Family Circus
Abby Porter
The Bridge Church Upstate
Deuteronomy 6:1-9 NLT
We ALL have a circus for a family NOT GOING TO TELL YOU I HAVE A PERFECT FAMILY BECAUSE I DO NOT.
TELL ABOUT GOING TO YOUR FIRST CIRCUS WITH KIDS
There are some things about a Circus that never change:
Ringmaster
3 rings
tight rope artisit-single parents, grandparents trying to balance
clowns-every family has one, they think they are funny but sometimes there just scary
Lion tammer-the person who tries to keep eveyone calm, in place and in order
IN our 3 rings of our personal family circus we have in
1st ring-Marriage
2nd ring-Children
3rd ring-other family/JOBS
EVERYONE'S Life Is A CIRCUS EVERYONE'S kids are a Circus
One thing we do wrong is the order and how we look at our family especially the chirldren:
Jesus should be the ULTIMATE RIGHTEOUS RINGMASTER
HE HAS AN ADJENDA FOR OUR FAMILY
GOD IS OUR AUDIENCE AND WE ARE THE ACT. JESUS IS IN CONTROL OF OUR ACTIONS IN THE RING AS PARENTS AND AS CHILDREN AND HE DIRECTS US IN A WAY THAT PLEASES GOD IN THE AUDIENCE.HE HAS THE BEST IN STORE FOR OUR CHILDREN IF WE ARE OBEDIENT AND TRUST HIM.
Deuteronomy 6:1-9 NKJV
1 "Now this is the commandment, and these are the statutes and judgments which the LORD your God has commanded to teach you, that you may observe them in the land which you are crossing over to possess,
2 that you may fear the LORD your God, to keep all His statutes and His commandments which I command you, you and your son and your grandson, all the days of your life, and that your days may be prolonged.
3 Therefore hear, O Israel, and be careful to observe it, that it may be well with you, and that you may multiply greatly as the LORD God of your fathers has promised you--'a land flowing with milk and honey.'
4 "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one!
5 You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.
6 "And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart.
7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.
8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.
9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
PRAY
1-Living Right
How people Live today-How can we expect our children to live under the authority of God if we are not.
If we are followers of Christ then we are to be teaching our children HIS word and what God says about living in the image
Successful parenting always begins with a parent's relationship with God. No parent can succeed in helping a child grow up into the image of the Lord unless they know the Lord.
Parents must be walking in a right relationship before the Lord or they will never have the influence in their children's lives that is needed. In other words, you will never be able to lead your children somewhere you have never been. These first few verses speak to this issue and show parents where they need to be if they are going to be the effective parents God desires them to be.
Do your children know that God will bless honesty? 1 Thess. 4:11-12.11 that you also aspire to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you, 12 that you may walk properly toward those who are outside, and that you may lack nothing.
Do your children see that faithfulness is blessed by God? Matt. 25:21.
Do your children see serving God as optional or mandatory?
They will learn exactly what they observe in your life. They need to know that God blesses faithful people. If they see us enjoying the great blessings of the Lord, they will want the same things for their own lives.
(? SHOW them that serving God is the only way to live, and that obedience to the Lord always pays off. Let's show them that God's way is the best way. It is far better to raise a religious fanatic than a heathen. When your parenting duties are over, your children will be a living memorial to your investment in their lives.
By the way, you can't do that if all you do is complain about the church, the preacher and way things are done at the Lord's house. You can't teach them to honor the Lord if you don't honor Him. You can't teach them to be faithful if you aren't faithful. You can't teach them to love the Lord if all you do is encourage them to love the world.)
2-Love Right (v. 4-5)
(? Again, this may not seem to have a lot to do with parenting, but it strikes at the very heart of the matter. Before we can ever be successful Christian parents, we must have our own relationship with the Lord nailed down. Vertical-Horzontal Relationships And, just as it is important that our children see us living right, they must also see us loving right. That is, they must see that we love the Lord God supremely.)
A. Our Love Is to Be Focused On the Lord (v. 4)
There are to be no other gods in our lives. Too often, children see parents putting everything in the world ahead of God. It may be a job, a hobby, a friend, etc. Whatever comes ahead of God in your life is an idol and it sends a false message to our children.
We are telling them, by our actions, that this thing we love comes ahead of our love for God. Children need to know that no one or no thing comes before our relationship with God. He must be our focus. If we teach them that God is just for Sundays, we are going to raise a generation of infidels.
(? Why do you think many children have rejected the faith of their parents? Sometimes, the reason lies in the fact that what mom and dad claimed to have lacked any reality. By the way, if it weren't for the intervention of God in my life, I would not be here today. Growing up, I saw not one reason to make God and His church a priority in my life!)
B. Our Love Is to Be Fixed On the Lord (v. 5)
This love for God is to motivate us in every area of life. Our love for Him should consume us totally, Matt. 22:35-40. When it does, it will fill us and work in us and reveal itself through us - 1 Cor. 13:1-8.
When we love Him like we should, we will be in our place at church time. We will support the work of the church with our giving, our living and our time. We will teach our children to be faithful to the things of God, not to personal opinion. We will teach them to respect the church, the people of God and the men of God. We will teach them to love the Word of God, the worship of God and the will of God! Our children need to see this in the lives of mom and dad.
3- Learn Right (v. 6-9)
(? In these verses, Moses reveals the importance of the Word of God in successful parenting. We are to take the Word of God and make it the primary motivator in all we do as parents. Moses mentions three things that we to do with God's Word.)
A. We Are to Study It (v. 6)
The Word is to be taken in, and it is to be allowed to change our lives. If I expect my life to impact my children, then I must be transformed by the Word myself. Nothing can happen through me until it first happens in me.
It is essential that parents have a personal time of prayer and Bible study. You need to be growing so that you can help your children to grow. It is essential that you come to Sunday School and preaching. You mom and dad still need to grow up in Jesus Christ!
The importance and influence of the Word of God should never be underestimated! If we expect to raise Godly children, there must first be godly parents!
B. We Are to Share It (v. 7-9)
This verse says that we are to “diligently” teach the Word to our children. The word “diligently” means “to whet or to sharpen.” It carries the idea “of stabbing, or of one object penetrating another.”
In other words, our training is to penetrate deeply into our children. We are to help them, on the basis of God's word to be keen, sharp and discerning when it comes to living life. We are not to teach them through dogmatic exclamations such as “Because I said so!”
We are to develop in them a set of convictions based on the Word of God that will guide them through life. It isn't about a bunch of rules, or a list of do's and don'ts. It is about teaching them by example and by explanation the things God would have them learn.
1. Psa. 139:13 — Realize That Each Child Is Uniquely Formed By God - While a child will certainly acquire certain traits from being in your home; that child is still an individual before the Lord. No child is the product of evolution, but each has been formed by God for a particular function. This needs to be understood by parents as they seek to raise their children. It may be that the Lord has plans that are vastly different from your own.
2. Pro. 22:6 — Realize That Each Child Has An Individual Bent — This verse says that we are to “train up” our children. These words speak of “a midwife who would dip her finger in crushed dates to awaken in the newborn infant a desire for milk.”
What this means is that the training we give our children should whet their appetites for the things of God. We should so lead them that they develop a hunger for God and are internally motivated rather then externally compelled.
This phrase can also refer to “the placing of a rope in a wild horses mouth.” Certainly, there must be rules and boundaries, but there should also be an internal desire to know and follow the Lord. This is awakened by parental example. Parents must learn the proper balance between example and boundaries.
(? This verse also mentions “In the way he should go.” This does not mean in the way you think he should go, but it refers to the individual bent that is in every child. All children are like cement; they are impressionable.
All children are gifted in different ways. The wise parent sees the differences and raises each child accordingly. Every child has different interests and they should be trained according to those interests. Some are leaders, some are followers. Some are creative and artistic; others are more practical and logical. Some are gifted intellectually and others struggle to learn. A wise parent trains up a child in the way HE should go. Not according to the parent's will for the child, but according to God's will created as part of the child.)
Conclusion
May I remind you that it is far easier to build a child that to repair an adult! May the Lord help us to do everything in our power to be the best parents we can be to His praise and glory. PAPER THING FROM CARLEY (KRINKLES)
Now, how would you feel if your child grew up to be a Christian just like you? Would you be pleased with that? Or, are there areas that need the Lord's attention? If we have made mistakes, and who hasn't, there is help, forgiveness and renewal in the Lord. Some parents actually need to apologize to their children for living contradictory lives before them.
Any change must begin with the Lord. Mom and Dad, is everything right in your relationship with the Lord? Is everything all right in your relationship with your children? If there are needs, please bring them to Jesus right now.
