New Blog...Aren't you excited?!?!

So this is going to be my weekly sermon summary...
This week's sermon was from Joshua 24:15
"As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord"

He spoke mostly to the parents in the audience who are trying to raise their children in the church. He talked on how we need to be responsible to God in order to produce Godly children. What our children are being taught in all other aspects of their daily life is that there is no absolutes...that God's "law" has been replaced by God's "Love". He said we have replaced being respected by our children for be liked by them. We are not friends we are parents. With being a parent comes friendship. Not the other way around

Ephesians 6:1 says:
1Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2"Honor your father and mother"—which is the first commandment with a promise— 3"that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth."[a] 4Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.
Don't give up on your children just because they reach that magical age of 18. We need to continue to teach for as long as we are living.

He said that even the Old Testament laws were upheld even in the New Testament in the book of Matthew 5.

The Fulfillment of the Law
17 "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. 19 Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven."

Teaching like these nullify God's expectations of what we are to be like as Christians. TEACH your children as it is said,

Deuteronomy 4:9-10

9 Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them. 10 Remember the day you stood before the LORD your God at Horeb, when he said to me, "Assemble the people before me to hear my words so that they may learn to revere me as long as they live in the land and may teach them to their children."

Deuteronomy 6:6-7
6 These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.

If we fail to teach our children the word of God the following will result

1. Darkness in their soul
2. Lessened understanding of God's perspective
3. Human standards replace divine standards
4. The will spend their life in a frantic and frustrated search for happiness
5. They will devise their own system for pleasing God, more alienated from the Bible

So that is the summary...or what I gathered from it. I really enjoy the way he puts things and backs everything with scripture. It is like these last few years for me have been "light bulb" moments when it comes to church, I am finally getting it. So I guess what I was thinking after this sermon was, if we question the right or wrong in something that we are teaching them, first we need to search out the answer in the bible, pray about it and if still unsure of the answer...stick with the side of caution. I don't want to be a stumbling block for my children or their children. I want to be able to show them what is right and wrong and not teach them what is the just OK stuff because that can be where they will stray. The gray area is what makes so many of us stray and wonder...if it is OK for some and not OK for all, so who is right? Teach them to have an open mind to the things that others believe but to KNOW what they believe so that they can be an example to those who are not sure on their beliefs. (Does that make sense?)
I guess I better stop because I am afraid that I am not getting my point across and the more I talk sometimes the more confused people seem to get. Shhh....I tell myself.

One more thing...The song "Your grace still amazes me" has been added back for you Angie.