Raising Children
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Spirit
Amen
Jesus Christ is the Light of the world,
the light no darkness can overcome.
Stay with us, Lord, for it is evening,
and the day is almost over.
Let Your light scatter the darkness
and illumine Your Church.
The Psalm
 “Children and parents gather together to pray, share,
sing, and speak the poetry of God, words that promise
Jesus for His children. Select verses are in bold print to
encourage responsive reading”
I life up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help
come?
My help comes from the Lord, who made
heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you
will not slumber. Behold, he who keeps Israel will
neither slumber nor sleep.
My help comes from the Lord, who made
heaven and earth.
The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your
shade on your right hand. The sun shall not
strike you by day, nor the moon by night. The
Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep
your life. The Lord will keep your going out
and your coming in from this time forth and
forevermore.
My help comes from the Lord, who made
heaven and earth.
Readings
Deuteronomy 6:1-9…….page 151
Ephesians 6:1-4…………..page 979
Matthew 6:5-15…………..page 811
Raising Children
1 Corinthians 7:17, 24
“Only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, and
to which God has called him…There let him remain with God”
 THE WORK OF PARENTS
 To raise children…raise = lift up
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Discipline
Educate
Provide for
Equip them for eternal life
Prepare their children for their callings
 As family members
 As Productive members of society
 As Christians
What God Does in Parenting
 Which parenting manual do I follow?
 This gives rise to a set of rules to follow – become laws
 This causes pressure, shame and fear of failure
 Emphasizes where we can go wrong in parenting while
underemphasizing where God can go right
 Children grow up regardless
 You have the privilege of working with God – the
origin of family – Our Father – in raising children
The Lord’s Prayer
 This is the relationship between father and child
 Shows us what earthly parents do for their children
 Hear
 Provide for
 Forgive
 Protect
 God gives – we have faith in God
 Parents give – children have faith in their parents
 Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the assurance of things
hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”
 “HALLOWED BY THY NAME”
 We confess God’s holiness – sovereignty, authority
 We are thankful for His authority
 Parents can strive to use their authority so that
their children will be thankful as well.
 We are dependant upon God for physical/spiritual needs
 Our children are dependant upon the parents for all
of their needs
 “THY WILL BE DONE”
 We trust that our Father’s will is best
 Children need to obey…but this means they need to
agree, to trust them
 “GIVE US THIS DAY OUR DAILY BREAD”
 God gives by means of parents who work and provide
 FORGIVE US AS WE FORGIVE
 Families are to be places of forgiveness
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Husbands/wives - Parents/Children - Children/Parents
 This motivates ongoing love
 NOT INTO TEMPTATION, DELIVER US
 Protects us from overt evils and evils that we are tempted
to commit.
 Parents protect – shelter from bad moral influences
(violent, sexually explicit movies/music – bad company
and compromising situations)
 Train the children morally so that when not around
enforcing rules, the child will, of their own free will, with
God’s grace, do what is right.
Discipline & Instruction of the Lord
 Hebrews 12:5-11 – The Lord disciplines for our good to
share His holiness, it yields the fruit of righteousness
 Not pleasant – but an expression of love
 Parents are to make the love clear even in discipline
 Ephesians 6:4 – “Fathers do not provoke your children
to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and
instruction of the Lord”
 Colossians 3:21 – “Fathers, do not provoke your
children, lest they become discouraged.”
 To discipline a child means to “DISCIPLE” a child
 Proverbs 13:24 “Whoever spares the rod hates his son,
but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him.”
 Little kids – adorable, uncivilized – no control
 Parents must teach them how/what to do
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Please/thank-you, potty training, quieting in church, how to
behave, etc…
 Children bear the fallen human nature – self-centered,
indulging every impulse
 Muslims sheltered…college in US/Europe…go crazy
 Morals must be internalized
 Child must not be controlled but must develop self-
control
 The Gospel transforms a person from the inside
 Ephesians 6:6-7 – “Not by the way of eye-service, as
people-pleasers, but as servants of Christ, doing the
will of God from the heart, rendering service with a
good will as to the Lord and not to man.”
 Not just a matter of forcing children to comply with
arbitrary seeming rules, but to cultivate an internally
motivated response to the Gospel – to “rejoice with
those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.” R. 12:15
 Following the “golden rule” Matthew 7:12
 Children will transgress, same as adults, but they will
learn what we ought to know, the true Christian
discipline of repenting and finding forgiveness – from
whomever they offended and from God.
 The goal for the parent is to bring the gospel into
their child raising
 Take them to church
 See them baptized
 Talk to them about Jesus on every occasion.
 Bring the Law to bear upon their faults in such a way
that they repent, whereupon parents extend forgiveness
Education
 The parents “chief duty” – to educate their children to
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fear and know God.
Also academically so that they may be of service
wherever they are needed.
Our OT lesson – Deuteronomy 6:4-9 put it clearly –
God’s word is to be a major topic of conversation in the
household morning to night.
Cannot rely upon schools/church to do all the work,
the parents remain the critical educators.
Parents fulfill their priestly task by teaching their
children. – Sacrifices of time, money, energy; struggle
to communicate on their level, exert effort getting
them to church, teaching Scripture, build up the faith
 Can be tempting to push the child in a certain
direction, either because you want it or you think
they’d be good at it
 But the parent must attend to the child’s inclinations,
abilities and interests – understanding them as gifts
from God for their child
 Then provide opportunities for these gifts to blossom.
 Ultimately the parent is to prepare their child to have a
family of their own, good marriages and become good
parents themselves.
 This occurs by teaching them to love and serve their
neighbor which they learn from their family.
Creed
First Article
I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth.
Second Article
And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our
Lord, who was conceived by the Holy
Spirit,
born of the virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died and was buried.
He descended into hell.
The third day He rose again
from the dead.
He ascended into heaven
and sits at the right hand of
God the Father Almighty.
From thence He will come to
judge the living and the dead.
Third Article
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy Christian Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life T everlasting. Amen.
Offering
 We will pass the offering plate around for our general
offering.
 Up front there is a church, tonight we will collect for
our benevolence fund. This fund helps our members
with their needs whatever they might be.
 We as the body of Christ work together to support one
another.
C
Our Father who art in heaven,
hallowed be Thy name,
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done on earth as it is in
heaven;
give us this day our daily bread;
and forgive us our trespasses as we
forgive those who trespass against
us;
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For Thine is the kingdom and the
power and the glory forever and
ever. Amen.
Prayers
In peace let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.
For the grace of the Holy Spirit that we may hear the voice of the
Lord speaking in His Word and that we may respond with praise
and thanksgiving to the Good News of healing, freedom and
release, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.
For courage that we may not waver in times of trial but rejoice in
each opportunity to proclaim the Good News of our Savior in
every place and to every people, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.
For the places where we teach and learn God’s Word, for all the
schools of our Church, for the colleges and seminaries of our
Church and especially for those preparing for full-time service to
the Church, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.
For the Synod, for Matthew Harrison our Synod President, Dan Gilbert
our District President, our pastor(s) and all missionaries and church
workers, that they may be faithful and their service fruitful, let us pray
to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.
For the nation, for Barak Obama our president, and all elected and
appointed civil servants; for all who make, administer and judge our
laws; for the causes of peace and justice, here and throughout the world
and for all who serve in the armed forces of our nation, let us pray to
the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.
For this and all congregations, for all new missions, here and throughout
the world, and for the mission fields and those who serve the Lord
there, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.
For the sick, the suffering, the grieving and the dying, [and especially for
Jeff and Shirley] that all who call upon the Lord in their need may know
the comfort of His presence and find grace sufficient for their every
need, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.
For the tithes and offerings we bring, signs of our gratitude
and part of our sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving, that we
be generous and faithful over all the resources with which
God has supplied us, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.
For our fellowship and life together, that we may bear one
another’s burdens and so fulfill our Lord’s call to love one
another as He has loved us, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.
For these and all things beneficial to us and profitable for
our salvation, let us pray to the Lord with confidence that
He will hear and answer us in the name of Christ, our Lord.
Amen.
Evening Prayer
Merciful Father, whose guiding hand has brought us to
the completion of this day, we humbly pray You to stay
with us and shelter us in quiet hours of the night that
we, who are wearied by the changes and chances of
this passing world, may rest in Your changeless peace;
through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
AMEN
Let us bless the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Benediction
The Lord bless you and keep you.
The Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to
you.
The Lord look upon you with favor and T give you peace.
Amen.