IN OUR FAMILY: A Study for Biblical Families We Value Spiritual Nurture (11/12/17)

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1 IN OUR FAMILY: A Study for Biblical Families We Value Spiritual Nurture (11/12/17) Our Mission: Our groups are centered around our philosophy on discipleship we call radical growth. The method can be summed up by the following: There is a place you need to begin (Seed), friends you need to find (Soil), truths you need to know (Roots), disciplines you need to live (Vine), resulting in the person God wants you to become (Fruit). Our spiritual lives begin with an understanding of the Gospel (the seed) and are strengthened by our relationships within the church and other environments for growth (the soil). Our weekly studies are designed to help encourage the dynamic process of growth that result from the work of his Spirit as we live life together! In this week s study, we will put our focus on truths you need to know (roots). 1 of 5

2 Scripture: Deuteronomy 6:6-9 (NIV) 6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. Truths to know: Overview of Sermon: Throughout this series we will begin our study through biblical families. This study is focused on answering some of the key foundations of why God gave us families and understanding how we can reflect God s glory in families of all shapes and sizes. Families are a gift from God that, in a perfect world, are to reflect the love of God the Father to His Son, Jesus Christ. This week will be focused on how we, as believers, engage the orphans and how God is a Father to the fatherless. 1. Nurture your children s spiritual lives. The word parent in the Old Testament is a word that means co-create in the Hebrew. This can only mean that parents join with God in a holy partnership to raise Godly offspring. As parents, we have spiritual responsibility to join with God in nurturing our children s spiritual lives. The implications of this are immense. We are to take our jobs seriously within the church to join with parents in this holy endeavor. Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it. 2. Teach your children to wait on God. Time is never meaningless to God. Ecclesiastes 3:1 tells us, There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens. 2 of 5

3 We want to jump forward to the ending but God has something for us during the wait. In fact, what we learn during that waiting period is likely going to help us down the road when our circumstances change. The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. Lamentations 3:25 3. Embrace the way God works in your children s hearts. The third point is that a parent needs to embrace the way God is working in each of their lives. God made these children. They belong to Him. They do not belong to us. He will do an individual work in each of them, and we need to see that and encourage that and celebrate that. Psalm 63:1 Earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. (PS 63:1) 4. Teach your children how joy comes in suffering. James 1:2-4 says, Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you are involved in various trials, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. But you must let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing. In the middle of foster care and adoption, this passage can be very comforting to know that God has a purpose for your pain, and the pain of your children is key to trusting in God long enough to see the light in the darkness and the beauty in the pain. 5. Teach your children the value of biblical community. Children need to learn the value of the network of friendship we call the church. The Bible s word for it is koinonia. It is deeper than mere friendship because it comes out of life in Christ. That life in HIM was always intended to be communal. 3 of 5

4 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. - Ephesians 4: 2-3 A strong relationship with God is the beginning and the end. It is all I need, all I want, and all I desire. And I know I have many more years of building this relationship down the road. DISCIPLINES YOU NEED TO LIVE: 2. When you think of a parent, what emotions come to mind? 3. What comes to mind when you think of God being your father? 4. Do you project your own parents onto who you believe God to be? 1. If you do, is that a good or bad thing? 5. What do you think when you hear the word orphan? TRUTHS YOU NEED TO KNOW: 1. Does viewing non-believers as orphans change your view of them? 2. Does anyone feel called to adoption? 3. Tell about a time, past or present, where you had to wait on the Lord. 4. Do you become frustrated when God works in other peoples lives differently than how he works in yours? Why? 4 of 5

5 Additional Information for Leaders: This week s lesson provides practical guidance on what it looks like to be a parent. Specifically the lesson is focused around the idea of being an orphan. The word orphan is a powerful and weighty word. It provokes much emotion and vivid imagery. What comes to mind when you think of an orphan? If you re like me, you tend to think of orphans as a far-away distant issue. Usually the thought of an underresourced, third-world country pops into my head. I see a child who is malnourished and hungry for food. The issue of orphans is not something foreign to the United States or to Oklahoma for that matter. For some people when they think of an orphan, they don t have to look outside of their own personal experience to understand what that hurt feels like. Some of the members of the church and in your group were orphans growing up. Sadly, in Oklahoma right now, there are 3,900 kids who are orphans waiting on a family. Growing up, I was vastly unaware of the issue of kids without homes that was occurring right here in the United States. Those who grow up in foster care without a home deal with issues of instability, isolation, feeling unloved etc. Jesus frequently calls us to love those who are fatherless and without families or a home. The truth is that spiritually, before coming to faith in Christ, we are all orphans. We are longing for a family, stuck in isolation and longing for stability. The people that you work with, your family members, the girl at the coffee shop are all orphans if they do not know Christ. As believers, we are called to love and care for those who are spiritually and physically orphans. Allow this study to be a time of thankfulness and humility to think that the God of the universe has pursued you and brought you into his family despite the things we all have done. Therefore, because of the family we have been brought into, we now are called to tell others of the gift we have been given. Shepherd well as you are prayed for, cared for, and interceded for by your staff. Walk in the confidence that comes from knowing Christ intimately. Stand on the truths of Scripture and trust in Christ and lean on the guidance of the Holy Spirit as you lead this group. 5 of 5