Iliff and Saltillo UM
Father’s Day
June 19, 2005
“Making Sure Our Children Have Faith”
Deut. 6:4-9
INTRODUCTION: Have you ever wondered if your children and grandchildren will have faith in God as the years go by? The same was true at the time when Moses lived. At the end of four decades of frustrating wandering in the desert, Moses spoke to the Israelites about what life would be like in the Promised Land. Sometimes we think that this new land was the perfect place--no temptations--an ideal place. But it was not that way. They were about to be scattered throughout the land. They would be confronted by people whose values, lifestyles, and faith were altogether different from their own. It was necessary for them to be able to SURVIVE and THRIVE as the people of God in a hostile environment. How could they do that and teach their children how to thrive among people of very different values? The same question faces us today. Will our children have faith? What did they do and what can we do today?
Verse four tells us, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates.”
Ancient and contemporary Jews refer to Deut. 6:4-5 as the Shema. It’s repeated at the beginning of each new day by those who seriously long to live a godly life. Ever since Moses spoke these words, parents who want their children to have a living faith in God have followed this lifestyle. Within this scripture there are three principles that will help us today.
1. The Principle of EXPERIENCE: Moses’ first concern was that before parents could reasonably hope that their children would have faith that they must first model this faith themselves. It must be “upon your (own) heart,” Moses said, “before your children will ever try it out for themselves.”
Thomas Aquinas once told his students, “Preach Christ everywhere you go. AND IF NECESSARY, USE WORDS.” Today this is pretty good advice. Unfortunately many parents do not know the Lord and do not live it before their children in daily life. Others who say they are Christians do not make it an important priority in their every day lifestyle.
What does our Christian experience say to our families? Can your children see a connection between your faith in God and the way you live? Can they see that you mean business with God as you live out your life this week?
Moses said to Israel, “love the Lord with ALL your heart and ALL your soul and with ALL your strength.”
If we follow this principle today, wouldn’t our families take notice that spiritual things are important to us?
In a magazine article there is story about Denzel Washington described as “One of Tinseltown’s most sought after leading men.”
He says, “My priorities are very clear: God, family, work, football--in that order.”
How did he get that arrangement of priorities? In an interview by McCalls he was asked, “Your father was a Pentecostal Preacher. Did he inspire you?”
Here is an example where a father modeled his faith in a significant way before his son, Denzel.
He replied, “As a boy I would REGULARLY sit in on my father’s sermons. I miss his presence and his influence. He and my mother gave me a moral center that has never gone away. You keep building off it for as long as you live. I hope I can pass it on to my children. I share my father’s spiritual commitment. I believe in the Bible and I believe that every event in my life comes from God.”
2. The Second Principle is EXPOSURE: The second guideline toward helping our children have faith is the principle of exposure. The King James version says to “teach diligently.” The NIV says to “impress upon” The basic idea is that by repeating the teachings over and over again, parents will eventually get through to their children.
There must be some things that happen during the week in addition to Sunday school and church just once a week. Parents can ask the blessing before meals, pray about things throughout the week and talk about God in their daily lives.
It is said that today Christians have difficulty “connecting their faith to their daily lives. That it is difficult to talk about it naturally.”
Other ways that reinforce our Christianity to our families is the different seasons of the church year when we observe Advent and Christmas, the Lenten and Easter season and observe communion and baptism. This is our way of telling the story of salvation over and over again and thereby keeping our faith alive. Unfortunately most of today’s celebrations take place within the church and little is done in our homes. How can we work out bridging the gap between our faith and our daily life? How can we connect the two in a natural way that will IMPRESS UPON our children these truths? This scripture says, “teach diligently” or “impress upon.”
Many times we hear people say, “I was made to go to church when I was a child. I am not about to go now.” Sometimes parents will say, “I don’t want to PUSH my children.” One woman said, “my son doesn’t WANT to go to church. I’m going to let him decide when he grows up.” Throughout the years he was growing up he had no connection with the church. Today he and his sister have no connection with any church.” Will our children have faith? It is not an automatic thing. The solution is not to do nothing at all. Most parents do not hesitate to PUSH their children in a lot of areas. Most parents are not passive when it comes to prodding children toward success in school, in sports, in popularity and social skills. When it comes to school, would we say, “he/she didn’t want to get out of bed today so I let him/her sleep in.” There is no way we would let this happen. But do we do it when it comes to church? Do we insist on other things but leave them unprepared to face God and eternity?
Moses says in this scripture, “Talk about (these laws) as you sit at home, and when you walk along the road when you lie down and when you get up.” I think he is telling us, “Make this your lifestyle.” We can talk about school and sports and all kinds of things and are comfortable doing it because we are USED TO DOING IT. Begin to talk about Jesus and prayer and what it means to you to be a Christian. Pretty soon it will become natural in your daily conversation.
3. The Principle of ENCOURAGEMENT: The third way to help your children have faith is the principle of encouragement. Everything a Christian parent does at home should be directed toward encouraging their children to personal salvation through Jesus. For many years a church could expect its own children to declare their personal faith in Jesus. Over the past few years things have been changing whereby parents for fear of being accused of using undue influence give no encouragement to their own children’s declaring a personal faith in Jesus. Parents have come to say, “It’s up to the kids to decide if they want to be a Christian or not--if they WANT to go to church or not. There are so many OPTIONS available. We’ll just let them decide.” Jesus said in John 14:6, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Children will usually not become Christian by mere exposure to a mild form of the faith. It is not enough to give your children a “little taste” of what the Christian life is all about by enrolling them in Vacation Bible School or Sunday School. The Christian faith contains more than that. Children need to be encouraged to receive Jesus as their Savior at an early age. Christian parents have the influence to encourage children toward Christianity as no one else can.
Conclusion: The question is today, “Will our children have faith?” These three principles will help guide them in this direction.
1. Our own EXPERIENCE--Where do you stand with the Lord today? How does your experience speak to those around you?
2. EXPOSURE to the gospel--Do we talk about our Christian experience in a natural way in our daily life?
3. ENCOURAGEMENT--do we Encourage others to come to the Lord and receive Jesus as their own personal Savior or do we lead people to believe that it is just one of many “options?” Let us encourage others and especially our children to come to Jesus because he is “the way, the truth, and the life.”
Shall we pray:
