on your

forehead.

You

shall write

them on

the

doorpost

of your

house and

on your

gates.

You get the

picture here?

From the

very beginning,

the central

avenue for

disciple-making,

for spreading

the word of

God,

has been in

the home.

So what does

this mean for

us today?

How can we

instruct our

children so

that they

know the

word?

First of all,

we have to

have a verbal

commitment to

God's word

in our

homes.

This is

verse 7.

Impress

them on your

children.

Talk about

them when you

sit at home,

when you walk

along the

road,

when you

lie down

and when

you get up.

That pretty

much covers

any time

that you

can possibly

be teaching

God's word

in your

home.

Be teaching

it.

If you're

at home,

talk about

the word.

If you're

away from

home,

talk about

the word.

When you're

going from

home to

wherever you're

going,

talk about

the word.

All the

time.

Talk about

it more

than you

talk about

baseball.

Talk about

it more

than you

talk about

college

football.

Talk about

it more

than you

talk about

how to

do your

makeup and

shoes and

whatever else

girls talk

about with

their

daughters.

Make a

verbal

commitment

to the

word.

The best

Bible

teacher is

not me

for your

children.

The best

Bible teacher

for your

children is

actually not

Nathan.

I think

that he

would agree

with that.

The best

Bible teacher

for your

children is

you.

As a

parent.

You are

the best

Bible teacher.

God's called

you to do

it.

We must

make a

verbal

commitment,

but also

we must

have a

visible

commitment.

This element

is in this

passage here.

Deuteronomy

6.

You know,

mom or dad

may not be

talking to

you right

now,

but it's

there on

your walls.

It's on

your gate.

We need

to start

stamping

things on

our forehead,

maybe stamping

scripture on

our forehead

somehow when

we go out

and walk

around.

I'm not

ruling that

out.

Maybe that's

there in

the text.

Maybe you

want to

really look at

it incredibly

literally and

actually do

that.

But I

believe what

this passage

is really

telling us

is that

the picture

is that the

word is

visible in

your home,

so visible

that it

permeates

everything that

we do.

And you

might want

to post

your memory

verse for

the week

up on

your

children's

mirrors so

that they

can see

it,

visibly

see it

in the

home.

We also

have to

make a

visible

commitment

to God's

word.

You know,

just a few

generations ago

a man was

considered

spiritually

responsible if

he did

these things.

Unfortunately

today a man

is considered

spiritually

responsible if

he sends

his children

to the most

cutting edge

youth or

children's

program.

We can

no longer

sit idly by it.

I know,

again,

I'm just

preaching to

the choir

here.

You've

chosen

Christ's

Family

Church for

a reason

and that

may be

one of the

reasons why

you've even

chosen Christ's

Family

Church because

they do

things

differently

here.

We do

things

out of

the norm

of what

the culture

is doing.

I think

that's a

biblical

approach

rather than

trying to

copy what

all the

other

churches

are doing.

It's a

more

biblical

approach.

We must

also train

our children

so that

they show

the word.

In other

words,

you impress

upon them

the word

but also

you help

them make

it come

alive in

their lives.

You help

them to put

it into

practice in

their lives.

the picture

here is

that you

keep them

within the

boundaries and

train them

to walk in

obedience and

honor to

God.

It takes

training and

it takes

discipline to

do these

things.

Studying

through Ephesians

6 makes

you wonder

why are

families not

doing these

things in

our culture

today?

The instruction

is there.

God's told

us to do

it.

Why are we

not

worshiping

in our

homes?

Why are

we not

reading

God's

word in

our

homes?

Why are

we not

having

family

worshiped?

time.

I wonder

if maybe

it's

because we

like to

discipline

our own

lives.

Our

children

will never

be what

they cannot

see.

When you

look at

Titus 2.12

it talks

about how

God's grace

is training

us in

godliness

in such a

way that

we're able

to impart

that upon

others.

I think

from observation

the opposite

is true as

well.

You can

also train

your children

in ungodliness.

If they

see ungodliness

in your

lives,

you're

teaching

that.

You're

imparting

that upon

them as

well.

If you

don't hold

God's

word high

in regard

in the

home,

you're

teaching

your

children

that God's

word is

just not

important.

So that

means the

reality is

that husbands,

wives,

moms,

dads,

we need to

step up to

the plate.

single

people in

the room,

future

moms,

future

husbands,

future

dads,

call us

to you

too.

And the

way it

begins for

those of you

who don't

have children

is to

rally around

families in

this church

to support

them.

When a

child is

crying sitting

next to you,

you don't

roll your

eyes and

think,

oh man,

I just

can't listen

to the

sermon right

now.

I can't

figure out

what they're

saying.

You support

that family

because,

as Nathan

said earlier,

we don't

just tolerate

children,

we love

them.

Here's another

side to that.

We need to

learn,

as a faith

family,

that the

worship of

children is

important to

God.

Their worship

is important.

Which is why

we want to

include them

in corporate

worship.

I've been

in a lot

of churches

and you

may have

been in

churches

in the

past

before.

They do

this thing

where they

allow the

children to

sit in

the service

through the

music time

and then

when the

time comes

for the

preacher to

come up

to preach

God's

word,

they usher

them out

of the

service.

Now,

you might

have a

different

philosophy

than I

do,

but think

about what

that teaches

children.

It teaches

them that maybe

singing songs

is important,

but the

teaching of

God's word,

we don't have

to be involved

with that.

teaching our

children

priority is

playing games

in a nursery

rather than

being in

the teaching

of God's

word,

time where

knowledge and

encouragement

is imparted

upon you

as a faith

family.

family.

Now,

I want to

encourage you

to read the

Bible together

in your

families.

I want to

encourage you

to at least

find one

day that you

can worship

together as a

family.

Schedule it.

If you don't

schedule it,

it's not going

to happen.

I'm speaking

from experience.

At least one

day a week

that you can

worship with

your families.

So,

challenge

husbands on

the way home

today.

Schedule time

with your

wife.

This is the

time that we're

going to gather

together.

If you want

to do it

six times,

seven times a

week,

that's even

better.

But one is

better than

none,

right?

So,

I encourage

families,

figure out a

time when you

can get

together to

worship together

as a family.

The word

needs to be

taught in your

home.

You know what

else you can

do is you

can read the

word in the

morning and

every night

with your

children.

That's something

that anybody

can do.

If you need

resources to

help you do

this,

to help you

in your

family

worship

time,

I'm sure

Nathan can

provide free

resources for

you.

I know

there's some

free resources

if you're

interested.

I can share

those with

you as

well.

Let me

tell you

why this

is so

important

today.

We're

wrapping

this up.

Let me

tell you

why this

is so

important.

You go to

scores of

church

buildings

across

America

and

across

Europe

and you

see

empty

buildings.

These

church

buildings

are

empty

shelves

of what

used

to be

great

thriving

churches.

Completely

empty

today.

I shared

with you

these

statistics

for a

reason

because if

we continue

in the

same

pattern

in our

culture

today,

we're

going to

see

hundreds

if not

thousands

of empty

church

buildings.

Possibly

even other

businesses

having moved

into church

buildings

because

that

congregation

has died

away.

The

statistics

are real.

Not making

it up.

I'm not

saying the

church is

going to

disappear.

God's

word is

going to

continue

on until

the end.

His

word

proclaims

that.

His

word is

going to

carry

on all

the way

through

eternity.

There's

no question

about that.

But whether

we're

involved or

whether our

children or

our children's

children are

involved with

that has

everything to

do with how

we interact

with Ephesians

Ephesians 6 · chapter mention

chapter 6.

So we're

going to pray

right now and I

just want to

invite husbands

especially to be

leaders of

your home.

Step up to

the plate.

Wives, be

supportive of

your husband in

that role.

Help him where

he needs help.

Help teach the

children in the

home.

Children, quite

simply, obey

your parents.

Let's pray

together.

Heavenly Father,

we thank you so

much for giving

us this opportunity

to gather here as

a faith family in

this room.

We thank you,

Father, for your

word.