Christ Central Families

All right, if you would open up your Bibles, if you haven't, to Colossians chapter 3.

Colossians 3 · chapter mention

If you're new here for the first time, I've been preaching through the book of Colossians,

and we've entered this section of Colossians called the household rules.

And so a couple weeks ago, I preached on Christ-centered marriages.

Next week, I'm going to preach on Christ-centered employment.

And this morning, I get to preach on Christ-centered families.

And so if you would look at two verses, verses 20 and 21 of chapter 3, it's on page 1170 of your pew Bible.

Hear God's word.

Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.

Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged.

May God bless not just the hearing, and not just the preaching of the word, but the doing of this word.

Do I have an amen?

Amen.

Okay, kids.

You're in with us today, and I'm so thankful.

I'm going to start off with asking you to draw a picture for me.

Do you know what a greenhouse is?

Children, if you're in the room 18 and under, say yes.

Glad to know that we have one child 18 and under in the room.

A greenhouse is a building with a lot of glass.

And a greenhouse has really one purpose, to grow plants.

You grow plants in a greenhouse to send them out to be replanted in other places.

And so maybe you've been to Steins with your parents, totally boring, but you might have been in a greenhouse.

Breezy Hill, you've got a greenhouse.

Greenhouse.

And if you're in a greenhouse, you walk into a greenhouse, you are immediately met by a number of things.

You're met by the temperature, right?

The temperature's just got to be right for a greenhouse.

And then you're also, you kind of feel the moisture in the air.

It's humid.

It's got to be right for a greenhouse.

And then all the glass, there's got to be a lot of sunlight.

And when you have those three things working together, you've got an environment for growth.

A Christian family is God's greenhouse for growing godly kids.

A Christian family is a place where children grow up and then are sent out.

And so, brothers and sisters, if we want to grow children who love the Lord, do you know what that means?

Jesus Christ must be the controlling center of our families.

And when Jesus Christ is the controlling center of our families, we will find ourselves in a Christ-rich environment.

I've got four points this morning in this sermon.

First one is this, vision.

I want to cast vision for the families in this room right now for a Christ-centered family.

A greenhouse.

And then I get to address kids, 18 and under.

That point is for you.

And there's one word you're going to need to hear.

It's the word obey.

And then the third point is to dads.

Fathers.

And you've got one word too.

It's lead, brothers.

Lead.

There's a way not to lead and then there's a way to lead in your homes.

And then finally, I get to speak a word of grace.

Because many of us in the room are living in the, but what if?

What if I blew it?

Oh, there is grace for you.

Christ must be the controlling center of our families.

And when he is, and he's the king of grace, not only do children grow, but parents grow too.

So let me give you a vision for the Christian family.

And this is point one of the sermon.

What needs to be happening within a church family, within a Christian family, in order for children to grow in godliness?

What needs to be true?

Well, I'd like to point you to two things.

I want to help you see something.

The first is, Christian mom and dad, you've got to see yourself as God sees you.

You've got to remember who you are.

This kind of like theological amnesia.

You forget who you are?

You've got to remind yourself of who you are.

So let me just remind you who you are by a kind of brief and amazing review of the book of Colossians.

Mom and dad, you used to be living in the domain of darkness, but you were transferred into the kingdom of the beloved son.

That's who you are now.

You have a new king and a new kingdom.

King of grace.

He is the firstborn of creation.

He's the firstborn from the dead.

He's the king of all.

And not only that, you've got a new identity.

You've died with Christ and you've been raised with Christ.

Chapter 2, verse 20.

Chapter 3, verse 1.

You're united with Christ in his death and resurrection.

You've got a new identity.

And you also have a new aim.

In chapter 3, verse 1, we read this.

If you then have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above.

Where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.

Brothers and sisters, moms and dads, you've got a new aim.

For your households.

Christ in heaven, who is reigning on high.

We also have a new time frame.

Church, what time is it?

You're living on Christ's time.

We live between his first coming and his second coming.

Which means we're living with a whole new perspective.

An eternal perspective.

That helps us not to live for the temporary trinkets of the world.

And for the timeless treasures of Christ.

We live on Christ's time.

And then what we've been seeing in verses 5 through 14 of chapter 3 is,

you've got a whole new wardrobe, brother.

Sister, you've got a whole new dress to wear.

You are to put off the old grave clothes of who you were when you were dead to God.

You don't wear those anymore.

And you're to put on the new self, which is being renewed in the likeness of your creator.

Verse 10, chapter 3.

That's Christ wear.

You're to put on Christ likeness, mom.

Dad, you're to put on Christ likeness.

Compassionate hearts.

Humility.

Kindness.

Patience.

Bearing with one another.

Forgiving one another.

And above all else, you put on the love.

Christ-like love.

The new commandment love.

Now, if you are trying to parent in your old grave clothes,

you know what kind of environment that's going to create?

That's going to create a toxic environment.

What you want to be wearing is your Christ wear.

And when you are breathing in Christ-rich air,

and you're putting on Christ likeness,

you're remembering who you are.

So the first thing in terms of kind of this vision for a Christian family,

you've got to remember who you are.

You've got to see yourself the way that God sees you.

The second thing I want to point you to is this.

It's what's got to be happening in your home.

It's not just remembering who you are,

not just seeing yourself as God sees you.

It's seeing your home for what it can be.

And we can see that from verses 15, 16, and 17.

I'll just be quick.

Do you remember how a greenhouse,

you need the right temperature,

you also need the right amount of moisture,

and you need sunlight?

For your greenhouse, brothers and sisters,

you need the peace of Christ ruling in your heart.

That's setting a temperature,

a warm temperature to raise children.

The peace of Christ is the shalom,

the peace that Christ accomplished between you and God

by dying on the cross for your sins,

and now we are able to bring that peace into our homes.

We're to be peacemakers now,

ruling our hearts

and helping it rule our children's hearts.

If you want a good book

on how to make peace in your family,

there's one that's second to none.

It's Ken Sandy, Peacemaking for Families.

I would highly recommend it.

So the right temperature is this,

verse 15,

the peace of Christ ruling in your hearts,

mom and dad.

That's, you're set,

you're creating a greenhouse

for your children to grow in that.

Not hostility.

Not what you see

in verses 8 and 9,

anger, wrath, malice, slander, obscene talk,

lying to one another.

That's grave clothes.

You don't want to raise your kids in that.

You want to put on what you see in verse 12.

You want to raise them in that.

Verse 16,

the word of Christ dwelling richly among you.

If you look back at Deuteronomy 6,

Deuteronomy 6:4–7

verses 4 through 7,

it's called the Shema.

Hear, O Israel,

the Lord your God,

the Lord is one.

Love the Lord your God

with all that you've got,

and you're to have the word,

his word on your heart

and you're going to instruct your children

wherever you go,

night and day,

when you rise and when you fall,

when you're driving them to school

or bringing them to Meijer,

constantly talking about God's word.

It's the saturation of scripture.

It's like walking into a greenhouse

where you feel the moisture in the air.

Your home should be saturated

with the scriptures

that point to the Savior.

It's a Christ-rich environment.

How do you do that?

Well, if you want something very structured,

the New City Catechism

would be a great way to do that.

Another way is,

when I was a young dad,

I used what I call

the King Penguin approach,

and that is,

I would wake up

before anybody woke up in my house,

and I would have my nose

in my Bible,

and I would be reading my Bible,

and then,

whether it's over breakfast,

over dinner,

I would start a conversation

with my kids,

and I would say something like,

do you know what I read

in my Bible today?

I'm just kind of regurgitating

that to them

in the best sense.

I want to help them

digest God's word.

So it's coming from me.

I'm helping them

experience the goodness of God's word.

Verse 17,

the name of Christ.

Do everything in the name

of the Lord Jesus.

Do everything.

This is the sunlight.

Not S-U-N light.

S-O-N light.

Let Jesus shine

in your homes,

brothers and sisters.

Make much of him.

Do everything in his name.

Help your children

do everything in his name.

Here's something.

You could just kind of

huddle up sometime

in the morning,

and dads,

you lead out.

You say something like,

Lord Jesus,

we commit our day to you.

We want to live for you today.

We want to do everything,

word and deed.

We want to do it

for your name,

for your glory.

Do you know why?

Because Jesus is the son

of our solar system.

Everything orbits him.

He's the controlling center

of our lives.

And when you have

these three ingredients

operating in a household,

you've got the peace of Christ

ruling your hearts.

You've got the word of Christ

dwelling richly among you,

and you're doing everything

in the name of Christ.

Do you know what you do?

You know what you're doing?

Can you see it?

You're creating a greenhouse.

Christ-rich place

for your children to grow in.

Now, imagine your children

growing up in that.

That's what you're doing.

Before we move on,

I just want to say

one more thing.

I want you to vision,

you parents,

you've got to parent

a certain way.

It's easy to get sucked

into the tyranny

of the now,

but you've got to be

parenting your kids

with the send in mind.

When they're 18 years old

and they're leading your home,

you've got to be partnering

as a husband and wife,

as a mom and dad.

You're thinking like,

okay, where do they need to be

when they leave our home?

What needs to be true of them?

What needs to be true

of their character

and their conduct?

How do we cultivate

this kind of responsibility?

Mom and dad,

you've been called

to raise adults,

responsible human beings

who love the Lord Jesus

with all that they've got.

And so we parent

with the send in mind.

So your greenhouse,

mom and dad,

that you are building

and creating,

you remind yourself

of who you are,

and then you are bringing

these ingredients,

these components

of growth to bear.

It's all to send them

to be replanted elsewhere

as mature adults

who love the Lord Jesus Christ.

that's a vision

for the Christian family.

You're not going to hear

that on CNN.

You're not going to hear

that on Fox News.

You're not going to see that

and hear that

on your podcasts.

That's coming from this.

It's good.

So we move now

from a vision

for the Christian family,

a greenhouse,

Christ-rich,

Christ-centered,

to now children.

What does God require of you?

If you're 18 and under,

I need you

to make eye contact

with me.

I need you to listen

with what I'm about to say

because this is God

addressing you.

Not me,

God's word.

God's word.

God's word.

It says this,

children,

obey your parents

in everything

for this pleases the Lord.

If parents are creating

this greenhouse,

what is the responsibility

of a child?

And the responsibility

of a child

is to obey their parents

in everything.

What does it mean to obey?

It means to do

what your parents

are telling you to do.

It means to do

what they're asking you to do.

There are two parts

of verse 20.

There is

what you're to do,

obey,

and the motive

to do it.

For this pleases the Lord.

So obeying your parents

is doing what they say.

Kids,

did you know

that your parents

have the responsibility

of raising you?

They have the responsibility

of forming your character,

of helping you learn

how to obey.

obey.

Obedience is learned.

You grow in it.

It forms your character.

And so God

has given your parents

the responsibility

of forming your character

through obedience,

of training you

to obey

and do what's good

and right

in God's eyes.

and children,

your responsibility

is to obey them.

There's this passage

way back

in the Old Testament.

You know the Ten Commandments?

The Fifth Commandment

is this.

Honor your parents,

honor your father

and your mother.

Children,

you're to honor

your mom and dad

because God

has given them

a responsibility

for you

to respect

what God

has given them

for you.

You are to honor them

and the primary way

you honor them

is by obeying them.

Here's what that means.

Your mom or dad

asks you to do something?

Yes, mom.

Yes, dad.

Let me run you

through some examples.

I, I,

this may happen

in your home.

Maybe it doesn't.

Honey, make your bed.

Yes, mom.

Yes, dad.

Clean your room.

Yes, mom.

Yes, dad.

Do you know

what your parents

are doing?

They're training you

to be responsible.

They're forming

your character.

They're helping you

do what's good

and right in God's eyes.

Brush your teeth.

Yes, dad.

Take out the trash.

You got it, dad.

Dad.

Time to wake up.

You got it.

We, you children,

are to obey

in everything

and here's what that means.

You don't get to select

what you can

and cannot obey

with one exception.

If your parents

are telling you

or asking you

to do something

that God forbids,

you may not do that.

your parents

may not

cause you to sin.

Sin against God.

But in everything else,

you obey them.

Now, if you're a teenager

in the room,

you're like,

well, you know what?

I'm a little bit more mature

than an eight-year-old.

And chances are

if you're a teenager

in the room,

your parents are giving you

a little bit more space

to make your own decisions,

right?

That's good.

That's wise parenting.

But here's a situation

that might happen.

Let's say you're going out

with your friends

and your mom or your dad

says,

hey, where are you going?

And you might take that

as some kind of

invasive line of questioning,

but your parents

are actually training you.

They're not asking

something that is

unrealistic.

They want to know

that you're being responsible.

Where are you going?

Who are you going with?

When are you going to be back?

You need to be back

by 10.30.

These are things

that you obey

as a teenager.

You're being formed.

You're being shaped.

And as you do these things

and honor your parents,

it builds trust.

And so they are willing

to kind of give you

some more responsibility.

That's how it works.

But if you defy them,

if you disobey them,

it causes them

to not trust you

and it causes them

to pull back

on the responsibility.

That's not their fault.

That's your fault.

There's a motive in this.

Not only are you

to obey children,

but you are to obey

a certain way

to a certain end.

It's right there.

For this pleases the Lord.

When you honor your parents

by obeying them,

it pleases the Lord.

Kids, do you ever wonder,

man, I wonder

what the Lord's will is.

The Lord's will

is for you

to honor your parents.

It pleases Him.

So here's what that means.

Check this out.

Your parents will drop

to the floor

and you'll be like,

do they need CPR

if you do this?

Your mom, dad comes up

and you'll be like,

hey, sweetheart,

please make your bed.

And you're like,

yes, mom,

for the Lord Jesus!

Glory!

Child, if you did that,

your parents would be like,

here's 10 bucks.

Dad, I love you.

Children, here's what

I'm trying to say.

You might think

that obeying your parents

is to please your parents

and on one level it is,

but the ultimate person

you're looking to please

in your obedience

is Jesus the Lord.

So whenever you're asked

to do something

or told to do something,

you can say,

yes, dad,

for the Lord!

If you want to yell it,

yell it!

But if they ask you

to do something

that's sin against God,

you say,

no, dad,

for the Lord!

You see what I'm saying?

Now, if you can please Jesus

by obeying your parents,

then you can grieve Jesus

by disobeying your parents.

And that might be a flat out,

no, I'm not going to do that,

or it may be something like this,

grumbling,

complaining,

arguing.

When you grumble

and you complain

and you argue,

it's not just making it difficult

for your parents,

you're grieving God

in the moment.

You know what this means?

Okay,

raise your hand

if you've been a child

in the room.

raise your hand

if there was a moment

in time

in your childhood

that you disobeyed your parents.

Oh, like there's 4,000

in my, like,

13th year alone

I disobeyed my parents.

Do you know what this means?

Children,

you need a Savior.

Kids,

you need a Savior

to rescue you

from the disobedience

disobedience

that's in you.

You need Jesus

just like everybody else

in the room.

Kids,

your parents,

they're God's kindness

to you,

they're in your life,

God has given them

to you

to help raise you

to become adults

who flourish

outside of your,

outside of their home.

Allow them

to lead you.

Allow them

to form you.

Honor them.

We all need a Savior.

So we've gone

from talking about a vision

to addressing kids

and now

what God requires

of Christian fathers.

Verse 21.

Now in verse 20

we see something interesting.

Children obey your parents,

mom and dad,

honor your father

and your mother.

So both parents

have responsibility

for their children

and have authority

to tell them

what to do.

But then in verse 21,

Paul narrows his focus

to purposefully

addressing fathers.

That is not an accident.

Here's why.

Because in God's

good and wise design,

he has,

he has called

men

men to be the leaders

of their homes.

We see that

in verse 19.

A man is to be

a husband

who leads his wife.

And we see that

here in verse 21.

The same man

is to be leading

his children.

Dads,

we are to

create a context

in our homes

where both

our wives

and our children

are thriving

in the Lord.

If you're a dad

in the room,

I want you to feel

the weight

of verse 21

because God

is addressing

you,

brother.

Fathers,

dads,

do not provoke

your children

lest they become

discouraged.

And just to be

clear,

what God

is not saying

is that,

hey dad,

you're the

controlling center

of your family.

No, no.

Christ is.

And so what

that makes you,

dad,

is a manager

of his greenhouse.

You are to

manage the

greenhouse

the Lord Jesus

has given you.

You are to be

making sure

that the temperature

is right.

that the peace

of Christ

is ruling

in your heart,

in your wife's

heart,

in your children's

hearts.

You are to be

making sure

that the moisture

level is right,

that scripture

is saturating

your home.

You are to make

sure

that the sunlight

is shining bright,

that you are doing

everything in the

name of the Lord

Jesus.

I know,

brothers,

that when you can

hear this stuff

that you will be

either like,

hey,

bring it on,

let's do it.

Or you start

thinking like,

ah,

and you can

start making

excuses.

Well,

my dad was,

doesn't matter.

Or you start

thinking,

well,

my wife is like

three times as

spiritually mature

than I am.

Doesn't matter,

brother.

God's calling

you to this.

And when you

step into this,

he has grace

for you,

he's going to

grow you,

and you know

what?

You're going to

say something

like this,

hey,

this kind of

responsibility is

hard,

but it is good

and I delight

in it.

Thank you,

Lord Jesus,

for entrusting

this responsibility

to me.

Remember,

your authority

as the dad

is an outworking

of your

responsibility

given as a dad.

man.

So in verse

21,

we see two

things.

Brother,

you're told

what not to

do and why.

Do not provoke

your children.

In Ephesians 6,

4,

it's the parallel

passage.

It says,

do not provoke

your children

to anger.

You're not to

embitter your

children.

You're not to

make them resentful.

Now the question

becomes,

well,

how do you do

that?

How do you

make a child

resentful?

It's not rocket

science because

we've all

experienced this

before in other

venues.

What angers or

embitters a

child is when

you are exercising

your leadership,

dad,

in a way that

is more drill

sergeant than

ambassador for

Jesus.

It's when you

are exercising

your leadership

in your home

with some

kind of

authoritarianism.

You do it

because I

said do it.

That's not

how you lead,

brother,

not in your

home.

That's grave

clothes leadership

in the home.

That's not

Christ wear.

No,

you are

constantly

building your

children into

Christ.

You're serving

Jesus in your

leadership in your

home.

home.

You're the

manager of the

greenhouse.

Jesus is the

owner.

And he's going

to hold you

accountable

some day.

Dads, we can

make this

error of

thinking that

we are the

controlling

centers of our

families when

we're not.

Christ is.

And so we

serve him and

our families in

that.

So the first

mistake is this

mistake of

authoritarianism.

But there's

another mistake

on the other

side of the

spectrum.

And do you

know what it

is?

Abdication.

It's still

self-serving.

Like

authoritarianism

is a kind of

self-serving.

my children

exist for me.

Or abdication is

this idea of I

am rejecting the

responsibility and

authority that the

living God has

given me for the

welfare of my

family.

That's abdication.

And that will

embitter your

children too.

When you check

out.

I have a

picture.

It's not an

original.

But a print of a

Norman Rockwell

painting.

That's called

Sunday Morning.

And in the

middle of the

living room is a

dad wearing a

red bathrobe

reading the

sports page

shrunk in his

chair as his

wife and

children leave

prim and proper

for church.

It's a picture

of abdication.

It's a

mistake.

We are not to

be authoritarianism.

We're not to

make the mistake

of abdicationism.

We are to be

ambassadors of

Jesus Christ in

our homes,

brother.

That's what

you're being

called to.

And we're

given a reason

why.

lest they be

discouraged.

Do you know

what a failure

of leadership

does?

It deflates

people.

It discourages

people.

It leaves

people wanting.

What happens

with an

authoritarianism is

often children

like, I want to

get out of this

house and I want

to stay out of

this house.

it's a mistake.

There's a

better way.

Brother, you

know what you

need?

You need Jesus.

You need to

treasure him

above all else.

You need to

rest in him and

the grace that he

has for you

today.

You've got a new

identity.

You've got a new

aim.

You're on a new

time frame.

You've got a new

wardrobe.

You've got a new

aim.

Christ above.

And we bring

that into our

homes.

There's this

quote, J.C.

Ryle.

It says, hey,

how do you heat

a church?

You put a

furnace in the

pulpit.

How do you heat

a Christian home?

Put a Christ

centered brother in

the middle of it.

I need to tell

you something,

brother.

You are a

target.

The devil

knows that

you leading in

your home is

going to advance

the kingdom of

God.

And he will do

everything he can

to discourage

you, to

distract you, to

disqualify you.

these are the

stakes.

Don't give him

opportunity,

brother.

Step into this

good responsibility

that God has

given you.

Do you have any

hidden sin in

your life that's

keeping you from

leading in a way

that you know

pleases Jesus?

Confess it.

Repent of it.

Have you been

exercising your

leadership in an

authoritarian manner?

Confess it.

Repent of it.

Have you been

abdicating?

Confess it.

Repent of it.

If you need to

tell your wife

and children,

do with it.

But don't let

these words fall

to the ground.

This is for

Christ.

What God

requires of you,

Christian father,

is not to be

an authoritarian,

not to be an

abdicator,

but to be an

ambassador for

Jesus Christ in

your home.

Now, there's a

series of

what ifs,

right?

But what if

point four?

The first one that

comes to mind is if

you're a single

mom.

But what if I'm a

single mom?

Sister, have you

heard of a

battlefield promotion?

Here's what

happens.

On a battlefield,

leadership gets

decimated, and

there's a vacuum of

leadership.

And you know what

happens?

Someone who may not

be the most

qualified is

necessarily put in

place because they

need to lead.

Sister, we are,

I wish we were

living, I don't.

wouldn't it be

great if we were

living in a sinless

world?

If we were living in

a sinless world, you

would not be a

single mom.

But we live in a

sin-riddled world.

So, sister, guess

what?

You're promoted to

leadership of your

home.

You are the one,

sister, to create

a greenhouse of a

Christ-rich environment,

the peace of Christ

in the word of

Christ, in the name

of Christ, permeating

your environment of

your home.

That's yours.

God has grace for

you.

Single mom, do you

know that God's grace

is bigger than your

circumstances?

He's bigger, way

bigger.

His grace is

sufficient.

And do you know

what?

Do you know

Timothy?

His mom, it's

likely a single mom,

at least his dad was

not a believer, and

Timothy's mom raised

him in a way that

pleased the Lord.

You can do that with

God's help.

But what if I'm a

single mom?

Sister, if you're a

single mom, God has

grace for you.

Enlist the help of

brothers in the church,

brothers in the church,

godly men, step into

your children's life as

well.

We'll do this together.

But what if my kids

aren't Christians?

Well, brother, sister, you

still are trying to create a

greenhouse of grace.

It doesn't change that.

Don't get distracted.

Preach the gospel.

Pick your battles.

But continue on allowing

the peace of Christ and the

word of Christ and the name

of Christ to be permeating

your home.

Find other brothers and

sisters in your life that can

encourage you because that's

hard.

Love them long.

Maybe you're a child in the

room and you're like, but

what if my parents aren't

Christians?

Or what if my parents

embittered me?

They've sinned against me.

Well, God calls you to honor

your parents.

No matter what they're like,

find ways to honor them, to

obey them, to make it easy

for them.

You're going to have to

forgive them if they've sinned

against you.

Because that's the way of

Jesus.

But what if I am a blended

family?

God has grace for you.

You and your wife, you

might have children from

different past relationships,

but that doesn't stop you

from creating a greenhouse

where the peace of Christ is

ruling your hearts and the

word of Christ is saturating

and the name of Christ is

being exalted.

God has a lot of

things.

But it's this last question.

But what if I've blown it?

What if I've blown it with my

kids?

What if I've sinned against

them and they resent me for

it?

What do I do now?

You throw yourself on the

mercy of Jesus.

You know what that points to?

You still need Jesus.

So you confess your sin to

him and as opportunity

affords, you own it with

your children.

Ask them to forgive you.

But realize this.

If you have grieved your

children to such an extent,

it may require time before

you're reconciled with them.

You might suffer the

consequences of past

mistakes.

So you wait on the Lord.

You pray regularly to him.

You ask him for help and

ask him to change you and

change your children,

trusting that one day he

will bring about what you so

long for.

And children,

what if you've blown it?

What if you know you've

disobeyed your mom and dad?

What if you know right now

you're hiding something from

them?

Well, you need a savior too.

You own it.

You confess it.

You ask God to forgive you

and make right with your

parents to rebuild trust.

It'll take time, but it's so

worth it.

And when you have people who

recognize that they're sinners

in need for God's grace,

get what you got.

You got a greenhouse

where the peace of Christ and

the word of Christ and the

name of Christ can be

exalted.

A greenhouse has a specific

purpose to grow plants,

to be sent out and

replanted elsewhere.

The Christian family is God's

Christ-rich greenhouse to grow

God's grace.

And parents.

And parents.

Vision,

Christ's central family.

Children,

obey.

Dads,

lead.

And for the but-what-ifs,

grace abounds for us all.

Do I have an amen?

Amen.

In order for our homes to be

Christ-rich greenhouses,

Christ must be the controlling

center of our lives.

Let's pray together.

Lord Jesus, we need you.

We sin against our children,

and our children sin against us,

but your grace is greater.

Father, would you pour out your

spirit upon the parents and

children of our church,

that there would be this work

that you continue in which,

Lord Jesus, your name is

magnified in our homes,

that you're the controlling

center,

and we are delighted in that.

Have your way, Lord.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.