Raising Godly Kids: The Aim of Parenting

we are thrilled to be beginning a series of messages that we've called arrows and we are going to in this journey this fall learn to live towards the target among other things we're gonna be talking about how to parent at the edge of eternity and I for one am absolutely just a static to be focused on the family on this all-important subject this area of our lives that that like no other has the potential to lead to great power it's a great pleasure and if not harness correctly to great pain what goes on within the four walls of the home is certainly something that can be a source of enormous joy but it also can can bring unparalleled levels of of grief to our to our lives and in this time I'm believing that God is going to build up lives build up relationships I dare you to believe me that God is going to build up even parts of our lives that are broken and damaged and in need of his touch he's gonna he's gonna help us to focus on and fight for what matters most in our lives and we're gonna be spending six weeks in this series and because of the importance of it because of how much this matters our marriage is because of how much this relationship we have child to parent parent the child brother because of how vital this all is I I really ask as your pastor to to see a commitment rise up within your heart that then we're gonna be here to hear what God's Word would have to say to us in this time and not miss a moment of it let's say this let's say life happens so let's say we all get a pass on a weekend if we have to perfect case scenario you know missed a single one but if you got a five out of six will count that is perfect to tennis it's not like a deal can you can you own up to that come in they can say I'll make that for my family for my relationship with my my wife and my kids we're gonna sit under the teaching of God's Word but that that we can you miss I will say podcast +5 in person that'll now that will equal perfect attendance by the end I've taken the six letters of the word arrows and formed an acronym that will serve as a syllabus for us starting with a letter a which we're going to discuss the topic of aim aim you could jot that down that's the heading under which we want to spend our our time this weekend there's going to be an RR o W and an S is gonna follow but you will have to hear all these messages to collect all six if you have a Bible would you turn and join me in the Book of Psalms 120 seventh chapter Psalm 127 due to the nature of the series we'll be bouncing around and and receiving the benefit of a of a wide amount of verses from the the comprehensive scope of God's Word for the series but we want to have a base camp and that will be one hundred and twenty seventh of the 127th Psalm and we'll venture out as needed is that sound like a plan this is one of two Psalms that were written by Solomon I know we generally think like the Psalms oh it must have been David yeah David wrote a number of them but Moses wrote one sons of Asaph wrote some and David's son Solomon wrote two and the Bible says that Solomon was the wisest person who ever lived that came from God's own lips which pretty much just means like when he's talking listen up so Psalm 127 we could go to worse places to get knowledge is what I'm trying to to say a song of a sense of Solomon unless the Lord builds the house they labor in vain who build it unless the Lord guards the city the watchman stays awake in vain it's vain for you to rise up early to sit up late to eat the bread of Sorrows for so he gives his beloved sleep and how God's people said we love to nap behold children are a heritage from the Lord the fruit of the womb that's not the fruit of the Loom that's underwear this is the fruit of the womb see also offspring is a reward like arrows in the hand of a warrior so are the children of one's youth happy is the man who has his quiver full of them they shall not be ashamed but shall speak with their enemies in the gate here in this Psalm we find the metaphor that we've taken as our Series title this idea of kids being like arrows and Solomon was wise to constantly in his writings use words that would form pictures he didn't just say don't be lazy he said go to the ant you sluggard look at the ant the card they work why do they have food when they need it because they're constantly working putting food away because that just gives you a good picture so instead of just saying hey kids are really important here's what you should do then he's like no no kids are like arrows and how all of a sudden every home becomes an archery range now all of a sudden every family becomes a quiver now all of a sudden the job of a parent is like that of an archer it's it's it's a warrior and and all of a sudden now we are our imagination is firing on all cylinders right arrows I'm calling this message bullseye everyone say that aloud bullseye in addition to being the name of Woody's horse and toy story that's also what should be the aim of an archer agreed the center of the target the mark you're trying to hit mission accomplished bullseye what are we to focus on in our parenting what should be the goal of raising kids in a godly home I want to give you seven takeaway truths as we explore the bullseye as we focus on and and and let register before us what should be the aim of parenting I've chosen in the numbers because it's well it's God's favorite number and it worked as I did my preparation but also because this week as we face this new week that's a number of of special significance in our family and and one of a bittersweet meaning you see Monday will be linea seventh birthday if you were still here on this earth and I told you last year as we face her sixth birthday she went to heaven at age five if you're new to us our second daughter Lenya she unexpectedly went home to heaven just a few days before Christmas as she was five years old and and the sixth birthday we found was a very awkward clumsy thing you know you have all these desires on a birthday and it's all about that person you want to dote on them spend time with them and and and having no ability to do any of those things as a mom and dad that you want to do is is is awkward and we know it's going to be that way going into the seventh and and so my sort of way of of honoring her in wanting to celebrate her as a seven year old is is to give all the parents I can who are listening to this microphone just seven things that matter the most seven things that make up this this bullseye because she is even now she's completed her mission she's run her race she's fought the good fight and she stands before the one whose glory is like the Sun she is a part of that great throng that great multitude of heavenly hosts angels and saints who are urging us on still running our race to focus and not be distracted by any lesser thing but to keep our eyes on the prize on her birthday I'll be making a very special announcement on my blog and my Instagram account if you do follow me maybe check it out I've been waiting a long time to tell you and the world about something that that I'm doing as a bit of a way of of paying homage to her in her life and and I'll be announcing that on my on her birthday so I guess you could say my my birthday present her dad's birthday present to to her I believe we believe that just as linea is with the Lord and the Lord's Holy Spirit is within us we can we can tell God things to tell her and we often pray in our house hey please God tell Linea hi and so if if you could God could you tell lend you a happy birthday from fresh Life Church we we're thankful for her and and we love her very much seven things the first is this children are a blessing not a burden jot that down what do you need to know about your aim as a parent well you need to know how to how to think of your children and when you think of them when you speak of them single people you you don't have kids yet or young married couples you're trying you don't have kids yet think of I always think that's a funny phrase see we're trying TMI you need to think of children in in the definition box of your life as a blessing not a burden what did he say in verse three their gift and reward in the last verse he says happy is the man who has a full quiver verse five happy as a man if you actually translate that directly from the Hebrew it means this happy happy it's all duck dynasty right it missed a half be happy right that happy happiest Amman it's a great means amply blessed from God how should you feel when you get pregnant whether you meant to or not how should you feel whether it was the ideal circumstances now what's happened is haven't you have a baby how did you feel blessed blessed babies weren't blessed happy is the man that's a blessing not a bird no no it can't feel like a burden just cuz it's not a burden doesn't mean it won't feel like a burden parenting can feel very burdensome at times parenting is crazy how much your life changes just in a moment ah it's a girl it's what life changing used to be able to just go out want to go out let's go out let's go out let's go out now it's like who can we call the watch the offspring while we go out it's all gonna be it's like a military invasion having a date now that we pay the babysitter where can we afford to eat McDonald's babysitters having flaming yawn you're eating McDonald's my wife and I early married man we we didn't have any money we'd go eat at Costco not like the teacher sure I'm talking walking around eating at Costco those were our date nights but romance could work on any budget this is some of the most special times ever don't let you don't have no money he's talked to you from going on a date going on a park and if you can't scrape together a dollar at 44 cents you can get a hot dog and a coke with refills we call those big spenders the rest of us you see the samples all right then you go to your car put a hat on put a hoodie on go back in for a second course you're learning all kinds of stuff in church this weekend you know you have kids and you just you just everything is crazy like Jen and I'm marvel we talked to friends of ours who are like we just went out of town last night when'd you decide to look at 7:00 we just got in the car where'd you go we stuff wherever we lend it up and I'm like what no pack and play when you're when you're just married with no kids your your your meals out at restaurants don't involve screaming or biting or Dora the explora or throwing food unless you have a bad marriage I guess but but most marriages don't have those things now eating at a restaurant is this it can go real bad real quick I've been wandering the restaurants staring that you don't get me started on bedtime bedtimes nuts you tell your kids it's time to go to bed the way they react you think you said I'm going to chop off your head like oh but I know I heard one comedian say kids act like they don't never heard of the idea we're good to like town Oh mr. weirdest thing ever why would we do that bath time and the brushing of the teeth and them pajamas inevitably someone ends up naked running around screaming drawing on the wall it's not me and Jenny we don't have time or energy to be naked anymore we got kids we used to be naked running around now it's just the kids are naked good grief you want to get naked and run around I am very tired very tired that sounds like a lot of work parenting's crazy trying to travel on an airplane with your kids oh forget about it the pre-flight checklist has gotten a lot more complicated Cheerios and pacifiers and diaper I got it I got a two-year-old who's potty training I took all three of my daughters out by myself with that potty training two year old I don't know what I was thinking because they don't tell you that they need to go to the bathroom like at some point in the specimen fest my future they tell you when they're going to the bathroom so you have to ask them like a thousand times then I'm like no and then finally god I need to go really not anymore what so so cuz because here's what you really want to be as a man in a men's room in a public place trying to wrangle three tiny girl bodies and keep them from seeing anything or touching anything and now I'm holding one who's peeing on me don't touch that parenting's craziest if it's a miracle any of us make it out of any of this it's a blessing not a burden yeah single people like this is really good birth control quite frankly a blessing can easily be confused with a burden because they're both heavy and make no mistake parenting is a weighty responsibility we all want to be influential people how to make friends and influence people you want to talk about influence there is no relationship situation or circumstance in this universe more influential than being given the assignment of being a parent think of this your child is gonna grow up someday and read him this book or hear some pastor like me say that God is a father and that God has the heart of a mother like a mother hen gathering its chicks under its wings like a mother earnestly caring for her newborns these are the kind of words that God wants to have us invoke when we think of who he is the heart of a mother the love and sacrifice of a father and your child is either going to get to the accurate picture of God with ease because of you or with great difficulty they'll get there in spite of you that my friends is weighty that's something that we should tremble thinking about that I represent God to you the heavier a blessing is the stronger you need to be to carry it and the more faith that's needed to see it for what it is 2nd Corinthians 4 tells us exactly that it says we don't look at the troubles we can see now rather we fix our gaze on things that can't be seen for the things we see now they'll soon be gone but the things we cannot see will last forever if you look at the job of parenting without faith all you'll see is problems all you'll see is the aspects of it that feel burdensome if you look at it with faith instead of the problems what will you see you will see the eternal impact that's possible you will see not just the problems that are here now those are temporary that all the hard parts they think they're here and they feel like it's gonna last forever I know you feel like potty training goes on but at the end of the day it's over pretty quick isn't it all the hard parts all the diapers all the diapers they're out of diapers before you blink thank you didn't even like I was making papers oh and tell me every every every empty-nester looking back in their their their waning years doesn't look back with fondness on those days that were so difficult and so full of drudgery when you were going through them you have to look at it with faith and say there's gonna come a day where I'm gonna wish some wish though was writing on the walls naked cuz I'm gonna lose my mind and I'll go back to being the naked one drawing on the walls but I wish I could have them back there's gonna come a day when they won't let you snuggle them there's gonna come a day when that little baby won't be sitting on the counter letting you brush their little TVs while you sing the ABCs to them so don't miss the beauty of the mess because the blessing is all around you it just looks like a problem right now children are not a burden oh you don't know nothing your oldest is a my kids are in middle school that's where the hell starts you know what with all due respect you have no idea who you're talking about that little middle schooler you you you you you see only bristling you see only problems he's the only attitude you see only drama is a it's a little child or son who's been made in the image of God that's been entrusted to your care and they are full of potential blessings if you would just put on some faith and look at your life anew here's the second thing you need to know there are lots of different arrows but only one target shut that down I need some help coming out here I got some arrow assistance this is uh Olivia Skye lusco and Daisy grace let's go and I believe even Clover done let's ghost coming out here hey baby girl no no Chloe oh there's a clover very good we got a clover fantastic welcome date girls to the stage these are my little arrows now we are have been as a family learning a little bit about archery of course for this series but it's also just been a whole bunch of fun on family days and daddy/daughter dates and and and all that in between trips to the bathroom - uh do you go potty okay are you going potty right now okay uh to go and shoot arrows we've been going to the archery range and and getting into a little bit and we've been learning a bunch we actually have some arrows here and some arrows here and we've been learning that there are a lot of different kinds of arrows I asked the guy at the archery store I said how many different kinds of arrows are there I'm preaching I need to learn about this and the guy goes oh man I sell a hundred and eighty different kinds of arrows at this shop alone in stock right now it's at one hundred and eighty different reserves said they all like four different things is like oh I'm shooting in this scenario you need this one need if I'm shooting for this I need and he goes not really today I'll just shoot stuff they just shoot him out and they just go and shoot stuff except for real he goes yeah so why are there so many different kinds he goes be honest with you it's cuz every hunter reads on the internet and reads in the magazine about oh this arrow it's gonna be the arrow that's gonna change my life and the deers gonna come bow down and say don't even bother I surrender because you've got that arrow and he goes because of that and because we need to sell stuff we just have so many different kinds and you probably didn't want me to tell this to so many people but but uh but that's just that's just it and if we don't carry the arrow that they think is gonna save their life and ruin their family's finances then they'll just go somewhere else and get it and or maybe buy it on the Internet so we have to and I said that's crazy hundred eighty euros yes but it's worse than that with all the different feathers and tips and materials he goes quite frankly there's unlimited potential no no no check this out just like there's all these different arrows there's all these different arrows and everyone's different and the arrows in your quiver they're different than the arrows in my quiver and and even from kid to kid just their temperaments so different and unique personality the way that they you know some are are a little more standoffish around strangers and some just just warm right up some are the life of a party and and others people you know are gonna be a little bit more or shy some are gonna grow up to be pharmacists and some astronauts some have a passion for sports and others just take to medicine some are gonna be just doting and and other people be a little bit more more roughen and tumblin and wild some are gonna preach sermons and and others are gonna you know do makeup or make movies every every year is different and can we agree that but not every arrow should be like every other arrow not every arrow should should should should grow at the same pace some like I remember Olivia she walked pretty quickly and and Daisy Daisy was just kind of set there I was like people will do stuff for me right and then so she she didn't walk right away because they're sisters or linea and Livvy would just do anything Daisy wanted to and and clovers pretty wild and and she's got her own style and she's actually she's amazing but there's a different can we disagree that there's different kinds of arrow made by God all fearfully and wonderfully we shouldn't and why should you be more like your sister she's a different kind of arrow okay so let's leave that there lots of different kinds of arrow and that's a good thing in fact that's a god thing but different arrows only one target lots of arrows not lots of targets and the purpose of every arrow regardless of what it's like in its differences at the end of the day is meant to achieve the same thing to hit the bull's eye and go where you aim for it to hit to the target so give me one of those arrows Daisy you want a hand to me assembly-line this arrow is made of wood it's a little short red wooden arrow that's hard to get on just right because it's got kind of a fat little deal doesn't fit on this string super good but a wooden arrow is meant to do the same thing any other kind of arrow is supposed to do which is yeah that's what I was trying to tell you cuz this is gonna end badly it's supposed to hit the target hopefully better that this is a Pinker Daisy which air is this and it's your favorite one right cuz it's pink and purple and super girly which is Daisy Daisy is princess purple unicorn party girl and this is a pink and purple err that's awesome it's a god thing I apologize so so the pink and purple arrow is supposed to do the same thing the red would one who is which is to hit the target and now we got this is one of your arrows huh from Olivia's archery says is red isn't carbon-fibre that's Olivia Livi's carbon-fibre light and tough and strong and smart olivia is a really good reader and the purpose of the carbon-fibre arrow is the same as every other witch is to hit the target and I wish I hit the yellow this is the Silver Arrow which is your favorite right Libby's favorite and the Silver Arrow some girls like jewelry some boys like silver trucks everyone's different same target this is our what are you called from the number two pencil arrow this arrow is the kid he's really good at school and loves it and what do you want to do after school do you want to go ride your bike you want it no I want to do homework well we I'm stuck to my book this is this is the kid who's who's all good at school and that's awesome too my shooting is not this arrow is the opposite of the number-two pencil arrow this is our ATD arrow this is our oh look at that crazy big ol arrow this is the arrow who can't sit stool it's cool still this arrow needs Ritalin we call this the Levi err my parents said that I as a child they never saw me stand still I just bounced around everywhere I went I would just stand still oh just because I had so much energy I had to just go somewhere and and every parent-teacher conference always went like this your child one day could do great things we see great potential if he only could find a way to harness the crazy so we take the crazy early Sarah is the ritalin arrow which by the way stunts to growth which is why my siblings are all taller than me thanks a lot mom and dad so then we got we call this the Linea Lian arrow because this arrow it's got the pink like the Daisy era but also got the camouflage so it's kind of got this rock-and-roll boho thing going down and that's cool because every arrows different good thing or bad thing not just different that's a god thing and this arrow the point of it it's different but it's point is to hit the target just like all the others thank you so much girls wonderful Sierra for that everybody fantastic job [Applause] so if it's true that we have all sorts of different kinds of arrows that we shouldn't pressure to be any more or any less like they've been made to be but there is only one target then the million-dollar question is what's at the center of the target what's the bullseye what should we be aiming for as we approach all these different arrows and try and get them towards the same thing I say we let Jesus to find that for us sound like a plan Matthew 6:33 seek ye first everyone say first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you the first the highest and the most important priority in approaching parenting a bunch of different kinds of arrows would all be that they would get to heaven would all be that they would come to know Jesus who said I am the way the truth the life and no one comes to the Father except through me there's nothing more important than that there's nothing that matters more we must get these kids to heaven we must win their hearts you must evangelize our children we must see our greatest goal and parenting to be that these kids would know Jesus and trust him and walk with Him and get to heaven because if we fail at this we fail no matter what else we do if we don't seek to do this we don't make it our aim to win their hearts to Christ we will die without the peace that we've done everything we can to know that we will ever see them again that should be our flight plan every flight must have a flight plan pilots of course pilot flying of private craft have to file a flight plan with the FAA and the flight plan declares we want to take off here go to this altitude and then touch down here that's our a okay now I use the word flight plan intentionally because we're gonna talk later in the series about how not every aspect of the flight is up to us and there is a choice involved in that projectile in that that tube just like a flight plan plans a flight for this vehicle this vessel that's full of these Souls these people these individuals so as we make our aim to shoot out we can only plan to do everything so much as it lies within us but all I'm saying is that though they have a choice at the end of the day our flight plan has to be that they would flight straight to that target and have an abundant entrance into the kingdom of God and that His righteousness would matter so far as it comes to us and our impact on that projectile before it leaves that string and looses off the bow would be that it knows it's meant to fly straight and true to the distant shores of heaven Joshua did that was it was he not forming a flight plan in Joshua 24:15 when he said but that's for me in my house we will serve the Lord now I can do what you want to do yo y'all can worship the gods you want to worship you can you can do your thing that's for me in my house these are words you need to make your own as for me in my house our flight plan serving the Lord matters most nothing else matters more than that you need to be able to say that two to two meddling in-laws meddling outlaws who want to tell you how you should raise your kids and tell you how you should spend your money and neighbors who want to make you feel like you don't have it because you don't buy up and you should do it and the other kids in school and the other kids on the blog and everyone who will have their a million that's great for you as for me in my house we will serve the Lord we define success this way seeking first the kingdom of God His righteousness you can call a sphere you can call a strange you can garlis alien you can call flirted with this earth is in our home we're living for a city whose builder and maker is God we're heading towards this New Jerusalem that God will let us live in forever this is a temporary pilgrimage this is a sojourning so we'll serve God on our way to heaven now you're gonna have to finish that sentence either way everyone has an as for me in my house whether some would articulate it quite so honestly or not is another story but for some the reality of their lives effectively states as for me in my house we will play soccer because every priority is oriented around that will drag our family around the state will pull our family out of church whatever you got a span wherever we got to go whatever person we got to hire our priority is being the best we can be at base boss from me in my house we will play the baseball how pathetic does that sound thinking about a deathbed looking back on the time you had to shape these child to fat drove everything that's for me in my house we will achieve a 4.0 or above GPA education education education Ivy League school that's from me in my house we will play college ball because that did and the boys gonna be just like his dad as for me in my house we will take the family business regardless of what God called you to do we will follow in our dad's footsteps at work don't mistake what I'm saying nothing wrong with baseball nothing wrong with gymnastics nothing wrong with a passion for the viola and if that's God's call but every solar system only gets one Sun and we can never make the tragic mistake of making a planet into the Sun seek ye first the kingdom of God and then all these other things can orbit around that if they don't interfere if they don't cause us to be thrown off the the the orbit that we are meant to be in as for me in my house we will serve the Lord many different kinds of arrows one target don't let anything keep you from the ultimate thing here's the third but before I do that how about a quote CS Lewis said aim at heaven and you'll get her thrown in aim at the earth and you get neither keep your eye on the bull's eye here's the third era I love this one arrows extend your reach arrows go where the archer can't or shouldn't go himself think of it think of it in a battle when when you you aim up at the wall that it would be impossible to climb you can shoot an arrow to go there as your proxy right you can you can shoot an arrow you can't get there but but you can send an arrow to get there you you can shoot an arrow down a hill that would be treacherous to climb the beauty of an arrow is that it can reach Heights that you could never get to and I submit to you that God wants us to have this kind of a radical faith filled belief as we look at this next generation that by by God's grace and through his strength they're gonna go places we could never go ourselves because they're gonna have our experience and our strength and our prayers and our love and our support guiding them on to the heights that God wants them to reach feegan says we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them I wonder what would happen to our children if they were raised each moment of their lives or each moment of their lives from this point forward steeped in an atmosphere of faith were their parents words and their parents prayers and everything about that the air of the home you could say was was just was just turbocharged with this this radical expectation of the great things that God was gonna do that he was gonna do exceedingly and abundantly beyond anything you could ask for thinking that's at the end of the day whatever they chose to do whatever job they have whatever school they went to and whatever they did particular calling was that that the big picture was that God was going to do more through their lives and they could possibly ever do on their own that the result of their life wouldn't be natural but it's a way it would be supernatural what what would happen what would happen if you prayed those kind of prayers from from the womb on forward when I was a little kid so my earliest memories of childhood are a going to church was my my dad early cuz he was a pastor going early with my dad to church and his name's chipped and they called me microchip because I just was like just like a little chip that was my nickname and and then my mom so my earliest memories of my mom I'll tell you another one later in this series but one of them is that I would wake up as a child a lot of times and find her praying over me in my sleep this was last week it was creepy no joking trespassing no my mom would just be praying over me and I'd be like it's lame but she would just be there in my bed just just just kneeling at the bedside just praying prayers over me and I'm so thankful that she had a kind of faith and a kind of radical belief that that there was gonna be an extension of her reach and maybe things that she would never do that I God would do through me and she would just push me on to anything that God would have for me what about that little boy's mom who packed that lunch who fed the 5,000 what was he he extended her reach I mean she didn't do anything glamorous like give Jesus a lunchbox but she could pack the lunch and faithfully believe that God would use these small acts of obedience to accomplish great things arrows go places where you can't go one of my favorite verses Jen and I that we probably haven't let a day go by of our kids lives without joking about referencing talking about is Deuteronomy 28 13 which says that the Lord will make you the head and not the tail you shall be above only and not be beneath if you heed the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you today and are careful to observe them this is the kind of home I want my children to grow up in I want my children when they look back on life that they they hear dad telling them and mom telling them listen to me you are the head and not the tail you are above and not from Beneatha's you set your heart to see God as you fear him there's nothing that can stop you you have the holy spirit that raised Christ users from the dead inside of you you could do anything you want to do and you will do everything that God has called you to do you are the head and you are not the tail and it's become my daughter Daisy her favorite thing is Sam the tail I'm the tail and we say you are the head and not the tail and it's it's disturbing but that's the mentality of someone who's raising a child that they believe is no ordinary child that's what happens when you believe that you are the steward of a son or daughter of the King of Kings who's been born and brought into the kingdom for such a time as this and they are gonna make a difference they're gonna make their mark they're gonna shake the ground they're gonna rattle sin they're gonna draw people to Christ when you believe that that you are raising someone who's the head and not the tail a leader and not a follower someone who's gonna be a difference maker and stand up in a world that doesn't love God and be a bright light shining for his glory it changes everything our kids we get to see them be an extension of our reach that we would we would will them on to far greater heights following Jesus than we could ever get to ourselves what have we learned we've learned the children on a blessing are a blessing not a burden there lots of different arrows only one target arrows extend your reach here's the force they can't know what you don't tell them our kids can't know what we don't tell them how could they our job is to to teach them Deuteronomy 6 7 teach them diligently God's Word to your children talk about them when you sit in your house when you walk by the way when you lie down when you rise up my favorite Jen and i's favorite time teaching our kids isn't formal family devotions that's usually awful those usually go terribly said Irene I never asked how much for me as a kid my dad would just feel like oh my god can I he opens the Bible we all freaked out and and you know those are fine do that but the best is when it just comes up organically when you're just driving when you're just walking it would be a shame for the only time you talk of holy things when you sit down now we will have family spiritual devotion time okay fine no if you that goes well for you good on you may prefer for the rest of us we just take it as we can get it I love it the Bible gives us that kind of permission you bacon you're talking oh it's like this and isn't it crazy like that and I've been learning this and sometimes we freak out and and just let it kind of flavor your talk I mean that's how it should be with prayer anyway if your only time praying is when your formal prayer time formal quiet time I mean we should just be shooting these text message prayers to God all the time and we should be seizing opportunities in life to be teaching our kids as they present themselves however your kids get their formal schooling via home school will be at private school be a public school it is the job of every mom and dad to educate their child to help them shape their worldview in life to determine their value system and and and if you if you don't give this to them no matter what else you've provided for them you cannot look back with pride at the end of your life because proverbs 20 verse 15 says there's gold there's a multitude of rubies that's great I kind of provides my kids that's great that's fine there's gold there's a multitude of rubies but the lips of knowledge are a precious jewel they can get more money but they can't get what you have been called to teach them anywhere else but the thing is they will get knowledge somewhere else if you don't because arrows won't shoot themselves and nature abhors a vacuum and so if you forfeit and abdicate the right and a responsibility that falls unto you to be the one to teach them on a variety of different subjects from relationships to money to work to ever to any anything and everything then what you have done is you have handed this sacred duty from God to PE class to MTV to some idiot on Facebook only qualifications that it requires is to be able to make a password that contains a combination of letters and numbers and any monkey could figure that out and they will and they'll be the one to teach your kids what you were meant to teach them they won't get rubies oh there's gold there's precious things but but root add exceeds them all when we do these are to experience events I tell our audiences to come that for my daughters for Olivia and Linea whoa we had her before she left our quiver I went to the target for daisya for clover I warned them about a about a pursuit of relationships that differs and departs from from God's call to to handle sexual relationships in this way I warned them not so that if they choose to disobey which is their right that I can later come and say I told you so but still they could never come to me and say dad if you knew this why didn't you tell me Oh cuz it was uncomfortable even if you feel like a failure even if you feel like what do I have a right to tell them about that I didn't do it God's Way I did it this way wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong I've been a I've been living for the devil for every day a day of my life up until until this weekend and so how do i how do I feel like I can come and tell them anything I would tell you this failure and repentance are among the two most powerful microphones you will ever pick up and you can teach them out of having done it the wrong way and even if it doesn't seem like it's working and even if they don't seem like they're listening you got to keep trying Charles Spurgeon said men cannot quite forget the teachings of a holy fireside they may somewhat but not utterly deceive may lie buried long and dust but the day will come when under other circumstances the bid and life will germinate a verse of an old familiar hymn may lead the man of a tea to the Savior though he learned it when a child the holy texts which like bread was cast on waters shall be found again after many days I believe in the Holy Ghost can we say that together I believe in the Holy Ghost and in his sacred care for divine truth he will not suffer the Word of God to fail his holy influence like the rain and the snow shall not return void to heaven it shall water the earth and make it to bring forth and bud it is ours to continue blessing youth with holy and godly instruction and God will crown our efforts to the bringing of his banished ones to himself keep going keep trying they can't know what you don't tell them but don't let it only be words because next point they can't follow what you don't show them it's been said that when children are young they do as you tell them when they are old they do as you do they do as you showed them they do what you did while they were around you and our actions clearly are more powerful than our words that is why more than anything the greatest gift we can give our kids is the gift of our presence presence in their lives we are living Church in the days of the single-parent home it's estimated that upwards of forty five percent of households are led by only one parent instead of two and its impact is of course devastating the Department of Health revealed that 63 percent of youth suicides are from single-parent homes ninety percent of homeless and runaway children eighty-five percent of those who show behavior disorders 71 percent of high school dropouts and of course the vast amount of these single-parent homes are not led by single-parent father's which does exist but by single mothers we are living in the devastating day of the fatherless home and I want to tell you dads and I want you to hear this young man who will one day be dads when you stay in the home your impact is felt your presence makes a difference at every level but especially on your little girls listen to this excerpt from strong dads strong daughters a book that I think every dad of a little girl should read there's also strong mothers strong sons which would be worth reading for the chicks when a little girl has a loving dad in her life whether biological step or adoptive she has a distinct advantage in life toddlers securely attached to fathers are better even as toddlers at solving problems six month olds scored higher on tests of mental development when their dads were involved in their lives with dads in the home kids managed school better girls who are close to their fathers exhibit less anxiety less withdrawn behaviors and are less likely to have premarital sex less likely to use drugs less likely to drink alcohol and less likely to be dissatisfied with their bodies attempt suicide or drop out of college now I do not tell you these horrifying findings so that if you have left the home of your children you would feel condemnation nor do I so that those of you single-parent mothers children being raised in homes for your dad is not present would despair because I happen to believe that our God is a defender of the widow a defender of the orphan he's a father to the fatherless he can make away where there is no way he's not afraid of statistics the word impossible is not in his vocabulary he's never failed and he won't start now but what I do tell you these things to show you dad is that as you are trying to stick it out trying to stay there trying to just keep showing up and not giving up and not feeling like it makes a difference and not feeling like it matters and not feeling like they listen and not feeling like they care that you're doing more than you think you are and that God has you right where he has you for a reason and you're special and you're valuable and you're influential and you matter mom and dad your kids don't need a perfect home what they need is a home with you inside of it just stay right where you are kids can't follow what you don't show them here's the six I wrote this down stance matters so plant your feet and stand firm stance matters they say in archery that you should have your feet shoulder width apart and you should be perpendicular from the target and so stance stance how you stand how you plant your feet it matters livvie was shooting and she was wanting to do this you know kind of more snowboarding and and so say know me you got you gotta have the stance right in and I don't know much but I I learned that cuz my my bow came with the eleven secret to archery success and I read them and watch the YouTube video and you should have seen the looks on faces of guys who go to fresh laughs who have encountered me at these archery stores and places like whoa hey whoa I see you shoot bows and arrows like like as though I was flying or something yes I do a manly thing every once in a while so like stay in the home and raise my kids there's nothing more manly than that I'm saying I could snap a deers neck well I could not go my little girl okay so stance matters so plant your feet and stand firm where am I where am i what am I going with here's what I'm he's wrong I'm going if you want to know how to run your house you need to live your life planet in God's house that's what I've learned through what we've gone through I've seen the benefit of it I can look back hindsight's 20/20 and I can look back with hindsight and go man I I see what the Lord's done in the decisions we've made I've made a lot of mistakes as a husband as a as a dad as a Christian I mama I'm a hot mess most of the time but I've made some good decisions in my life and looking back I can see the the fruit of these good decisions in the decision that we have made to make a hot caffeined caffeinated commitment to the to the house of the Lord is among the better decisions that we've ever made in our lives Psalm 23 says in verse 6 that after you passed through the valley of the shadow of death Christian what are we gonna do dwell in God's house forever that's the target right well Psalm 27 in verse 4 tells us don't wait till you're dead to go to church David said one thing I do that which I desire that I'm at dwelling God's house all the days of my life - you see when when we made the decision to live our lives in and out of God's house in and out of God's house assembling together with God's people bringing our tie to the house that there may be food for those who come and eating to the bread of life that that we've lived our lives this way there's not a weekend in our churches there not in our family's life where where our daughters were like are we gonna go to church today they pretty much know that's what we do is who we are we love the Lord we love this people we come together we need our we need it we need what we get when we come together and and so we've found that our anchor has held in the storms of this life because we've made the decision to plan our feet so that when the trials come we have a firm footing we have a firm foundation God's people were there are our roots they went down we were stabilized in the storms we were able to scream and cry and weep but not be moved and not be shaken because our anchor held within the veil because Christ alone cornerstone weak made strong through the Savior's love so my suggestion to you now training for the trial you're not yet in is to make the decision as you raise your family to do so in partnership with fresh Life Church if this is where you're called to be that we would all partner together for the raising of these little arrows to not only have an abundant entrance into heaven but to make some noise and damage the devil's Kingdom on the way there and that leads me to my last point worship team come help me shut this thing down arrows are a weapon and this is war he chose the illustration he did for a reason arrows are a weapon an offensive weapon they're not defensive like a shield they're offensive they go out they go behind the lines they take names right some people will look at the world today and be disturbed and say it's too dangerous too crazy of a world the world's too messed up bring children into it I challenge you to flip that because this world's so messed up I'm gonna send some different makers out into it in Jesus name what if Elijah's parents would have thought a man Oh Marie the King is more evil he's making the people walk in the sins of jeroboam it's such a messed up world I can't bring a kid into it or they thought because Oh Murray's on the throne I'm gonna send my boy into this world and Elijah was able to call down fire and call the hearts of the children back to the Lord again what if Moses his parents would have said on this who wants to bring kids into this mess slaves in Egypt we're supposed to be in the Promised Land this is crazy Pharaoh's throwing babies into the river wouldn't bring a kid in this world was gonna end up is gonna get drown or eaten by a crocodile no thank you but jakka bed and Amram by faith had a baby and they sent that child into the atmosphere sailing towards the mission not knowing what was gonna happen but believing that child was gonna be the head and not the tail from above and not from beneath a leader and not a follower and that God would do exceedingly abundantly beyond what anyone could ask think or imagine in Jesus name it's been said when God sees that in his poor old world a wrong needs writing or a truth needs preaching or a benefit needs inventing he sends a baby into the world to do it and that's why 2,000 years ago when this world was sick with sin and messed up beyond repair God's solution was to send his own son as a baby as an arrow towards the target to die on the cross and rise from the dead that if anyone would believe in him they would not perish but have everlasting life and I dare you to be the leader of the kind of a home that would look at this world and say I believe that God is calling me to send forth the children that he entrust to us to do great things for his great name to change this world to save the Lost to open the eyes of the blind and to use their gifts and their talents and their skills to make a difference and if you respond to that call of God if you hear what his fear is saying to you I I i I asked you to stand to your feet if you would say I'm gonna focus on the bull's eye I want heaven to be the aim I will seek first the kingdom of God and let me pray a prayer of blessing over you could you receive that father thank you for each of these standing whether they have kids now or don't or a trial or even that's a great source of difficulty to them I pray that right now in this moment as we hear what your spirits saying to us as you're calling us to set our minds on things above not on things beneath not on things of this world that are temporary and are passing away but on what matters most our lives that are hidden with Christ in God and we thank you that when you appear we will appear with you in glory and we received what your spirit is giving to us now in Jesus name in Jesus name Amen thanks for watching this teaching from Pastor Levi let's go in our arrows series we hope it helps you to live towards the target if while listening to this teaching you realized you'd like to give your life to Jesus then go to fresh Life Church comm and click the words no God to register your decision it will be our honor to send you a Bible free of charge and some resources that you'll need to help kick-start your relationship with God if God used this message to impact your life in a positive way then at fresh Life Church com you can click the words share your story and share that with us and it just encourages us so much to be able to hear how God is using this ministry to impact people's lives and if you'd like to partner with us financially and seeing messages like this one go out then we have a secure giving link at fresh Life Church com where you can make a one-time gift of whatever God lays on your heart or set up a recurring payment to help us see those stranded in sin find life and liberty in Jesus Christ well thanks so again for watching

Channel: Fresh Life Church

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Keywords: Godly kids, parenting, eye of a tiger, through the eyes of a lion, levi lusko church, fresh life church, levi lusko sermons, levi lusko books, levi lusko i declare war, levi lusko, churches in kalispell mt, levi lusko tattoos, levi lusko quotes, jennie lusko, pastor levi, pastor levi lusko, swipe right, i declare war, the bible, books of the bible, missoula churches, portland churches, salt lake city churches, wyoming churches, depression, anxiety, mental health

Id: VHtPkmPMbB0

Length: 58min 3sec (3483 seconds)

Published: Thu Jun 11 2020