SACRED PARENTING
13 & 14 JUNE 2020 | Prayer & Praise Services
Rev David Ho, Pastor
Scripture Passage: Deuteronomy 6:4-7 (NIV)
WATCH | SERMON (Video)
(Click on video below)
READ | SERMON NOTES
Summary | Families have a unique role in God’s redemptive purpose in the world today. “Parents play a role second only to the Holy Spirit in building the spiritual foundation of our children’s lives” (quoting Mark DeVries). The three postures of sacred parenting are:
1. Abide in God’s love How does God expect us to raise our children? We are to look to our Heavenly Father. Comfort our children in their struggles, forgive them, discipline out of love, love sacrificially just as God does for His children. The goal of parenting is not to fulfil our dreams and aspirations through or for our children. It is to be a parent whose life abides in the love of the Father, so that His love can overflow in our lives to those around us.
2. Authentic Discipleship The primary way for faith to be transmitted is the home. But because of life’s demands, parents choose to focus on the practical: studies, goals, achievements. Matters of faith are given lower priority or outsourced to church. While church can teach bible knowledge, parents are uniquely placed to show how God’s word applies in life, and family discipleship practices are more influential in shaping faith than church ministries. For many, parenting is about solving their children’s problems, or achieving outcomes for them. But it is not about changing our children, but being changed through them. If our desire to model Jesus’s character is greater than our desire to achieve outcomes, we eventually become better parents, i.e. if we take care of our own discipleship, we can leave God to take care of our children.
3. Anchored in God When we give in to our fears, anxieties and hopes, and take things into our own hands rather than trusting God, we make the mistake of trying to be God to our children instead of allowing God to work in their lives. No matter how hard we try, we cannot guarantee the outcomes we want. Rather than be anxious and trying to control our children, let us be anchored in God and His promises, acting in love and wisdom. At the end of the day, we are not sovereign over our children but stewards of God to help them pursue God’s purposes (not our own). If we put our hope in anything other than God, it will fail and disappoint us. If our children happen to wander away from the faith, we share the gospel by loving them God’s way and praying for them. Let us not have the world sway our children’s lives, but let us as parents inspire them and fill them with the Word and ways of the Lord by sacred parenting.
(Sermon Notes by Desley Khew)
PONDER | REFLECTION QUESTIONS:
Abide in God’s Love
1. How would you briefly describe your journey as a parent? Share 1-2 significant highs and lows.
2. In what way has personally experiencing a loving Father in heaven influenced you as a parent and/or your parenting style?
Authentic Discipleship (Growing in Christ-likeness@Home)
3. To what extent does your family routine/practices shape and influence your children in the Word and the ways of the Lord? Is there anything that the Lord might be asking you to change, or to do more or less of?
4. What steps can you take to start and/or strengthen one or more of the following discipleship practices with your children (which have been shown to be helpful in nurturing the faith of young people): (a) faith conversations about God and the Word; (b) family prayer and devotions; and (c) serving together as a family?
5. What is your reaction when you see a behavioural issue, academic challenge or ‘problem’ with your child?
6. How would your response be different if you focused more on being Christ to them (to establish a heart connection with them), instead of trying to control the situation or fix the ‘problem’ quickly?
Anchored in God
7. What are the 1-2 areas that you regard as your biggest challenges or difficulties as a parent?
8. What biblical perspectives and/or spiritual practices can you adopt that would help you to find peace and rest in God for your children?
Sermons In This Series:
- SACRED PARENTING | P&P Svcs | Rev David Ho | 13/14 JUN 2020
- SACRED FAMILY | Trad Svcs | Rev Edmund de Souza | 14 JUN 2020
- SACRED MARRIAGE | P&P Svcs | Rev Gladwin Lee | 20/21 JUN 2020
- SACRED HONOUR | Trad Svcs | Rev Lilian Ang | 21 JUN 2020
