A Parent's responsibility
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Introduction
Introduction
Dismiss Children
Happy Mothers Day
Introduction, QR Code
Taking a 1 week break from our Gospel Story series then we will be back on it the next couple weeks to finish it out.
We are not going to be looking at a woman from scripture today. We are going to be in Psalm 78 and seeing the role of parents in general to their kids.
Being a parent, whether a mother or father, is an important role given to you by God. You may not have received that title of mother, father, or gaurdian in a traditional sense like we heard about earlier but your responsiblity to the Lord and those children is no less important and vital.
In Psalm 78 we have a man named Asaph, not David, writing to the people of Israel. Many, in fact most of the Psalms, are written by a man named David. He was a king of ISrael and a man after God’s own heart.
This one is written by Asaph and we don’t know too much about him. There are 4 Asaphs in the Old Testament and the one these ar believed to be attributed to isn’t really talked about outside of these Psalms.
I spoke last week about being ill-equipped. If you are a parent or ever worked with kids in general, even if you went to school for it, I’m gonna bet you have felt ill-equipped in some way.
It’s been said that children don’t come with instruction manuals, in a way that is correct however I also believe we can go to the Bible and see the principles we should keep when raising a child.
If you are here today with no kids in the home or not a parent, don’t tune this out. I’d like for you to hear the application made not onyl practicaly but spiritually. Paul called Timothy his son in the faith. The same principle we will be seeing today for literal parents is the same that we will see Jesus give to Christians in the New Testament.
Let’s pray and jump into the message today
Let’s look at a Parents Responsiblilty here in Psalm 78
1 Give ear, O my people, to my law: Incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
2 I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings of old:
3 Which we have heard and known, And our fathers have told us.
4 We will not hide them from their children, Shewing to the generation to come The praises of the Lord, and his strength, And his wonderful works that he hath done.
Psalm 78:1-4
Exegete:
Asaph is letting the people know what this song is about. In verse 3 he makes an important point. “We have heard and known and our fathers have told us”
Moses wrote
19 And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
Deut 11:19
The nation of Israel had been taught since their exodus from Egypt to pass along their faith to their children through the home. Not the tabernacle or temple.
The parents that would have heard this knew what Asaph was speaking of. They lived in a God honoring culture. Did every Israelite honor God with their lives? no. However they were intimately familiar with the Torah and the Lord.
The adults of this culture would have been very familiar with the mriacles of God in the desert after the Israelites left Egypt. They would have known about Adam and Eve, Abraham the father of the Jewish race, the judges and how God used David to defeat the giant Goliath.
It would have been easy to teach them these things as the number of distractions wouldl have been minimal during their time.
However today, parents and believers that underestand the great commission as passing on our faith, we have the same responsiiblity, the same God, but not the same culture.
Illustrate:
Have you all heard of that movie “Hidden Figures?” The movie about the African American women who did the calculations by hand to put John Glen in space?
They were called human computers. They did by hand what we do today with calculators and…computers.
How would you respond if I told you we were doing the complex mathematical calcualtions to determine how to get a man into space and land on the moon by hand today?
That would be weird…maybe even stupid…sure we may check the work but truly that method would be highly ineffective when there are better ones around…right?
Why wouldn’t that way work now? There have been changes in the world that make it obsolete.
Can I challenge you and say that the same way you were raised is not the most effective way to raise your kids now. It doesn’t mean your parents were wrong it means things are different.
In calculating the complex equations to send a person to space the principles of mathematics remain the same, the responsiblity of the engineers remains the same, but the world they are opperating in has changed from the time of the women in Hidden Figures.
Parents and believers that believe in passing on their faith to the enxt generation, the principles of scripture have remained the same, the responsiblity has not changed, but the world in which you operate is different than that of Charles Spurgeon (fmaous preacher form 1800’s), Charles Stanley, and others of the past.
This doesn’t mean you can negllect your responsiblity, it means you work to do the absolute best you can with the tools you have available to you.
Argue:
Think about it. 20 years ago cell phones weren’t glued to our hands, youtube wasn’t accessible on every device, marketers weren’t able to get into your home unless you turned your tv on, now at every turn someone is selling you something.
Google, Facebook, Twitter, Tik Tok, and other social media apps are vying for your attention. Developing algorhythems to keep you on their apps for as long as possible so that you can purchase whatever they want you to.
Parents, especially here in Bristol and central Connecticut, there is opportunity for everything every moment of the day. Sports, hobbies, day trips, training camps, day camps, and everything in between.
It takes more discipline as a parent now to look at your child and say “No, we have church that day and that’s more important than...” or to say “no, that’s our family night, that’s our prayer time, that’s our time with Jesus…and that’s more important than...”
Why don’t kids love Jesus more? Why don’t people love Jesus more? Why is it communities are neglelccting the things of God for the things of this world?
I beleive it’s because instead of passing down or even estabalishing our faith with our children we are establilshing our hobbies, we are establishing our worldly pleasures, we are pointing them in eveery direcction, at every opportunity, except the opportunity to know Jesus personally.
Apply:
The God of the Old Testament hasn’t changed. He is still the same strong, wonderful, and praiseworthy God of creation.
The responsibillity of parents and Christians that know Jesus to pass on their faith to the next generation is still there. We are too accustomed to look to the “church” as the ones responsible for getting the message of the gospel out. We allow the distractions of this world to keep us from the responsibility we have been called to.
Children and the next generation of Christians will learn to praise Jesus and glorify Him with their lives from only one person in your life…you
I. Parents teach kids to praise
I. Parents teach kids to praise
No one else. Christians, no one else is going to teach or show people in your life what it means to love Jesus. That’s your responsibility. No one else is going to teach others to share the life giving and life changing message of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
That’s on parents to teach children and on Christians to teach the world. That’s on you and I as individuals to pick up our cross and die daily to self so that He maybe known.
Asaph reminds the parents of Israel of their responsibility and then goes to speak of some o the things God did
5 For he established a testimony in Jacob, And appointed a law in Israel, Which he commanded our fathers, That they should make them known to their children:
6 That the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born; Who should arise and declare them to their children:
7 That they might set their hope in God, And not forget the works of God, But keep his commandments:
Psalm 78:5-7
Exegete:
The testimony in Jacob is a reference to Jacob recieving the name Israel from the Lord and being the father of the 12 sons that would become the 12 tribes of Israel.
The law was appointed through Moses and passed down through the levitical priests and judges.
And as we read, God commanded the fathers to pass along the law and history of God to the children. Why? So that they may know them and know Him. Not only them but their grandchildren.
Asaph asks the question in verse 6 “Who should arise and declare them to their children?”
Who? Who is going to do it? We have already said that it’s the Parents responsibllity.
But will they? Will you? How will you?
Asaph says who will “arise and tell” who is going to get up and do something who is going to be apart of the work God has called them and us to.
Who is going to be the ones that do what God desires?
Can I answer that question for you? It won’t be every parent. It won’t be every Christian. Should it be? yes. Is it…unfortunately not.
It will be the ones that know Jesus themselves, it will be the ones actively pursuing growth, it will be the ones that decide “I will arise and tell because no one else can do it as good as I can.”
No one else is equipped, no one else loves them like I do, no one else will teach them the way I will.
While this passage of scripture can be a ccommand to parents to pass along their faith to their children it is also an admonition to parents and others to ground themselves in their own faith, to pursuee after Jesus themselves sot aht you can be the ones that pass your faith along.
It’s impossible to teach or model a love that isn’t real to you.
Illustrate:
Have you ever been told to fake it till you make ti?
There are times I believe that is great advice…and others…well not so much
I read about this one guy who got a new job and when he got to the job site, he convinced his coworkers that he was a supervisor. All it took was a different colored company shirt and an id badge, or has he described it in his writing, a plane white card in a lanyard.
He would sit around and tell them what to do just enjoying the day and not working like they were.
This went on for a week or so and then a real supervisor came in. In fact it was the supervisors boss. He saw what was happening and immediately promoted the guy to the position he was acting like he held.
Faking it worked out for this guy to get a promotion however, what do you think his cowokers and now direct reports thought of him afterwards?
Probably not as impressed as the boss was.
Can I tell you, children of all ages, especially teenagers can smell fake a mile away. You may be able to put on a good show for those around you for a time but eventually the real you will come out.
For your kids, when you bring them to church an they here somone preach or teach to love Jesus and lovoe people. And they see you doing neither or not obeying what they have been told the Bible says…they will be the first ones to call you out on it.
You can’t fake a relationship with Christ, you can’t fake anything in life for too long without being found out.
Argue:
There is advice out there that if you want to be happy, choose to act happy when your not and you will be. Listen, I firmly believe in thinking positive thoughts. You know why?
8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.
Phil 4:8
However, I believe that if you are just choosing these things, choosing the fruits of the spirit over the fruit of the flesh, I believe you wil find yourself living a lie and question your salvation, identity, and eventually ruin the relationships around you.
Choose happiness, choose to smile when you don’t feel like it, choose to be humble when you could be proud, choose to be patient when you could be impatient, but in all of your choosing choose because of Jesus and not because of you.
Apply:
Choosing to yield to the Holy Spirit of God is something that each of us have to do when we are convicted of sin and turn to Jesus as our Savior. Choosing to yield to the Spirit is something we each must do when we choose Bible over social media, prayer over tv, patience with our kids vs blowing up at them.
The question I want to ask you as it related to this particular passage of scripture is this: Are you teaching your kids to be fake or are you teaching your kids to folllowers of Christ?
The difference? The fake person says “I’m not happy so I’ll choose to be so others think I’m happy. I’m not patient but I’ll choose to be so others will think I’m patient.” The follower of Christ says “I’m not feeling happy by I will think of Jesus and the great things He has done and be happy in Him. I’m not patient but I will choose to be patient because of how patient Jesus is with me.” Notice the difference?
The fake person makes it all about themselves and how others percieve them. The Jesus follower makes it about Christ.
When the fake person is asked “Why are you smiling when your not happy?” They respond, because I want people to think I’m happy. When the Follower of Jesus responds they say “Because Even though I feel sad and am processing that. I have the joy of the Lord because of my salvation secure in Christ. Do you have that joy?”
How? How do we determine if we are fake or followers? By being honest withourselves, by investing in our relationship with Jesus, and by being honest with those around us.
It’s being willing to say to your child or to a new believer or anyone for that matter “Listen, I’m not perfect. I made a mistake when a lost my patience and got angry. Will you forgive me for my response to my anger?”
It’s important to invest into your relationship with Jesus so that you are real and not faking it.
II. You cannot give what you do not have.
II. You cannot give what you do not have.
You can’t pass along a relationship with Jesus if you don’t have one.
You can’t expect your children to gain soemthing from you that you don’t have to give.
If I got up here and said I’m going to teach each of you here how to cook a gourmet meal…We are all going to be dissapointed. I’ve never taken a cooking class in my life. I read the recipe and follow it.
If you are seeking to live for the Lord and pass along the faith that has been handed down to you either by family, by friends, or by some person that chose to share the gospel with you you will have to make sure you have that faith, that relationship to pass along to others.
In the last verse we are looking at today Asaph delivers to us the result of not passing along our faith.
8 And might not be as their fathers, A stubborn and rebellious generation; A generation that set not their heart aright, And whose spirit was not stedfast with God.
Exegete:
Asaph, under inspiration of God, believes that not passing along this faith and praise of God will lead to a stubborn and rebellious generation.
This was the case they had seen in the past.
You know life has cycles to it. I believe our world has cycles. We see the nation of Israel go from on fire for God to Luke warm for the Lord, to just negligent of of Him.
Then He would get their attention and they would turn to Him again.
What cycle are we in right now?
Well, some would say that Christianity is on the decline, churches are closing their doors, pastors are resigning, and so on and so forth.
The problem with many of the statistics that are promoted as a reflection of the state of Christianity is that many of them include numbers from churches and organizations that don’t preach the truth of scripture.
When I’m told a church closed its doors that didn’t preach salvation by grace through faith in Jesus, I don’t get upset over that. “But pastor they did great work in the community...” Yup, and then told them they had to work for their salvation which will lead them straight to hell.
We hear of kids not being respectful and see videos of students cursing out teachers and hitting them and we think that every kid in America is just like the kids of the biblle that don’t respect their elders and are waxing worse and worse.
Both of these opinions are based on your perspective. The latter is a result of poor parenting. Can I tell you something though?
there may be churches closing their doors but there are churches being planted. There are churches being revitalized that preach the truth of God’s word.
There are young men and women out there and right here in this room that are not disprespectful. They love the Lord, they love their parents, and they desire to do right by God.
What is it that makes those churches different? What is it that makes those kids different?
The leadership of the church, not just the staff, and the parents of those children took the truth of the Word of God and instilled it in their hearts by example and by verbally sharing it with them.
Illustrate:
How many of you enjoy keeping a garden? Maybe growing flowers or vegetables? Either one. I spoke with a gentlemen in our church a couple weeks ago and he told me he is growing wheat.
Now, what do you use to hydrate your plants? What liquid of choice would you say is best?
Water. Ok, so not coke? Not a pepsi. No one is pouring mt dew on their plants? Good.
What about club soda or Carbonated water? Club soda or carbonated water contain the macronutrients carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, phosphorous, potassium sulfur, and sodium that are essential for healthy plant growth.
Three choices here…Water, Coke or Club soda.
Water is what everyone pours on their plants and it gets the job done…right? So not a bad choice…maybe not the best choice.
Coke, well coke is a terrible idea. It will kill the plant.
Club soda…Club soda seem to be the best for some healthy growth but its probably a little more expensinve than that water from your hose. So not everyone is oging to use it. You would have to work harder at getting it on the plant you would have to pay a higher price.
The only thing free in this life is salvation from God through Christ. Other than that, there is a price for it.
You can do what everyone else does as a Christian, as a person, or as a parent and you will be rolling the dice with the results you get.
You can make the poor choice to neglect what God has called you to do or do it but without love and pour Soda on your kid.
You can do what every other parent is doing and be half in and half out not really guiding them but just existing around them. That’s Water...
Or, you can spend time with them, talk with them, teach them to study scripture, show them what it means to pray, love them the way Jesus does. That’s pouring Club Soda on your kids.
What’s that mean for you?
It means you have to pay the price for club Soda.
Apply:
I’ve never heard a parent say “I’d like for my get to grow up and be a derilict.” “I’d love for my kid to go to jail and do nothing with their life.” I’ve never heard a Christian parent say “I’d like for my children to grow up and not know Jesus.” Yet we can sometimes live our lives this way
Asaph is telling Israel, if you don’t want your children to be rebellious and unloyal to God, tell them these things.
Being a parent, being a leader, comes with a price. It’s a price that is paid daily. And the more you pay the more it pays off.
Pay the price of parenting and don’t just beat your kid over the head with a bible…sit down and talk with them about Jesus.
Pay the price of being a disciple maker for Jesus and invite people to your home, out to dinner, or out together and talk about Jesus. Ask about their next step of faith.
Pay the price to lead a generation towards Jesus.
What do you need to remember to teach them about Jesus?
III. They need your attention now, to effect their lives later
III. They need your attention now, to effect their lives later
Disciples won’t be made if we won’t make disciples.
How are you discipling your kids? How are you discipling your friends? Neighbors? Coworkers? Fellow Christians in Church?
Do you have the faith to pass on? Is your life for Jesus worth replicating?
Time of Response
Time of Response