Pastor Paul Chappell: How to Raise Christ-centered Children

second Timothy chapter three and we're gonna look at verse number fourteen through verse number 17 I want to speak tonight on the subject how to raise christ-centered children how to raise christ-centered children and we're going to look here at second Timothy chapter 3 and beginning in verse number 14 before I four I begin and I can I just tell you something parents I want to encourage it with a couple of thoughts first of all thank God for your children they're the heritage of the Lord we live in a day when so many people they act like it's you know children are just some kind of an unwanted appendage and I think of a family that visited our church this morning and they came up to me with their little child maybe six and right in the midst of chemotherapy no hair no eyebrows and they they just said pastor would you pray for our child and I just want to tell you tonight if you have a healthy child you're very blessed and we just need to always be thankful let's always be sensitive to those around us and the needs that they have in their life as well 2nd Timothy chapter 3 and beginning in verse number 14 but continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and has been assured of knowing of whom thou has learned them and that from a child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus all Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine for reproof for correction for instruction in righteousness that the man of God may be perfect throughly furnished unto all good works let us pray father we recognize that children are a gift from you and that life is a gift from you we thank you for the children that we've seen tonight in the kindergarten graduation and Lord it may be that some of them have a relative here tonight that does not know Jesus and father I pray that if there's anyone here that's not saved that tonight they would in childlike faith trust Jesus as their Savior and then I pray for parents and grandparents tonight that we would have the kind of influence you want us to have on the next generation help me to be a blessing in these few moments we have together in Jesus name I pray amen you may be seated one of my favorite professional athletes is the golfer Phil Mickelson Phil Mickelson is an amazing golfer indeed but even more than that I've appreciated his emphasis on the family and as we think about Phil Mickelson and his love for the family recently he had the opportunity to play in the prestigious US Open tournament he had earned the right to play in that tournament but he did not opt to play in that tournament because it took place during his daughter's graduation from high school in Carlsbad California his daughter Amanda was the class president she gave the commencement speech and the US Open is the only major tournament that Phil Mickelson has not won but he said obviously it's a tournament that I want to win the most but this is one of those moments where you look back on life and you just don't want to miss it I'll be really glad that I was there and present for my daughter's graduation it's amazing for me so oftentimes to see families and fathers in particular whose values are completely the opposite of what God would call us to live you see God created the home as his institution for Christian education if you place your children in a Christian school expecting that they will rise above what you give them at home you'll be sadly mistaken I have watched over the years we have X just exceptional teachers in our school both academically and spiritually we have an amazing program it's growing in leaps and bounds and many of the different academic venues and athletic venues and spiritual venues but it's been amazing to me that if there's any kind of an undercurrent at home if there's not a godliness in the home if there's any kind of a permissiveness on one side or overlay a terian on the other side if Jesus is not in the middle of all of it it doesn't matter where they go to school it doesn't really matter what kind of an SAT score they got a parent will have a heavy heart in the end and I just want to say that it's so vital tonight that we recognize that we keep the priority on the Christian homes strong in this day in which we live that we recognize tonight that God first created the family Adam and Eve he brought them together and even the very basic of a man and woman coming together is under attack in our society today but God created Adam and Eve and God blessed them with children and children are in heritage of the Lord and the fruit of the womb is the reward of the Lord and we must recognize tonight that this matter of having a child is a great gift and privilege from the Lord it's an immense responsibility and I want you to recognize tonight that as we follow biblical principles that I believe the fruit will be so much better in the life of the child now sometimes we look at a Christian school and maybe even a godly home and and sometimes in these institutions we see that there are various forms of standardization and various forms of strategies and programs to try to develop the mind the heart the intellect of a child and I believe in discipline and I believe in order I believe that God says in his word let all things be done decently and in order I believe the Bible says train up a child in the way he should go but I want to just simply say tonight that standards and rules are not the goal Jesus Christ is the goal and sometimes a child say well they just had do's and don'ts and do's and don'ts don'ts and I just want to say tonight that at the center of Christian education must be a heart for God must be an understanding of the power of the gospel and appreciation for what Jesus Christ has done in our lives on the cross of Calvary you see the cross of Calvary is the great motivator for living the Christian life simply stated if a child is not first saved and then if they secondly are not grateful for their salvation they'll never have the motivation to follow any kind of guidelines biblical or otherwise it all begins with the tender heart for God one of my favorite verses in the Bible is Ephesians 5 and verse 1 which says follow God as dear children you see the wonderful thing about these children tonight is that they're so receptive that they're so tender and that they believe so easily but God says for us as parents that we should keep that same heart that we should not become crusty critical and bitter that we should not be condescending and I see condescending attitudes in many venues of Christianity sometimes it's the hyper pharisaical legalist who sees the fault in everyone else sometimes it's the hyper grace person who thinks well I'm under grace I can live however I want in they're critical of the legalists crowd and both extremes are completely wrong and full of pride God says I don't want you to be full of a hardness in your heart I want you to follow me like a dear child every one of us tonight our hearts were warmed as we saw these children sing for the Lord and God says I want you to have a heart just like that and so I want you to notice as we begin tonight in our text in verse number 15 the Bible tells us here in chapter 3 and verse 15 and that from a child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Jesus Christ and so as we raise a child we want to raise them in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ in a moment we'll see how that pertains to salvation but we want their utmost goal in life to be whether therefore ye eat or drink or whatsoever you do do it all to the glory of God now quite frankly the the rules in a Christian school just like the laws in a society are therefore the rebellious they are there for the protection of those that might harm themselves but may I say that when someone comes to the place of knowing the Lord and walking in the Lord and wanting to honor the Lord with their life than whatever they do they'll do it to the glory of God and they'll ask themself does going to this place bring glory to God does saying those words bring glory to God does playing this game bring glory to God and when Jesus Christ is in their heart and at the utmost thoughts of their mind and their desire is to please him it changes the way that a child will live because their heart is to know and live for the Lord Jesus Christ now how can we raise our children to have that kind of love for the Lord and that kind of centeredness in their life for the Lord what what really makes the difference I want to propose to you tonight that Timothy was one of the greatest Christians of the 1st century and I say that based upon the fact that the Apostle Paul when it came time for him to literally leave the faith in the hands of a single man when it came time for Timothy to literally say here's who I'm entrusting the rest of our faith with Paul said I'm going to leave it with Timothy and I want you to see here that there were three very important principles that made a difference in the life of this young man the first thing I want you to notice that made the difference in his life was the Scriptures the scriptures and I want you to see this in verse 14 but continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and been assured of knowing of whom thou has learned them and that from a child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures I want to focus on that phrase and that from a child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures we live in an era where people think well children don't get much out of preaching they don't get much out of church I'm going to tell you something folks they get a lot more than we might think you might say well if I read the Bible they're not gonna get a lot if they get just a little bit does that count what if they just learn one word what if they just won't learn one principle what if that one word is the word Jesus or the blood atonement what if that one word is the word love you see every little bit counts line upon line precept upon precept Timothy did not begin learning the Bible from the Apostle Paul Timothy began learning the Bible at home from his mother and from his grandmother and we're excited about the new children's building in the Lancaster Baptist school but none of that is a replacement for a father that actually will read the Bible and actually discuss the truth with the child seek an answer from a youth pastor or a pastor training up a child in the way he should go for when he is old he will not depart from it a few weeks ago I made available to our church family just a little devotional kit and my heart's desire was just simply to try to be a help to families here's some songs to sing here's a Bible reading schedule here's some words with some caricatures so that you can train up a child in your home you don't have to have 30 minutes of preaching but what about a few minutes of teaching what about that picture and a father's in a child's a mind of a father that opened the Bible and a mother that prayed what about talking about the Lord and making that normal in our home you see that's how it all began for Timothy it began in his home and and I believe it was a MacArthur Douglas MacArthur who said I don't want to be remembered as the great general who led the armies and liberated the people I want to be remembered as a Christian father who prayed and read the Bible with his children I can't tell you how much God's Word places the importance on this matter of teaching our children from the Word of God Ted Tripp in his book shepherding the child's heart said the problem today is not that kids don't want to receive Authority it's that parents don't want to give Authority and so oftentimes we'll see a child that's completely unruly and will see a child that's even headed for trouble or maybe even prison and we'll find out that there's an absent parent there's a passive parent there's an uninvolved parent there's no family structure at all and sometimes people say well I'm just not gonna be given two rules and to this and that and oftentimes it's to the detriment of a child who constantly is crying out for the attention even of appearance proverbs 23 and 26 my son give me thine heart and let thine eyes observe my ways my son give me thine heart and let thine eyes observe my ways men would you say that with me my son give me thine heart and let thine eyes sir can your child look at you and see a way to God and to righteousness what does he see you flipping the channels for what does he see in your refrigerator what does he see on the walls in your garage can your son look at you and see Jesus in you my son give me thine heart and let thine eyes observe my ways sometimes it's amazing how our children follow everything we do one busy mother was a little frustrated one day her three-year-old son had become her shadow no matter where she went no matter what she did her little boy was right behind her all day almost stripping her and finally her patience ran out and she said Lynn what in the world are you doing gazing up at her with his little green eyes Lynn replied mommy my Sunday school teacher told me to walk in Jesus steps but I can't see him so I'm walking in yours and I'm telling you that this is exactly what children do they walk in the steps of their parents and teaching must begin at home do you understand tonight you can give your kids the lot the greatest education you can clap the loudest for them you can buy them new sneakers you can buy them new clothes you can you can argue with the teachers and the police on their behalf you can do all kinds of things but if you're not training them from the Word of God the end result will be tragic I guarantee it teaching begins at home and teaching must be based upon the Bible which is God's Holy Word notice in verse 15 and that from a child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures now Timothy's training would have come from the Old Testament Jewish children often memorized large portions of the Torah oftentimes those first five books of the Bible would have been recited in the home by the time the child came of age as well as other portions of the scripture they were learning the moral law and some would be quick to say well we're not under the law and certainly were not under the ceremonial laws but we are to be guided consciously by the teachings of the Word of God there's a purpose for that in fact Jesus himself said in John 5 47 but if you do not believe his writings speaking of Moses how shall ye believe my words so the Old Testament literally was guiding people to show them the need for the words and the works of Jesus Christ and so Timothy was brought up in the Word of God and the Word of God as it is taught in a child's heart will help a child to understand the holiness of God and that's an important thing see no one has ever saved unless they realize the holiness of God and the sinfulness of men and as we learn the Word of God we see our need that is not to say that we tell a child how bad he is in a way of anger and this type of an attitude but to simply show them their need Leviticus 27 sanctify yourselves therefore and be holy for I am the Lord your God and we see that God is teaching us in his word that there is a standard and many times it's a standard in the Old Testament that we cannot meet without the Lord Jesus Christ and so it is pointing us to the Savior Galatians 3 and 24 speaks of this wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ that we might be justified by faith you see the teaching of the law is a schoolmaster why what's the purpose to bring us to the Savior to show us our need for the Lord Jesus Christ now let me tell you something there's no greater joy in life than seeing a child come to that place where they're realizing I need a Savior - I need a Savior but that will not happen without the Scriptures without the guidance of the Scriptures they'll not see the need for Christ they'll not see the glory of Christ so training up a child begins with the Bible and I know there are men in this room and you're awkward to pray for a sandwich at chick-fil-a but I want tell you something the Christian life is all about relationship and we need to come to a place where we're comfortable talking to our Father while we're comfortable talking to the Lord where we're comfortable talking about him where we're comfortable reading the Bible with our family with our children just taking some time to teach them the principles of the word of God three words I want to share with you tonight for parenting the first one is the scriptures and that from a child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures you see the most formative years of the teaching of these children are the years that we're witnessing right now with these kindergartners in a lot of times when they get a little bit older we're just trying to reshape metal with a with a welder and a and maybe a ranch and we're trying to make those last-minute adjustments but when they're little they're like a tender plant so easily directed make sure those scriptural principles are in their heart secondly the second word I want you to think about for your children is the word salvation now did you see that in verse 15 the Bible says and that from a child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus now there is no greater way to influence a child than to help lead them to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ there's no greater way there's no greater gift that is never given than the gift that God gave to us through his son and the Bible says in Luke 18 16 but Jesus called them unto Him and said suffer the little children to come unto me and forbid them not for if such as the kingdom of God now I'm going to tell you something the Lord has blessed me as a pastor I've had opportunity to preach at times to thousands and thousands of people I've had opportunity to have some wonderful experiences in life and ministry God has blessed our church in so many ways but the greatest memories of my spiritual life are not high attendances or building dedications the greatest memories have been when my children accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior and I think of each of our children when they were saved and how how Terry and I tried to teach them and help them to understand the need for Christ and how that all men mean Christ him who is Jesus Christ he's the son of God and what did he do he shed his blood and why was that special because Jesus gave a sacrifice that God required and that when someone accepts Jesus as their Savior they're justified and I remember teaching our children at ages four five and six what does it mean to be justified just as if I had never sinned what is forgiveness and going through the gospel and asking them questions about the death the burial and the resurrection and having them come to that place of accepting Christ as their Savior I remember when Larry was saved in our home over on 8th Street and what a wonderful night that was just opening the Word of God and sharing God's Word and seeing the lights begin to come on in his in his mind and in his heart and when he prayed to accept Jesus Christ as his Savior now the Scriptures provide the wisdom they provide the fact that we need a Savior proverbs 9:10 the fear of the Lord the beginning of wisdom one of the reasons that we advocate not abusive discipline but we advocate balanced discipline is because children need to learn Authority they need to understand the presence of a father the father must not be angry and given to yelling and cursing lest a child fears a relationship with the Heavenly Father but a father must also not be passive lest a child believes he can live however he want and it really doesn't matter at all to God because God is a holy God and a just God and he has provided a way for the covering of sin the Scriptures provide wisdom and then scriptural wisdom culminates in the gospel the Bible teaches that the moral standards of God and wisdom of Scripture simply cannot save us but they can show us how to be saved and who can save us 1st Corinthians 1:23 but we preach Christ crucified under the Jews a stumbling-block and unto the Greeks foolishness but unto them that are called both Jews and Greeks Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God and I believe that the same Holy Spirit that touched your heart and mind when we were saved will touch the heart and mind of a child so that they can be saved the Bible says in John 16:13 howbeit when he the Spirit of Truth has come he will guide you into all truth for he will not speak of himself but whatsoever he shall hear that shall he speak and he shall show you things to come he shall he shall glorify glorify me for he shall receive of mine and shall show it unto you you see the process for salvation that was exemplified in your life is the same process for a child and I tell you sometimes you hear about children that are saved at a young age and someone that got saved maybe when they were 30 or 40 they'll go that that child got saved when they were 5 and I'm gonna tell you something when a child rose up from an early age hearing the scriptures from an early age having it explained and I'm not one that wants to push a child by the way but I do believe it's possible for a young child to be saved when they're being raised up in a gospel culture they're being taught the scriptures they're being taught their need for Christ and I'm telling you tonight the most important gift a child ever receives is the gift of salvation and may I say this the greatest gift dad's after salvation that you can give your child is to love their mother and the greatest gift mom's that you can give your child after salvation is to love their father because when a child knows the love of God through salvation and sees parents loving and encouraging one another the foundation is beginning to be laid for a life of blessing the three principles that were very evident in Timothy's life the scriptures and that from a child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures salvation which is able to make thee wise unto salvation and then thirdly and finally tonight sanctification sanctification now sanctification takes place instantly when someone is saved it means they are set apart the Holy Spirit sets us apart and we are a part of the family of God instantly it is an instantaneous sanctification but there is something also known as a progressive sanctification another word for it is Christian growth another word for it would be conforming to the image of Jesus Christ in other words we don't want to get saved and then just sit soak and sour God has called us to grow in the Grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ and the Bible says here in verse 16 all Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine for reproof for correction for instruction in righteousness so this word of God is going to also be our guide in the realm of sanctification 1st Thessalonians 4 and 3 says it this way for this is the will of God even your sanctification that ye should abstain from fornication so this is an illustration where the Bible is teaching us what progressive sanctification is someone that is saved should not commit fornication or adultery and the Bible says that it's the will of God that we would be sanctified or set apart from a lifestyle of fornication V understand what I'm saying say Amen so when we're saved were set apart in Jesus Christ but as we grow in a sanctified life we began to develop convictions of sanctification and a child needs to grow in understanding the other day our grandson Chandler came up to me and he said want to hear the ten commandments and he began telling me the ten commandments and I he said give it that they were great one man one woman for life he kind of had him on that the child's version I think you know thou shalt not lie thou shalt not covet and he said honor thy father and thy mother that was one of them and and saying the Ten Commandments will not save him but as someone is saved this is what I want you to realize they'll desire to follow the commandments of the Lord and the motivation will be if Jesus has done so much for me how can I live for him and I want to show you tonight there are three elements in sanctification in the Christian life and I want to give them to you very quickly the first element is the gospel itself the gospel itself the gospel motivation that is as Paul the Apostle said the love of christ constraineth me let's say that together the love of Christ now watch this it's easy to say no when there's a grater yes burning inside all right let's say that together it's easy to say when there's a grater so when the gospel the death bell and resurrection of Jesus is inside of you and you love Jesus and you're grateful for Jesus and someone says hey you don't need a worship Jesus you don't need to read your Bible let's just go party this summer there's this great yes inside of you that says I love the Lord and I love the gospel and so the gospel itself the love of christ constraineth me you see the gospel itself keeps me serving and following the Lord Jesus the second element of sanctification is the Holy Spirit you see the Holy Spirit the Bible tells us reproves the Holy Spirit of God brings conviction into our life it's by the Holy Spirit that you were saved I love that verse in the song Amazing Grace twas grace that taught my heart to what fear and grace my fears relieved you see when you were saved the Holy Spirit was at work in that matter he was convicting you he was drawing you under the Savior but after you're saved the Holy Spirit continues to work and he continues to draw you to the Savior and he continues to draw you to the Word of God and to the love of God and so in sanctification we must first have gospel motivation we must secondly have the feeling of the Holy Spirit and then thirdly we must have biblical application and that biblical application comes from biblical principles and then we apply now here is some times where we're wrong in our parenting and I made this mistake as well that is sometimes we jump past gospel motivation we jump past spiritual motivation we even jump past the Bible verse and just go straight to the application right so for example there's a Bible verse that says that we should not set any wicked thing before our eyes and that is truly a Bible verse and the Holy Spirit wants to guide us into truth away from error he wants to sanctify us the Word of God teaches us to be holy but rather than teach the principle of holiness or the principal from the Bible upset not the wicked thing before you or rather than teach a love for Jesus Christ immediately oftentimes as parents what we'll do is turn that stupid thing off here the dumbest kid I've ever seen in all my life and before you know it not only did they not get the guiding principles of motivation of the gospel and of the Holy Spirit but all they heard was anger and that's why sometimes when they turn 18 they run as fast as they can from our homes our schools in our church we want to make sure that we're motivating them with first a love for Jesus secondly asking them questions about their heart now listen parents I'm just trying to help you tonight my kids are all raised I'm hoping that my kids will listen so they'll do a good job with my grandkids maybe but I'm just trying to help you tonight the fact of the matter is that we have a great treasure with our children and and we want to motivate them properly and I'm not saying we cannot have rules and guidelines in our home but it must begin with the heart for the gospel it must begin with an ear for the Holy Spirit it must begin with Bible principles and then we make the application from the Word of God now what do you mean by Bible principles because this final point really deals with sanctification through the Bible so let's look at this and we'll close verse 16 all Scripture is given by inspiration of God by the way that word means it is a God breathed book the Bible is the inerrant infallible Word of God and then it says and is profitable this means beneficial right now we have we have a decorative Bible or two at our home these are big family bibles but if your Bible at home is just for decoration you're missing the point here right you're not getting the profit of it the Bible is only beneficial when it's opened when it's read when it's believed its profitable for four things and I'll give these to you and we'll be done first it's profitable for doctrine now doctrine this word is the word Dada Scala which means teaching or instruction doctrine tells me what is right doctrine tells me the right thing we for example have a doctrine about Jesus that he's fully God we have a doctrine about the family and it's placed in our Constitution and every new member signs before they become a member that being a family as a matter between a man and a woman that's our doctrine on the family we have a doctrine in this church concerning the Holy Spirit heaven hell we have beliefs and our beliefs determine our behavior we believe that Jesus gave us a great commission we believe that the Bible says bring your children up and in the nurture and admonition of the Lord we have doctrines about the family we have doctrines about stewardship we have doctrines about giving we have doctrines about many different things but doctrine is what is right it's the right thing to do all right notice secondly we see in this passage that the Bible gives us it's profitable for doctrine secondly it is profitable for reproof so sometimes as parents we we fail to give the doctrine and we just give the reproof the word reproof speaks of that conviction of sin reproof is to say that is wrong now that is the parents prerogative and responsibility to say that is wrong to play that game that is wrong to hit your sister that is wrong to sass your mother those are wrong things but we must prior to the wrong teach the right we must teach them that mom is the princess of the family those that say that Christianity is demeaning to a mother or to a woman don't understand how the Bible elevates the role of the woman in the home and God says we need to teach what is right and this is oftentimes what we miss in standards because we only teach what is wrong right for example Romans chapter 1 and verse 1 Paul an apostle of God separated under the gospel of Jesus Christ separation is not just negative it should also be positive we should be separated unto the gospel as well as away from the world if you're with me tonight say Amen so so separation often has a positive then a negative and here the positive in this passage is the doctrine it tells us what is right and the negative is the reproof telling us what is wrong and then thirdly the Bible is profitable because it gives us correction now correction means restoration so correction is how to get the wrong right and that's what I love about the Bible for example we have a doctrine concerning telling the truth right and we have we have immutable God and he teaches us thou shalt not lie if someone lies there to be given a reproof and if they have told a lie that's hurtful to someone else then the Bible tells us how to correct that problem and that would be a matter of repentance and forgiveness now this is very basic but we have a child that bites his sibling or throws a toy it is sibling and we've taught them to respect one another we've taught them the loved one oh but they have not done that and so they are going to be reproved for that and then we're going to tell them say you're sorry to your brother and we're gonna say tell your brother that you forgive him where in the world does all this philosophy come from it doesn't come from dr. Spock it comes from God's Holy Word all these principles so we're teaching them to love one another even as God for Christ's sake hath loved and forgiven you we're teaching them the right thing but when they do the wrong thing we reprove them for that and oftentimes dads we can get so busy with work and so tired and moms at home sometimes dealing with the dealing with it dealing with it and we come home and all we want to do is watch the boob tube and I'm gonna tell you something if if you felt God led you to have a marriage and children then you make sure that you save a little bit of that energy to teach what is right and if mom says there's been some wrong going on to give the reproof and then to help restore the situation with godly teaching with the word with words and with prayer and then this brings us to the final thought and that is instruction instruction means cultivation or nurture to instruct and this is how to stay right so you have a child you've taught them what is right that's the doctrine they disobeyed so you give them the reproof now you're gonna give them the correction and that's how to make it right and then finally you're gonna give them the instruction and that's how to keep it right so if they hit you next time what are you gonna do tell mommy right or if they say let's go out and and and and and and let's dress this way or drink that or let's let's you know do whatever that you've taught them not to do then you're going to give them a case scenario for the next time and the next time what would Jesus really wants you to do and you're going to give them the instruction along the way Dennis the Menace was one time talking to his mom and he called his mom and he said mom if you're raising me right how come I'm getting in so much trouble now I just want to tell you parents something every child is gonna get in trouble from time to time me me at your home maybe at school and sometimes you'll see a family with three or four kids and the same teaching and one or two of them don't respond in the way that the other two did and that just brings you back to this matter of following God's pattern of doctrine reproof correction instruction and sometimes those children are grown in their race and you've done your best and you have to pray for them but I just want to say tonight moms and dads Timothy was greatly used of God because he had a foundation in the scriptures that led him to salvation which gave him a Christ centered focus point and finally he had the opportunity to live a sanctified life because the Word of God gives us the doctrine the reproof the correction the instruction in righteousness imagine a child growing up in a home where there's proactive teaching about Christ and who he is where there's reproof when we're not living a Christ's life when there is correction on how to do better next time when there is instruction imagine taking those four words and following through and giving your child the nurture and the admonition that God desires them to have you know we live in an aerospace area and I've we've had a lot of pilots in our church we had the the very first bomb ever dropped by a b-2 bomber the pilot was in our church he said see this finger right here it pulled the trigger for the first bomb out of a b2 you used to always tell me that and I'm always amazed when I talked to pilots because of the amount of schooling they have normally they have their undergrads somewhere and then they become an officer and then they go through so much training and then they go to the simulator and so much time in the simulator I one time was flying a simulator for I think it was for an f-35 out in Georgia it took me about five seconds to crash it and the guy that was shown it to me man he killed every Russian you could kill boy he got in there and he was just flying around in that thing they spend so much time in training before we ever let them fly one single flight but with parenting many times it's like ho oh and not a book is read not a class is taken and I just want to simply say tonight God has given us a pattern here and and if it's important to learn how to fly a plane how many of you would say it might be important to learn how to parent a child and I just want to challenge us as a church tonight as we've seen these little graduates let's apply our hearts to the wisdom of this let's remember that a child is not likely to find a father in God unless he finds something of God in his father a child is not likely to find a father in God unless he finds something of God in his father and may God help us to be godly mothers and fathers as we raise our children for the Lord

Channel: Lancaster Baptist Church

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Keywords: lancaster baptist church, lancaster baptist, baptist church, paul, chappell, paul chappell, pastor paul chappell, raise, family, children

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Length: 39min 55sec (2395 seconds)

Published: Wed May 30 2018