Sunday Messages

God calls Jesus-followers to a race worth running where we daily face the temptation to walk off the track and hang up the spikes.

This is Sr. Adult Sunday. It is a great opportunity to show our appreciation to our older generation of Jesus-followers who stay in the race of life. If it were not for the ongoing life and ministry of our Senior Adults over the years at Christ First, the advancement of the work of Christ would certainly be handicapped, if not existent.

Several years ago in the Boston Marathon, a woman by the name of Ruiz cheated. Or at least many people feel she cheated. As she crossed the finish line a Boston reporter stuck a microphone in her face and said, "Ma'am, you’re either the fastest runner in the world, or you're a fraud. Can we talk?"

Do we ever feel like a fraud? If we don't then there is a great occupation for us. We should be a preacher or a teacher in the church. Why? Well, There are times when I come to the lectern and know all too well what I have been wrestling with during the week. Battling temptations, mostly winning, but sometimes sinning! Like all of us, I praise God for his grace that allows me to continue, often times in spite of myself.

Let’s ask another crucial question on this Senior Adult Sunday.

Have you ever felt like walking off the track and hanging up the spikes?

This question is not just directed to our Senior Adults. At times, all of us are tempted to walk off the track and hang up the spikes. Young or old, sometimes it seems the track is eating us up rather than the other way around. Sometimes, it just feels like we're getting nowhere fast. Our best attempts at following Jesus just don't seem to be working. Do we feel like this? Our worship with God’s people is a bit sluggish. Our prayer life is basically on a "need to have it now, Lord" basis. Our Bible study is limited to a new year’s resolution to read through the Bible in a year. Our service for Jesus has lost its passion and excitement. Sharing our faith has become something of an embarrassment because we're not sure we have anything to offer, because we feel a bit empty.

There is a story about the man who had a sick mule. He called in a vet and after examining the mule in the barn, the vet said, "You give him one of these white pills. This is a truly amazing pill—miraculous. When you give the mule this pill, he's going to get well. I've seen it happen over and over again. But if that doesn't work, although, I'm sure it will, then give him this red pill. You give him the red pill and it will cure almost anything."

Two weeks later the vet saw the farmer and said, "How's your old mule?" The farmer said, "Doc, you wouldn't believe it. I gave him that little white pill and that old mule jumped up off the floor and knocked down the barn door. He jumped over 3 fences, knocked down the fourth and just took off across the fields. Doc, if I hadn't had the presence of mind to take that red pill myself, I never would have caught up with him!"

We live in a medicated society. In fact, we are known to medicate before we meditate. Pill consumption is rapidly increasing, especially for Senior Adults. We take all kinds of pills—white, yellow, brown, orange, and yes, even red pills!

We’re going to be offered 4 red pills that will help us to run the race before us all the way to the end. To run it so well that when the words "I quit" and "I give up" crop up in our minds, we know what to do and how to do it.

A Race Worth Running

The metaphor at work here is of a race. A picture of the Christian life as a race, and we're in it! The starting blocks are when we surrendered to the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, and the finish line is the last breath exploding from our lungs as we stride across the finish line into the arms of Jesus. This race worth running is described in Hebrews 12:1-2:

¹ Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, ² fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.

The writer to the Hebrews motivates us to “throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles” in order to run the race with endurance. When we are tired and feel like dropping out of the race, seeing Jesus will help us to keep running. When we even want to turn back, focusing on Jesus will reassure us that the glory ahead is well worth the present pain.

If those days come when we feel like walking off the track and hanging up our spikes, we must remember these 4 red pills; they're just what the Great Physician ordered!

We look up when we are in need of encouragement

¹ Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses…

The author paints for us that we're the contestants, not armchair quarterbacks. We're in the race. The crowds are those who have gone on before us, who have already finished the race, who are urging us on, cheering us on. They're shouting our names. They're standing as we fly by them. Their cheers echo off the stadium walls. They're in our corner. They want us to win.

When the race is long and our lungs are gasping for air, and we have a stitch in our side, we look up. We look at the stadium, and even though we can't see them with mortal eyes, they're there. They're pulling for us. We can almost hear their shouts of encouragement.

Perhaps we’ve heard about the young boy who was taught at Sunday school that Eve was formed from the rib of Adam. She was made to be his wife. The boy was so excited by the story that he ran all the way home to tell his mom and dad. As he was running, his side began to hurt and ache. As he arrived home his mom asked him if there was something wrong. The boy, anxiously holding his side, was heard to say, "I think I'm about to have a wife."

We can be like that here at 200 N. Second. We can be each other's cheerleaders. Determining when someone feels defeated, when they're down in the dumps, when they feel like a fraud, that we love them and we're in their corner. We're cheering them on and pulling for them. We need each other to be cheerleaders. We need to know there are those who are praying and pulling for us.

Let’s listen to one of the passages of Hebrews that needs to be practiced at 200 N. Second….

Hebrews 3:13-14
But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called "Today," so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness. ¹⁴ We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold firmly till the end our original conviction.

"Pastor Bob, are these needs really being overlooked?" I don't know. Who have we singled out this last week to encourage in the Lord? Who have we called to say, "I'm praying for you this week"?

Friends, if we're feeling defeated today, perhaps even sensing that we're a failure in the Lord, these people are in our corner. But they’re going to have to let us know.

When we're feeling like walking off the track and hanging up our spikes, we look up!

Are we ready for the second red pill?

We lighten up when we are in need of movement

¹ let us throw off everything that hinders…

We are to remove any kind of weight that would impede our progress in our race. Sometimes it refers to extra body weight the athlete sheds during training. Athletes carry nothing with them when they run. Now, we must not blush, but during the times we're currently talking about, they barely even wore clothes. This seems to be what the Hebrew author wants us to consider. No, not running naked, but traveling through life lightly.

Friends, not everything that can weigh us down is sinful. There are many good things that might be cluttering up our mind with worry, anxiety, and frustration, that are not in themselves sinful. But, we're feeling the weight of them anyway.

What in life is beginning to weigh us down and affecting our walk with the King? Does the weigh come from our job, the mortgage payment, our debt load, a relationship, or all the extra things we're involved in? All of which may be good things, but they're keeping us from ministry, from devotions, from prayer, even from worship attendance, where we know God really wants us to be.

The advice from the book of Hebrews is to throw off these things—lighten up. Obviously, there are some things we can get rid of and other things we'd probably better hang on to. If our spouse is hindering our walk, we don't go home today and toss them in the street and say Pastor Bob told me to—especially, if they're bigger than I am.

This is easy to tune out, and if I were listening rather than preaching, I might be tempted to tune it out as well. Why? Because we're not in the habit of getting rid of stuff. We've been trained to want more and more and better and better.

When running cross-country as a freshman in college I remember those hateful, ankle weights and those bulky, sweat clothes we wore at the beginning of track season. They literally weighed us down. It took forever to make the loop. Each step was a burden. It just plain hurt. Those ankle weights and sweat clothes were never worn during the race. No way! The coach encouraged us to get rid of them before the race. That's the way it is in our Christian race. Things, like those ankle weights and sweat clothes hold us back, discourage us, disappoint us, and sap our energy, to the place where we begin to feel like walking off the track and hanging up our spikes. I quit a hundred times a day during track season. But what made me feel good at the end of practice, on the final lap before we hit the showers was when the coach told us to take off the weights and sweat clothes. Wow, we flew! We moved! We were hot! We ate up the track!

The same is true in our Christian race. We remove the clumsy weights and bulky sweat clothes, we toss them aside, and we'll fly down the track! What needs to be tossed aside in our lives to get moving down the track, the final laps, that lead into the arms of Jesus?

When we feel like walking off the track and hanging up your spikes, we look up and we lighten up!

And then there's a third red pill.

We loosen up when we are in need of enhancement

¹ let us throw off…the sin that so easily entangles.

We not only have to lighten up the load, but toss aside the baggage we carry that's described as sin. Sin entangles us and hinders our run. Sin is like a monstrous hurdle on the track that we can't leap. There may be some areas in our life we've hidden from one another. But we know and God knows that they're there. They have to be dealt with, because they're draining our spiritual energy in the race.

God's not asking for us to be perfect. God's not suggesting we won't find ourselves sinning. God's asking for honesty. We recognize the sin, realize what it's doing to us, and remedy the situation by loosening up. Let’s consider the following story.

An older man came into the office of his pastor and shared that he had a drinking problem and that he couldn't help it. The pastor responded, "Do you mean your family or friends tie you down and make you take a drink?" "Well, no, not exactly?" "You mean they put a gun to your head and take you out to buy alcohol and then make you drink it?" "No, that's not it." "I've got a suggestion for you? Why don't you stop?" "Nobody ever told me to do that before." "Since they're not forcing you to do it, then stop man." The older man came back a few weeks later and told his minister, "You know what, I'm going to AA. I don't have to drink alcohol anymore!”

We must not be naive enough to think every sin is going to be dealt with as simply as this one. But friends, it's a start. Whether it is alcohol, drugs, or pornography, we recognize we have a problem, we ask for help, we take the advice and we claim our victory!

The story is told of a group of teens that decided on a warm summer night to sneak into the hotel swimming pool around the corner. They climbed over the fence at 3:00 a.m. They planned on having a wonderful time in the pool. They were having a great time when Bobby got on a three meter diving board, sat on the inner tube, and jumped into the water. When the tube hit the water it sounded like an explosion. Lights went on everywhere. The hotel manager came charging out. They were over the fence and to their car before they realized Bobby was not with them. One of the guys ran back, looked over the fence, and there was Bobby with an inner tube stuck to his posterior trying to get over the fence. He yelled, "Bobby, get rid of the inner tube or you're going to be in real trouble!"

Good advice. Sounds like, let us throw off…the sin that so easily entangles. When we feel like walking off the track and hanging up our spikes, we look up, we lighten up, and we loosen up!

There’s one final red pill.

We lift up when we are in need of advancement

¹ And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, ² fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.

Jesus once said, “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself” (John 12:32). We lift up our eyes. We fix our eyes on Jesus. Every runner has to have something to fix their gaze upon—the finish line, a post, the markings on the track, the hurdles. In our case, since we're in a spiritual race, one that we must win, our gaze is to be focused on Jesus!

Moffatt says of this passage that we should have, "no eyes for anyone or anything except Jesus." And isn't it true, that when our focus is off, that we can lose our way? How many times have we fallen asleep at the wheel while driving? Or reached over to tune the radio, or just for a moment took our eyes off the road and before we knew it, we were either in the other lane or on the shoulder?

We must remember that great passage tucked away in what Luther called the straw epistle?

James 4:8
Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

What a promise. Why not today decide to act upon this promise? Whatever the next step in our walk with God should be, why not take it? If we've been thinking about walking off the track and hanging up the spikes, frankly, we have nothing to lose if we attempt to get closer to God. If we're enjoying our walk with God, well, we keep growing, we keep taking the next steps.

We look up. There's a great cloud of witnesses shouting our names.

We lighten up. We don't allow the things of this world to weigh us down in this race.

We loosen up. Let's fight on in the struggle with the sins that entangle us.

We lift up. We lift up our eyes to Jesus. We gaze into his wonderful face.

There's a great story to close this message. We may find it helpful as we seek to draw closer to God, and as we get back on the track and lace up our running shoes.

During the Civil War a Union solider lost a father and two brothers at harvest time. His mother was the only one left at home. The soldier wanted to be discharged so he could go home and help his mom with the harvest. He talked with the Captain of his unit who gave him a furlough to go to Washington to ask the President of the United States for a discharge. The young man went to Washington. On the steps of the White house he met a guard. He told the guard he needed to talk to the President. The guard told him the President was a busy man and to share the story with him. The guard listened and then told him, "This is war, we don't get everything we want. You go back to your unit." Devastated, the soldier turned and began the long walk back to his regiment. As he walked, tears were streaming down his face. A young boy saw the troubled soldier and asked, "Mister, what's wrong?"

He didn't see anybody else around, and he really needed to unburden his heart, so he poured out his woeful tale to this young boy. When he was finished the young boy took his hand and said, "Mister I think I can help, come with me." They made their way back through the streets of Washington, up the steps to the White House, past the guard, and right into the Oval Office where President Lincoln said, "Yes, Todd, what is it you have in mind?" When Todd told his father about the man's problems, the President granted the soldier's request.

Whether we are young or old, we may be entangled in sin or with just stuff from the world. Jesus would take our hand and say, "Friend, I think I know someone who can help." And Jesus takes us right into the presence of God!

Ronald Reagan, the 40^th present of the United States said, “My philosophy of life is that if we make up our mind what we are going to make of our lives, then work hard toward that goal, we never lose - somehow we win out… Let us be sure that those who come after will say of us in our time, that in our time we did everything that could be done. We finished the race; we kept them free; we kept the faith.”

Let’s remember and take the 4 red pills that our Great Physician orders for us. Let’s get back on the track. Let’s lace up and keep on those spikes. The race is wrapping up, hey, we might even be on the final lap! Amen!

What's funny is that the typical new dad admits this transformation to himself roughly six months after it becomes obvious to the rest of the world.  So let’s look at some telltale signs, beyond the aforementioned longing for reliable babysitters that a man has crossed over into fatherhood. We can think of it as an early-warning system, an indicator that it's time to accept our full-fledged dad-i-tude before somebody has to take us aside at a party and set us straight.

Signs of Fatherhood…You know you are a dad when…

You spend 45 minutes sweating and grunting in the backseat of a car. You are alone; when you are finished, the car seat is installed.

You have actually read the manual for said car seat, instead of just looking at the thing, guessing what the makers had in mind, and setting it up in some approximation of its actual function. This method, which has served you well for everything from Betamax to MP3 players, suddenly strikes you as unacceptable.

Out: Sponge baths with wife.
In: SpongeBob with children.

For the first time in your life, the vomit you are covered in is not of your own making.

At birthday parties you start assessing which little boy or girl seems like a good catch for your pride and joy. That you are doing this based on their ability to stack blocks fails to strike you as ridiculous.

As another pair of khaki shorts gets splattered with Starbucks, you curse the idiots who can't make a decent aftermarket baby-stroller cup holder.

You finally read all the information your company sends you about retirement plans and life insurance.

Old favorite decorating theme: Mission.
New favorite decorating theme: Primary-color plastic.

You'd rather go to Babies "R" Us than B.J’s, and your new idea of a "happy hour" involves your little darling going down easy for a weekend afternoon nap.

You let your precious universal remote -- $79.99, plus more than 10 hours of setup time to finally get it running perfectly -- be pressed into emergency duty as a pacifier/hand toy for an inconsolable infant. This happens after your cell phone doesn't do the trick.

Your little boy or girl falls asleep on your bare chest, all softness and need, and you understand that for all your sacrifice and changes, there is no better place in the world for a man to be.

Let’s take fatherhood to another level. As Americans prepare to honor their own fathers on this special Father’s Day Sunday, we would do well to remember how important fathers are to the health of our society as a whole. The social science evidence continues to pile up indicating that children raised with fathers have both better emotional health and better cognitive abilities. Fathers are more likely than mothers to encourage their children to try new things and to be assertive and independent.

In addition, fathers provide a model of appropriate relations between men and women to both their sons and their daughters. Unfortunately, too often fathers remain devalued in our society. Some women actively choose single motherhood, depriving their children of a father. When marriages tragically fail, too often fathers are shortchanged in child custody and support arrangements. And fathers who try to train their children by biblical standards are too often stereotyped as brutal dictators. But a recent book by University of Virginia sociologist W. Bradford Wilcox has demonstrated that faith-filled fathers are actually more sensitive to the emotional needs of their wives and children. Being a father is one of the greatest blessings that a man can enjoy.

A faithful father is given a standard tape measure upon which to build the family. This tape measure is God’s Word. Taking the time to develop a plan built upon God’s standards can save us much grief later.

Tucked away in the first century, Paul writes a letter to the church of Ephesus using a Father-pattern which is likened to a tape measure for understanding the true likeness of a father.  We may think that God calls himself “Father” after us, to give us an illustration of what God’s like.  No way, God decides to call us “father” after him, to give us an illustration of what we’re to be like as a father-copy.

God’s the original, the prototype.  God’s the number-one Father of all things.  Out of God derives everything—everything—in heaven and on earth.  Paul says that God measures the heart of a father by showing us how to function by following the original.

A PRAYER FOR DADS—EPHESIANS 3:14-19

Paul prays for the enablement of the father in these verses.  Even though the original purpose of Paul was not to describe the role of a father in the family, there is room for us to apply his words along those lines.  There is a sense in which all men in general, and Jesus-followers in particular, share in the fatherhood of God. 

Paul states that “every family in heaven and earth derives its name” after the divine Father.  The word family can be translated “fatherhood.”  The Greek for family (patria) is derived from the Greek for father (pater).  Every fatherhood in heaven and on earth gets its origin and name from the Father. What are we to be like in our fatherhood? 

There are four requests in Paul’s prayer, but they must not be looked on as isolated, individual petitions.  These four requests are more like four measurements to calculating the faithfulness of the heart.  One request leads into the next one, and so on. 

Paul petitions for every father to faithfully follow these four measurements, by which God in turn, measures the heart.

The first measurement appraises the presence of the Holy Spirit in the heart of the faithful father.  The company of the Holy Spirit in the life is evidence of salvation; but the power of the Spirit is enablement for Christian living, and it is this power that Paul desires for every father.  This power is available for the “inner being” in every believing father.  This means the spiritual part of a father where God dwells and works.

It has been said, “If God took the Holy Spirit out this world, most of what we Jesus-followers are doing would go right on—and nobody would know the difference!”  This is a heartbreaking report, but true.  So if God took his Spirit out of every believing father, would anybody know the difference?

What does it mean for Christian fathers to possess an unhindered heartiness?  It means that their spiritual faculties are controlled by God, and they are faithfully exercising them and growing in the Word.  It is only when fathers yield to the Spirit and let him control their inner being or heart that they succeed in living to the glory of God and to the good of their family.  This means feeding the heart the Word of God, praying and worshipping, keeping clean, and exercising the senses by loving obedience to God.

The second measurement assesses the spiritual depth in the heart of the faithful father.  Paul uses three pictures here to convey this idea of spiritual depth, and the three pictures are hidden in the three verbs: “dwell,” “rooted,” and “established.”  The verb dwell in Greek literally means “to settle down and feel at home.” The verb rooted in Greek literally means “to draw nourishment and constancy.”  The word established in Greek literally means “to be grounded.”  Paul desires for Christ to settle down and feel at home in the hearts of believing fathers—not surface relationship, but an ever-deepening fellowship.  This relationship is depended on drawing nourishment and stability from Christ, being grounded with a strong foundation.

It has been said, “When it comes to the relationships of most people, they are a mile wide and an inch deep, instead of being an inch wide and a mile deep.”  This is a sad commentary, but accurate.  So if the world would look at the relationships of believing fathers today, would they see them pursuing a limited number of commitments with ever-deepening relational depth?

What does it mean for Christian fathers to acquire an unselfish deepness? It means that their relationships must go deep before they can go high.  The trials of life test the depth of their experiences.  When fathers experience disagreements in home and family, the trial only deepens their fellowship as they seek to solve their problems.  The storm that blows reveals the strength of their roots in Christ.  

The third measurement considers the spiritual resources in the heart of the faithful father.  The English words grasp and know both stem from the Latin word which literally means to “apprehend and comprehend.”  Our word grasp suggests laying hold of it for yourself; while know carries the idea of mentally comprehending something.  It is possible to understand something but not really make it our own.  Paul’s concern is that believing fathers lay hold of the vast expanses of the love of God.  Paul wants fathers to live in the love of four dimensions: width, length, height, and depth.

It has been said, “Most Jesus-followers today know that a banquet table of fine foods is available in Christ, but they don’t grasp their abundance—they choose to live on cheese and crackers!”  This is a distressing account, but accurate.  So if the world would look at the resources available to believing fathers, would they choose to live on the meagerness of cheese and crackers or desire the richness of fine foods?

What does it mean for Christian fathers to apprehend an unparallel reasonableness? It means that their spiritual resources are adequate to meet the demands of life.  These demands most often affect their family, friends, work and leisure. If they pray for spiritual strength and spiritual depth, they will be able to apprehend—get their hands on—all the resources of God’s love and grace. They will be able to comprehend the riches of Christ that cannot be calculated even with the most sophisticated computer. Heads are meant to be more than a hat rack; they’re meant to grasp and know God’s love.

And what is the result of spiritual strength, spiritual depth, and spiritual resources?

The fourth measurement evaluates the spiritual completeness in the heart of the faithful father.  Paul wants every father to experience the fullness of God.  It is tragic when Christian fathers use the wrong measurements in examining their own spiritual lives.  They like to measure themselves by the weakest Jesus-followers that they know, and then boast, “Well, we’re better than they are.”  Paul tells fathers that the measure is Christ, and that they cannot boast about anything.  When they have reached God’s fullness, then they have reached the limit.  True productiveness is not gained by working foolishly on things that fail to satisfy.

It has been said, “Nature detests a vacuum.”  This is a sobering fact, but realistic. This explains why air or water will automatically flow into an empty place.  The divine nature of God also detests a vacuum.  God wants believing fathers to experience the fullness of the Holy Spirit, and the measure of that fullness is God himself.  So if life flows automatically into an empty place, what is flowing into the unfilled hearts of fathers—God’s divine fullness or the world’s material emptiness?

What does it mean for Christian fathers to achieve an unlimited productiveness? It means that they are made full in Christ.  Positionally, they are complete in Christ, but practically, they enjoy only the grace that they apprehend by faith.  The resources are there.  All Christian fathers need to do is accept them and enjoy them.  Though fathers today cannot contain God’s fullness, they can receive it to the full measure of their capacity and to the degree of their yieldedness.

Sometimes the good can become enemy of the best in a Christian’s father desire to keep the light burning for his family.  The main purpose for Christian fathers is to see that their families are healthy spiritually—that they know God intimately through Jesus Christ.  All other needs that scream for attention, important though they may be, are secondary to a family’s spiritual needs.  There are advantages and remarkable opportunities available if the heart of the father is firm and steady in allegiance to principle and loyalty to God.

So God measures the heart of a father by showing us how to function by following the original.  It is measured by a commitment of faithfulness. It’s a commitment to an unhindered heartiness, unselfish deepness, unparallel reasonableness, and unlimited productiveness.   All of these commitments rest in the heart of the faithful father.  Amen!

It is my desire as Christ's undershepherd to share bits and pieces of my soul. I am sharing words of encouragement that help to stimulate the unfinished soul in all Jesus-followers.  It is my mission to serve suffering people by offering words of encouragement, comfort and hope through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

This afternoon I will be officiating at a wedding ceremony.  There will be a wedding banquet that follows the ceremony to celebrate the union of two becoming one in Christ.  It will be a festive occasion.  I dare not miss it.

Jesus spoke a parable about a wedding feast.  He told stories to show what the kingdom of heaven is like.  In the story the king invited his guests three times, and each time they rejected his invitation.  God wants us to join him at his table, which will last for eternity.  That’s why God sends us invitations again and again.  God wants us to be open to him so we can connect with his love.

I know that sometimes I have been like one of those invited to a wedding banquet, who paid no attention and went off, “one to his field, another to his business” (Matthew 22:5).  So in turn I wonder, How do I respond in love to God?  What should I do to accept his invitation?  In ways I don’t understand, being open and honest with God helps me to connect with his presence so I might not only enjoy a celebration, but a living presence with God each day!

This is Children’s Sunday at Christ First.  We set apart this special Sunday to highlight the importance of Christian parenting, and how we can train up our children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. 

A group of expectant fathers were nervously walking the floor in a waiting room, while their wives were in the process of delivering babies.  A nurse came in and announced to one man that his wife had just given birth to twins. "That's quite a coincidence" he responded, "I play for the Minnesota Twins!"  A few minutes later another nurse came in and announced to another man that he was the father of triplets. "That's amazing," he exclaimed, "I work for the triple A Auto Club!" At that point, a third man fell to the ground and lay down on the floor. Somebody asked him if he was feeling ill. "No," he responded, "I happen to work for the 7-up Company!"

-- Someone who can wash his hands without getting the soap wet                                                                                 

-- Like wet cement. Whatever falls on her makes an impression

Children’s Sunday affords us a great opportunity to greet our special guests from our First Baptist School.  Parents and grandparents, we welcome you!  We set apart this special Sunday to highlight the importance of Christian parenting, and how we can develop and nurture our children in Jesus Christ.  We believe at Christ First that every child is full of promise, potential, and possibility.  Kids can be assured that with God’s help, they can do anything.  However, it is up to Christian parents to support this “I can do anything” spirit.

Now anyone who has had experience as a parent will recognize later that there are two choices, two covenants we can choose between in training our children: there are deals and there are promises. A deal made with children is a two-party agreement; responsibility and consequences are agreed on ahead of time.  Deals can be both positive and negative.  Let’s consider a positive deal: “If you do your homework I will read you a story.”  An example of a negative deal could be: “If you don’t eat your peas you can’t have dessert.”  But in either case each side has a responsibility.  An agreement is made ahead of time, with certain consequences to follow. So, we can say to our children, “Deal or no deal?”

“Promises” are also a way by which life is transmitted to children.  But a promise operates differently.  A promise is based on a one person commitment: the parent expresses love from his or her heart to the child.   

It is strange that children can tell the difference between deals and promises.  Even preschoolers can tell the difference between deals and promises!  They react with a sense of outrage if you try to change a promise into a deal. Having once promised to take our children to Disneyland, we cannot later add conditions to that promise.  For instance, conditions such as, “We are not going to go to Disneyland unless you pass the second grade.” They will very quickly remind us, “No, you promised we could go. You promised.”

The Scriptures are rich in understanding when it comes to the training of children through promises and not deals.  Child training works! A properly trained child will honor God and live a wise and righteous life as an adult. An untrained child will not honor God or live a wise and righteous life as an adult. Only a miracle of grace can undo poor child training. God is faithful. God’s Word is true. We must not question God’s promises. Exceptions do not alter the rule. We believe it! We do it!  

There is no secret or mystery here. Listless parents hunt for special methods to train their children. They are always looking, reading, buying books, and attending seminars, but they are hardly ever training. These resources are not bad in themselves, but practice is more important than procedure. Consistency is more important than intensity. We need to stop looking for an easier or smarter way to develop the lives of our children. We get busy!

One such promise in the training of children is found in the book of Proverbs. 

Start [Train] children off on the way they should go,

and even when they are old they will not turn from it.

--Proverbs 22:6.

This proverb is a requirement, not a request.  It is a promise, not a deal.

Christian parents trust this rule as much as any other verse. They are not intimidated by the task before them; they trust in the Scripture, and they get to work, now!

We “start children off on the way.”  This describes the period from birth to maturity. Training can begin immediately, as infants can be taught a feeding schedule and that not all crying gets immediate attention. It progresses from a control stage to an instruction stage, then to a counseling stage. It continues through puberty and a whole new set of issues. It continues to maturity, when a young adult creates a new home and starts the process again.

We start them “on the way." Parents cannot train every step, but they can train the way (Genesis 18:19). God gives them to us with a blank slate for a mind. We fill that mind with godly knowledge and wisdom. As Scripture does not dictate every step of our lives, allowing us much individual liberty, so we train them in the way of godliness.

They are to be started on the way "they should go." It cannot be the way they want to go. Each child defaults to foolishness and sin from our first parents. Without training against that default instinct, they will grow into committed and hardened sinners. No training is default training—we will have fools for children (Proverbs 29:15). The way they should go is the way of righteousness laid out plainly in Scripture (Deuteronomy 6:4-9; Ephesians 6:4).

When they are "old," they will follow the training. Here is a promise to be believed, but it also allows for possible difficulties during adolescence, or the teenage years, before they are "old." Properly trained as a child, the teenage years do not have to be difficult. If trained consistently, they will revert to that training as an adult. We believe it! We count on it!

Child training is not based upon deals with two-party agreements.  We don’t demand that our children fulfill their responsibility by jumping through hoops or sitting up on stools like animals.  Simply, we don’t wish to see our children perform before us or others.

·        Yelling is not child training.

·        Sending them to a Christian school is only a part of child training.

·        Browbeating or nagging them is not child training.

·        Spurts of rules and punishment are not child training.

·        Sending them to their room is not child training.

·        Sesame Street is not child training.

·        Giving them an allowance without responsible labor is not child training.

God’s Word commands Jewish parents in the Old Testament Law about the training process they need to embrace with their children.  The commandment is based on a promise from God.  Three basic ways of developing that are still useful today for training lifestyles in the family are illustrated in Deuteronomy 6:4-7…

⁴ Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. ⁵ Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.

The first stage of training is teaching by example.  Parents must have a willingness to set a godly example before their children.  Modeling is simply “the willingness to go first.”  We do not expect our children to live in ways that are contrary to our own lifestyle.  Therefore, parents must experience the love this commandment requires with all their heart, soul and strength before they can teach it to their children!

The second stage of training is teaching formally.  After the example comes the explanation.  This commandment is not automatically transferred from one generation to another.  Parents must have a definite and diligent plan for communicating God’s Word into the lives of their children.  Home is where life makes up its mind.  Molding is simply “a systematic time period.”  Therefore, parents place the commandments from God upon their hearts.  Then God says we can impress them on our children!

The third stage of training is teaching informally.  After the explanation comes the engagement.  Parents must spend quality and quantity time with their children.  Moving is simply anticipating “the teachable moment.”  Training from parents goes beyond the lesson to a continual way of life.  A variety of teachable moments is given to help parents saturate their children with these important commandments.  Therefore, parents are accessible to their children when they sit at home and when they walk along the road, when they lie down and when they get up! 

Child training is…

·        A consistent example of righteous living that the child can first feel and then observe as they grow up.

·        Teaching the existence of God and the absolute authority of the Bible.

·        Enforcing God's rules and parental authority fairly, firmly and friendly.

·        Teaching by reproof, correction, and training in righteousness (2 Tim. 3:16-17).

·        Teaching by repetition throughout the day.

·        Using both positive and negative reinforcement for behavior.

·        A very open relationship with children, allowing them to know us and learning them well.

Previous generations grew up on farms observing the training of animals. If they did not train certain animals, they would either starve or be severely handicapped. Child training was easy after watching colts broken and mules trained for the plow. There is no rocket science here, and the search for new or creative techniques misses the boat. Any parent can train their children, if they will flush their selfishness and slackness and get busy! It is a shame that seeing-eye dogs can be trained, but children cannot!

Many of the children of this generation are a mess. They are arrogant, foolish, ignorant, immature, lazy, profane, rebellious, selfish, and wasteful.  There is an obvious cause for their personal and social dysfunction. Their parents were too busy, selfish, and lazy to train them.

In fact, there is even Property Laws of a Toddler: Some might say that this is evidence of Original Sin—a self-centered and self-seeking generation.

When the 10-year-olds in a Sunday school class expressed their views of "What's wrong with grownups?" they came up with these complaints:

When parents make the commitment and effort to set an example and train their children consistently in the nurture of the Lord, the consequences are generations of wise and responsible children, which will create more children who will not turn from God’s way. Our nation's future is susceptible to a gloomy future, not because of the politics in Washington, but because of foolishness in parents that refuse to train their children.

Amy Carmichael was one of God’s chosen missionaries who cared deeply for children. She served the Lord in India for fifty-six years as God's devoted servant without a furlough. More than a thousand children were rescued from neglect and abuse during Amy's lifetime. To them she was known as "Amma," which means mother in the Tamil language. The world often was dangerous and stressful. Yet she never forgot God's promise to "keep them in all things."  She wrote the following poem.      

"Father, hear us, we are praying.  Hear the words our hearts are saying.  We are praying for our children.  Keep them from the powers of evil, from the secret, hidden peril.  Father, hear us for our children.  From the worlding's hollow gladness, from the sting of faithless sadness, Father, Father, keep our children.  Through life's troubled waters steer them.  Through life's bitter battles cheer them.  Father, Father, be thou near them.  And wherever they may bide, lead them home at eventide."                                                                                                              

On this Children’s Sunday, let the righteous arise! Godly parents should seize this proverb as their own and get to work

Godly and wise descendants are one sentence away (with a little regular effort)! We give a reasonable and consistent effort, and trust the Lord for the rest (Psalm 127:1-2).  The Lord can take the children into his arms, place his hands on their heads and bless them. The Lord can bless our efforts to bear the fruit of righteous children, who will make glad our hearts. There is no reason to be defeated! There is every reason to be elated! Lord, help us to make promises, not deals!  Amen!