Creating Memories Series

God’s people used the festivals to teach their children about God. In the same way, we can use our church experiences to teach our children about God.

ILLUS: Communion is a great tool for this. 1 Corinthians 11:26 tells us that “…whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.” Kids always seem to wonder why they can’t eat that little piece of bread and drink out of that cup – thirsty.

This is a great teaching moment, to tell about Jesus’ death and what it means to us.

And when someone is baptized (or as my daughter says: bath-tized) this is an excellent time to tell them about being born into Christ. How the old life is buried and washed away and how we’re risen up to a new life.

Use your worship experiences to teach your children/ grandchildren, etc. about the love of God.

4th - Incorporate sacrifice into your children’s experiences

Deuteronomy 16:16: Three times a year all your men must appear before the LORD your God at the place he will choose: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks and the Feast of Tabernacles. No man should appear before the LORD empty-handed

Worship should include sacrifice. Our children should see us giving of our time and talents to God. When you volunteer for work with the youth in the church, you are setting them an example. We should find ways to train our children to give financially to God’s kingdom… to help the poor and the hurting… to involve them in ministry that requires them to work for God

ILLUS: Brad (our youth minister) tries to do that with the teenagers by having them help with various responsibilities around the church building. Arranging chairs. Moving items on and off the stage. He’s also involved them in a soup kitchen in South Carolina, the Emmaus ministry right here in Logansport and collecting perishable good to give the poor.

Lastly, one of the great disappointments of parents is that – even if they do everything right. Even if they do everything we’ve just outlined… there are still times that it doesn’t seem as if their kids are responding to their efforts.

It’s worth noting that God never gave up on Israel. Even tho’ Israel didn’t always behave like a people who had remembered who they were and who their God was… God never ceased reminding them through the feasts of the Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles.

Similarly we shouldn’t worry if our efforts seem to be ineffective once in awhile. We should be persistent and faithful and trust God for the outcome.

ILLUS: Several years ago, a man wrote a letter to the editor of the newspaper and argued that it made no sense to go to church every Sunday.

"I’ve gone for 30 years now," he wrote, "and in that time I have heard something like 3,000 sermons. But for the life of me I can’t remember a single one of them. So I think I’m wasting my time... and I believe that preachers are wasting their time by preaching those sermons to begin with."

This started a real controversy in the "Letters to the Editor" column, much to the delight of the editor. It went on for weeks… But then, one day, someone wrote the following letter: