Dining Room - Parental Responsibility Series

EXTREME MAKEOVER : DINING ROOM: Parental Responsibility

Ephesians 6:1-4

6:1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.

6:2 HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER (which is the first commandment with a promise),

6:3 SO THAT IT MAY BE WELL WITH YOU, AND THAT YOU MAY LIVE LONG ON THE EARTH.

6:4 Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

What has gone wrong with America’s Children?

· Did you know that in the US, every 8 seconds of every school day a child drops out of school?

· Every 26 seconds a child runs away from home.

· Every 47 seconds a child is either abused or neglected.

· Every 7 minutes a child is arrested for a drug offense.

· Every 36 minutes a child is either hurt or killed by a gun.

Could it simply be that America’s Parents haven’t read the Bible and haven’t taught their kids to obey & honor?

Our focus this morning is parenting God style

· With all of the books & seminars, packets & pamphlets on raising kids… the Holy Spirit uses just 4 verses to lead us & teach us.

Not a parent?… well you’re still a kid.

· You’re a child of God.

· And as His children, we have the joy of relating to a father that never leaves us, never hurts us, and never gives up on us.

NOW Parents we have an awesome PRIVILEGE…

BILLY GRAHAM who said: Children will invariably talk, eat, walk, think, respond, and act like their parents. Give them a target to shoot at. Give them a goal to work toward. Give them a pattern that they can see clearly, and you give them something that gold and silver cannot buy.

· Into our care are given the moldable, changeable, & unpredictable little persons who grow up so quickly!

YES… there are times, those difficult times when you might want to parent the way Mark Twain suggested:

When a kid turns thirteen, stick him in a barrel, nail the lid on top, and feed him through the knot hole. When he turns sixteen -- plug up the knot hole.

Proverbs 22.6 Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it.

Q: What voice are you obeying as a parent?

Is it pop psychology?

Is it the latest videotape series?

Is it nothing at all?

Are you flying by in life by the seat of your pants?

· There is a Book out there that will help you parent.

· It’s the all time best seller – God’s Word!

· And I ask you to let the Holy Spirit speak to you this morning, open yourself up His leading and prompting…

What have we abandoned in the raising of our families that we should reconsider:

1. Children obey your parents. (v 6:1)

You might be thinking, is he preaching to the kids or parents today. Well, a lot of our problem is that our children are not learning how to be Godly children from us parents.

a. Would our families and our world be different if obedience and honor were introduced back into them?

The Greek Word “OBEY” is an interesting one…

· It carries the idea of a soldier ready to engage in battle…

· He’s listening carefully for the orders and instructions of his commanding officer. -- It’s a word of action

NOW NOTICE, Paul is not addressing the PARENTS here…

· He doesn’t say, “Hey, you parents, have your kids obey.”

· Instead he speaks directly to the children…

· But it’s not to just children who are young and dependent.

· The word Paul uses here ‘teknia’ doesn’t mean little ones, but refers to any person living under the roof of a parent’s home.

Whether you are 9 or 19, 3 or 23, if you live under your parent’s roof, then you are a ‘teknia’.

· If you eat their food, use their bathroom, then this is the Word of God for you. OBEY your mom and dad.

So, as a parent, what am I supposed to take from this, obviously, he is speaking to the child:

In this we see a picture of us as children relating to OUR Heavenly Father… God is a Father and we are submitted to Him.

ÿ · If your kids are to obey you… then I have to ask…

ÿ · Are you obeying your Father?

ÿ · In order to see our kids obey, they must see us obey.

ÿ Do our children see us obeying our father?

We have abandoned the expectation of obedience and we must ask ourselves why so many children are disobedient, could it be that they are not getting a good example of obedience from their parents or that we as parents no longer require obedience?