What I Want My Children to Believe
Introduction:
Children are a gift from God, a heritage from the Lord. (Psalm
127)
“Unless the Lord builds the house, They labor in vain who build it; Unless
the Lord guards the city, The watchman stays awake in vain. It is vain for
you to rise up early, To sit up late, To eat the bread of sorrows; For so He
gives His beloved sleep. Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, The
fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, So are
the children of one’s youth. Happy is the man who has his quiver full of
them; They shall not be ashamed, But shall speak with their enemies in the
gate.”
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Parents have an awesome responsibility to bring them up in the
“training and admonition of the Lord.”
(Ephesians
6)
(Ephesians
6:4)
“And you fathers, so not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up
in the training and admonition of the Lord.”
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Moses, before the nation of Israel entered the Promised Land, exhorted
parents as follows: (Deuteronomy
6:4-9)
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the
Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your
strength. And these words which I command you today shall be in your
heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of
them when you sit in your house, 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 frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the
doorposts of your house and on your gates.”
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Theme:
So, as a parent, what do I need to teach my children? What do I want my
children to believe?
Body:
I.
About the Nature of God
·
Eternal “Inhabits eternity.” (Isaiah
57:15)
“For thus says the High and Lofty One Who inhabits eternity, whose name is
Holy: I dwell in the high and holy place, With him who has a contrite and
humble spirit, To revive the spirit of the humble, And to revive the hearts
of the contrite ones.”
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God is the high and lofty One.
·
Faithful (Deuteronomy
7:9)
“Therefore know that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God who
keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him
and keep His commandments,”
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God is worthy of their trust. We can lean on Him in the world where so many
cannot be trusted.
·
God loves them and wants them to be saved. (I
Timothy 2:4)
“who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the
truth.”
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·
Believe God knows what is best for them and has given them instructions on
how to enjoy the greatest blessings here and in eternal life in heaven. (John
10:10)
“The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I
have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more
abundantly.”
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·
Believe God will providentially care for them all their lives. (Matthew
6:33)
“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these
things shall be added to you.”
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II.
About the Nature of Man
Importance What my children believe about man is what they believe about
themselves.
·
Man is created in the image of God. (Genesis
1:26-27)
“Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness;
let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air,
and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that
creeps on the earth.’ So God created man in His own image; in the image of
God He created him; male and female He created them.”
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Cause our children to have respect for people and a sense of worth about
themselves.
·
They have an immortal soul and will live somewhere forever! (Ecclesiastes
12:7)
“Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, And the spirit will
return to God who gave it.”
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·
They are accountable to God. . . .
“each of us must give account of himself to God.”
(Romans
14:12)
“So then each of us shall give account of himself to God.”
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Read
Ecclesiastes 11:9
“Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, And let your heart cheer you in the
days of your youth; Walk in the ways of your heart, And in the sight of your
eyes; But know that for all these God will bring you into judgment.”
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Ecclesiastes 12:1a.
“Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth,”
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III.
About the World
·
God created this world and keeps it going by His power. (Jeremiah
10:12)
“He has made the earth by His power, He has established the world by His
wisdom, And has stretched out the heavens at His discretion.”
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·
Hate all the evil and wickedness in this world and realize this world will
one day pass away. (II
Peter 3:7)
“But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are
reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.”
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Teach them not to lay up earthly treasures.
·
Christ died for all people in the world and they need to do all they can to
lead others to Christ. (John
3:16)
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever
believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
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Invitation:
Parents,
what have you been teaching your children and what do you want them to
believe?
Bobby Stafford
August 19, 2018
