Mother's Day-Child Dedication 2017

Title: Child Dedication 2017

Date:5/14/17

Place: BLCC

Text: Psalm 127. 3-5

CT: We must stand up as parents to put God first for our children’s sake!

[Screen 1]

Married couples in the United States spend, on average, 130 hours per week on paid and unpaid work combined. But all our hard work is not enough. Research shows working parents "increasingly feel that they do not have enough time to get things done at their jobs."

How do we cope? We look for ways to buy back our time. One researcher writes: "The time-starved mother is being forced more and more to choose between being a parent and buying a commodified version of parenthood from someone else." Of course, fathers are faced with the same conflict, but mothers still do more of the household work. So, increasingly, new products and concepts are being developed to extract smaller bits of time and effort from family life and return them to the family—for a price—as ready-made goods and services.

Here's how one company markets its services:

How much is it worth to stop being frazzled and feel rested and ready to go at work? If a personal concierge can keep you from realizing at three in the morning that you forgot to send out a Mother's Day card, the odds increase that you'll get a good night's sleep and be fresh and ready to go the following day when your boss hands you another emergency project.

Katrina Alcorn, Maxxed Out (Seal Press, 2013), pp. 127-129

LS: Does your life ever feel that way? Does life get in the way of being the parent you want to be?

[Screen 2]

FAS: Psalm 127.3-5 Children are a heritage from the Lord, offspring a reward from him.

Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are children born in one’s youth.

Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them.

Our children are a priority at BLCC. When I started here going on four years ago, I said I wanted to put our youth ministry on the front burner. I am glad to say the leadership of this church has really stepped up. I thank God for the hiring of my millennial brother Tyler Duncan. I especially thank God for all the children we have bringing such a wonderful sound into this church.

Let’s pray...

Okay, you parents, what do you want for your kids? Have you ever really thought about it? What do you really want for your kids?

• We want our kids to be healthy.

• We want them to have some good friends, to be well liked.

• We want them to be successful in school, so they can go to

college if they want.

• We want them to be successful in something they like to do —

like sports, or music.

• We want them to have enough strength of character that they

avoid the big vices like drugs, or alcohol, porn.

• We want them to get a good job, so they will be financially stable.

• We want them to find a good spouse, to have a decent marriage.

• We want them to produce grandkids. I like that one.

• The #1 answer parents give is this: we want our kids to be happy.

And these are good answers. But as Christians what should we want for our children. The young people in our church here today. [Screen 3]

Jesus said, Mark 8.36 What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, but forfeits his soul?

Christ is saying that our kids are going to be in eternity a lot longer than this life. You as a parent play a big part in how they spend their eternity. [Screen 4]

1 Tim. 5.8 Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

Paul is not just talking about physical needs here! He is about leading and teaching our children and family about God’s Ideal.

II. God’s Ideal Priorities

Here's how a Christian parent sets their priorities if they are seeking God’s Ideal:

[Screen 5] #1: God; #2: Spouse; #3: Kids; #4: Work; #5:Play.

God gets first place, not our work for God, but our life with God, our relationship with God. Our spouse gets second place: not our kids, ladies; not our work, guys; not our hunting, or our fishing, or our ballgames. Our spouse gets #2. Then our kids. Parents, the best gift you can give to your kids is to give them #3.

Loving your child’s mother or father is the best gift you can give your kids. There are some of us guys and ladies who really fall short on this. Your husband or wife needs to know they are number one after God. I don’t care how long you have been married you need to be courting them just like you did before you were married. That means back rubs when needed and an ear that listens whenever your spouse speaks. Children are not #1, or #2, but a very strong #3. They will benefit from this in ways you haven’t counted.