Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Whoo.
[00:00:02] Church. Church. Before you take a seat, say hi to everybody around you right now. Everybody to the left, to the right, behind you, in front of you, around you. Say hello. Say hello. Say hello.
[00:00:16] Say hi. If you've never seen them, say what's up.
[00:00:20] Tell them your name. Tell them your Social Security. You know the deal.
[00:00:25] Tell them what you're doing this Friday.
[00:00:29] Amen. Amen. Kids ministry, you are dismissed. Kids ministry, you are dismissed. Well, good morning, Christ Church. How are we feeling?
[00:00:38] Feeling good.
[00:00:40] You look good. You look good.
[00:00:43] So happy to be with you guys. Man, it's such a. Such a beautiful day, right? So sunny out, you know?
[00:00:51] But hey, listen, no matter what the weather is, we're going to gather, we're going to worship.
[00:00:55] We're going to serve the Lord. We're going to greet with one another. And again, I'm just happy to be with you guys. For those who may not know, my name is Javon. I get the opportunity to serve as the campus pastor here at our old Brooklyn campus. Can you guys say hello to all of our friends who are watching online as well? Online family.
[00:01:14] Again, if this is your first time, I want to encourage you to stop at our connection center. The best way to get connected. The best way for us to help you with on your journey of faith. Cause that's why I believe we all are on this thing called a journey. Which the Lord is leading and supplying and providing along the way. So stop at our connection center. Or if you've yet to get connected and you wanna know more about the church, still stop at the connection desk. Again, we would love to help you and assist you as well. We got a lot going on. The one thing I wanna highlight is our crafts ministry. Our arts and crafts ministry. They do a wonderful, wonderful job. You guys may have seen when you walked in the building today, that on the right on the wall, all that beautiful art that was there, that was from our ministry.
[00:02:00] Faith.
[00:02:02] Say it again. Faith.
[00:02:04] And flawless. Yes, yes, yes, yes.
[00:02:10] Listen, it's a great way for people to use the way that they're gifted and the means of serving Jesus Christ.
[00:02:17] If you want to be a part of this, if you want to know more about it, there are a bunch of them standing, standing out on Main street that would love to talk to you and to participate within their gathering and their meetings. Just a wonderful, wonderful group with some wonderful things happening and taking place. But also, I want to point you and direct you to this Tuesday we're continuing in our series or continuing in our talk through the Gospels. In particular this week we're just going to be walking through or continue to walk through the Gospel of Matthew. It's our Bible study. If you want to learn and grow in your Bible study skills, you want to learn how to understand the Bible. You ever find yourself reading it and you get frustrated, you're like, I don't know what they're saying. Come this Tuesday, we want to help you adventure with you on that journey. We're going to be continuing that 6:30pm here, 6:30pm here at our old Brooklyn campus. This is our Bible study. We are excited and I'm excited today we're continuing in our Ephesian series. Guys, just two more weeks.
[00:03:21] Two more weeks. Some of you are like, thank you, Jesus. Believe me, I'm the same way.
[00:03:26] Two more weeks. I got this week and then we got next week. We're gonna finish it out. But today I want to open up with Ephesians. If you have your Bibles. Ephesians, chapter six.
[00:03:36] I'm gonna read verses one through nine for those who may. A lot of people ask me, what translation am I using? I'll be using the Christian Standard Bible, the csb, if you want to follow along with me. Ephesians, chapter 6, verses 1 through 9. Once I'm done reading, I'm going to say, this is the word of the Lord in which you respond, thanks be to God. Let's go ahead and open up and read in Ephesians chapter six. And it reads just like this. It says, children, obey your parents. I can preach that all day.
[00:04:09] Children, obey your parents in the Lord, because this is right. Verse 2. Honor your father and mother, which is the first commandment, with a promise so that it may go well with you and that you may have a long life in the land. Verse 4. Fathers, do not stir up anger in your children, but bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord. Verse 5. Slaves, obey your human masters with fear and trembling. We're going to talk about that more in just a little bit in the sincerity of your heart as you would Christ. Don't work only while being launched as people pleasers, but as slaves of Christ. Do God's will from your heart sword with a good attitude as to the Lord, not to people, knowing that whatever good each one does labor free. He will receive this back from the Lord and masters. Treat your slaves in the same way without threatening them because you know both their master and yours is in heaven and there is no favoritism within him. This is the word of the Lord.
[00:05:21] Thanks Be to God. Let's pray.
[00:05:24] Heavenly Father, your name is the highest.
[00:05:27] Your name is the greatest.
[00:05:29] You are exalted, unrivaled, unmatched.
[00:05:35] There is no one that comes close to you. You are above all. You are in all.
[00:05:39] And, Lord, we come to you because you alone have what we need, and you are what we need. Lord, you are our shepherd, and we are firmly secure because of the good work the shepherd does.
[00:05:54] Father, I pray that you shepherd us in this message today.
[00:05:58] And in this message, I pray that you bring and you shed light onto our souls the very truth that you want us to know, but you also want us to carry out. Bless us and strengthen us. I pray that at the end of the day, that we walk out of this gathering and we say to ourselves not just what we need to do, but who we need to continually look to more and more that Jesus Christ is a sufficient savior.
[00:06:27] He is a good, good shepherd who leads the sheep, provides for the sheep, nourishes for his sheep, and who laid down his life for them as well, too.
[00:06:38] So let us look to Christ above all and in all in our lives. We love you and we thank you. And Christ's wonderful name is who we pray. Amen. Amen and amen.
[00:06:51] Well, once again, guys, we're gonna be continuing. We're close to finishing our Ephesians series.
[00:06:59] I promise you, we got one more week after this week, and then we're gonna jump into something else. But I've been thoroughly enjoying this series because I've been learning about the Christian life a little bit more that the Christian life or living out the Christian life is.
[00:07:14] It's kind of. It's a dimension of two things. It's. It's, you know, knowing God. Right. And living out what you know about God. Right. Remember, we've been talking about that. The way we can understand and to read Ephesians and the way that break it down is the first couple chapters talk about what Christianity is about, right? Or what it, you know, what God has done through the cross. But now we're in the section where it's now talking about how Christianity is lived.
[00:07:45] Right? How Christianity is lived. And we've been focusing on that more and more throughout our study, and we're gonna do that more today. But before we jump into that, it's been a couple weeks, and some of you know that my boys and your children, if you have any school is back. And, man, I am so happy.
[00:08:06] Whoo. I have time to myself. Listen. In the morning, they wake up, they're Screaming and yelling and running and all this other stuff. I like kick them out of my car just to get them to school. And I'm like, I'm free, I'm free. But one thing I've noticed is my son, he's noticing as he gets older, things are starting to change. I have a older son who is in first grade and he's learning that first grade is much different than pre K, right? See, before it was all about just, you know, playing and sing alongs and all that. No, bro's got homework now.
[00:08:43] You know, bro's gotta learn. Hey, Dan, what's eight plus eight, bro? Hold on, let me get out my calculator real quick. You know, it's been a while since I've done basic math. But he's learning that as life changes, responsibility changes, right? School isn't simply just go out and play and come back and whatnot. There's more to that, right? Even at home, he's seeing that it's not just entertain yourself. No, bro's got chores now. He's getting older. Things are changing. And guess what, friends? Guess what? When I think about that concept, that's not just a first grader, that's called life, right?
[00:09:24] That's called life. Because listen, you and I, we move through different seasons and we find ourselves carrying different roles and different responsibilities.
[00:09:36] That's just how life is, right? One day you wake up and you're being. I'm sorry, One day you're a baby and you're being cared for and then the next thing you're looking for a job, right? Right. You're trying to figure out, you know, am I going to go to school, you know, where am I going to work? You know, maybe you become a parent, maybe you get married, maybe you become a leader, whatever it may be. What I'm trying to say is our roles and responsibilities, they change throughout time, right? Our roles and responsibilities, they change. But here's what doesn't change for the Christian, who the Lord is, who is Lord? See, as we venture through life, there's a lot of changes that are gonna come. There's a lot of different roles and responsibilities and hats we're gonna put on. For instance, I'm a husband, I'm a father, I'm a son, I'm a pastor, I'm a friend, I carry many different hats, right? And though I have different roles and different responsibilities, I'm still accountable to one, and that's Jesus Christ.
[00:10:47] Different roles, different responsibilities.
[00:10:51] One Lord and one Lord alone.
[00:10:55] And what I mean by Jesus being Lord. I mean by this, that Jesus alone has the right to show me and to guide me and to lead me into what is called life.
[00:11:08] I don't get to define that. Guess what, friends? I lived a life long enough where I did define it, and it ended up in ruin.
[00:11:17] Right where I was Lord, or money was Lord, or power was Lord, or success was Lord. But at the end of the day, the one thing that is going to be crucial for you and I as we live out our Christian lives, in light of the roles and the responsibilities we all are going to put on and take on in our lives, there's one thing that we need, is that Jesus is constantly leading us and before us.
[00:11:46] Always, always.
[00:11:49] And that's what Paul is going to do. And Paul's going to help us to establish these truths. Here's what I want you to write down. If you're taking down notes. Remember, if you take down notes, you go to heaven. But anyway, this is second opinions, chapter five. But it says, I want you to know this. Whatever role or responsibility God has given you, carry it under the lordship of Jesus.
[00:12:14] Whatever role or responsibility God has given you. We are meant to serve in that role, in that responsibility, in light of just being Lord, in light of Jesus being Lord. And that's Paul's whole argument as we understand and we break down all of these nine verses that we find in Ephesians 6. Now, there's a lot to unpack here. And don't worry, I will unpack it for you. I will break down for you the context and the history and whatnot. But I want to catch this big theme and the reason why I don't want to catch this, because I believe that this can change the game when it comes to our lives. Notice I want to read the verses again. Let's look at verse one one more time. I want to start off now. Notice Paul, he's going to talk about kind of. He's going to talk about families and work, right? Or families in our jobs. Which is interesting because you're like, all right, we're like, shouldn't you be talking about other things when it comes to, like, you know, our lives? But if you think about it, for the adult, if you think about it, where do you spend? What are the two areas? You spend most of your time at the home and work, right? Because if you don't work, you ain't got a home, right? Work in your home, you give 40 hours a week or whatever hours you give to your job, right?
[00:13:39] Right. He's Talking about two areas in our lives.
[00:13:42] Eventually, he's gonna talk about two areas in our lives that are vital and are important, but how we carry ourselves within them matter even more. And look what he does. I want to just help you kind of how I think when I'm reading and studying for these sermons. Here's a couple things that I observe. You ready? Here we go. Let's go to verse one. He says this. Children.
[00:14:03] He doesn't talk about kids. He talks directly to children. If you were in the ancient.
[00:14:09] If you were in the times, the early church was being established, right? They would have all gathered, not like how you and I gather. They probably would have been more like houses.
[00:14:19] And Paul addresses children. Kids, right? The youth. He addresses them. He doesn't just talk about them, he talks to them. Which meant they would have been there, right? Which meant they would have been there and they would have been present at that time. He says, children, obey your parents.
[00:14:37] Look at this verbiage. Look at this language. I'm sorry, in the Lord, because this is right. Honor your father and mother, which is the first commandment, with a promise so that it may go well with you and that you may have a long life in the land. Look at verse four. Fathers. Dads, listen up. Do not stir up anger or provoke your children to wrath.
[00:14:59] Right? But bring them up in the training and instruction. Listen to this language.
[00:15:04] The Lord. Notice this connection that I'm seeing in the Lord of the Lord. He does the same thing in verse five. Slaves, obey your human masters with fear and trembling in the sincerity of your heart, as you would Christ. What I'm trying to say is, notice that as Paul gives commands, he's attaching each command with a motivation.
[00:15:27] Right? Right. Paul isn't just saying, listen to this. This is so important because it helps us to land this point even stronger. Paul isn't just telling them what to do.
[00:15:37] He's reminding them and he's reminding us who we're actually doing it for.
[00:15:43] Does that make sense? See, if we just merely just read the Bible as just a bunch of rules and a checklist. Okay, Let me make sure I do this with a good attitude. No, he connects every command with the motivation.
[00:15:57] He's not just telling us what we need to do, he's reminding us who we do it for.
[00:16:04] Because as I said earlier, and as I want you to understand that as Christians, no matter where you are, no matter who you are, no matter what you do, we are accountable to one.
[00:16:17] Now, think about how that changes everything.
[00:16:21] Think about how that See, because here's the thing. The one thing I want you to understand is that following Jesus changes how I approach everything.
[00:16:32] Following Jesus changes how I approach parenting. Following Jesus changes how I approach my marriage. Following Jesus changes how I approach leading. Following Jesus changes how I approach how I work.
[00:16:45] Right?
[00:16:46] Here's what I want you to understand is regardless of your role or responsibility, Jesus is the standard.
[00:16:55] Regardless of the role or responsibility, Jesus is the standard. I remember working at a former employee, and they used to always make the guys in the warehouse used to make us wear polos and have our shirts tucked in, which was stupid to me.
[00:17:15] It was dumb. I'm like, we're in the warehouse, we're getting dirty. We're moving boxes. We're on the totemotor. What are you talking about? Polos that tucked in. Like, what is this? You want to be businessmen in a warehouse? It was stupid of me. And I used to always get in trouble. I used to always go back and forth, right? But regardless of how I felt, that was the standard, right? Regardless of what I thought about it, how I felt about it, those were. That was what everybody had to abide by.
[00:17:47] And I think sometimes.
[00:17:50] I think sometimes we kind of get our lives a little bit intertwined with this reality, thinking that as followers of Jesus, I get to define how I do this.
[00:18:02] But here's the one thing I've noticed is that life has way more value when I allow the standard of Christ to be highly valued in my life.
[00:18:16] When I allow, okay, at the end of the day, Jesus defines marriage.
[00:18:23] At the end of the day, Jesus defines my family. At the end of the day, Jesus defines how I approach this. That or the third, whatever it may be. Why?
[00:18:36] Because he is Lord.
[00:18:40] He is.
[00:18:42] I think the one thing that we can learn from this passage before we move on to this next section, I think the one thing we can learn from this passage is to realize this, friends, your life is meant to be under Jesus.
[00:18:59] More letting him lead more, letting him change the way you think about this more, letting him change the way you operate in this.
[00:19:15] More and more, he's the standard, right? Right. So the reason why I do what I do is because of who I do it for.
[00:19:27] Does that make sense?
[00:19:29] The reason why I don't do things is because of who I'm accountable to. To.
[00:19:34] I'm accountable to God, friends.
[00:19:37] The reason why I don't want to look at certain things because I'm accountable to God. The reason why I don't talk a certain way because I'm accountable To God. Because the reason why I don't go into this or dive into these things, that others may approve and others may think is, okay, listen, at the end of the day, I'm accountable to the Lord.
[00:19:57] I'm accountable. The reason why I treat my wife because I'm accountable to God. The reason why. You guys understand the picture, right? I'm accountable to the Lord. That's what Paul is trying to establish as he reads and gives these commands more and more. And we're gonna talk about the first kind of section that Paul begins with. And he talks about families.
[00:20:24] Y', all families, they're beautiful, but they also can be annoying, right? We all got a family in this room today, right? We got a family that we. We have family members we enjoy and we got families we wish. I'll say something else, but.
[00:20:43] But you guys get the picture. But I think Paul. What Paul wants to do is Paul is trying to help each.
[00:20:51] Each person to understand that. That. That when Christ builds the family, the family begins to reflect Christ more and more.
[00:21:00] A family that is built on Jesus as a family that begins to reflect Jesus more and more.
[00:21:09] Right now, as a church, I want you to understand that one of our biggest, biggest roles is to partner with families. Moms and dads, grandmas, grandpas, the children.
[00:21:23] One of our biggest aims is to partner with families and stewarding what that looks like.
[00:21:31] When raising their families, right, we partner with them in a life of discipleship. Discipleship. All it means is what does it mean to follow Jesus? But here's the one thing that I want you to understand, and here's the one key component I want you to know. Yes, as a church, we long to partner with families in a life of discipleship.
[00:21:52] But here's the one thing I want you to know, right?
[00:21:56] Discipleship, right?
[00:21:59] Begins in the home. First, discipleship. It begins in the home.
[00:22:08] It starts at home. Sure, as a church, we partner.
[00:22:12] As a church, we want to help.
[00:22:14] As a church, we want to love and encourage and all of that. But at the end of the day, the most important place of discipleship begins in the home.
[00:22:25] It begins in the home.
[00:22:27] It begins with mom and dad or the guardian or whoever it may be. Because at the end of the day, church, we see your children once a week.
[00:22:37] You get them suckers every day, right?
[00:22:42] You get them every single day, which means this. And Paul addresses children and parenting. Now, don't, don't, don't. Don't think this. As children are meant to do everything the parent tells them, even if it's unhealthy. That's not what Paul is trying to promote.
[00:23:02] What this passage actually does, it points back to the mom and dad, points back to the parents, right?
[00:23:10] We gotta give our children a reason to listen and follow.
[00:23:15] And that reason is Jesus Christ.
[00:23:20] It's Jesus Christ.
[00:23:21] Which means this number one, parenting is discipleship.
[00:23:26] Parenting is discipleship, friends.
[00:23:28] That's what parenting is. It's discipleship. Parenting is the families coming together.
[00:23:36] And the goal of parenting isn't just to be centered on children following rules, but it's encouraging them to know and to follow Jesus.
[00:23:47] We want to help encourage and raise the children from the babies all the way to the teenagers. We want to help raise children to know. Nothing in this world compares to Jesus.
[00:24:03] Nothing in this world is more valuable than knowing and beholding Christ himself. See, we're not raising children just to behave.
[00:24:13] We're not raising children just to have a good education.
[00:24:16] We're not raising children just so they can be nice and be good and be kind. All those things. They're beneficial, they're amazing. We're raising children so they. So that they may know where to look at, to find life and truth that is in Christ. And I always encourage parents, and I don't want to give a whole parenting sermon, but I definitely want to encourage parents that this. Parents, mom and dad, whoever you may be, if you're in charge of leading the youth, leading some sort of youth, help your children to learn who God says they are before the world tells them who they should be.
[00:25:01] Because here's the one thing that I've noticed, and it's more prevalent in this age, even when I was younger, which was a long time ago, Is that the world throws out a ton of. Of identities at our kids.
[00:25:21] Everybody is identifying with something.
[00:25:25] It could be sexual, something with success or career, image, you name it, right? The world is always telling our children who they should be, right? But parents, we are meant to encourage them who God created them to be, who God created them to be in their lives. Now, here's the one thing I want you to understand and one thing you and I have already noticed that no home is going to be perfect.
[00:25:58] No home is going to be without drama, no home is going to be without trials. No home is going to be without difficulty. But the goal of parenting that parents, you and I, what we are meant to do is to walk and carry all the responsibility and the role God has entrusted us more and more. Which means, number two, parenting is stewarding or stewardship, Right? You know, the one thing And I can shed some light on this. Parenting is hard.
[00:26:37] Listen, these things are hard. You want to know why they're hard? Because you're raising someone who is trying to come into light of how God created them while you yourselves are still immature.
[00:26:52] Two immature people trying to do life together.
[00:26:56] Right? Right.
[00:26:58] It's kind of how it's like, right? Parenting is hard. Parenting is difficult. And sometimes I can allow the difficulty to allow me to think that parenting is nothing but a burden. But I want to switch that for you. I want to help each and every person in this room. Whether you aspire to be a parent, whether you are a parent, whatever you may be in your life, I want to help and encourage you. What motivates parenting is knowing and remembering the one who entrusted you, entrusted your children into your care and trusted you into your care.
[00:27:39] Because parenting, it's honoring the one who gave you the beautiful gift.
[00:27:48] At the end of the day, parents, all the screaming, all the drama, all the uncleanliness, it's easy to allow those things to cloud.
[00:28:05] At the end of the day, God has entrusted this individual in my care.
[00:28:11] This is God's gift to me.
[00:28:14] This is God's wonderful.
[00:28:16] This is God's child.
[00:28:20] This is God's child. I always tell people, and we do these for dedications. Before you and I took form in this world, we had a being in God's heart.
[00:28:34] We were known by God.
[00:28:36] And I want each and every parent to understand this parenting, it's not trying to be perfect, but it's honoring the one who has gifted you.
[00:28:48] Because at the end of the day, my boys, they belong to the Lord.
[00:28:55] They were given to me.
[00:28:59] They are God's kids.
[00:29:02] They are given to me. They are God's children.
[00:29:06] I want to honor the gift that God has given me. Number three.
[00:29:11] Parenting requires modeling. Jesus requires modeling. Jesus, right? Because to honor God's gifts, it requires modeling the one who gave you the gift.
[00:29:25] Right? And parents, I just want to encourage you. Just as you raise your children up, as we try to raise them in this culture, try to raise them in this world, to help them to know Jesus and to follow Jesus. I just want to give you three very simple ways of how you and I can be at work in the life of our youth. Number one, model faith.
[00:29:49] Model faith.
[00:29:51] The one thing I want to encourage every parent in this room, when it comes to the moment and it comes to the day and the time, share your story of how you came to know Jesus with your children.
[00:30:03] Just don't tell them. Listen, just don't tell them about Christianity. Show them Christianity.
[00:30:11] Just don't talk about God.
[00:30:13] Right?
[00:30:14] Show them what life looks like under him.
[00:30:19] Right, Right. It's not just going to church, but it's about a faith that is modeled for them.
[00:30:29] Well, talk about your faith.
[00:30:32] You know, the one thing I love doing, I love talking with my son about God.
[00:30:37] And he's only 6.
[00:30:39] You know, he asks really deep theological questions. Dad, how can Jesus be God and the Father be God? I'm like, those are great questions, son.
[00:30:49] I love that.
[00:30:50] Give me five more years and I'll get back to you.
[00:30:53] Those are great questions.
[00:30:55] Why did Jesus have to die? Right. Those are things I want to listen. I want to talk to my kids about Jesus before the world teaches my kids about Jesus.
[00:31:09] I want to have that kind of influence.
[00:31:12] So model faith. Talk to your kids about God.
[00:31:15] Hey, after the sermon today, talk to your kids. Say, hey, what you learned in the sermon? I learned that Javon's really short, you know.
[00:31:26] You know, and a couple things about Jesus in Ephesians, you know?
[00:31:30] Right. Talk to your. Right. Model faith. Number two, model grace.
[00:31:36] Model grace. Right. I believe the home is a place where much of how people start, much of who people become is it comes from the home.
[00:31:49] Right. Model what forgiveness looks like to your children.
[00:31:54] Because I've noticed this sometimes if we're not careful, we think that the things that we hold onto and the things that we withhold, we don't understand how much it impacts and affects those around us. Hey, if your kids see that you hold a grudge, what do you think they're gonna learn?
[00:32:15] If they see you as someone who is not seeking peace, if they see you as someone that is always kinda holding it over their head, holding it over others head of their wrongs, what do you think?
[00:32:29] Right.
[00:32:30] Model grace.
[00:32:32] Model grace. More and more. Right. Your kids are going to mess up.
[00:32:37] They're going to make mistakes.
[00:32:39] Guess what? You and I were there before, right? And we want to model grace. I'm not saying don't ever correct them. I'm saying that you and I have to be really. We have to do a really good job at modeling grace towards them. Grace says, yes, I love you, but I'm going to help you become better.
[00:33:02] I'm going to help you to become wiser.
[00:33:04] I want to shape you to become the woman and the man God has created you to be. And number three, model endurance.
[00:33:13] Model endurance. One thing I love that my mother did, and I'll take this to the bank all day long, is that my mom Was a praying woman.
[00:33:24] I saw my mom pray.
[00:33:27] I saw my mom pray. I remember coming home from school, walking in, and I can hear her. She's Pentecostal. I can hear her upstairs screaming. Thank you, Jesus.
[00:33:40] Thank you, Lord.
[00:33:42] We were struggling.
[00:33:44] We were going through it.
[00:33:45] We were going through a lot financially.
[00:33:50] My parents were struggling as well, too. But I remember my mom saying, above all, the Lord will be praised.
[00:34:02] Model endurance.
[00:34:04] Not perfection, but dependence.
[00:34:09] I'm not asking you to go home and be perfect. Guess what? Your kids already know you're not perfect.
[00:34:17] Your kids already know you're a hypocrite.
[00:34:19] I'm sorry.
[00:34:21] They know you struggle.
[00:34:24] Listen, you don't think our kids are going to figure us out?
[00:34:27] You don't think our kids are going to know? Like, yeah, you say this, but you do it, too.
[00:34:35] Stop cursing. You just cursed, right? Don't hit him. You hit me. No.
[00:34:44] Right. They know it. But here's what I want you to do. Here's what I want to encourage you. Don't hide your flaws from your kids. I think so many times parents think you have to give the best version of yourself to your kids. No. Show your kids your need for Jesus.
[00:35:00] Right? Point. Listen, listen. Right, right. Don't hide or minimize the need.
[00:35:07] Right. Or sorry your struggle. But rather.
[00:35:10] Rather allow your need for Jesus. Point your children for their need for Jesus. When I fail my kids, you know the one thing I always tell them?
[00:35:22] I tell them I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I went too far with my words.
[00:35:33] And then they'll say, well, dad, why did you do that? And I'll say, son, I need Jesus.
[00:35:41] Thank you, Keith.
[00:35:44] This is why I follow Jesus, son.
[00:35:47] I follow Jesus and I need him.
[00:35:51] And you do, too.
[00:35:52] And we all do.
[00:35:54] See, what am I doing? I'm allowing my struggle to point them to what they actually need.
[00:36:00] I'm not hiding it. I'm not saying.
[00:36:03] I'm saying, no, son, you need Jesus. I'm sorry. I need Jesus. And you need Jesus as well, right?
[00:36:13] Parenting is like. Marriage has a great way of building us and strengthening us, but also exposing within us the things that are not like Jesus.
[00:36:27] Their parenting has done many great. Has done many great blessings to my life where it's helped me to understand what I'm still lacking and where I still need to grow.
[00:36:38] But here's the one thing that I want to encourage as we move on.
[00:36:42] Parents, moms and dads in this room, no matter how old your kids are, the one thing we do constantly is worry about our kids. Don't we?
[00:36:57] Don't we?
[00:36:59] We worry because we love them.
[00:37:02] We love our kids.
[00:37:04] We worry because we love them and we just want what's best for them.
[00:37:07] We may not always show it the best, but we do have the intentions that we just want the best. And we see them changing and getting older and making decisions, encountering influences we can't control.
[00:37:20] Isn't that stink?
[00:37:22] Encountering influences we can't control. And there's a temptation to think this as a parent. If I just parent perfectly enough, I can guarantee their whole story and how their future will look like. But here's what I want to encourage you, especially for parents in the room with children who are teenagers, who are young adults, or even adults today who aren't following the path you thought they would go.
[00:37:53] Here's what I want to encourage you. Parenting isn't controlling your kid's future.
[00:37:59] It's trusting the father's heart to shepherd their future.
[00:38:05] It's trusting the father's heart to shepherd their future. Listen, God gave you the responsibility for your children to your children, but he has never given you sovereignty over their lives.
[00:38:21] At the end of the day, the Lord is sovereign, the Lord is their shepherd. And I have to remind myself that daily. My responsibility isn't to guarantee that my sons become everything I want them to become.
[00:38:35] My responsibility is to faithfully point them to Jesus, to model repentance even when I fail to teach them the truth. Love them well, pray over them, correct them, trust. But also in light of doing all that, trust God, who loves them even more than I do.
[00:38:57] Now, what does that look like? As parents? What does that look like today? Your children are older.
[00:39:03] What does that look like? Sometimes it evolves, sometimes caring. As parents, your care for your child turns from, you know, telling them what to do to now giving them wisdom.
[00:39:17] And this is how I want to encourage some of you whose your children are older. They have their own children. They have their own family and their own lives. You are still their parent.
[00:39:29] You are still their parent. You just parent differently, right? My mom, she doesn't tell me what to do.
[00:39:35] It's my wife's job now. But she, they transferred roles.
[00:39:43] I got a new woman for that.
[00:39:46] But now my mom can sit back and give wisdom and give guidance and still parents. I want you to know this.
[00:39:55] You are still heavily involved in the life of your child today.
[00:40:01] Don't care if they're 30, 40, 50.
[00:40:05] It just changes.
[00:40:07] And those who are still close with their parents and you kind of established your own life, they still have Much wisdom to give to you.
[00:40:18] They have much wisdom to show you. And I want to encourage you to still to understand that their role is different.
[00:40:26] Their role is now to help you and to encourage you in your life. It's just in a different, different way. Now let's talk about this next part. Let's talk about verses five through nine. Everybody probably saw wants to talk about verses five through nine. Let's read it again. It says this. Slaves.
[00:40:44] Okay, hold on, Wait a minute. Why does the Bible talk about slavery? This is interesting. Slaves, obey your human masters with fear and trembling and the sincerity of your heart as you would Christ.
[00:40:56] Verse 6.
[00:40:57] Don't work while being watched as people pleasers, but as slaves of Christ. Do God's will from your heart. Serve with a good attitude as to the Lord and not to people, knowing that whatever good each one does, slave or free, he will receive this back from the Lord. And masters, treat your slaves in the same way without threatening them because you know that both their masters and yours is in heaven and there is no favoritism in them. All right, let's read this in context. Remember Paul, the Bible was not written yesterday.
[00:41:29] The Bible was written 2,000 years ago.
[00:41:33] Long, long time ago. So when Paul talks about this, when you hear the word slaves and masters don't automatically connect to American chattel slavery where it was race based, right?
[00:41:46] Roman slavery or Roman culture was very, very different. Different than when we understand how American culture has dealt with within this context. These people were living within a real system with human bondage and unequal power. Now here's what Paul isn't doing. Paul is not promoting the slavery, right? He's not promoting it. He's not condoning it, Right? He's not doing any of that. He's just speaking to the people who are already in it.
[00:42:21] But notice what Paul is doing. No matter who you are, no matter if you're someone under someone or you're someone over someone, you are accountable to God.
[00:42:35] That's what he's trying to say.
[00:42:37] No matter if you're over someone or under someone, you are accountable to God. And Paul brings up both parties to remind him of the lordship of Jesus, right? And these principles here, they transform how we understand work.
[00:42:53] Because we all have this thing called work. We all have this thing called a job. We all have this thing called leadership. We all have this thing called service. And Paul wants you and I to understand he connects to service beyond just what they do, but again, who they're doing it for, because who you ultimately work for Changes how you work.
[00:43:18] That means that Jesus, he influences every part of my life. That's now what Paul has done. Notice Paul has done throughout this whole entire section, right? Because it changes a lot. Next week, Paul talks about how you deal with friendships, different relationships, marriage, parenting, you know, at your job. How are we meant to understand this? Jesus has influence in every part of my life.
[00:43:52] Every part of my life. What's the aim of the Christian life? To let Jesus influence me more and more.
[00:44:00] What's the aim of the Christian life? To let Christ's words shake my heart.
[00:44:07] What's the aim of the Christian life? To be renewed in my mind by what Christ wants to do in and through my life. Paul talks about aspects in different roles and responsibilities. But don't read any of this apart from this reality. Jesus is meant to influence every part of me in every way, in every way, in every form. And I believe this. Friends, you and I, we find life when we let the one who gives life lead our lives.
[00:44:47] When we let Jesus have more and more influence.
[00:44:51] Maybe you can look at your life today and say, yeah, I'm letting Jesus have influence over this area of my life. But there are certain areas. He needs to have more.
[00:45:01] He needs to have more.
[00:45:03] Maybe that might be your marriage, maybe that might be your parenting.
[00:45:08] Maybe it might be how you carry yourself at your job.
[00:45:14] Maybe it might be how you carry yourself around your friends.
[00:45:17] Maybe it might be how what you do when you're by yourself.
[00:45:21] Whatever it may be, I need Christ to lead me more.
[00:45:27] Because that's the Christian life.
[00:45:29] It's letting the one who gives life lead me in that life more and more.
[00:45:37] Let's pray.
[00:45:39] Dear Heavenly Father, I pray and I ask that you would help us to understand what it looks like to draw from you, to find life in you, to walk in you, to be influenced by you. More and more I pray that our lives would be shaped around the beauty and the majesty of Christ.
[00:45:57] I pray that Christ wouldn't just get part of us, but that Jesus we would surrender all of ourselves to us. And that in doing that, in light of doing that, we would know what is true, what is good, and what is building of our souls.
[00:46:16] Father, I pray that for every person in this room, wherever role, the responsibility they find themselves in, that they remind themselves Jesus is Lord and he is the standard.
[00:46:30] I pray for parents today.
[00:46:32] I pray that you strengthen the soul of that mom and dad today.
[00:46:40] The difficulty and the weight that they carry, how much they see themselves struggling. I pray that they remind themselves that your grace overflows more and more in their lives.
[00:46:59] I pray for children that they would be radically influenced by moms and dads who are allowing Jesus to lead their lives.
[00:47:13] I pray for the youth today that they will see the glimpse of Jesus in their home.
[00:47:20] And what they see in their home now makes its way into their hearts.
[00:47:26] And now they begin to live out that truth more and more.
[00:47:31] Lord, I pray for families today.
[00:47:34] Some families feel shattered and broken, divided, struggling.
[00:47:41] But you have a grace and you give us a hope that supersedes all of what we struggle with today.
[00:47:51] We pray that you give us that grace and that hope and remind us that your good plans are still in effect, that your good purposes are still for us.
[00:48:05] And Father, I pray that you would remind these wonderful people that your grace is sufficient.
[00:48:15] Your power is made perfect in our weaknesses.
[00:48:22] So draw near to us, whisper to our hearts and let Christ.
[00:48:28] Let Christ be the center and the focus of everything day.
[00:48:34] Bless us. I pray. Help us. I pray it's in Christ's wonderful name. Amen.
