Receiving Children as a Gift from God
The 3 R's of Parenting

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Good morning, church! It’s good to see all of you here this morning. We’re starting a new series today, so you’re here at just the right time. We’re starting a new series entitled, “The Three R’s of Parenting.” The Three Rs we’re referring to are not “reading, writing and arithmetic,” but parenting in order to “receive,” “raise up” and “return or release” your children back to the Lord. We’ll be talking about that over the next three Sundays. You’re here at the perfect time!

Today, we’re talking about how to receive your child as a gift from the Lord. Now, as we think about this, it’s often good, as parents, to have a sense of humor. We were looking up some memes on parenting that I think you might enjoy. (Pastor Gary gives a few funny memes on parenting to show on the screen. Please refer to the live sermon to see these memes.) Parenting can be a lot of fun, but the truth is, parenting is no laughing matter. It’s a serious thing.

I still remember that panicky feeling that my wife and I felt when we brought our first born home from the hospital. The nurse brought him out to us; they had to, first, see that we actually had a car seat in our car. They examine your car like that’s the one thing – you have a car seat, then you can have this baby. They give us the baby and we put him in the car seat. I am looking in the rear view mirror on the way home and thinking, , Ok, now what? We were filled with joy, excitement, anticipation and fear. We don’t want to mess up. We were really happy the first week that my mom came and stayed with us. She helped us settle in a little bit before she left us to go home.

We learned how to be parents. The truth is, parenting can be overwhelming! We felt overwhelmed and underqualified. We go through seasons, as parents, of feeling exhausted, frustrated, angry, happy, joyful… every extreme that you can think of. Often, we just want to escape and get a little break. I’ve heard some people say, ‘I wish my child came with an owner’s manual. Like if you buy a car, there’s an owner’s manual in the glove box. I wish my child came with an owner’s manual.’ Well, the truth is, and I really believe this, that children do come with an owner’s manual. Right here it is (pointing to the bible in his hand). It’s God’s word. He made us. He created us. The family was His idea. I really believe that when we go and look in the bible, we can find an “owner’s manual,” if you will, on how to raise children up in the Lord.

We’re going to be looking today at Psalm 127:1-5. The first sermon in this series, “The Three “R”s of Parenting,” is this idea of receiving your child as a gift from the Lord. In Psalm 127, Solomon wrote about the necessity of recognizing the Lord as the One builds families and watches over them. As a result, he wrote that children are to be received as a gift from the Lord. We can receive our children as a gift from the Lord. How can we receive our children as a gift from the Lord? The text gives three steps for receiving our children as a gift from the Lord.

Let’s read the text, let’s read the scripture and then we’ll talk about it: Psalm 127:1-5 (ESV) 1 “Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. 2 It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep. 3 Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward. 4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth. 5 Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.” This is God’s word. Amen.

How to receive your child as a gift from God: 1. Recognize your need for God’s help.

There’s nothing like being a parent to make you say, ‘I need help. I need the Lord.’ It drives us to our knees. If you haven’t been a prayer warrior before, being a parent will often be the thing that moves you to your knees. Recognize your need for God’s help.

Look at the first verse, “Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.” That word, “vain,” is in the opening two verses three times. The word, “vain,” means empty, meaningless, to waste something, to be empty. If you try to build your house, if you try to build your family and you try to follow your own plan, it will come up empty. It will come up meaningless. The word says that it’s the Lord who builds the house. That word, “builds” means that the Lord who watches over. He’s the one who watches. He’s the builder and the architect of the family. God is the one Who came up with the idea of marriage, Who came up with the idea of family, so why wouldn’t we look to Him as the architect, the founder, the builder and the sustainer of the family? To do otherwise is to labor in vain. The psalmist says that it’s to work without result. Parenting is hard work. It’s hard work being a mom, a dad, a grandparent, an aunt or an uncle.

I know that many of you are here today and you’re thinking, Ok, we’re married but we don’t have kids. Maybe, you’re single. Maybe you’re here this morning and you just had a baby. You showed up thinking, I’m so glad he started this just for me. Wherever you’re at today, the church is the family of God. We’re the family. We’re either actively parenting or we’re uncles, we’re aunts and we all have a role to play.

By the way, didn’t we all start out as children? This series is for all of us. If you’re a single person and you’re planning on getting married and having a family someday, take good notes, so you’ll be ready when the time comes.

I’ve had some grandparents, after the first service, say to me, “Oh, my goodness. I wish I would have had that sermon while I was still raising my children.” I had to apologize to them and say that I wasn’t trying to put them on a guilt trip and that it wasn’t too late. It’s by the grace of God that they are a grandparent now. You can still pass this on to your grandchildren. You can still be one of those people that’s helping us shepherd the children in our church. That’s why we have all this stuff on the walls right now.

By the way, some of you are visiting for the first time today because of our KidzFest, our VBS, this past week. It’s because we love kids and it’s because we recognize our role to follow God’s plan for children.

In verse 2, the psalmist says, “It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.” In other words, it’s like you’re “eating” your worries; you’re “feeding” on worry. Trying to raise a family will cause you to do that. He says that it is vain; it is empty. You see, worry is a wasted activity; it is just worrying about something. It doesn’t repair anything.

Worry has a psychological effect on you. It, also, has a physical effect on you; people say that worry can cause ulcers. It can cause all kinds of physiological problems, but it doesn’t solve anything.

I’m reminded of a story about a puppy who loved his master’s shoes. Every time, when his master would come home to put on his house shoes, his puppy would take off running with them . The master would be trying to get the house shoe back from his puppy. Now, what’s that puppy gonna do with that shoe? It’s not his shoe. He can’t wear it. It doesn’t belong to him, but he just is hanging on.

This story is kind of like where we are; we’re hanging on to our master’s houseshoes. We’re hanging on to something that doesn’t belong to us, but we just won’t let go. Worry accomplishes nothing; it tears down your own self; it’s just meaningless. It’s vain. Worrying about your kids won’t help. In fact, Jesus says, “Do not worry,” which means that it’s not just a bad habit. It’s a sin. Worry is the opposite of faith, where you are just talking to yourself. Worry is worthless “self talk.” Worry keeps you up at night; you’re losing sleep and you already need sleep.

If you’re a new parent, you love this last part here, “for he gives to his beloved sleep.” Mom and dad, if you have a newborn or a toddler and sometimes they get a tummy ache or something and they wake you up in the middle of the night, this scripture, “for he gives to his beloved sleep” is a good prayer.

Here’s the crazy thing–you raise your kids and they interrupt your sleep. Then, by the time you get them out of the house, your body begins to run down and you can’t sleep anyway. So, you need to ask in prayer, ‘Lord, You promised to give us sleep. You said that you would give your beloved sleep.’

My wife and I have started praying from time to time at night, the last verse of Psalm 4:8, “I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.” That’s a great prayer, isn’t it? Lord, I just need to close my eyes and not worry. I’m going to go to sleep and after all, You’re running the universe right now. Could you also take care of my family? It says that You would watch over us. You’re the watchman. You’re the builder. We can trust you.

It says in Proverbs 14:1 (NLT) “A wise woman builds her home, but a foolish woman tears it down with her own hands.” When you follow your own plan, you can work and worry, work and worry and you’re actually tearing your own family apart when you do it. You are following according to the culture, according to the world, according to your own plans. Surrender your home to the Lord and recognize you need help. You need help from the Builder, from the Architect, from the Lord.

It says in Psalm 121:1-2 (ESV) 1 “I lift up my eyes to the hills hills . From where does my help come? 2 My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.” You can pray that prayer – “My help comes from the Lord.” ‘Lord, come and help me with this teenager. Come and help me with this toddler going through their terrible twos; I don’t know if I’m gonna survive.’

I remember when we first moved to Wilson; our first born was five years old, our middle child was two and our baby girl was one. We were outnumbered, me and my wife. We would look in the rearview mirror of our little Subaru and see three car seats with three seats of eyes looking back at us. It was very intimidating. Three kids in car seats looking back at us; the two year old and the one year old were in diapers. At the same time, I didn’t think that season was ever going to end. But the truth is, every season has a beginning, a middle and an end. We needed help and you can ask for help from the Lord . He’s the builder, He’s the architect, He’s the watchman that watches over your house. You can ask for help.

I don’t know what season you’re going through right now. Maybe you have a teenager and, and you can’t figure out what to do. God give me the key to his heart. I can’t figure out what he’s thinking right now. He’s gotten so rebellious or she’s just gotten so rebellious, on a roller coaster of emotion. I don’t know what it is, hormones or what it is.

When my daughter became a teenager, it was like “the invasion of the body snatchers.” She woke up one morning, turned 13 and “poof.” My daughter is here today. She’s a mother of three herself now. I remember when she first turned into a teenager , it’s like something happened to her overnight. We had this little game that we would play from the time she could speak – when it was time for bed, I would pursue my daughter up the steps. I would say, “I love you” and she’d say, “ I love you more.” I would say, “I love you the most” and she would say, “I love you to infinity.” We played this game forever. It was what we did. It’s how she went to bed and then she turned 13. Bedtime rolled around and Erin wasn’t in the room. Where’s Erin? Where’s my daughter? Did she go to bed? We’ve been trying to make her go to bed for twelve years now and she goes to bed and doesn’t tell us? So, I go upstairs and she’s already in her room. Her door is locked and the lights are off. I pick the lock and go in there. “What are you doing?” I asked her. She says to me, “I’m tired.” I say back, “Well, you didn’t say ‘I love you.’ You didn’t say ‘good night.’ She gives me an emotionless response, ‘I love you.’ “What? Erin, that’s not how we do this.” We used to do this thing where I would take all the covers and put them over her head, I’d pull the sheet up, the middle covers and then the top cover. Then, I would pull them back, a layer at a time and then “karate chop” the covers all around her like a “mummy.” So, this night, I did this once more. Now she can’t defend herself. I would kiss her on both cheeks and tell here that I loved her. She would respond with an aggravated sigh. She was like this from 13 to 17 years old. What happened to my daughter?

You know, the thing that she needed, as I look back on it now, was for me to pursue her, even though I’m so aggravated at her. I didn’t think she loved us anymore. In fact, I didn’t even know what she was going through. She really just needed somebody to prove to her that they still loved her no matter what she was going through. By faith, I kept telling her that I loved her, even though she wasn’t the most lovable there for a little while. I asked for help from the Lord when she was going through this season. My wife was so disturbed by it that she would wait until Erin was asleep at night and she would go up and get down on her knees at the foot of her bed, put her hands on her feet and say, “God, help my daughter get through this, bring her back to you so that she has your love inside of her.” The best time to deal with her during that difficult season was when she was asleep. My wife, Robin, would pray for her.

Now today, if my daughter calls me or she sees me, before we hang up or say goodbye, if I forget, she says to me, “You didn’t say I love you.” Now, you can’t get out of the room without her telling you, “I love you,” about twenty times. I guess she got it.

You know, this was a tough season. We needed help from the Lord. It wasn’t me, it wasn’t Robin, it wasn’t us. It was the Lord. We would pray, “Lord, help us shepherd our daughter’s heart.” There’s nothing more humbling than being a parent trying to raise somebody you love and you can’t figure out how to do it.

The Lord knows best. Trust his help. Will you recognize your need? Moms, dads, grandparents, uncles, aunts, your need for God’s help?

2. Embrace your children as God’s blessing.

Look at verse three and five. I want you to circle three different words. In verse three, circle the word, “heritage” and “reward.” Then, in verse five, circle the word, “blessing.” The word, “heritage,” has the idea of a gift, of an inheritance that God shows favor. The word, “reward,” means payment or wages. The word, “blessed,” could be translated as content, happy, fulfilled. Embrace your children as God’s blessing.

It says in Psalm 127:3 (CEV) “Children are a blessing and a gift from the Lord.” Children are God’s reward; they’re God’s wages.

When I was young, I would talk back to my Mom; I would be stubborn. I’m the first born of four. If you ever read that book by Dr. Dobson about the strong willed child, I could easily be the poster child for that book when I was growing up. According to my mom, I was very strong willed. My mom used to say this to me, and I don’t think it was a blessing, “I hope when you grow up, you have one just like you.” Then, my first born, Stephen, comes along and he starts questioning everything. He was trying to grow up to be a lawyer or something. I don’t know. He started to ask me, “Why can’t I do this?” I would call my mom and I would say, “Mom, when does that question stop? Remember that blessing you gave me that I would have one just like me.? When is that a blessing?

I think God gives us kids as “mirrors” so we can look in that mirror and say, “Oh, that’s me.” What I usually try to do, when I see something like that, is tell Robin that they’re taking after her, that that behavior is from her side of the family. The truth is, though, our children are like “little mirrors” but we’re to embrace them as gifts, as blessings.

We live in a culture today that doesn’t honor children, that doesn’t see children as a blessing. We live in a culture today that’s so raw and rough.

There used to be a time, when I was growing up, that a TV show would not come on until after 8pm if it had a mature theme. I’m not talking about language; I’m just talking about a mature theme because of children. Now, anything goes. Our children are hearing the most coarse language. They’re hearing every adult theme from their earliest childhood; they’re being exposed to cultural challenges that go against the plan of God for the family about their identity, be it sexual, be it gender, be it whatever. They’re being challenged in so many ways. We’ve pulled off the protection for our children. We don’t see them as a blessing. In fact, we see them as an interruption so that we can get along with our adult life. More and more, families are postponing marriage or not getting married at all and they’re postponing having children. We don’t see them as a blessing or a gift. We see them as an inconvenience or an interruption .

The bible says that they’re a blessing. Psalm 128:3-4 (ESV) “Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your children will be like olive shoots around your table. Behold, thus shall the man be blessed who fears the Lord.” That kind of family is like a beautiful garden; it’s a blessing to have a family like that. The bible says that we’re to see children as a blessing, as a gift.

What did Jesus think of children? But let’s just think about that question. What did Jesus think about them? He says this in Matthew 18:10 (ESV) “See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.” Here’s what He’s saying – God has His angels watching over the little ones and when you don’t receive them as the Lord wants you to, He knows about it. He sees it. How did Jesus treat children when parents would bring their children to be blessed by Him? The disciples were saying, ‘Jesus is busy with the adults right now.’ Jesus overhears that and He says to them in Matthew 19:14, But Jesus said, “Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven.” He took the children and He put them on His lap. He laid hands on them and He blessed them. He saw them as little souls with eternal value. He saw them before sin had taken its hold on them. He loved them. He saw that they’re a gift from God, a blessing, an inheritance, a reward.

Pastor Charles Spurgeon, that great preacher of the 1800’s said this about this passage. He said, “He gives children, not as a penalty nor as a burden, but as a favor. They are a token for good if men know how to receive them, and educate them. They are ‘doubtful blessings’ only because weare are doubtful persons. Where society is rightly ordered, children are regarded, not as an incumbrance, but as an inheritance; and they are received, not with regret, but as a reward.”

Kittie Frantz, in her writing, “Parenting is a sacred task,” says this, “You are not managing an inconvenience; you are raising a human being.” You’re raising someone who has eternal value before God, that God loved them so much that He gave them His son, Jesus, to die for them, that they might be in the right relationship with Him. Your Children are a gift. They are a blessing from the Lord.

I’m reminded of that story about Moses in the book of Exodus. Pharaoh had noticed that the children of Israel were populating very quickly. He was concerned that they might take over Egypt because they were having so many children, so, he put out an edict saying to the midwives that if it’s a boy child, kill him. No more boy children are to live. He was allowing the girls to be born but no more boy children. He put out an “abortion law,” if you will.

The parents of Moses had this little boy and they hid him for three months until somebody was going to notice. So, by faith in the Lord, they didn’t know what else to do but build a little boat, a little ark, put him on the river Nile and just hope the Lord would save him. He goes floating down the stream, down the river Nile and his sister goes running along beside him to see what would happen. He washes ashore where the princess of Egypt is down next to the water and she says, ‘Oh, it’s a little child.’ She takes him up, ‘Oh, he’s beautiful, but what will I do with this little child? I need a wet nurse.’ His sister comes running up and she says, ‘I know just the wet nurse.’ Moses’s mother gets to be the wet nurse that nurses him. That’s how God took care of baby Moses.

Then, in the book of Hebrews 11:23, it says this, “By faith Moses’ parents hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict.” The truth is there are no ordinary children. They’re all extraordinary and so were you because didn’t we all start out as children? Didn’t we all start out that way? There are no ordinary children and when we see them, we should look at them and think what eternal potential God has for this child. Regardless of what you see, be careful about how you speak to them. Be careful about the names you use when you talk to them. Make sure you’re blessing your children and not cursing them. See them as God’s blessing. Get the right attitude when it comes to your children.

3. Accept your role as God’s shepherd.

We’re still talking about how to receive our children from the Lord. We recognize our need for help. We embrace them as a blessing and then, finally, accept your role as God’s shepherd.

I’m a shepherd. I think that’s a good image for us. Actually, the psalmist uses a different metaphor in verse four, “Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth.” Do you see that word, “warrior?” In place of warrior, I’m kind of thinking more like a shepherd. If you think of David in the bible, he had to kill the bear and he had to kill the lion in order to protect his flock. So, a shepherd has to be a warrior, but a shepherd also has to be tender and lead, feed and care for the flock and has to leave the ninety-nine to care for the one. The shepherd has to lovingly take care of them when they’re sick. The shepherd lives with the flock. I thought “shepherd” might be the right imagery here. A “shepherd” would know how to defend the flock.

Certainly our children today are under assault by the culture and by the world. There’s a movie playing now that I haven’t seen, but it is on at the theater. It talks about child slavery and about how children are being enslaved around the world for sexual exploitation. It’s a dirty world that we live in. It’s an evil world that we live in and children are the most vulnerable and weak. They are the ones most often sinned against as a church family.

We need to be warriors and shepherds, watching over the flock of our children. Watching over them, protecting them, being careful about what goes in their ears and what goes in their eyes through media and other voices.

Accept your role as God’s shepherd. It’s a temporary role. It’s not a permanent role, although at times, it feels like it’ll never end. It’s a temporary stewardship because ultimately, your children belong to the Lord . They’re only loaned to you for a season. They’re on loan to us. We’re to shepherd them as belonging to the Lord already and to raise them up.

We have this image of arrows in the hand of a warrior. What do you do with an arrow? Where do you aim it? You aim it at the bull’s eye; you aim it at the target. What’s the target? Well, we’re aiming our kids at all kinds of things. A lot of us really want our kids to be able to play the violin in an orchestra, be on a professional soccer team and be able to win a gold medal in gymnastics. These are all good things. We want our kids to do all these things, but this doesn’t give them a free day or night. They very rarely have time to even be children and just play. Now, these are all good things. I’m not picking on any sport or musical instrument. I’m not. I’m just saying to be aware of this, that good things can often be the enemy of great things.

How often are you aiming your children at the bull’s eye of Jesus, aiming them back to the One who gave them to you, so that you’re making sure you’re carving out time around the dinner table, not just bringing them to church? That’s a good start. You might be thinking, It’s the church’s job to raise my children up to follow the Lord. The church is here to help you. But you are the church. The church is not the steeple, the church is the people. You’re the church.

We see young people today graduating from high school and they’ve been brought up going to church their whole life . They graduate from high school, leave the church and never come back. Why is that? It wasn’t the church’s fault. It is because they’re not seeing consistency in the home. They hear a little bit about Jesus on Sunday and then the rest of the week their parents don’t talk about it anymore.

The places that we see children staying faithful to the Lord is when they see “shepherds” modeling the Christian life. They see mom, dad and grandparents; they see leaders modeling it to them. They grow up as your children and then they turn into your best friends. Oh, if I could just give you that relationship that I have, that my wife and I have, with our three children; we’re best friends with our children now, but it didn’t start out that way.

Here’s what I want to say to you: If you’ll be their mommy and daddy when they’re little, you can be their friend when they’re grown, but if you try to be a friend with your toddler, you’ll have a hard time being friends with them when they’re grown. Take the responsibility to “shepherd” them.

It says in 1 Peter 5:2-3 (NIV) 2 “Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve; 3 not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock.” Now, Peter was primarily talking to the elders of the leaders in the church, but the church is God’s family. I think he could apply this to how you’re shepherding your family. Be willing to be the mommy or the daddy; to be the shepherd.

Look what he says about Abraham. Genesis 18:19 (ESV) “For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just…” God has put us in as a representative, as a steward . As one of his “under shepherds” to direct our children to take that responsibility seriously. So, stop trying to be your child’s friend and, instead, be their parent. Be God’s shepherd.

In his book, “Shepherding A Child’s Heart,” Dr. Tedd Tripp says this, “Parents must be willing to be in charge. Recognizing that God has called you as His agent defines your task as a parent. You shepherd your child on God’s behalf.” If you’ll discipline them when they’re two, you’ll have an easier time of it when they’re 12, but if you wait until they’re 12, you’ll have a really difficult time. If you wait until they’re 12 to start disciplining them, you’re going to have a really hard time.

Dads, you have to develop “the look.” You teach them from early on; you have to give them “the look.” You have to give them “the look,” so that they straighten up the minute you give them “the look.” It means that you get up a whole bunch of times. You say “no.” If you say to them, “Don’t make me count to 3. Ok, 1,2,3.” They wait until three before they move, by the way, so don’t even try that. Give them “the look.” When I would give “the look,” I

I remember, when we were at a previous church, Robin and I were still in our twenties and two of our kids were in the nursery. They didn’t have a children’s church, so our oldest one, Stephen, was sitting with a family in the second row that were friends of ours. Stephen is sitting down here with their little boy who is a year older than him. They were sitting together and my wife and I were in the choir. We were at a church where the choir stayed in the choir loft for the whole service. So Stephen is sitting down there. He’s 6 years old. I’m in the bass section and I’m looking down there at him. He’s poking and giggling with his friend and throwing paper wads. He’s acting up. So, I gave him “the look.” Three rows of people straightened up. Stephen straightened up and his friend did all also. After the service, I had like five or six people come up and ask me, “Are we ok? Are you mad at me about anything?” They must have grown up getting “the look.”

Do the hard work of being a shepherd. Do what you must do in order to discipline your children when they’re young, it’s exhausting. You have to ask for help from the Lord to give you the energy to do it. Eventually, the discipline that you give them, that external discipline that you provide becomes their self discipline.

Why don’t people have self discipline? It is probably because they weren’t disciplined by their parents when they were growing up; it becomes their self discipline. We owe it to them. A book that we give out to young parents is “Shepherding A Child’s Heart” by Ted Tripp. I highly recommend this book for your parenting library.

This past week for KidzFest, we aimed our kids, we aimed your kids, our kids together at a certain target. We aimed them at the good news about Jesus. This past Wednesday night, we gave them a clear presentation of the Gospel, to a drama from this stage and from a stage down the hall that we had for the younger kids to the breakout sessions in their classrooms. We gave a clear explanation of what it means to follow Jesus, that we’re all sinners, we all fall short of being able to do what God’s told us to do. We all have little problems with telling lies and wanting to take something that doesn’t belong to us or being mean to one of our siblings. We “put the cookies on the bottom shelf.” We’re all sinners, but Jesus died for our sins, He was raised from the grave and He lives today. He wants to come and live in you and save you. So, we shared this gospel message on Wednesday night. Don’t you think that was an important thing for us to do? In fact, everything we did, all of the entertainment, all of the signs and all of the stuff we did was all just to gain their attention, so that we could point them, like arrows, at a target named Jesus.

Are you curious to see and hear how that went? I’d like to share that with you. At the Wilson campus, we had 154 children attend this week, who attended our KidzFest. At our Rocky Mount campus, we had 44 children attend our KidzFest this week. So, we had 198 kids this week that we served. We had a volunteer for every kid at both campuses. We had the same number of volunteers that we had kids. That’s how committed our church family is to this event, making sure that we love on kids.

On Wednesday night, we had them fill out this form if they were able. We sent this information home with their parents. The information that we gave to them was the Good News in a very simple form. There were two possible responses to this information. Response one was: I decided today that I want to follow Jesus as my Lord and Savior. The second response was: I want to hear more about it. Also, I’d like to be baptized. So, at our Wilson campus, we had forty-four children say I want to follow Jesus. They made a decision to follow Jesus. This week, we had five that said ”I need more information.” I wanna follow, I want more, more information. What we did is, we sent the information home with the parents, letting them know the decision their child had made. You should have got an email and then we gave you some material to help you share the Gospel with them because they need to keep hearing it so they can grow in it and understand it.

It’s one thing for the church together to share it with them, but they need to keep hearing it and applying the Gospel to their life. Everything we did this week would be a complete waste, in my view, if we didn’t give children an opportunity to follow Jesus because He’s the target. He’s the goal that we’re aiming these little arrows at. There’s a lot of places that are good that you could aim for, but He’s the best. He’s superior. He’s the greatest gift of all. We want to raise our children. We want to shepherd them. We want to accept our role. It’s not the school’s job to educate our children. It’s not the church’s job. It’s our job as parents, as grandparents, as uncles and aunts to point our children to that which will matter for eternity. It’s the decision about what we are going to do with Jesus. That’s the greatest gift of all, that God gave His one and only Son, that those that would believe in Him could have eternal life. This is what we shared this week.

I’ve got this picture in my head of what this series looks like, that you would open your hand to God and receive children. Stop shaking your fist at God; open your hand to God and receive children as a gift from the Lord. Next week, we’ll talk about taking that child’s hand, when God gives you a child and you begin to raise them up in the Lord. Then, ultimately, in week three, we’ll talk about how to release them back to the Lord, so now they belong to the Lord.

My job is a temporary stewardship, the shepherding job. I’ve got my hand holding on to Jesus and I’m holding on to this child. My goal, my job is to raise them up to one day take hold of the hand of Jesus, they begin to follow Him, they are able to call God “Father” and now I’m their friend. I’m their helper. Now, I’m helping them raise their children. It’s a beautiful thing. It’s a blessing. It’s a heritage. It’s a legacy. It’s a wonderful thing to raise up your children as a gift from the Lord. To receive them in such a way, but you can’t do it without His help. It’s the grace of God that makes it possible to have what God’s talking about here in our family. It starts with you.

First of all, are you connected to God? Are you right with the Father? Are you a child of God through faith in Jesus Christ? You can’t pass on what you don’t already have. Have you already opened your hand to God and received Him as your Lord and Savior through Jesus Christ? Have you done that? How are you going to hand off that “baton of faith” to your child if you’ve never taken hold of it yourself? That’s the first step before you can really get this. That’s where it starts.

Some of you are here today and you’ve received Jesus, but you’ve got a teenager right now and you can’t figure out what to do or you’ve got a toddler and you don’t think you’re going to survive. Remember to take hold of His hand and ask for help. Ask Him to give you the keys to that child’s heart, so you can figure out how to listen to them.

The book of Proverbs says, “Raise up a child in the way he should go and when he’s old, he’ll not depart from it . ” I think that really has two ideas. One is the way he should go is towards the Lord. You should teach him that, but it also has the way he should go or the way she should go. There’s something about the shape of that child’s personality that means they’re all unique. If you’ve had children, you know this to be true. Find out what their shape is, take time to hear them and listen and help to guide them and point them towards the Lord.

It’s a blessing to have a “quiver” full. Someone has written that the Hebrew quiver held five arrows; a Hebrew quiver full had five kids. Someone else has said if you’re going to obey the Old Testament Law to fill the earth and multiply, if you have one, that’s subtraction. If you have two, you’re breaking even. If you have three, that’s addition. You need to have at least four to multiply. Well, I don’t know about all of that but I know this, the more the merrier. Let’s have kids. Let’s raise them up in the Lord. Let’s be the kind of church that sees children as a gift from the Lord. We’re gonna keep being a church that reaches out to our community.

Did you know that 65% of the children that came to our campus last week don’t go to our church. Did you know that? We had them bused in from The Spot and from Hattie Daniels. We went and did outreaches around the town. You invited friends. We’re so excited about that. We didn’t want to just have a VBS for our kids. We wanted it to be an outreach to the whole city. We did that because children are a gift from the Lord.

Let’s pray. Let’s talk to God. Father, I pray, first of all, for that mom, that dad, that grandparent who is hearing this message through a certain lens. Maybe one I didn’t anticipate, but it’s pointing them towards their need for You. They’ve never given their life to You. Let’s start there today. My friend, right where you’re at, right in your seat or maybe you’re watching online or in the next room, you can make a decision right now to give your life to Jesus. You can do it right now. Prayer is just an expression of your faith. Pray like this, “Dear Lord Jesus, I’m a sinner. I need a Savior. I believe that You died on the cross for my sin, that You were raised from the grave and that You live today. Come and live in me. I invite You to be my Lord and Savior. Forgive me of my sins. Make me the person You want me to be . I want to be a child of God. Thank You for saving me.” If you’re praying that prayer, believing, He’ll adopt you into the family. He’ll empower you; He’ll strengthen you. There are those who are here and you’ve done that. You’ve received the Lord, you’re a follower of Jesus, but this parenting thing has gotten the best of you. Would you lift up the details to Him right now and say, “Lord, I need help right here, right in this spot with this toddler, with this middle schooler, with this teenager.” There might be a grandparent that’s here today, brokenhearted, because your son or daughter has children now and they’re not raising them in the Lord and you’re broken about it. “Lord, I pray that I’ll be able to be a witness to my grandchild, to my grandson, my granddaughter and that there would be a witness around them. I pray for my son or daughter to get their life in order. Lord, we need help raising our children . ” Pray specifically; ask for help. There might be someone here today that’s gone through a divorce and you have a blended family; it’s complicated or maybe you’re still going through it. Be specific. “Lord, I need help right here. with this situation. I want to be a shepherd to my children. Protect my children. I want to raise them up to follow You. We’re being specific, Lord. We love You. We thank You, In Jesus’ name. Amen.