Teaching The Next Generation
Deut 6:6-9
6 And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. 7 Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. 8 Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders. 9 Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
~ New Living Translation
Will The Next Generation Know?
(Deut. 6:20-25)
Intro:
A. I would like to invite all the kids of the congregation to join me up front on the stage. I want you to see the children who are this church and the future of the kingdom of God. I want you realize that due to the virus we are not seeing all the kids of this church, but I am so excited to show of the kids that we do have with us today.
B. TO THE KIDS: I am so happy you are joining me today. I want to say to you, “Jesus loves you and so do we.” You guys are strong, brave, and filled with love. You help us to see the beauty of Jesus by watching how you care about each other.
C. I want to ask you two questions. If you would like to answer, just raise your hand and I will bring you a microphone. FIRST QUESTION: Does your family do anything together or with you to help you stay close to Jesus? SECOND QUESTION: What is your favorite thing about go to Sunday school or Wednesday night class (I know we have not had them for a while for some of you).
D. Before you go back and sit down, I want to read to you a passage of scripture. It is Deut. 6:4-7. Our job as parents, grandparents and as your church family, is help you grow up knowing God and to follow Jesus. I was excited to hear what you do in your home and why you like Bible classes. If you every have a question about God, the Bible, or really anything, I hope you will talk to your parents, grandparents, Bible class teacher or myself. We want to encourage you not only to KNOW Jesus to LIVE like a disciple. Thank you so much for help me today.
I. Get Your Kids To ASK
A. Just a moment ago, I read part of the instruction given to the people of Israel by Moses. The passage doesn’t just deal with how to raise godly children. Keep listening (READ Deut. 6:8-9).
B. God’s word and heart needs to be a part of our lives, especially in our home life. Our kids needs to listen to us and follow our example of how we treat people, the language we use, the things we do and places we go. They will anyway, so let’s make sure we are leading them in the right pathway and just trying to give them a Sunday only religion, but a relationship with God.
C. Near the end of this chapter, Moses makes this statement (READ Deut. 6:20-21). Just stop there. Moses believed that the life of the parents, family religious community would cause the children to ask “What does this mean?” There needs to be strong and deep spiritual conversations in your home on a regular basis. We all want our kids to remain connected to God and active within the body of Christ, but that needs you and us to draw them in to wanting to know “WHY.” They need answers that connect them to their God. They need to understand reasons for what we believe and practice. Not simply to lecture them or make them memorize facts, but to enter into a discussion to help them desire to have the faith they see in you.
D. When Joshua led the people across the Jordan River, the Bible tells us that the Ark of the Covenant went first. When the priest carrying the Ark entered the water, the water parted and the people walked through on dry ground, just like what happened at the Red Sea. Before the priest brought the Ark up onto the other side, Joshua commanded a man from each tribe to get a large stone that could be carried on his shoulder and to set it up as a marker or memorial. It must have had some type of form or structure to it, because the intent was that years later, when the next generation of children see it, they will ask what it means and you can tell your children the story of God’s power to separate the water and let the nation walk on dry ground.
E. Brethren, we need to be creating moments within our family and church that draw the attention of our kids and causes them to ask us what they mean. If our kids don’t ask us questions about God, the church, the Bible, creation or many other subjects what do you expect them believe?
II. The Child Who Knew His Father
A. Solomon may have been wise, but he didn’t walk in wisdom. He did make a statement that I want to reflect upon. (READ Ecc. 12:1) Sadly, if a child is raise without knowing God, they are set up believe the lies of the world. It is easy to get cynical with all that is happening in the world. The time of innocents is growing shorter in the lives of children and the time of leading them into sin happens too early any more. The importance of knows that God is your father and Jesus came to save us needs to be placed in the heart of every child.
B. We are not God in the flesh even though God’s Spirit dwells in us. But Jesus was. Life with Jesus as your child would have been different than any other kid. Joseph and Mary raised Jesus, not as God in the flesh, but as normal human child even though they both knew Jesus was far from normal. They took him to the synagogue to learn and hear God’s message be read and taught. One time, we read that they took him with them to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. Jesus was 12 at the time. It must have been a great joy as the family celebrated God’s deliverance from Egypt in the city of Jerusalem.
C. Yet, when the time to go home had come, and Joseph and Mary traveled with a larger family group, they simply let the 12 year old Jesus be a 12 year old kid. They assumed that he was hanging out with others in the group, but that night realized Jesus never left Jerusalem.
D. In a panic the rushed back. I’ve lost my keys and even lost my boys for a short time when we traveled, but these guys lost the Son of God for 3 days. To say they were shaken and upset is an understatement. When found Jesus on the third day, he was in the Temple sitting with the teachers, listening and asking questions. The teachers of the Law were amazed at this 12 year old boy.
E. Now listen to his parents (READ Luke 2:48). I get it! That’s me. But Jesus answered the question by dropping a bombshell on them (READ Luke 2:49). Jesus, at least by age 12, knew his mission and his Father. But that’s not the part I want us focus on. Listen to the end (Vs 51-52).
Conclusion:
A. I want those kids that you saw at the beginning of this sermon to know about their Heaven Father. I want them to take hold that God desires to use them in His kingdom and that they are special to God. But I also want to make sure we hear verse 52.
B. What made Jesus increase/grow in wisdom, stature and favor with God and man? The answer, in part, is his parents, the spiritual community in which he lived, and God who would continue to lead him to the time when his ministry would break forth and the Holy Spirit would anoint him.
C. If we want the children of the next generation to know Jesus, to walk with God, to be filled with the Holy Spirit, then we need to understand our role in helping them to grow in favor with God and man. We need to create moments where they will ask spiritual questions. We need to create opportunities for them to spiritually exercise. We need to give them the tools they need to succeed as children of God.
D. Jesus loves the little children. All the children of the world. Red, Yellow, Black, White. They are PRECIOUS in his sight. Jesus loves the little children of the world.
E. By the way, if you 9, 29 or 99 or any other age, just know you are a part of the children that Jesus loves. If we can help you walk with him all the days of your life, then come forward and let us pray for you as we stand together and sing.
Because of Jesus,
Jeffrey Dillinger, minister