Thrive through Gospel-Centered Discipleship Psalm 78:1-8; August 16, 2015

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1 Page: 488 Thrive through Gospel-Centered Discipleship Psalm 78:1-8; August 16, 2015 A Review of where we ve been so far in this Survive or Thrive parenting Series: Week 1: Thrive through Embracing God s Design (Deuteronomy 6:4-9). What is God s design? The family (not the church nor the school system) is the primary context where children are taught to love God. Two implications: 1. Raising a child who loves God is ultimate. 2. It s the parents responsibility (the first place you should look to make a disciple is in the home). Week 2: Thrive through Loving Discipline (Hebrews 12:3-11). Why was discipline next? Our children are born with a sinful nature and we see pretty early that they become sinners in practice as well. Because of their sinful hearts, their tendency is not to obey but to rebel. How are we supposed to respond? We learned in Hebrews 12:3-11, that discipline is a good thing because it originates with our heavenly Father. He disciplines us because we are his children and not out of anger, but love; that we may share in his holiness. Thus, if we re going to be parents that imitate the example of God, we can t just let our children thrive in their rebellion; we must lovingly discipline them and shepherd their hearts (we can t just address behavior; behavior flows from the heart). We do this by showing them their sin and rebellion and holding out the great hope of the gospel (that through Jesus perfect life and sacrificial death, they can have forgiveness of their sin and receive a new heart, empowered by the Holy Spirit, to help them to love God). Much of the early years is spent doing a lot of loving discipline though the three levels of teaching, warning and enforcing the ways of God. The most important lesson for young children to learn is that they are an individual under authority. The older your child gets, you should move your child from discipline to selfdiscipline, preparing them for the time when they will leave your authority. Today, we re going to talk about thriving through gospel-centered discipleship. Whereas discipline is often reactionary, responding to bad behavior, we want to move our children to selfdiscipline, where they can, by the help of the Holy Spirit, recognize their own sin and turn in repentance to God. This task becomes increasingly difficult the older our children get because they become more and more aware of all of the voices that contend for their attention; or should I say command their obedience. Often times, we re not even aware of what our kids are learning. Illustration: We got home late last night after spending the day at Water Country with other Boston church planters and I was helping the boys get their showers so they could get to bed. Now recently, Emet graduated from using Johnson s Head to Toe Baby Wash (I guess he s growing up and felt like he was beyond that) and he s started using some of my shampoo and soap. What I didn t know until tonight was that he had started using my Head and Shoulders shampoo. Well, I saw him pour a good bit into his hands tonight and I quickly replied, Emet, that s going to burn your eyes. I wouldn t use that. And no kidding, he replied, But dad, I m 1

2 only using it on my head and shoulders (and he says this as he rubbing it into his head and then on his shoulders). I couldn t stop laughing. Now, that s a silly story and a small inconsequential misreading on his part, but this represents a larger concern: our kids are reading words or hearing voices everyday and many of these voices are not inconsequential; many actually have the potential to lead our children slowly down a path far from God. The Context of Psalm 78: This psalm has numerous implications for discipleship because it recounts the history Israel and the nations persistent rebellion and unfaithfulness to God even in spite of his enduring patience and kindness with her. Read Psalm 78:1-8 Today, I want to share with you five aspects of gospel-centered discipleship (GCD): 1. GCD is God-Centered (4, 6-7). The author of this psalm wants to see generation after generation setting their hope in God, not forgetting God, and keeping the commands of God (see v. 6-7) and that s why he s so passionate to talk about God. Read 78:4 again. What is the psalmist so eager to talk about? The glorious deeds of the Lord. The Lord s might. The wonders that the Lord has done. One of the most important things I can teach my kids is a high view of God. Get this: the goal of my parenting is not to make my kids think daddy and mommy are great. Rather, I want to pour forth the fame of God s abundant goodness, primarily his great work of redemption carried out by his Son, Jesus, and applied by his Spirit. Think about this: who is the main character in your home? Who do your kids hear you talk about most? Think about these two areas: what do your kids hear? How do you talk about suffering, failure and crises? How do you think about celebrations and festivals (Easter, Christmas, birthdays, anniversaries, etc.)? Who do they hear is great? A high view of God is essential because this is the only thing that can crush many of the fears that your children will face as they grow up: acceptance, rejection, failure, selfimage, self-worth, friends, marriage, college, sickness, death. 2

3 2. GCD is Word-Centered (1-3, 5). Observations from Psalm 78 These sayings that the psalmist is about to utter are works of God recorded for us by Moses and the prophets in the OT. Additionally, he reminds us here that in these very Scriptures, God commanded fathers to teach the things of God to the next generation. This is exactly what Tanner shared with us a few weeks ago from Deuteronomy 6:5-7, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You share team them diligently to your children... The centrality of the Word throughout Scripture: How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word (Psalm 119:9). Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God (Matthew 4:4). All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work (2 Tim. 3:16-17). For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the intentions of the heart (Heb. 4:12). If GCD should be God-centered, then it must also be word-centered. The way we learn about God and get to know him is through his Word. This is how he has chosen to reveal himself. The Word will never lead your kids astray. We must teach our children to read, study and learn about God through his Word. If you ve been with us for a while, you ve probably heard us allude to the 7 Arrows of Bible, which are seven questions we use in our Bible reading to help us understand. You could easily simplify this and use these four main questions with your kids: What did this passage mean to its original audience in God s Story? What does this passage tell us about the Triune God? What does this passage tell us about man? What does this passage demand of me today in God s Story? Be warned: there are many competing voices calling to our kids today: TV, books, magazines, the internet, friends, school, etc. Even in the midst of these, your responsibility is to make sure that the Word remains prominent and authoritative. Chester and Moll from Gospel-Centered Family give a few suggestions on how to do this: Shape what YOU watch and how YOU watch. Shape WHAT younger children watch (ex. Zoe: Stomp three times ) Shape HOW older children watch (talk about what aspects don t fit biblical values). 3

4 3. GCD requires Teaching (1-6). My teaching, words of my mouth, open my mouth, utter dark sayings, our fathers have told us, tell to the coming generation, to teach their children, tell them to their children (1-6). The content of their teaching was the Law of God and his great works. Who should teach? Parents. If you don t teach the next generation, who will? Teaching is essential to making disciples (Matt. 28:20; Acts 2:42; 2 Tim. 2:2). Single men and women: do you want to know why it s important to marry a man or woman who s whole-heartedly loving God and following Christ with their lives? What will you teach your kids about God? Where will they go to church? When should we teach? All day everyday. Deut. 6:7: when you sit, when you walk, when you lie down, when you rise. There s never a moment that you re not seeking to teach your children. What should we teach? Teach the gospel. Teach the commands of Christ. Repent, believe and follow, be baptized, the Lord s Supper, the Great Commandment, to pray, to give, the Great Commission. Teach with your life. Share your story with your kids - how God s has changed your life. Lead by example. Chester and Moll ask in Gospel-Centered Family, How come my children know so much about driving? Sometimes my sons are anxious about my speed and my use of turn signals. At other times they demand to know why we ve not overtaken the truck ahead. Where do they get it from After all, children don t take driving lessons? They continue, Like all children, they pick up on what s going on around them. They analyze everything they see and hear. So they ve learned about driving by watching their parents everyday driving. What s the point of this? They conclude: Driving is a great parable of our role as Christian parents. We get on with the business of life. We work. We play. We watch TV. We help others. We sulk. We laugh. We grumble. We praise.... We spend money. We talk about decisions. And all the time our children are watching, listening and learning.... Your everyday talk teaches them what you really care about. Your everyday talk teaches them how you love God (Chester and Moll). How do you get started today? Pick an opportunity (a time of day, a particular meal). Add an activity (pray, read, discuss, worship through song, share how God s been at work in your life, serve together, etc.). 4

5 Check out some of the resources on the parenting table (Bible, Q & A Booklet) Look to sprinkle God s truth in all of your conversations throughout the day. Transition: what is the goal of our teaching? 4. GCD calls for Faith and Obedience (6-8). The goal of their teaching is that their children would set their hope in God and obey his commands. This will happen as they remember, and not forget, his works. The author then proceeds to share the story of Israel as a negative example. That history was full of people who were were stubborn, rebellious and unfaithful to God. Heed the judgment that came upon them and do not imitate their example. In fact, one of the purposes of this psalm is to show the inability of the law to transform Israel. Why does she continue to rebel, even in spite of God s continued mercy and grace? Yet, the psalm ends with a glimmer of hope. God has not forget his covenant with Israel. In verses 66-72, we see that God chose the tribe of Judah, and in particular the lineage of David, to bring about his promised servant and shepherd, who we know as King Jesus. Jesus perfectly obeyed. He is the new Israel and he calls all people to repent, believe and come follow him. This discipleship process does not automatically bring benefits to your children. You can t save them. They must each embrace God s grace and set their hope in God. We can t pound the gospel into our kids. We can t manipulate our kids to following Jesus. If it s going to be genuine, then it must be a work of God. I love this phrase from The Gospel-Centered Parent, Our job is to make Jesus such a constant part of everyday family life that our kids both hear about him and learn by our example all the time. Key truth: how can you call your kids to believe, obey and follow something that you don t do yourself? If your kids don t see the gospel impact your Monday through Saturday, it s likely that it won t impact their lives either. You ve got to be real and authentic and the same person at home that you are at church. This is what it means to make disciples: you teach them to obey the commands of Christ (Matt. 28:20). You say, follow me as I follow Christ. 5. GCD aims at Multiplication (6). The vision of this psalm: generations passing on the faith to generations to come (6). Why is gospel-centered discipleship in the home so important? Because future generations are at stake. Finally, do we expect too little from our kids? If Jesus tells his disciples, Follow me and I ll make you fishers of men, shouldn t we also call our children to do that? At what age 5

6 do our kids need to be before they start making disciples? My prayer is that we can collectively raise up children in our church who are disciple making machines. Children that move from being disciplined, to self-disciplining themselves with the word, growing toward maturity in Christ, and seeking to multiply themselves to the ends of the earth. Our children are the future pastors, deacons, church planters, missionaries, small group leaders, missional christians, etc. The Point: Disciple your kids by consistently teaching them about God through is Word and calling them to faithful obedience. 6