As we head towards our day of “Church on the Green” one of our worship leaders found a song that reminds us just how much God wants to do in our communities.

Played over local visuals, this song was a powerful way to start a service

The song is ‘God of the City’ – this version is by Chris Tomlin

Speaker: Andrew Brown
Key Passage: Hebrew 11:23-30
Date: 28 Feb 2010

Elevator: We can stand up for Jesus when we do it together

Many of you will have heard the story of the Emperors new clothes.  According to the story the Emperor loved new clothes.  He wanted to wear the very latest fashion.  Some fraudsters came along and said they could make the most beautiful clothes for him, but that they would be invisible to the unsophisticated and only the most trendy people could see them.  They pretended to make the invisible clothes and put the king’s money straight in their own pockets.

The Emperor then put on a parade to show off these brand new clothes.  No one wanted to appear dumb and unsophisticated so they all went “Um” and “Arh.”  But there was one child who had the courage and the honesty to cry out “The Emperors got no clothes (on).”  He broke the spell and people burst out laughing as they realised how dumb they had been.

That tale, of ‘The Emperor’s new clothes’, shows us that it took the courage of just one young boy to show the people that they had believed in a lie.  I believe that we need young people like that in every generation who will challenge the predominant lie.  -Because in NZ we have swallowed an enormous lie.

When I was growing up there was a kids’ rhyme that went, “There was an old lady who swallowed a fly… perhaps she’ll die.”  It talked about all the things the woman swallowed because of that fly –a frog, a bird, a cat, a dog, so that she eventually died.

Well, many of the people around us at work and at school have swallowed the lie that there is no God, and if there is one, He doesn’t matter much at all.  As result parts of our beautiful land are a spiritual wasteland.  Many people’s lives are like husks.  They look pretty good on the outside, but on the inside (in God’s eyes) they have spiritually died.

And we need to ask who is going to stand up in this next generation and tell them that they have believed the world’s lie and that God has a much better plan for their lives?  Who is going to tell them that they do not need to miss the boat and spend an eternity separated from God in hell -and what can we do to support them?

Strangely enough Moses in today’s reading faced a similar situation that many young people face today.  You might think of him as an old Sunday School character or even a cartoon figure.  We watched a DVD about Moses at Socket just recently, but he was one of the most outstanding men of his day and age.  Even though he was adopted, he was what you would call a ‘most promising young man.’

He had power.  Moses was adopted by the Egyptian royal family, which made him royalty –a bit like Prince William or Prince Harry.  He would have been like the Obama’s daughters, Malia and Natasha, used to going in and out of the Whitehouse each day.  Except that the Egyptian royal family was considered divine, so he might have been considered a descendant of the great god Amen-Ra.  You would have to bow down before him.

He was immensely wealthy.  Egypt was one of the world two or three great superpowers of the time.  He was in one of the richest families in the world –a bit like being one of Bill Gate’s kids.  He was bright.  His education would have been second to none.  He would have attended one of the world’s greatest universities with all the best tutors –the Harvard or Oxford of his time.

And on top of that he had opportunity.  As a teen or a young person in his twenties he had shares in all the ancient cultural treasures of Egypt.  It was all that any young person would dream of.  The world was his oyster!

Yet the Bible says, “(24) By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter.  (25) He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time. (26) He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward.”

In effect Moses understood that amazing as Egyptian society was, it had been laid on the wrong foundations.  Sure it had impressive achievements, but in its heart of hearts it did not know God or understand Him.  In fact you could say he was a bit of a rebel.  Something inside him told him that Yahweh (God) had a greater purpose for his life.

And today many young people still face the same choice.  Do I chase after all that this world system has to offer or in the end ‘do I want what God truly has to offer –eternal life in this world and the next?’

Now that’s not to say that Christians can’t be very rich and influential, and have happy lives.  Some of the greatest leaders in the Bible and in the world today are followers of Jesus, but they’ve learnt is to march to a different drumbeat.  The world whispers its promises…“You’ll be happy.  You’ll be safe.  You’ll be secure, if you play life our way.”

There’s no guarantee of course that the world will ever deliver.  But Moses simply had the courage and the honestly to say, “Stuff you.  I think you’re wrong.  So I’m going to play it God’s way from here on in.”  And so the Bible says, “By faith Moses refused…” and he identified with God’s people.

Moses risked an enormous amount for following God.  Ultimately he gained so much more, but what could cause a young man to make this momentous decision?  What could empower a young person asking himself ‘who do I follow’ to choose God instead of the ‘beautiful people’?  There were two things.

1. Firstly Moses had a family who had faith. Moses had a family who understood that his identity as a Son of God was far more important than his identity as a son of Pharaoh, and they were prepared to overcome every human obstacle in order to help him know who he was.  Look at verse 23.  It says, “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.”

Here in only a few short words is what tells us is that they risked their lives for Him.  They did not kill him when they were meant to thereby breaking Pharaoh’s law.  They dedicated him to God and released him upon the Nile.  They followed the vulnerable little craft away from their home.  They boldly approached the Pharaoh’s own daughter to offer to be a wet nurse for him, and in secret they instructed him and told him who he truly was.  Stolen moment by stolen moment they instilled in him his spiritual sense of identity.

Now few of you parents have ever had to go to the same kind of lengths that they did.  A few of you do battle with ex-spouses and with sports to have the kids with you on a Sunday so that they can at least attend worship, but the important thing is that they took some risks.  They explained to him the faith, and in doing so they carried on a tradition that the followers of God have always followed.

For example, Christianity first arrived in Japan in 1549.  Within 50 years it was completely banned.  Ministers were executed or exiled.  The Japanese Emperor killed 40,000 Christians in order to wipe out the faith.  But it survived underground.  200 years later when freedom of religion was granted, around about 200,000 people were still following Christ.  How had they survived without ministers and churches?  They had passed it on –father to son, mother to daughter for over two centuries.

Likewise in New Zealand.  When the UK settlers first arrived in NZ, they didn’t all have churches and priests.  Many people lived miles from town centres on farms.  So who what was one of the strongest Christian movements?  It was the Brethren.  All you needed was a man to speak from his Bible and a few folk to gather and sing, and that’s how many farming folk passed on their faith to the next generation.

So those of you who are parents and grandparents today –you come from a long line of families who have passing on their faith.  You come from that background and you need to uphold it.  Moses had parents who went to great lengths to teach him who he was.  So should we.

2. But the other thing that Moses had going in his favour was the presence of a real faith community. In addition to his family he knew people who passionately believed in God.  This is not that obvious from the text, but Moses had people of God to look up to and to learn from.

You see it’s one thing for a young person to think yes, I’m from a Hebrew or a Christian background and that’s a part of me.  It’s another thing to actually say, “That’s who I want to be.”  So put yourself in Moses shoes.  Moses must have looked at the greatness of Egypt and then at the Hebrew community and thought, “You’re crazy!”  Is this what I’m supposed to be?  -Because if we are honest they did not have a lot to offer.  Really!

The Jews were poor, oppressed manual labourers.  Their lot in life wasn’t particularly attractive.  They were the scum, the untouchables, the bottom feeders of Egyptian society.  Think of it this way.  In some periods of Egyptian history, personal pyramids or tombs were very popular.  Every nobleman had them.  Did Moses want to associate with the people who were having pyramids built for them, or with the slaves who suffered building the pyramids?

There’s a saying that people usually shout their support for the underdogs (you’ve probably seen that at rugby matches), but they choose to run with the top dogs.  Moses was no different.  He was only a teenager making choices, so what convinced him to go with God?

Well, the Hebrew people might have been oppressed, but they had one thing going for them.  The Bible tells us that the Hebrew people had been changing over time.  They were becoming more devout.  So as the workload increased ‘did they cry out to their supervisors?’  Yes, but they stopped when they weren’t listening.  ‘Did they cry out to Pharaoh?’  Probably or a while, but then they figured out that Pharaoh wasn’t listening they stopped that too.

So in the end who did they cry out to?  You can read the answer in Exodus 3:7. “The Lord said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt.  I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering.” The Hebrews cried out to God!  The only good thing they had going for them was that their faith was real, and that’s what Moses saw faith loud and clear.

And it’s very similar today.  A young person who is considering where to go in life spiritually has only one critical question to ask of each of you, “Is it real?  Is it real?”  That’s why children and young people need relationships with you, to hear your stories, to hear about the good times and the bad times and how you meet God in them.  They need you.  They need to see how your faith in God works out in your life.  They need to hear about your faith experiences to help them make the right decisions about God.

And look, you don’t have to be a super-saint to do this.  Goodness knows the Hebrew people weren’t saints.  They even fought with and killed each at times, but they let Moses see their living faith.  Do you think you can do that with our young people?

So Moses made His decision to identify with God’s people.  He had his defining moment when an overseer attacked a Hebrew slave and Moses retaliated.  It was there that he made his choice.  Later on as a result he left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel, and he lead the people through the Red Sea as if on dry land leaving the Egyptians far behind them.  What can we learn from all of this?

For the young people here today -Moses is often remembered in churches and synagogues as a colossus in world history.  He is in one sense the founder of Judaism, the creator of the ancient nation of Israel and is one of the ancient world’s greatest leaders.  He is respected by three major world faiths, that’s by over 1 billion people, but there was a time in his life when he was uncertain and confused as anyone else about himself, about his direction in life and whether he would believe in God and or not.  Like you, two paths lay open at his feet.

Moses could easily have chosen to serve the ways of this world and surrendered to its lies, but he was made of stronger stuff.  If he had, today some insignificant archaeologist would be saying somewhere, “this mouldy old mummy was some stepson of Pharaoh Rameses.”  But instead when Moses took hold of his faith and decided to go with God and His people he entered the pages of God’s book of history.

From that day his life began to make a difference, and that decision, believe or not, as impacts even upon your life today.  So choose life; choose significance, choose to follow God.

Now to you parents, sometimes I know it’s easy to become discouraged.  The world and the media have got a lot more money than you with which to tempt your children.  There is a lot of anti-God talk at times.  Sometimes when your children’s hormones are kicking in, you can feel like the whole task facing you is impossible.

The word to you from this passage is “Don’t.  Don’t.”  Don’t be dis-empowered by your own lack of belief.  Don’t give in to the opposition.  Moses parents overcome their enormous obstacles to show Moses the right way to go.  You can too.  By faith decide to do whatever it takes to train your family in the ways of God.  By faith be determined to see that God will bless your kids in your family and in this church.  By faith believe that God has a better plan for their lives, and like Winston Churchill do whatever it takes and never, ever give up on that dream!

And finally to the church –our young people need your stories.  Our young people need your wisdom.  Our young people need to see into your lives (even if they deny it).  If they go off to a youth based church, the statistical odds are that they will begin to believe the worlds lies within the next three years and drift away from God.  It is actually in an intergenerational church that welcomes them that young people have the best chance to flourish and grow in Christ.

The thing is that you get to decide if PBC will be that kind of church.  So open your lives.  Open your hearts to our children and our youth.  Just get to know them –they’re fabulous people!  But you get to choose.

Just to finish, next Sunday at 9:30am we are having a half hour worship service followed by an International Children’s Day festival.  Some people understand why we are doing this.  Others do not.  There are a number of reasons why we are doing this such as community outreach and the kindergarten families, but for me one major reason is this.

The Bible believes that the young people in here and out there have a special purpose and destiny as children of God that higher and more important than anything else that the world has to offer.  They were made to serve the living God and Him alone.  It’s the highest calling there is.  Let’s make sure they know that!

Speaker: Andrew Brown
Key Passage: 2 Timothy 2:2
Date: 21 Feb 2010

Elevator: A disciple of Jesus is someone who disciples

In recent years there has been quite a bit of debate in academic circles over the use of the word ‘Christian.’  Some people think its too exclusive and puts unnecessary barriers between people and Jesus.  It builds walls.  Becoming a Christian can look like a Chinese man having to become an African, or a Kiwi an Indian.  So people have started using the term ‘Follower of Jesus’ in recent years.  That way you can say, “I’m a follower of Jesus from a Chinese, Maori, Muslim or Buddhist background.”  It sounds more inclusive, but if you’re playing with words, ‘follower of Jesus’ also has some problems.  It misses out some important meanings.

For instance, ‘what does it mean to follow Jesus?”  Let’s look at two scenarios.  Which one is following Jesus?  Scenario: 1.  Guy follows Jesus around, 2.  Guy does what Jesus is doing (keeps checking).  Which one is actually following Him?  Let’s have a show of hands.  Who says 1?  Who says 2?  The second one is the correct one.

Why is this so?  Because a follower of Jesus is not someone who simply ‘believes’ in Jesus or who ‘follows’ Him –a ‘follower’ or a ‘Christian’ is someone who ‘copies’ Him.  They imitate Jesus and they do what Jesus is doing.

1. That’s why I often prefer the word ‘disciple’ for followers of Jesus. It has a broader meaning and this is also what Christians or ‘followers of Jesus’ are often called in the Bible.  For example, many of you will be familiar with Jesus twelve disciples.  There were the crowds who came to listen to Jesus and then there were the disciples who learnt from Him personally.  The word ‘disciple’ means a pupil, a student, an adherent or apprentice -one who is willing to learn to become like their teacher and to do what they have been taught.  The New Testament tells us that Jesus called them, taught them, showed them how to do in, i.e. trained them, and then sent them out to build the Kingdom of God like He was.

But notice that the followers of Jesus who came later were also called ‘disciples.’  Acts 6:1 tells us “(1) In those days… the number of disciples was increasing.” Acts 11:26 says, “(26) The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.” And in Acts 18:23 it says “(23) After spending some time in Antioch, Paul set out from there and travelled from place to place… strengthening all the disciples.”

One of the best examples of what being a disciple means is contained in the words that Paul writes to his protégé Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:2.  He says, (1) You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. [Banner]  (2) And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others.” So a disciple of Jesus is someone takes from what they have been taught and passes it on to others who will in turn yet more.  A true ‘Christian’, a true ‘follower of Jesus’ is a ‘disciple’ who is still learning, but is now discipling others.

So why I am I talking about this?  Well, over this month we are looking at what it takes to be an Orange Church.  In other words ‘how do we combine the red heart of the family with the yellow light of the church to create a more powerful combination for reaching the next generation?’  Last week we talked about what it means to be an orange family –a family who raises their children to follow God in partnership with their local church.  That topic may not have been completely relevant to all of you, but it is critical that every one of you understand today’s topic, because not only will PBC fail to be an effective church if you fail to gasp this, but you will fail to achieve your purpose as a disciple of Jesus if you do not understand that you are called to disciple others.

2. So what is discipling? What forms does discipling like?

Well in the business world this kind of thing can take on many different forms, and these can give you an idea of what it is like –some of the dimensions.  There is the teacher who instructs someone in new information.  There is the trainer who helps someone learn new behaviours and skills.  There is the consultant who makes specific recommendations on how challenges can be overcome and improvements made.  A counsellor helps someone recover from a previous or current event that prevents them from functioning at their best, while mentors share what they have learnt along the way with someone less experienced.  Coaches help people assess their life situation and improve their skills so they can make big picture changes they need to.

But to keep things simple I really like an illustration that Gareth shared with me recently.  He might tell you more about it himself soon, but he described discipling like you teaching someone how to drive.  You are right beside them, but they do the driving.  You give input and advice, but they make the decisions.  They can ask you for help sometimes, or they may choose not to, but you both evaluate how they are doing as you go along.  The only difference is that instead to helping them learn how to drive, you are helping them to get the hang of being a Christian.

The main characteristics of discipling are that you get together regularly with someone at a different level in the Christian faith.  It might be in different venues like the church, coffee shops, McDonalds or a home, basically anywhere, but you begin to let down your guard and to trust each other.  Over time you learn to talk about life and faith and what the Bible has to say about both.  You usually share your challenges and learning’s, and hopefully along the way you have some fun!

For example try and think of someone who invested in your life earlier on.  Can you think of someone?  You probably saw them fairly often.  You most likely mixed with them in a variety of situations.  There developed a level of openness and trust so that you could ask questions of them.  They were happy to talk about their experiences and what they had learnt from the Bible and others.  As a result you grew.  Well, now that’s what Jesus expects you to do for others.

3. Why disciple/mentor?  (Gareth)

a. Mentoring is Biblical

How do you become like Jesus?  Mark 3:14 – “Jesus chose them to be with him”

I think we can call this mentoring.  o       the Disciples witnessed:

§       Jesus’ time with the Father   §       his work

§       his relationships

o       Jesus gave them responsibilities to stretch them, then called them back in to talk about how it went. (Luke 10)

Acts 4:13 – Peter and John have been arrested and are being questioned for preaching about Christ. “When [the religious guys] saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.” Ordinary// ἰδιώτης (idiotes – Gr) What made them extraordinary is who they’d been with.

·       Disciples were common people, not scholars – Jesus took these and made them world changers

·       1 Cor 11:1 – “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.” – living example

b. Mentoring is Practical

·       Discipleship is not just learning; it is becoming.

o       Can’t become a great artist/chef if you never paint/cook

o       What better way to learn than to witness a great at work and absorb their influence?

o       Like an apprenticeship – see the work being done before you try it yourself

·       You can know just about anything from the internet today (although maybe not reliable) and yet how do you know what a person is meant to be like?

·       Young people crying out for role models

o       Give young people a chance to ask questions

o       Adolescence involves forming own identity – chance to show them your identity:

§       the things you decide are important

§       how you respond in all sorts of situations

§       who you are!

C. Mentoring is relational

·       Youth ministry e.g. Integration of students finishing high school

·       Bonds of trust and honesty – real with each other e.g. Eastercamp story

·       Overall, church is the biggest winner – it’s that synergy Andrew was talking about. Maize maze story – can help direct others in the right way

4. (Andrew) So if discipling or mentoring is so important where do you begin?  How do you make a start?

An important thing to remember is that this is a normal behaviour, but it is also a learned behaviour.  Some of you are already doing it.  In fact you may be doing it quite naturally without even thinking about it.  You might be the kind of person who gets together with other Christians on a regular basis and talks about spiritual and other matters.  But for those of you who don’t do it, it is quite easy to learn.

You can do it informally or formally.

In an informal situation sense you start by showing an interest in another younger Christian (the same sex as you) in the church.  That means creating opportunities where you can chat with them; find out who they are and what they are doing.  Over time you develop a friendship where you can talk about faith as a normal part of conversation.  Typical things you would cover would be what has been a spiritual highlight for you lately?  What has been a challenge and what is God saying to you at the moment?  Over time you an offer to get together regularly to talk about life and things, and if accepted you do this for as long as it is valuable for the other person.

But for those of you who would like to be part a more formal, defined opportunity… (Gareth)

An Opportunity to be involved in mentoring

What it is – matchmaking service.

Who can take part – maybe you are already teamed up with someone informally!

Scared? What’s the worst that could happen?

Share your life! Your legacy ends with you if you refuse to pass on what you’ve gained.

C. (Andrew) I hope we’ve made it clear today that is it is Christ’s expectation that every one of you will be discipling someone else. For quite a few of you this will be your children, but for everyone else you need to find someone in order to follow Jesus.  It might be someone in this room or it might even be someone who is not yet a disciple of Jesus!  You may not be discipling anyone right now, but the critical thing is that you start doing it as soon as possible.

To round things off I want to say this.  Just this week I was reading in Luke 9 the account of the ‘Feeding the five thousand.’  Jesus had gone into the countryside to teach.  A large crowd had followed Him.  As time went by they got hungry and so the disciples told Jesus about this.  Jesus said, “You feed them.”  They replied, “We can’t feed them all.  We only have two loaves and fishes!”  So Jesus prayed.  He had them break them into more manageable groups of fifty.  They fed them and they found they had more than enough food left over.

The analogy is that God wants you to disciple and to help spiritually feed other people.  You may be worried about that, but you don’t have to do it for the whole crowd –just a few.  These people are often ones that God has already placed around you.  Now you might feel inadequate (and think ‘what can I offer?’), but all Jesus asks is that you present the little knowledge and life experience that you have to God.  Then pray and get to know those younger disciples of Jesus around you.  Leave the spiritual results to Him!

Would you please bow your heads?  Please take a moment to ask God for a name or names of someone you can start keeping an eye on this week…a younger Christian with whom you can make a connexion …hopefully establish a friendship where you can input into their life…  “Amen.”

Speaker: Andrew Brown
Key Passage: 1 Thess. 2:6b-12
Date: 14 Feb 2010

Elevator: Every kid needs key spiritual relationships

I. Last week we talked about how if you combine the red heart of the family with the yellow light of the church you create a powerful new combination that we call ‘orange.’  This combination is far more effective than either on it’s own at spiritually uplifting the next generation.

Now many of you know this, but to quite a few of you this concept is completely new.  It’s not what you were taught or grew up with.  It’s not all that familiar.  What we are talking about is making a complete paradigm change in the way that we disciple our kids and each other.  It’s a new way of seeing and thinking.

I think it’s important at the outset today to talk about why this is so important.

The first reason is biblical.  In 1 Thess. 2:6-12 Paul talks about the way he treats the Thessalonians.  (Let’s read it together).  Paul says, “(6) As apostles of Christ we could have been a burden to you, (7) but we were gentle among you, like a mother caring for her little children.  (8) We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us.  (9) Surely you remember, brothers, our toil and hardship; we worked night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone while we preached the gospel of God to you.  (10) You are witnesses, and so is God, of how holy, righteous and blameless we were among you who believed.  (11) For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, (12) encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory.”

In this passage Paul talks about the roles of mothers and fathers.  He talks about mothers gently caring for their children so that they share not only their own lives with them, but also the gospel.  He talks about Dads encouraging, comforting and urging their kids to live lives worthy of God.  The spiritual behaviour of parents is the model and inspiration for Paul the apostle’s actions.  So if you are a parent or a grandparent today, you have a responsibility to spiritually care for your children.

The second reason is because of the impact parents have.  Do you have any idea of the impact parents can have on their kids?  Look at this clip made by an American church [Clip: Gumballs 1:52]

Now that’s just about the hours available to parents, but imagine the collective hours of everyone here if we harnessed them?  You all have a part to play to reaching the next generation so you need to know the five things every kid (indeed every person) needs.

(A) 1. The first thing a kid needs is A REALLY BIG GOD they can trust no matter what. Kids should grow up knowing that God is big enough to handle whatever they may face.  Kids need to grow up knowing that there is a God that they can depend upon.

This of course has been my family’s situation this week.

For those of you who don’t know several weeks ago Nan Yong was diagnosed with breast cancer.

I want to say thank you to all of you for your love and support.  Heart warming and humbling.

But how do you prepare for this?  Hardship is a great teacher, but so often our faith can be threatened by events that seem to overwhelm us.

E.g. unemployment, disappointment, life threatening cancer

With kids I believe you also have to lay the groundwork before you get there

Faith Five has helped us

Describe: 1-5

Over the last year –talked about highs and lows, e.g. close friends wife died of cancer at the end of last year, praying for Harrison Ford to be come a Christian!

When Nan discovered her cancer it was natural to share it as a low and then to prayer about it.  (More bookmarks if you need it)

Helped Wesley and us know that God is big enough to handle whatever happens.

(K) 2. The second thing a kids needs is SOMEONE ELSE who believes what they believe. Kids need friends who will encourage them to grow in their faith

Proverbs 13:20 “He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm.”

(A) 3. The third things kids need is ANOTHER VOICE saying the same things parents say. As children grow older it becomes more important to have other adults in their lives as spiritual mentors and leaders

Think for a moment ‘who was a significant adult in your early life?’

Several years ago, asked to write a letter to the person who influenced you most in your faith –someone you hadn’t thanked.

The man I chose you wouldn’t credit it looking at him.  My parents taught me so much, but under his care I learnt you could be a Christian and man.  How to survive in the wild, handle a rifle, exercise self-control and take leadership.  Don’t know if any one ever really thanked him, but he was our BB captain for 21 years.

Children and young people need people like him -adults in the church, teachers, and youth pastors, spiritual grandparents, who can complement what their parents are saying.  They need people who can round out what their family is saying.

In short they need you.

(A) 4. But kids also need UNCOMMON SENSE to help them make wise choices

God’s point of view and His truth should become the filter for how kids view life and make decisions

What happens, as they grow older is that kids authority need to transition from parents and church to the Bible

The Bible needs to be the basis upon which they make decisions.

In this way they gain access to the voices of the past and beyond that to God

Requires:

a. Knowledge and love of the Bible,

b. Conversations about life and scripture

It’s not about just making ‘right’ choices, but ‘wise’ ones.

WWJD?

(K) 5. NOSY PARENTS who know where their kids are spiritually

Kids need parents who will be intentional about spending time together as a family and staying actively involved in their children spiritual growth.

Slide 1 – INTENTIONAL

Slide 2 - TOGETHER)

Slide 3 – Deut 6: 4-9 “Fix these words of mine on your hearts and minds.  Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.  Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates.”

Slide 4 – INVOLVED

Slide 5 – Start by asking yourself the following questions:

1.  What do I want my child to become?

Provs 3:5,6     Matt 22: 37-40

2.  Where are they now?

3.  How can I help them to take the next step?

Slide 6 – PRAY

C. What we’ve talked about today is that kids (and you) need five key relationships: God, someone else, another voice, the Bible (past), and their parents.

Choose one to work on.  Don’t have to explain it.  Turn to person beside you and name it.  Now mark it on your insert.

Let’s pray…