Hi everyone! I enjoyed reading your thoughts last week. Here’s the ideas for the “Family of Purpose” from Sunday. In my message “The Shriveling Center” we reflected on how Eve was tempted by Satan to be “like God”--in effect to take God’s place or at least to be a peer of God. We talked of how we self-destruct when we try to be God and we find life when Jesus is at the center of our lives! This is what real faith is and if we are to see it transfer to the next generation we need to have this real faith; this experience of having Jesus at the center! Here are some of the questions that I put out there in the “Family of Purpose” section. I’m curious to hear your thoughts!
1.What makes one family able to get along and close to each other while another family seems so distant from each other?
2. What family do we know that seems to be transferring the faith from generation to generation? What is it about them that could help our family?
3. Memorize verses like: Deuteronomy 6:4-5; Proverbs 4:23; 1 Corinthians 10:31.
4. How can we help our kids understand that Jesus really is the center of our lives?
Do all to the glory of God!
Pastor Rick
To listen to Pastor Rick's sermon from Sunday, April 13, 2008 click here.
To read the PDF transcript of the sermon click here.
2 comments:
As I look at this question, I think about the reported faith of the grandparents I never knew. My grandfather came to the US to have freedom of opportunity and freedom to not be Lutheran. He was Baptist and married another Dane who had come over to escape family issues. They became integral members of the Danish Baptist church in Clarks Gove, MN. Their home was Christ centered and my grandmother in paricular was renowned for her faith and Christian character. In one sense I see that passed on to my mother, then to me, and then to my daughter. That would make the connections clear and pure, but that has not been the case. Of Sophie's 12 children, only four remained in Baptist-like traditions over time. Some stayed involved in churches of their spouses, but others pretty much walked away from their faith, some until their dying day.
I wonder, what made the difference. My mother spent longer at home under her mother's influence, not completely leaving until she was in her 30s. Most of the rest left early for economic reasons. One somewhat clear definer seems to be the spouse. Some who left their Baptist heritage just acquiesced to their spouses' belief system.
I wonder if my grandfather's strictness with the sons, and perhaps some extremely harsh actions toward the younger ones after he had suffered multiple strokes might have pushed them out of the home and away from their faith.
It was a different time, but I think there are some lessons to be taken. My grandmother modeled a Christian walk and was beloved and respected within the church and the community. Her husband shared her faith, but perhaps with an austerity and rigidity that did not endear that faith in his sons.
I enjoyed your post! Your multi-generational story reminds me that there is a basic reactionary principle between the generations. That is, kids often grow up thinking that the last thing they want to become is their parents. When the parent's faith is not authentic and passionate the result can be negative, especially if the younger generation is growing up in a time in which its generation is strongly reacting to those before (such as what happened in the 1960s).
Ultimately no one understands the inner workings of the human heart but the Lord alone. And yet we would be amiss to just "leave the next generation to God." Clearly we are to call the next generation to follow Christ. Perhaps one of the best ways to call them to follow Christ is to remind them that the generations following them will need their authentic, passionate example and leadership. Therefore, it is vital that they faithfully follow Christ.
Any other thoughts?
Pastor Rick
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