Sermons
Will My Children and Grandchildren Be Christians?
Will My Children and Grandchildren Be Christians?
Deut. 6:1-3
Introduction:
1. One of the gravest questions confronting Christian parents is, “Will my children and grandchildren be Christians?”
2. We live in a world that seems to be ever increasingly more secular.
3. Everyone recognizes that the society in which we live influences us.
a. Some have attempted to withdraw into their private communities (ex. Shakers,
monks, nuns).
b. Others have tried to reduce contact with society by lessening the level of
technology used in their communities (Amish, Mennonites).
c. Private Christian schools and home schooling are popular attempts to control the
influx of secular values into families.
4. But the flood keeps coming despite our dams, levies, and sandbags to the contrary. What can the people of God do? What can parents do? Are we doomed to drown in the secular flood?
Discussion:
I. The problem.
A. Sociologist Stephen Bullivant in his book “nonverts” states, “According to the
biennial General Social Survey, in 2018 a third of 18-to-29 year olds cited ‘no
religion’ as their personal ‘religious preference.’ The 2021 data are even more
striking, with 30% of all adults and 44% of 18-to-29 year olds identifying as
nones” (pp. 7-8).
B. Jim Davis and Michael Graham in their book, The Great Dechurching, observe,
“40 million US adults used to go to church but no longer do” (p. xxii).
C. Both studies categorize people into common religious groups: Mormons,
Catholics, Methodists, Lutherans, Presbyterians, Evangelicals, Protestants,
others, etc. It seems the classification does not matter. The trend is away and
the “none” group is growing. There are probably many different reasons for this
shift.
D. While churches of Christ are not studied, I suspicion that our trend is in a similar
direction. Just imagine the size of the congregation if we kept all our young
people. And I realize that many worship at other places . . ., but we are all
concerned about the faith of our children.
E. Christian Smith, et.al. has said, “The single most important measurable factor
determining the religion and spiritual lives of teenagers and young adults is the
religious faith, commitment, and practices of their parents” (Smith, Longest, Hill,
Christofferson, Young Catholic America (2018), pp. 317-32.
F. There is some evidence that dad’s religiosity is particularly influential.
G. We are not surprised by such observations considering the text of Scripture.
II. God, as a Father, is concerned about His children and their faith too.
A. The first several chapters of Deuteronomy evidence God’s concern and
emphasize foundational elements that perpetuate faith intergenerationally.
B. This section of Scripture recognizes the problems that lead to a loss of faith.
Problems, that, in my judgement, we have not given enough attention to.
C. God has brought His children out of Egyptian bondage. Quickly He begins to
give them instruction. Moses is on Mount Sinai receiving God’s instruction when
they build a golden calf and begin to worship it. Undoubtedly, this reflects the
influence of the Egyptian culture that they have just come from.
D. God will bring them into the land of Canaan. But here too they will be tempted
with foreign cultural influences.
E. There is the need for much instruction.
III. The first thing I see God communicating to Israel in Deuteronomy is His goodness.
A. He had made promises and was fulfilling them (1:8ff).
1. He had blessed them, even though they had acted unfaithfully (2:7).
2. He was giving them a land flowing with milk and honey.
3. He taught them so that they would have wisdom and understanding (4:5-8).
4. They were to remember (4:9ff).
5. He was compassionate and faithful (4:30-31).
B. All His acts were for their benefit (4:40)
1. The instruction that He gave was that they might live and prosper and prolong
their days (5:32-33).
2. This is the model for us as parents, teachers, and influencers of coming
generations.
a. We must communicate God as compassionate and faithful.
b. That means we must BE compassionate and faithful!!!
3. This is such a fundamental lesson. If we do not get this message across we
undermine the whole message of faith.
4. We must have our children’s best interest at heart. We should not be
motivated by our selfish concerns, but what is beneficial for them. See Deut.
6:3, 24. This is a hard message to communicate. Even God had problems
getting Israel to understand this. All the statutes and ordinances and
commandments that God gave were for the benefit of His children.
5. Notice the description of the goodness of God in 7:7-11.
III. Just as God communicated these to His children so we too have responsibility to communicate them to our children and grandchildren (Deut. 6:2, 4-9).
A. Since these are to be communicated to children and grandchild it would seem
that parents and grandparents have a peculiar responsibility here.
1. While the church is certainly interested in communicating the things of God it
is parents and grandparents that have primary interest.
2. The role of the church is supportive certainly. But parents should not expect
the church to do their work. Cf. parents who drop off children.
B. The Lord’s words are to be on parents’ hearts (6). If not on our hearts it is
unlikely that they will be on our children’s hearts.
C. We are to teach them diligently. This seems to carry the idea at some level of
“formal” teaching. We cannot teach what we do not know.
D. We are to talk of them when we sit in our house and when we walk by the way.
This suggests something “informal.”
E. We are to talk of them when we sit, walk by the way, lie down, and when we rise
up. Constant reminders are to be present as the Lord’s words permeate our
lives.
F. They are to be readily at hand, on our forehead, on our doorposts and on our
gates. These words are part of us and our places.
G. It is appropriate that our children see our vulnerability before God. To know of
our humility before God. They are going to see our sin. They need to see us
as those dependent and in need of the Lord. They can learn respect for us and
the Lord in this way.
Conclusion:
1. This lesson just begins to scratch the surface of this important topic.
2. It says that there is an issue and that we have a responsibility.
3. There are many questions as to how to go about fulfilling our responsibility.
4. This afternoon I want you to think about how your parents influenced you. How did your dad influence you? Your mom? Your grandparents? I have some questions that I want to ask you. At the top of the page I said, “What is your story?” That’s what we will address this evening.
5. In future lessons I want to come back to Deut. 6-7 and notice some problems that God anticipated with His children and notice His instruction to them.
What Is Your Story?
Deut. 6:4-9 Brief review of previous study.
1. In what way did/are your parents (mother, father) influence/influencing your relationship with the Lord? Positively. Negatively.
2. What would you like to change about the way your parents influenced you? As a parent what would you like to do differently with your children?
3. What was the role of your grandparents in your relationship with the Lord?
4. What are some things that you would like to say to parents of young children to encourage them in the training of their children?
5. What are some things that you wish you had done differently with your children? What are some things that you did that you would recommend to others?
