Spiritual influence begins on the home.

Hear the Words of the OT prophet Moses this morning:

Dt 6:4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.
Dt 6:5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.
Dt 6:6 These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts.
Dt 6:7 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.
Dt 6:8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.
Dt 6:9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

This is one of the most influential passages in the history of God's people. For the nation of Israel today Verse 4 is still something quoted on a daily basis. Verse 4 & 5 was repeated by Christ in the NT. Mk 12:29-30. What I want you as parents to focus on today is the latter statements. Verses 7- 9 are the pivotal teachings in Scripture that lead us to know that God's best plan for training the youth in our lives is thru the PARENTS. We as parents should be placing the Word of God everywhere in our lives, making it visible all around us. Look at the language of "when you walk along the road", we must be in close relationships with our children. Interaction is a must for Spiritual development. Make your house a billboard for the Word of God, "Write them on your doorframes". We often fear pushing away our children from the Lord, but the teachings of Scripture are to continually remind them visibly of the Word of God.

The tough part of this passage for parents however is found in verse 6. In order for your children to take the teaching well and to grow spiritually, it is imperative that "these commandments... are to be upon your heart".

"The difficulty of ministry is that we cannot minister people

to a place that we have never been."

Bro. J

Parenting Today

So how do we then reach Americas youth today? Do we spend time engaging in activity of entertainment value with teens? Do we try and allow them freedoms that they feel they deserve? Do we ignore them and hope they grow out of it? Parents today are struck with a difficult task of molding young men and women into productive useful members of both their home churces and the world. We desire for teenagers to: act like adults, do everything we demand, never complain, & become what we never could. I believe that perhaps we as Christians have demanded the wrong outcome of our youth groups. Parenting today is so difficult because parenting in the past has fallen short of the Biblical model passed down thru the word of God. I therefore do not blame society for the shortcomings of teens, and I don't blame their parents either. I blame us all for not being able to step aside- evaluate the situation in our congregations- and then take the necessary steps to begin the process of recapturing our identities in Christ. This will then pass down to our youth.