Raising Our Children

"I'm delighted you're here today," Brad warmly exclaimed at the start of today's service, sunshine streaming in the windows.

Announcements today included:

1. Roger DeLoach has published a book called He Calls My Name about the Christian ministry that has been occurring in our local race tracks. A fundraiser will be held at Gethsemane Covenant on Wednesday evening.

2. The building committee has scheduled a meeting for Tuesday the 30th.

3. There will be an August 2nd Open House at the Crestman's after the service. More information coming soon... In the meantime, mark it on your calendars.

4. This week's VBS was wonderful. Thanks were extended to all those who gave of their time to help make it happen.

5. And don't forget next week's fundraiser Rummage Sale next Saturday. Bring your items to donate on Friday... and your wallets on Saturday.

There was an amusing comment made when Paula requested that people bring their favorite Sloppy Joe recipes. Joe Stapleton made this amusing request: "Can't we call them something other than Sloppy Joes?"

Darlene's introit was again meaningful. Familiar lines seeped through the melodious tune... "Create in me a clean heart, Oh God, and renew a right spirit within me." After enjoying some video footage from the week's VBS experiences, the offering was taken.

Today's Scripture readings were from I Kings 17:8-16 and Galatians 1:11-24. A hymn followed and Brad took the pulpit to give the message.

Raising Our Children

Today's starting point was Proverbs 22:6, "Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it."

Brad then shared how it seems we're constantly hearing about advances in genetics so that one day we may have the ability to define our child's traits in advance by genetic engineering. Tongue in cheek, he imagined a future Kids-R-Us Catalog where we make such choices.

The reality is, that as parents we have responsibilities toward our God-given children. Brad spent this morning's time with us outlining four objectives we should strive for as we raise our children.

1) Build strong self-esteem.

Just because building self-esteem became a buzzword in child-rearing manuals these past two decades does not mean it is unimportant. Children need to know that they are valuable, both to God and to their parents.

Brad shared a story about an 8 year old boy who attempted suicide because he did not believe he had value. In fact, he believed he was the source of all his parents' troubles. Strong self-esteem is an important quality for children as they move toward adulthood. They get this through three behaviors which are within our power to give. A word, a look and a touch.

Kids need to hear affirming words. Jesus, when He was baptized, heard these words from the heavens: "This is my Beloved Son in whom I am well pleased." Our smiles, our hugs, our affirming words are vital to our children.

2) Build sense of personal confidence.

Confidence is inter-related with competence. As we invest in our children, to learn skills in their areas of interest, they experience the inner satisfaction that competency brings. Whether it be art, music, sports, we as parents can foster confidence within our kids by investing time working with them.

I had many stories come to mind while Brad shared, of my parents investing in me, and our support for our own children's interests. Brad share how his own father taught him important lessons as they did things together. On one occasion, Brad was trying to chop down a tree but it wasn't going well because the axe was a bit dull and the tree a bit hard, so he gave up. Brad's father came over and used this experience as a teaching opportunity. "Brad," he said with his hands on Brad's shoulders, "in the real world you're going to find that almost everything you do is hard. school, athletics, marriage, church work. It's more complicated than you think, just like that tree you're dealing with. You can decide to quit, or find a new, better approach. Son, I'm expecting you figure out a way to get that tree on the ground even if it takes all day."

Brad did put that tree down, but he took a more important lesson away that day.

3) Teach them relationship skills.

One of the bi-products of our increasingly fragmented society is fragmented families. Both adults and children are challenged by the broken relationships and fewer than ever are learning how a healthy relationship works. There is more escapist behavior than ever these days.

There's a standard line that private pilots use when the navigation gets fouled. They say, "I don't know where I am or where I'm going, but I'm getting there at a very high velocity." Many young people are entering adulthood at a very high velocity, but velocity without direction can be a very dangerous thing.

4) Establish Christian values and spiritual foundations.

There's a strange notion that we should raise our children "values free." But school and television are not values free. They tear down the values we hold and replace them with alternates. So the question is, who will impress their values on our children?

We can't disregard or neglect this important truth: parents are the primary influence on their children. Deuteronomy 6:7 says, "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." In other words, every experience shared with children can be a training experience."

Brad then told a story about one occasion in which a man drove by in a very chic Cadillac. Brad commented on how rich the man must be. Brad's dad replied, "That guy owes money to every man in town. He's got creditors lined up 20 deep and they're not getting their money. Yet that man's pride leads him to put on a show, but Brad, it's phony. It's phony to live beyond your means. It doesn't please God to put on an act, to pretend you're something you're not." Brad said that he can still remember the color of that car, and that influenced to this day the way he does personal finance.

The world is a theater through which we have the opportunity to teach God's values.

The world needs children with strong self-esteem, great competency, great relationships and strong spiritual foundations. Let's make a commitment to to turn it up a notch, with God's help.

Faith Works

It was another sunny Sunday morning. For our Introit today, Darlene played Great Is Thy Faithfulness to usher us into the service followed by a cute puppet skit about Father’s Day for the children’s challenge by Darlene and Ruth Ann.

Today’s Scripture readings:
Gen. 18:1-15
Romans 5:1-8

Faith Works
Pastor Shannon began his sermon by explaining the well known saying, “Re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.” Essentially, it is shortsighted to focus on deck chairs when there’s an iceberg ahead.

In life, we also have an iceberg ahead. It is called death, and with it comes judgment. (Hebrews 9:27) We will give an account for our lives and it’s a big deal.

“Now wait a second, Brad,” you might say. “I’ve got it covered.” And then you might go ahead and quote John 3:16 or Ephesians 2:8-9. But today’s passage from the second chapter of James adds a little turbulence to this self-satisfaction.

14What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? 15Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. 16If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? 17In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead…. 24You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.

It would appear, in light of the many passages pertaining to salvation by faith alone, that these words are out of line. There are four options, however, when we read these words.

1) It’s a contradiction that proves the Bible is not true and unreliable.

2) If this is the truth, then we’d better get to work on doing good deeds. We have a lot of catch up to do.

3) Hope that James is wrong.

4) Dig deeper and try to understand these things with more clarity.

If you analyze this passage a bit more thoroughly, there are some interesting insights one can obtain. In verse 14 notice the word “claims”… The word implies that there is a distinction between genuine and bogus faith. Brad compared intellectual belief with correct answers. This kind of faith, involving only mental assent, is actually a “dead faith” according to one commentator.

Jesus Himself said, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” (Matt 7:21) Just saying you believe doesn’t mean anything. As James affirms in verse 19, “You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.”

In other words, demons have an emotional response to the truth in addition to an intellectual one, yet this does not make them righteous or change their hearts.

To bring a deeper understanding of the truth, James references the life of Abraham.

20You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless[d]? 21Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 23And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,"[e] and he was called God's friend. 24You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.

What is interesting is that a superficial reading of the passage implies that Abraham was saved by his works. This story of Abraham being asked by God to sacrifice his son is from Genesis 22. Isaac was the promised heir, yet God asked Abraham to put him on the altar. It took a remarkable obedience on Abraham’s part to follow through on what he was asked. James appears to state that Abraham was righteous for what he did.

But the Old Testament verse regarding Abraham being credited as righteous, cited by James in verse 23, preceded the act that certified Abraham’s faith by more than two decades. Verse 23 is from the passage in Genesis 15:1-6 where indeed Abraham is credited as righteous “by faith alone.”

It is clear from what James explains here that faith and works go hand in hand. Our deeds are an outward act of obedience that authenticates the faith in our hearts. This outward authentication certifies that what happened in our hearts is real.

We get right with God by grace through faith. And our actions certify that this inward faith is alive, not dead.

In short, our mind, emotions and will are involved in true faith. We surrender our will to God’s will, and affirm that God needs to do for me what I cannot do myself.

It’s an internal reality that will manifest itself outwardly, will pour itself out and demonstrate to others that this faith is real.

James 2:26 sums up: “As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.”

Pastor Brad used the metaphor of a high performance car to illustrate what our lives are supposed to be. We are designed for high performance, and to be anything less is to miss what we were made for.

In summing up, the pastor reinforced the importance of a total involvement of our mind, emotion and volition in the living out of our faith.

1. We need to test our faith. Is it merely intellectual assent or something more?

2. Celebrate! We need to celebrate God’s work in our lives.

3. Authenticate… the work of God in us. Genuine faith involves the will and an outpouring of good works.

To God be the glory.