Week 1 Sermon Questions For Groups

Raising Home Run Kids

Introduction:

Do we want good children or godly children? This question lies at the heart of what we want for our children. We must train our children to trust God and live a supernatural life in which they walk in His Spirit. But how do we do that? In the Raising Home Run Kids series we will address how God wants us to raise our children. In week 1 we will talk about what do we want for our kids? How do we teach them to connect to and love God? This week’s scripture is Deuteronomy 6:4-9.

Bottom Line: Helping the next generation win is intentional not accidental.

Something To Talk About:

The old saying goes that if you aim at nothing, you’ll probably hit it. As parents, we have an important objective; to see our kids grow up to love God with all their hearts, and to love others as they live daily by submitting their thoughts, words, and deeds to the Lord Jesus Christ. By teaching them to love God, parents build a strong, spiritual foundation in their children. According to Deuteronomy 6:4-9, we can help them connect/love God by being intentional with our time, our talking with them and by imparting truth into their lives.

It takes intentional time: Yes, time is a precious commodity that often eludes us. Whether we have a new job, a new baby, or we just need to cut the lawn or do the laundry, time always seems to be short. We want more. But we just can’t seem to get it. Spending quality time with our children is extremely important for their development and happiness. Children need their parents’ focused attention. No matter how busy life becomes there is no substitute for the time a parent spends focusing their attention on their children. We have the same amount of time and we all have the choice on how to invest that time. What are your time choices telling your children about God? About your priorities?
It takes intentional talk: “And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up.” (Deuteronomy 6:6-7) We need to talk to our children and that should include talking intentionally about God. Talking about God should be as normal as talking about the weather or school or any other subject. Think about Christianity from the vantage point of a child. It can be both abstract and confusing. Some of you may have been first exposed to Christianity when you were children. You probably had more questions than answers. Kids are going to have questions about Christianity. No one needs to have all the answers. Children will not only respect a “I don’t know, let’s find out together,” they will remember such journey’s for the rest of their lives. It is also the most powerful opportunity for a parent to grow in their faith. Don’t be afraid to talk to your kids and use those talks as teachable moments when the opportunity presents itself. Look for opportunities to reinforce a biblical truth.
It takes intentional truth: We want the children to learn God’ s Word and think about what God’ s Word say. It can get complicated. By teaching our children the truth of God they will be better able to handle a world that says there is no God. They will also be able to handle it when the world says, “let’s water down the truth so that it can fit within the watered down context of how we live our lives.” The answer to that is giving our children the real substantive truth of the word of God in a way they can understand it and apply it to their lives.

Questions:

If you were asked to describe in a sentence or two your mission statement for raising your children, what would it be?
What will it look like to have successful children? How will we know if we are being successful parents?
What prevents you from spending tine with your children? What prevents you from speaking about God to your children in the course of the day?
Do you think you spend enough time speaking about God and his word to your children? Do you spend enough time with God and His word? What can you do to increase this time?
Read Deuteronomy 6:4-9: What goal does God set forth in these verses for us and our children?

Take One Thing Home with You:

At some time in their lives, a child will look at one or both of their parents and say, “watch me.” They are looking for our attention as they jump off a diving board for the first time, or ride a skateboard for the first time or navigate through the first level of Minion Rush. Whatever they are doing they want, at least for a few moments our undivided attention. And by watching them, the child believes we will appreciate them even more because of what they can do.

Even though we do not say “watch me” to our children they are indeed watching and learning from our example: If we want our children to develop godly habits we need to imitate them by saying, “watch me.” We need to be watch worthy. If we want to be similarly “watch-worthy” we must develop godly habits. In other words, we must practice what we preach to our children by modeling God’s love in our lives.