WEBVTT 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:06.480 And it is awesome to have all of you with us, and especially if it's your first or second Sunday with us, we're excited. 00:00:06.639 --> 00:00:07.919 Uh let me throw something out. 00:00:08.080 --> 00:00:18.160 I know we'll they'll mention this as we conclude this morning, but Shop with a Hero is a yearly event and ministry that that we that takes place on Saturday morning. 00:00:18.320 --> 00:00:20.239 This year is going to be December 6th. 00:00:20.320 --> 00:00:22.239 It's always the first Saturday, December. 00:00:22.399 --> 00:00:31.039 We identify children through the school system and we partner them up with a financial gift to go shopping with a uniformed hero. 00:00:31.440 --> 00:00:37.119 And so this is an incredible opportunity for you to jump in because it takes really an army. 00:00:37.200 --> 00:00:45.759 And so we've got a table out in the lobby, and uh Robin and some of our uh ladies will be out there excited to share shop with a hero. 00:00:45.920 --> 00:00:53.840 And if you you want to join and be a part of the team that that sets up and carries out, there's all different areas for you to plug in. 00:00:53.920 --> 00:01:04.640 And if you are a uniformed hero or you have someone in your family or in your friendship circle, uh law enforcement, firefighter, EMT, it could be somebody in the medical field. 00:01:04.719 --> 00:01:09.920 We've had nurses come and scrubs, and and and and and that that would be great. 00:01:10.079 --> 00:01:20.239 And we need as as many as we can get, heroes, and then and if you you say, I can't be there, but I'd love to be a part of it, you can sponsor a child. 00:01:20.319 --> 00:01:24.799 We$125 per child, you can sponsor a hero. 00:01:24.879 --> 00:01:32.239 We give them a gift card as well, and and so giving is is a big part of that, and I want to encourage you to uh to consider that. 00:01:32.400 --> 00:01:46.000 So uh the last night um it it I got a text message from my my daughter Abigail, and it was it was it was 10 minutes after 10, uh, and and it was just out of the blue. 00:01:46.159 --> 00:01:55.599 And and and the text message says this what y'all did great as parents, to Jill, I guess this is for me and Jill, right? 00:01:55.680 --> 00:01:57.840 It's the only parents we have in our household. 00:01:58.400 --> 00:02:08.479 Here's what she says she said you were always intentional in conversations about faith, particularly big topics, big issues. 00:02:08.800 --> 00:02:19.199 She said also when you would when you would say, I'm proud of you with in with intention, she said that meant so much. 00:02:19.599 --> 00:02:24.560 She goes on to say that teaching us what was most important, not all the stuff. 00:02:24.639 --> 00:02:27.520 And I'm assuming she's talking about material things. 00:02:27.840 --> 00:02:33.599 And then finally she said, showing us what serving people well looks like. 00:02:33.840 --> 00:02:47.439 Now, so I get this text message, and my first thought is she and my my wife have had a conversation because Jill and I will talk during the week about the sermon and different things, and the sermon today is about the pressure of parenting. 00:02:47.680 --> 00:02:52.400 And so all week I'm feeling, I'm dreading, I just feel so inadequate. 00:02:52.560 --> 00:03:02.879 Plus, I know when I preach on parenting, I'm gonna I'm putting a big old bullseye on the back of on my back because God's gonna attack when you when you're addressing important things. 00:03:02.960 --> 00:03:07.039 So I assumed that Abigail and Jill had had conversations. 00:03:07.199 --> 00:03:08.719 She knows what I'm gonna talk about. 00:03:08.879 --> 00:03:17.680 She knows my anxieties and my my uh my feelings of inadequacies regarding parenting. 00:03:17.759 --> 00:03:19.759 So I'm thinking she's just encouraging me. 00:03:19.919 --> 00:03:31.360 They had no conversation, so she just uh the Lord moved in her heart, and and God knew I needed to hear a word of encouragement before I stood up, and this is what my daughter sent me. 00:03:31.599 --> 00:03:35.280 She's obviously the most thoughtful one of the three. 00:03:36.960 --> 00:03:40.240 Here's a picture of our family because I I had I take it for granted. 00:03:40.400 --> 00:03:44.400 A lot of you don't know my kids because you've come in the last few years to Church of the Grove. 00:03:44.560 --> 00:03:45.599 And so I forget. 00:03:45.759 --> 00:03:51.120 A lot of you know that you've watched my kids grow up, and so you see Jill and I, she's hiding behind me. 00:03:51.199 --> 00:03:53.439 Uh Josiah's got the Drew shirt on. 00:03:53.599 --> 00:03:55.520 That's his sweetheart, Maddie. 00:03:55.919 --> 00:03:58.319 Pray that she stays his sweetheart. 00:03:58.960 --> 00:03:59.840 We like her. 00:04:00.000 --> 00:04:03.360 And then um Abigail and Birch on the other side. 00:04:03.439 --> 00:04:04.000 This is Caleb. 00:04:04.159 --> 00:04:06.560 Caleb, for some reason, wasn't in that photograph. 00:04:06.639 --> 00:04:08.479 This is Abigail and Caleb. 00:04:08.560 --> 00:04:16.000 So Josiah's 27, Abigail's 24, Caleb is 20, uh, to the best of my ability to remember those ages. 00:04:16.319 --> 00:04:23.439 And so here's here's the first thing I was going to share this morning is about the fact that we've got to be proactive. 00:04:23.680 --> 00:04:29.439 We've got to be proactive in our rhythms with our parenting, with our children. 00:04:29.680 --> 00:04:39.519 When we stop being proactive, the pressure that we feel in life, particularly with parenting, it doesn't go away. 00:04:39.759 --> 00:04:40.959 It increases. 00:04:41.120 --> 00:04:47.360 And so Abigail meant one of the things she mentions, you were intentional in your conversations. 00:04:47.680 --> 00:04:50.160 You were intentional in your rhythms. 00:04:50.399 --> 00:04:56.319 We didn't allow the culture or the pressures of life to impose rhythms upon us. 00:04:56.639 --> 00:05:07.920 We intentionally picked patterns and habits and rhythms in our life to help our kids understand what matters most. 00:05:08.240 --> 00:05:13.519 And when we don't have a plan, pressure fills the space where purpose used to live. 00:05:13.759 --> 00:05:22.879 And let's be honest, family life, parenting comes with this feeling of being in a constant pressure cooker. 00:05:23.120 --> 00:05:31.199 Pressure to provide, pressure to protect, pressure to teach, pressure to give your kids every opportunity that you uh didn't have. 00:05:31.439 --> 00:05:32.879 I hear that so much. 00:05:33.120 --> 00:05:36.240 Pressure to hold it all together, not to mess it up. 00:05:36.399 --> 00:05:37.759 There's all this pressure. 00:05:38.000 --> 00:05:49.680 There's a lot of pressure on our children, but there is also pressure on us, at least equal, if not greater, because we worry about how we're raising our kids. 00:05:49.759 --> 00:05:51.600 And let me tell you this is what I found. 00:05:51.759 --> 00:05:53.360 I don't, it doesn't matter. 00:05:53.439 --> 00:06:01.759 Like I have some rock star people that I look up to when it comes to parenting, but if I talk then, they'll tell you that they feel so inadequate. 00:06:01.839 --> 00:06:08.480 I don't care how well we parent, we always look back thinking, man, I wish I could have done it differently. 00:06:11.120 --> 00:06:12.399 And you know what? 00:06:13.199 --> 00:06:18.319 That teaches me is that I'm not really in control of this like I think I am. 00:06:18.639 --> 00:06:24.560 And I need the grace of God to assist me, to parent through me. 00:06:25.920 --> 00:06:32.079 And so when I think about parents that have everything, seem to have it under control. 00:06:32.240 --> 00:06:37.759 If you talk to those parents, they still feel like, man, this world is winning. 00:06:37.920 --> 00:06:46.480 This world is is winning the battle over our kids, and it teaches us that we've got to depend on the Lord, depend on the Holy Spirit. 00:06:47.439 --> 00:07:00.480 The pressure that many people feel and experience, although it's real pressure, it comes often from not having a clear plan going ahead, and then we look back and we realize how we messed up. 00:07:00.720 --> 00:07:05.680 And God wants us to be on this side of it, being proactive and being intentional. 00:07:05.920 --> 00:07:10.000 What if God actually gave us a plan or a blueprint for our families? 00:07:10.160 --> 00:07:25.600 What if we could arrange our households to be proactive in our rhythms and habits, to create an environment for our families to thrive and our children to know Jesus and to grow and their knowledge and understanding of what it means to follow Jesus? 00:07:25.839 --> 00:07:30.399 And here's the big idea: if you don't walk away with anything else, remember this this morning. 00:07:30.720 --> 00:07:33.199 Pressure comes when we don't have a plan. 00:07:33.600 --> 00:07:36.720 Peace comes when we follow God's. 00:07:37.120 --> 00:07:40.160 Peace comes when we follow God's plan. 00:07:40.800 --> 00:07:55.839 And so I my prayer for this morning is that you'll walk away with here at least with a few practical steps on how to be proactive, how to be intentional in how you parent your children in Christ. 00:07:56.240 --> 00:07:58.639 And today we're gonna be in the book of Deuteronomy. 00:07:58.879 --> 00:08:03.519 The book of Deuteronomy is one of the first five books of the Old Testament. 00:08:04.000 --> 00:08:15.360 It's part of what we call the Torah, the Pentateuch, uh the law, the law in its most pure form, we know is the Ten Commandments, but we have the first five books of the Bible. 00:08:15.439 --> 00:08:21.839 And in Deuteronomy, the word Deuteronomy means to give the law again, to repeat the law. 00:08:22.079 --> 00:08:37.840 And so it's really a Moses giving the law and telling the truth of the gospel in the Old Testament, giving the law a second time, and even giving it in a fresh, different perspective. 00:08:38.000 --> 00:08:42.320 And today specifically we're gonna be in Deuteronomy chapter 6. 00:08:42.639 --> 00:08:45.519 Looking at what is referred to as the Shema. 00:08:46.320 --> 00:08:47.120 Shmah. 00:08:48.080 --> 00:08:54.480 It's a Hebrew word that is a declaration, and the declaration is listen. 00:08:56.080 --> 00:08:59.519 Listen and respond. 00:09:00.480 --> 00:09:01.200 That's key. 00:09:01.519 --> 00:09:07.840 The word literally means to hear and to respond, to listen and to take action. 00:09:08.480 --> 00:09:14.080 In other words, Moses is saying, don't just hear these words, build your life around them. 00:09:14.159 --> 00:09:17.519 And so the Shema becomes the foundation of Jewish life. 00:09:18.399 --> 00:09:21.279 It is a confession, if you will. 00:09:21.519 --> 00:09:31.120 Something that they would repeat every morning, every afternoon, every evening as a reminder of who God is and what truly matters. 00:09:31.600 --> 00:09:40.480 And for us today, the Shema is this it is it is God's plan for passing our faith from one generation to another. 00:09:41.600 --> 00:09:47.039 It's how families turn pressure into peace by keeping God the center of all they do. 00:09:47.279 --> 00:09:53.039 And so Deuteronomy 6, uh, chapter, uh Deuteronomy chapter 6, verses 1 through 9. 00:09:53.120 --> 00:09:54.000 Let's read it together. 00:09:54.159 --> 00:09:55.840 This is the command. 00:09:56.080 --> 00:09:59.200 This is the command, the statutes and the ordinances. 00:09:59.440 --> 00:10:06.960 The Lord your God has commanded me to teach you, so that you may follow them in the land that you're about to enter and possess. 00:10:07.519 --> 00:10:15.840 Do this so that you may fear the Lord your God with all the days of your life by keeping all his statutes and commands. 00:10:16.399 --> 00:10:22.320 I'm giving you your son and your and your grandson, and so that you may have a long life. 00:10:22.559 --> 00:10:28.799 Listen, Israel, and be careful to follow them so that you may prosper and multiply greatly. 00:10:29.039 --> 00:10:35.679 Because the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has promised you a land flowing with milk and honey. 00:10:36.000 --> 00:10:38.399 Now I want you to lean in a little bit. 00:10:39.360 --> 00:10:43.840 Get into the heart of what's really what I want us to look at in this passage. 00:10:43.919 --> 00:10:45.919 He says, Listen, Israel. 00:10:46.320 --> 00:10:48.720 The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 00:10:49.440 --> 00:10:51.759 The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 00:10:52.080 --> 00:10:56.799 Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength. 00:10:56.960 --> 00:11:00.720 These words that I'm giving you today are to be in your heart. 00:11:01.120 --> 00:11:03.360 Repeat them to your children. 00:11:03.600 --> 00:11:10.399 Talk about them when you sit in your house, when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 00:11:10.639 --> 00:11:15.600 Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them be a symbol on your forehead. 00:11:15.840 --> 00:11:21.039 Write them on the doorpost of your house and on your city gates. 00:11:22.240 --> 00:11:25.440 We read this, it sounds a bit repetitive. 00:11:25.759 --> 00:11:27.519 Repeat them again and again. 00:11:27.679 --> 00:11:34.399 Talk about them when you're at home, talk about them when you're on the road, talk about them when you're going to bed and when you get up. 00:11:34.799 --> 00:11:47.759 It feels repetitive, but what Moses is doing is he's giving us a simple plan on how we take our faith and make sure we pass it to the next generation. 00:11:48.960 --> 00:11:53.440 He's saying this: don't react to the chaos of life. 00:11:53.679 --> 00:11:59.039 Build proactive rhythms to form your family around God. 00:11:59.840 --> 00:12:05.440 And here's what we see because habits are spiritual formation on autopilot. 00:12:05.519 --> 00:12:06.720 What is spiritual formation? 00:12:06.799 --> 00:12:08.879 It's who you're becoming in Christ. 00:12:08.960 --> 00:12:12.159 It's how you're being formed into the image of Jesus. 00:12:12.480 --> 00:12:13.759 That's spiritual formation. 00:12:13.919 --> 00:12:15.360 It's discipleship. 00:12:15.600 --> 00:12:29.600 It's partnering with God through the Holy Spirit in our life, building patterns, habits, and rhythms in our life where spiritual formation is going to be natural to happen. 00:12:29.840 --> 00:12:30.720 Here's what we learned. 00:12:31.360 --> 00:12:32.960 If you're a note taker, listen to this. 00:12:33.200 --> 00:12:36.480 The habits of your family form the hearts of your family. 00:12:36.720 --> 00:12:42.480 The habits of your family form the hearts of your family. 00:12:42.720 --> 00:12:46.240 The problem is most parents don't plan intentionally. 00:12:46.399 --> 00:12:47.360 They don't plan. 00:12:47.600 --> 00:12:58.480 Or what they do is they allow the little bit of spiritual connection they can get at church to become all the spiritual training that their parents have. 00:12:59.840 --> 00:13:01.919 Which is not a really good plan. 00:13:03.360 --> 00:13:06.559 It's reactive, it's not being proactive. 00:13:07.200 --> 00:13:11.919 And so without a plan, you know what shapes the hearts of your kids and the hearts of your family? 00:13:12.480 --> 00:13:22.320 Busyness, screens, sports, survival, and before long the pressure builds. 00:13:22.639 --> 00:13:27.360 And so the Lord is hitting on a modern day neurological discovery. 00:13:27.440 --> 00:13:33.519 If you do look at the research, your habits ultimately shape the person that you become. 00:13:33.919 --> 00:13:34.720 They do. 00:13:35.600 --> 00:13:36.720 James K.A. 00:13:36.879 --> 00:13:42.000 Smith says this you are what you love, but you don't just love with your mind, you love with your habits. 00:13:42.399 --> 00:13:44.159 You love with your habits. 00:13:44.320 --> 00:13:50.080 And so what we see in Deuteronomy 6, and what's the pressure many of us feel as parenting? 00:13:50.159 --> 00:13:51.200 I've got to provide. 00:13:51.440 --> 00:13:53.200 I've got to provide financially. 00:13:53.360 --> 00:13:59.200 I've got to make sure my child has all the great opportunities that my generation didn't have. 00:14:00.000 --> 00:14:02.879 I mean, I if I've heard that once, I've heard it a thousand times. 00:14:02.960 --> 00:14:06.240 I want to make sure my kids have everything that I didn't have. 00:14:06.320 --> 00:14:15.200 Well, maybe you had a better life and a better situation than your kids had because you didn't have all the choices and distractions pulling as you. 00:14:15.279 --> 00:14:18.559 Maybe we need to go back rather than try to go forward. 00:14:20.080 --> 00:14:21.919 Back to simplicity. 00:14:22.799 --> 00:14:30.559 And so in Deuteronomy 6, it's this idea of you've probably seen the metaphor, the illustration of the rocks and a jar. 00:14:31.279 --> 00:14:44.720 And if you if you try to put all of the minor things into the jar, then the big rocks, which are representative of the big most important things in our life, if we wait till the end, there is no room. 00:14:45.039 --> 00:14:47.360 This little picture showing you this. 00:14:47.679 --> 00:14:55.759 And so this is what happens when you allow your life to be formed by habits that are imposed upon you rather than being proactive. 00:14:55.919 --> 00:15:00.159 Where being proactive, you put the big rocks into the jar first. 00:15:00.559 --> 00:15:02.799 The things that really matter the most. 00:15:03.440 --> 00:15:12.720 And then the small rocks and the sand and water can be all put in, and everything will fit together quite nicely. 00:15:13.279 --> 00:15:15.519 And so, do you have a plan? 00:15:15.679 --> 00:15:17.120 Do you have a priority? 00:15:17.279 --> 00:15:18.720 Do you have a rule of life? 00:15:18.799 --> 00:15:29.679 That's what the early church fathers would call the habits that were formed in their life to make sure they were following into the character and being shaped in the character of Jesus. 00:15:29.919 --> 00:15:40.480 A rule of life for the home is where we have a pattern of shared habits intended to shape our small community and the love of Jesus. 00:15:40.720 --> 00:15:46.240 A rule of life is a pattern of shared habits intended to shape a community in the love of God. 00:15:46.399 --> 00:15:52.159 And it's when we we we talk about this all the time: the habits that you form will shape your life spiritually. 00:15:52.240 --> 00:16:00.720 That's why you set aside time with the Lord on a daily basis, and that's a big rock, so it goes first before the small rocks. 00:16:01.279 --> 00:16:17.679 Being in fellowship with other believers, being in Bible study, and being in a position where we can decide to create and follow the leadership of Jesus, fasting, praying, ministry one to another. 00:16:18.080 --> 00:16:23.120 We had a sweet time of prayer Friday night, praying for healing over people's lives. 00:16:23.200 --> 00:16:28.320 And that should be a rhythm in our in our in the in the community of faith. 00:16:28.559 --> 00:16:32.240 Well, what kind of rhythms does does Moses encourage us with? 00:16:32.399 --> 00:16:36.559 He encouraged us with a few different simple rhythms. 00:16:37.039 --> 00:16:38.960 He says, start by waking. 00:16:39.120 --> 00:16:40.879 Start your day with purpose. 00:16:41.120 --> 00:16:43.759 When you wake, start your day with purpose. 00:16:44.080 --> 00:16:45.600 Deuteronomy 6.7. 00:16:51.519 --> 00:16:52.879 Deuteronomy 6.7? 00:16:53.840 --> 00:16:55.840 I have no idea what that means. 00:16:56.080 --> 00:16:57.600 Um I don't know. 00:16:58.799 --> 00:17:00.399 I'm usually come to the table late. 00:17:00.480 --> 00:17:03.840 Something's already come and gone before I become aware that it's a thing. 00:17:04.000 --> 00:17:06.960 Um but uh anyway, so I became aware of that this week. 00:17:07.119 --> 00:17:08.640 Obviously, it's already passed. 00:17:08.880 --> 00:17:10.480 Um Deuteronomy 6.7. 00:17:10.640 --> 00:17:11.920 Here's what he says, verse 7. 00:17:12.000 --> 00:17:13.279 Repeat them to your children. 00:17:13.359 --> 00:17:14.000 What is he saying? 00:17:14.160 --> 00:17:21.519 Repeat, repeat the law, repeat the teachings, repeat the scripture, repeat the stories of Jesus. 00:17:21.680 --> 00:17:23.839 Repeat, repeat them to your children. 00:17:24.000 --> 00:17:30.000 Talk about them when you sit in your house, when you walk along the road, when you lie down, and when you get up. 00:17:30.240 --> 00:17:31.599 Start your day with purpose. 00:17:31.759 --> 00:17:39.599 When you start, when you do the first thing in the whatever you do in the first part of your day reveals what matters the most to you. 00:17:41.119 --> 00:17:52.160 Is it reaching for a phone or is it putting your feet on the floor and just sliding down to your knees and just starting the day with a simple prayer? 00:17:52.319 --> 00:17:53.519 Holy Spirit, would you lead me? 00:17:53.680 --> 00:17:54.240 Would you guide me? 00:17:54.400 --> 00:17:55.680 Would you lead my conversations? 00:17:55.920 --> 00:17:57.680 Would you speak to me? 00:17:58.480 --> 00:18:05.680 And so I don't know if you found this, but the mornings can be a pressured time of the day. 00:18:06.000 --> 00:18:17.920 You're getting up, you're getting kids ready, you're you feel like your whole purpose is to find socks that match and and a and to put a waffle and a toaster and and all this, but but all those things are important. 00:18:18.000 --> 00:18:25.759 But what's more important is to be Jesus to your kids, to lead them to the living water, to the bread of life. 00:18:26.000 --> 00:18:31.839 Yes, we're we're we're supposed to take care of our kids, but we're also supposed to feed them spiritually. 00:18:32.319 --> 00:18:38.640 And so the morning pattern is a great opportunity for discipleship. 00:18:38.720 --> 00:18:42.880 It's a great opportunity to instill spiritual principles. 00:18:43.039 --> 00:18:44.160 How do you do that? 00:18:44.480 --> 00:18:48.319 Let me give you just a little bit of practical, a couple practical ideas. 00:18:48.559 --> 00:18:49.680 Speak a short blessing. 00:18:49.759 --> 00:18:55.599 Where your kids come down the hall or they they wake you up or or or or you're having to wake them up. 00:18:55.759 --> 00:18:58.079 Just words that encourage them. 00:18:58.240 --> 00:18:59.599 I'm proud of you. 00:18:59.920 --> 00:19:00.880 I love you. 00:19:01.279 --> 00:19:10.079 Let the first things that they hear be blessings out of your lips before you get into the rush and the pressure of the day. 00:19:10.400 --> 00:19:14.240 Turn on some worship music. 00:19:14.400 --> 00:19:17.039 Let that be the background of your morning. 00:19:17.200 --> 00:19:25.599 And then in the car, you're taking kids to school or you're running to do errands, or uh, or the kids are with you. 00:19:25.759 --> 00:19:27.039 Pray in the car. 00:19:27.279 --> 00:19:31.039 How many of you ever have to wait in a drop-off or a pickup line? 00:19:31.279 --> 00:19:34.880 That is time for you to pray with your children. 00:19:35.039 --> 00:19:37.039 Use that time wisely. 00:19:38.160 --> 00:19:41.359 Lord help us to love you and to love other people today. 00:19:41.440 --> 00:19:43.119 It could be something that simple. 00:19:43.359 --> 00:19:47.039 Or maybe ask a simple question to begin the day. 00:19:47.359 --> 00:19:51.279 What is one thing you're thankful for this morning? 00:19:52.240 --> 00:19:57.920 Because gratitude can kill anxiety before it begins to grow. 00:19:58.240 --> 00:20:00.000 Justin early says this. 00:20:00.160 --> 00:20:07.039 He says in his book, Habits of the Household, he says, children are not formed by information, they are formed by imitation. 00:20:07.759 --> 00:20:11.359 What we do in front of them becomes what they do after us. 00:20:11.839 --> 00:20:13.440 I think of my grandmother. 00:20:13.599 --> 00:20:26.960 Although I didn't grow up in a home going to church every week, I did spend time with my grandmother who modeled to me the practice and the habit of opening the Bible every morning and starting your day with prayer. 00:20:27.200 --> 00:20:35.119 And so when I would go to her house and I loved, it was a place of refuge, a place of safety, a place of great food. 00:20:35.359 --> 00:20:38.720 But when I would wake up, I could often hear her. 00:20:39.200 --> 00:20:41.039 And there wasn't anybody else in the house. 00:20:41.119 --> 00:20:44.799 So, and she wasn't talking to herself, she was talking to the Lord. 00:20:45.279 --> 00:20:55.039 And I'd put my feet down on the floor and pitter patter down the hallway, and I'd see her sitting in her chair with her Bible open on her lap. 00:20:55.440 --> 00:20:56.400 Imitation. 00:20:57.200 --> 00:20:59.039 We're formed by imitation. 00:20:59.359 --> 00:21:06.559 And so when your kids see you begin the day with prayer in the Bible, they begin to learn something. 00:21:06.799 --> 00:21:12.960 They might not be able to articulate it, but they are downloading a practice and a habit. 00:21:13.200 --> 00:21:20.640 What you do in the first moments of the day invites either pressure or it invites peace. 00:21:21.119 --> 00:21:22.319 Justin Early again. 00:21:22.400 --> 00:21:27.119 He says, our day, our days begin in chaos when we don't begin the day in prayer. 00:21:27.200 --> 00:21:29.839 And I'm listening I'm not talking about spending an hour in prayer. 00:21:29.920 --> 00:21:31.200 I'm talking about just beginning. 00:21:31.359 --> 00:21:42.799 It can be 10, 15 minutes, it can be more or it can be less, but starting that way, beginning in that direction, prayer is the habit, he says, that turns panic into peace. 00:21:44.079 --> 00:21:46.160 Second, he talks about mealtime. 00:21:46.400 --> 00:21:52.480 Deuteronomy 6 speaks to what we do at our meals, and meals are important. 00:21:52.799 --> 00:21:56.079 It's a great time to pause for gratitude and connection. 00:21:56.480 --> 00:22:06.880 See, in the story of the in the gospel, as you read through scripture and You can see that mealtime is an important thing in our spiritual life. 00:22:07.119 --> 00:22:22.400 From the Garden of Eden to the end of the book, to the to the great banquet that we'll experience that we see talked about in the book of Revelation, our meals always involve relationship. 00:22:22.559 --> 00:22:25.599 It's communion with God and communion with one another. 00:22:25.759 --> 00:22:34.000 As a matter of fact, there are scholars who have outlined the whole gospel of Luke around the meals that Jesus had with people. 00:22:35.440 --> 00:22:38.079 Because the table was where Jesus formed hearts. 00:22:38.799 --> 00:22:44.160 It's where people were healed of shame, where community is redefined. 00:22:44.480 --> 00:22:55.359 And so in Deuteronomy 6, when it says, talk about the Lord, when you sit at home, it's talking about the ordinary patterns and ordinary experiences that we have in life. 00:22:55.519 --> 00:22:59.200 One meal, one conversation, one blessing at a time. 00:22:59.440 --> 00:23:02.559 And meals slow down the rush of life. 00:23:14.079 --> 00:23:15.440 Listen, I've learned this. 00:23:15.599 --> 00:23:20.000 Your kids don't need perfection, they need presence. 00:23:21.680 --> 00:23:23.599 And you start it with gratitude. 00:23:23.759 --> 00:23:31.200 I'm telling you, gratitude will wipe away and push away a lot of the dark things in your life. 00:23:31.599 --> 00:23:32.799 You play high low. 00:23:32.880 --> 00:23:33.839 What's a high for today? 00:23:34.000 --> 00:23:35.279 What's a low for today? 00:23:35.519 --> 00:23:37.359 Getting your kids talking. 00:23:38.640 --> 00:23:40.400 I have two boys and a girl. 00:23:40.720 --> 00:23:43.200 I'm telling you, boys grunt. 00:23:44.480 --> 00:23:45.599 How was your day? 00:23:47.920 --> 00:23:49.200 Girls are different. 00:23:49.519 --> 00:23:51.440 Abigail, how was your day? 00:23:51.759 --> 00:24:07.920 Well, first thing is I just had a great quiet time with the Lord, and then I had lunch with all these girlfriends, and it was it was Monica, and it was Julie, and it was Reed, and it was, I mean, all the and we just talk about all the different things going on in our life, and then and then, you know, and then she tells me hour by hour, minute by minute. 00:24:09.759 --> 00:24:11.920 Caleb, how was your day? 00:24:12.400 --> 00:24:13.039 Good. 00:24:13.680 --> 00:24:14.480 That's it. 00:24:14.799 --> 00:24:17.119 But but but you still do it, you still dive in. 00:24:17.200 --> 00:24:21.680 You want it, you open up, invite spiritual conversations naturally. 00:24:23.519 --> 00:24:28.160 Just recently, I think it was fall break, we had all of our kids together and we talked, it was great. 00:24:28.240 --> 00:24:29.839 We talked about world issues. 00:24:30.000 --> 00:24:42.880 We talked about what's happening with in the Ukraine, what's happening in Israel, and what's happening all over the world, what's happening with persecuted Christians in Africa, and what's happening with revival in Iran, the underground church. 00:24:43.039 --> 00:24:46.720 We talk about big things, and and and our kids, they they like that. 00:24:46.880 --> 00:24:48.160 They love that, they eat it up. 00:24:48.240 --> 00:24:55.359 Plus, it's a way to speak truth into all this mess that they're hearing through social media. 00:24:57.200 --> 00:25:02.880 Put the phones away and then bless, just bless them, speak blessings to them. 00:25:03.119 --> 00:25:13.359 And you know that the research that we see supports the truth of what we see in Scripture, the research agrees with Scripture according to Harvard University. 00:25:13.680 --> 00:25:22.960 Regular family dinners are linked to lower rates of depression, anxiety, and substance abuse, and higher levels of resilience and self-esteem. 00:25:23.119 --> 00:25:32.160 But here's what's fascinating: the researchers didn't find that deep conversations were the key factor, it was simply showing up consistently. 00:25:34.640 --> 00:25:40.000 And I'm telling you, I uh this is just driving down here this morning. 00:25:41.759 --> 00:25:47.039 I live between here and Loganville, and coming down 81, I look over at the park. 00:25:47.119 --> 00:25:52.720 I love looking at the different progress, at the progress they're making up here at this park, right above Walnut Grove. 00:25:53.200 --> 00:25:56.640 But I noticed the parking lot was full around the fields. 00:25:57.039 --> 00:25:59.200 I thought, oh, they're playing ball. 00:25:59.759 --> 00:26:01.759 Ball is a great thing. 00:26:02.240 --> 00:26:03.920 Playing sports is a good thing. 00:26:04.240 --> 00:26:10.880 You can play individual sports, you learn about hard work, ethic, you know, learning to submit yourself to discipline. 00:26:11.200 --> 00:26:15.920 Team sports, learning to do things together, all those things are great and wonderful. 00:26:16.079 --> 00:26:16.960 But here's what I thought. 00:26:17.119 --> 00:26:25.599 I wonder how many of those parents that have taken their kids to play ball on a Sunday morning have spent in conversation about Jesus all during the week. 00:26:26.640 --> 00:26:31.359 And here's what, listen, playing ball, I'm not, don't, playing ball is a great thing. 00:26:31.680 --> 00:26:33.680 We loved it as a family. 00:26:34.240 --> 00:26:59.920 But if you practice two or three times a week and then play a few games over the weekend, and then you hand over all of the responsibility for raising your kids spiritually to the church, they get one hour, two hours a week of spiritual input, and then you have the habit or rhythms where they're practicing every day, taking personal lessons and then playing sports. 00:27:00.240 --> 00:27:02.799 Do you see the conflict that is there? 00:27:02.960 --> 00:27:05.759 It is not that it is a bad thing, it is a good thing. 00:27:05.839 --> 00:27:12.720 But when it becomes an idol, I'm telling you, sports and different activities and hobbies do not make good gods. 00:27:14.720 --> 00:27:30.640 They raise children with anxiety and depression and without any understanding of how God has called them into a relationship, and that they are loved by Heavenly Father. 00:27:32.000 --> 00:27:32.880 You see it? 00:27:36.000 --> 00:27:38.400 Thank God that we're experiencing revival. 00:27:38.559 --> 00:27:41.680 Thank God we are seeing a generation come back to church. 00:27:42.160 --> 00:27:44.880 We're particularly seeing young men coming back. 00:27:45.039 --> 00:27:46.480 But here's my concern. 00:27:46.720 --> 00:27:54.880 If we don't have spiritual fathers ready to invest in these young men, then they will not take their faith and hand it to the next generation. 00:27:55.680 --> 00:28:08.960 And so we can build all the buildings we want to, but if we don't have spiritual parents investing in the children that God brings to us, then we are missing out on an opportunity. 00:28:09.200 --> 00:28:10.160 Now I don't have time. 00:28:10.319 --> 00:28:22.240 Bedtime is the final time of the day, and it's really just a time to talk to your kids and to debrief them about what's happening in their day and to speak more blessings into their life. 00:28:23.279 --> 00:28:28.640 And listen, I don't care how old your kids are, they still need parenting. 00:28:28.880 --> 00:28:35.519 They still are desperate for somebody to speak blessings into their life. 00:28:36.000 --> 00:28:42.319 I was having dinner with a young man that's the same age as my oldest son who attends here, and he's an adult. 00:28:42.400 --> 00:28:43.599 He's a young man. 00:28:43.839 --> 00:28:53.759 And we were having dinner just a couple of weeks ago, and he was expressing his feelings of inadequacy when it comes to being a father because he wasn't raised in a strong Christian home. 00:28:53.920 --> 00:28:56.319 And I leaned across the table and I said, Let me tell you something. 00:28:56.400 --> 00:28:58.000 You're gonna be a great husband. 00:28:58.160 --> 00:29:03.039 You are a great husband, you're gonna be a great father because you have submitted your life to Christ. 00:29:03.119 --> 00:29:11.680 And I just I just kept like speaking truth into him, and this grown man, tears started streaming down his face. 00:29:13.200 --> 00:29:15.119 You know what he needed to hear? 00:29:15.359 --> 00:29:21.039 The blessing that a father is responsible to give to their children. 00:29:25.440 --> 00:29:34.799 And so as we come to the close today, let me ask you, how's it going? 00:29:35.920 --> 00:29:49.359 And this parenting thing, I would say that most of us, if not all of us, feel like that it's probably not going as well as it should, which is okay because that helps us depend more on Jesus. 00:29:49.680 --> 00:29:51.119 I can't do this. 00:29:52.559 --> 00:30:05.440 Second question is after you hear a message like we've had heard today and read scripture like we've read today, what is it that you will change into this next week? 00:30:05.759 --> 00:30:08.160 And you might be in the same shoes I'm in. 00:30:08.319 --> 00:30:10.640 You say, Whew, man, I'm an empty nester. 00:30:11.359 --> 00:30:12.160 That's period's over. 00:30:12.319 --> 00:30:13.119 It's not. 00:30:13.440 --> 00:30:15.359 Your kids still need parenting. 00:30:15.599 --> 00:30:17.759 Your kids still need to hear the blessing. 00:30:18.079 --> 00:30:20.559 Your biological kids, but who else is in this room? 00:30:20.720 --> 00:30:22.240 Who else is in this community? 00:30:22.400 --> 00:30:26.640 Who else where God is working in the life of our young people? 00:30:26.799 --> 00:30:36.000 How many of those young people need spiritual parents to speak blessing of their life because they don't have biological parents to do so? 00:30:42.079 --> 00:30:43.920 So would you pray with me? 00:30:44.319 --> 00:30:45.920 Let's just pray together. 00:30:46.319 --> 00:30:47.519 Close this time. 00:30:47.759 --> 00:30:52.720 It's an opportunity for us to lean into the good news of Jesus, the gospel. 00:30:52.960 --> 00:31:00.559 And the gospel, for us to embrace the gospel, it requires us to admit that we are failures. 00:31:01.680 --> 00:31:08.240 We are marred, we are we are messed up by sin and darkness and deception. 00:31:08.400 --> 00:31:39.519 The enemy has come and he came into the garden and he spoke lies into the ears of Adam and Eve, which kept them from believing and trusting that their Heavenly Father loved them, wanted the best for them, and that sin has been handed down generationally all the way to where we are, and we still deal with the void and the emptiness that sin leads us to. 00:31:40.240 --> 00:31:42.400 But thank you for the good news of Jesus. 00:31:42.559 --> 00:32:01.440 Thank you for a heavenly father that does not leave us to our own sin and selfishness, but he comes out of love and grace to show us up close and personal what it's like to have a relationship with our Heavenly Father. 00:32:02.559 --> 00:32:04.000 That's what Jesus came to do. 00:32:04.160 --> 00:32:19.359 He came to live and to die and to be bodily resurrected, to demonstrate, to practically defeat death and sin, and then to demonstrate that we have victory over the grave. 00:32:20.079 --> 00:32:23.839 And so if you don't know Jesus, today is the day of your salvation. 00:32:24.559 --> 00:32:28.960 There's not a magical prayer, you simply said, Yes, Jesus, I want you. 00:32:29.920 --> 00:32:34.240 Forgive me, save me, restore me, grow me. 00:32:36.319 --> 00:32:50.000 And as parents, we need to lean into that gospel day in, day out, because we really will never be enough, do enough to see our kids transformed. 00:32:50.160 --> 00:32:55.359 It is by the grace of God that they will be called into a relationship. 00:32:57.599 --> 00:32:58.960 But we're to point them. 00:32:59.200 --> 00:33:01.200 We're to point them in the right direction. 00:33:01.440 --> 00:33:25.279 So, Father, help us as a people, help us as a in the 21st century life where there's so many distractions, focus on the big rocks, the most important things, making sure that every part of our life is encompassed in our adoration of Jesus. 00:33:26.480 --> 00:33:37.119 So, Father, as we come to the conclusion of this time together, would you help us to consider how to speak blessing over our children? 00:33:37.440 --> 00:33:49.839 How to, even this morning, as we sing this song, let this be a time maybe where we can minister to our spouse, to our to our kids. 00:33:50.079 --> 00:33:54.079 Lord, help us come up with a proactive plan and rhythms. 00:33:54.319 --> 00:34:01.200 Help us to be decisive and how we're gonna take our faith and hand it to the next generation. 00:34:03.359 --> 00:34:11.679 God help us as parents, biologically, biological parents, but also spiritual parents. 00:34:11.920 --> 00:34:19.199 Help us to transfer our faith to the next generation. 00:34:19.760 --> 00:34:21.760 It's in Jesus' name we pray.