Teach Them To Your Children

​As our basement remodel project draws closer to completion, it is exciting to think about how we will soon be able to resume our elementary Bible classes!  Sometimes as I work on the children’s wing, I imagine the basement full of excited children and wonderful teachers. Songs and laughter. Bible stories and fun activities designed to reinforce the lessons. A place where God’s Word is taught and modeled.

What an honor it is that we as a Church can come alongside our parents and join with them in the amazing responsibility to pass our faith on to the next generation. Helping our children to become faithful believers is not something that just naturally happens. All it takes is the failure to teach just one generation and genuine faith in God can be lost. How often in Scripture do we hear of a good king who was followed by a son who turned out to be a wicked king?  What kind of men did the sons of the prophet Samuel or the priest Eli turn out to be? 

I am reminded of God’s challenge to the Israelites:

Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up, Deuteronomy 11:18-19.

As parents, we need to make the sharing of our faith with our children an important part of our day; it doesn’t just happen on its own. Setting aside, and guarding, times to read and study the Bible together. Praying together. Listening. Staying up late for the heart-to-heart chats. Helping them navigate life with a Biblical perspective.
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As a Church, let’s come along side our parents in teaching the Bible and showing what a freed, forgiven, Spirit-led life looks like for our young people. Volunteer to teach.  Write encouraging notes.  And never underestimate the amazing power of praying for our children.
What a joy and honor to be a part of the faith journey of the next generation!

~Eric Tremaine