Build Faith in Your Family - Holy Living in a Hostile World

Anybody here have a daughter? You know what? If you're a guy here and you have a daughter, raise your hand If you're a guy here and you have a daughter and she has got you wrapped around her little finger, keep your hand raised. Join the club. On November 12th, 2002, my life was completely changed. We had our first Child, my daughter, Noelle, named her Noelle Karen Hutchcraft. The legacy of mom's name to live up to, and she is. The moment I saw this little girl with deep brown eyes and brown hair, man, I was a goner. I was a goner man that that you know the grandchildren said his heart grew three sizes that day. Mine did, and I I realized I had like all of a sudden I had a whole nother compartment, love compartment in my heart. I didn't even realize I had. And if you've got a daughter, kids, you know what I'm talking about. Very cute baby, so sweet, but then something awful happened. She started growing up. We go very quickly we go from the American Girl Doll store in Kansas State City paying wildly overpaying for little dolly shoes to a day where she has them gathered up in her arms, brings them out and says, can I just put these in the garage now? They're for little kids Awful. Um now she is in college Wheaton College, really finding herself, she is an amazing young woman about to turn 21. Never forget dropping her off at college. I was like, I don't want her to make a scene, you know, because first time she's away from home, I'm like, no, honey. Whatever you do, keep your act together. Honey, it's gonna be okay. Okay guys, see you later. Have a great chip home. No, honey, get a hold of yourself. It's gonna be alright Now, Anna and I, Anna came into the room the other day and I was just doing this. She's like, what are you what are you doing? I'm like, Noelle said she might text us a little bit later. I've been reduced to that. Why in the world? Why oh by the way guys uh with uh Brad, the college thing, yeah that day's coming. That day's coming. I'm available for counseling When it does. Why do we love our kids so much? Why are they such a big deal to us? It's pretty easy to see. Psalm 127-3. Children are a heritage, a gift. An inheritance from the Lord. And what else is an inheritance, but something incredibly valuable that someone who loves you very much Gives to you. That's why we think it's so preposterous when our culture calls a child some clump of cells or something. Or a fetus, because they're fearfully and wonderfully made, and we know that as believers, and we watch as they grow, and God does more and more in their life. Always thinking about them, always praying for them. This holy trust and treasure Legacy, hope, future, all this hits you the moment you've got that little seven-pound joy in your arms. And I I think that's why just get we're so overwhelmed with joy when they're born and When they aren't nailing it in life, we're real disappointed. And when they are, we're so excited for them. Probably why God's word says, I have no greater joy than knowing my children are walking in the truth, and conversely, maybe no greater sorrow. When we know they aren't. And if they aren't, just gonna say this this morning. This morning you're going to find hope when you live so close to it and you've disappointed for long enough The enemy, the Bible calls the accuser of the brethren, tries to make you feel like it's your fault. You failed somehow. Every kid has a completely different road to God. I did. I grew up in a very loving home. Parents who showed us Jesus all the time. And I had a pretty good stretch of the black sheep of the family spiritually. Where I was not living for Jesus at all. There is hope, even if it feels hopeless this morning. Some scary studies out there by the time kids are hitting college. Have you read these? 80, 85%, four out of five of kids that are that have their parents' faith, when they go to college, by the time they hit their sophomore year, they don't have it anymore. What the world is going on? And then part of it is that we are kind of expecting or hoping that the church Or Sunday school will do for our kids what God has said we're supposed to do for them in the home. with how we live and teach our kids. The home is where Jesus, our faith, takes on flesh And they see us live with him in our lives. So as much as we love our kids, somehow he loves them more. You know Deuteronomy, the book of Deuteronomy, this amazing book. I would encourage you if you haven't read through it. I took one night a little while back and just read through the whole thing. It's a little long 34 chapters, but if you want An amazing look into how important it is to the God we serve that we bring Jesus into our homes. And our children, if you want to read it. The word children or grandchildren mentioned 33 times in 34 chapters. Whether you might you might have kids that are grown now at the home, maybe have student-aged kids, maybe your grandparent student-aged kids. Regardless, this morning This time is for you. Even if you don't have kids, there's never been a greater time for mentorship. So many young people having no idea who God is than how much he loves them So it's mornings for everybody. I mean, I'm 52 years old, and I still get discipled just about every day from my dad. Learn something new from them. So don't think because they're not student age, it's too late. Maybe you hear some things this morning like, oh I wish I had done those things. You still can? Maybe customized a little. But you still can. In 2 Timothy 1. 5, it's really interesting. What Timothy became, I never knew this still, I never noticed this still. I was looking at this recently. What Timothy became started with his grandparent Actually, I'm reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother and your mother, and I'm persuaded now lives in you also. I have a feeling you're as passionate about the spiritual legacy you're leaving in your family as we are. Legacy, living, defined. Let's look at Deuteronomy 4. 40 here. Keep his decrees and commands, which I'm giving you today, so that it may go well with you and your children after you. And that you may live. Here's God saying, if you want to get it right, make sure you get it right with the children. Some amazing legacy living promises all through. God's word and especially in Deuteronomy. Kind of the the promises from thirty thousand feet says take possession of the land and one third of the little ones they'll enter the land, I'll give it to them. They'll take possession of it These monumental, God-sized blessings God has for those who say, take me seriously, listen to my commands, live them out in your family. Because I want to create a generational heritage of people who love Jesus, people who love me. It'll go well, so it'll go well for you. Let's see. And in 529, Deuteronomy. Oh, that their hearts would be inclined to fear me and keep all my commands always so that it might go well with them and their children forever. Do you hear that? Obedience has intergenerational impact. All starting with what our kids are watching us do And that so that they'll be blessed in 28, for the fruit of your womb will be blessed, the crops, the young of your livestock. Everything. You know, I'm as I'm reading through Deuteronomy, I'm realizing I think sometimes we think God withholds his blessings until we're doing things perfectly. I think God's default mode in his heart is to bless us. He wants to so much, he brings it up so many times. In the book of Deuteronomy, he says, if you'll just listen I can't let you get away with getting all these great blessings while you're disobeying because I know that it's best for you that you obey me. So even when he's withholding them, it's out of love. So that's why this morning we're talking about bold choice number four. I will be intentional about building faith in my family. Intentional means man on purpose. Faith, the kind of faith that impacts a family does not just happen out of the blue. You have to be very intentional about it. In fact, if you're not, the opposite will happen because life's to-do list takeover. If it's going to be more than just on occasion, it's going to have to be on purpose. It takes time and thought and creativity and work. But shouldn't it? I mean our priorities are so out of whack. We'll we'll we'll spend so much time give so much time and thought about making sure we're Doing awesome professionally and maybe even so much time and effort to our hobbies, and we spend 60 hours a week working and we have a hard time. Well, where do I find the time for 60 minutes? With our kids given the same effort. And I'll tell you, if we want to see this world change, if Christian parents, just Christian parents, were as intentional. About building faith in their kids as they are, as building up their profession, the world would be changed. I I I know we have a lot of those folks in here So James Dobson tells a story about a gentleman who was really on the fast track. He was an amazing evangelist. He was getting so popular that he was booked, he had speaking engagements booked. Three years out. He was doing amazing, he was living his dream. He had always dreamed about doing this. Well, one day He's traveling a lot. He gets a call from his wife, and she says three words. She says, I need you. Your son. He is struggling in a huge way. And he's about to go off the cliff. And uh I just gave you a little hint Who that guy was, that's actually James Dobson's dad. That actually quit his. He immediately goes home, he quits his profession, as it were, and takes a small pastorate in Texas. And of course now we know his son's life gets turned around And James Dobson hasn't has had amazing impact on millions of people. But his dad didn't know that when he was making that decision that that was gonna happen. He just knew he wasn't willing to sacrifice his son at the altar of his profession. Lord, would that be us? You'll make no sacrifice too great. to bring the legacy of the love of God into your family, wherever you're at with them right now. Um my mom had a sign that she had hanging up. I think it was over the sink I remember it was like where she would wash the dishes and she would read this right in front of her this big yellow thing written in blue and it said this children are messengers to a time we will not see And it's interesting because if you look at the Latin root for legacy, it's the word ligare, and it actually means to send ahead as an ambassador. That's legacy. Psalm 127. It says, like arrows in the hands of a warrior are children born in one's youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. I have no idea how many kids it takes for it to be a quiver full. But I do know that I'm thinking about shooting an arrow, man. This is you shoot an arrow, it's going to places I cannot go. So will your kids When you're taking the time to invest in them, even time you could have been using to maybe make more money at your job or spend more time in your hobby, when you're actually getting no, I'm gonna sacrifice what I want for I'm I'm gonna I'm gonna spend time with my kids. That's what you're doing. You're shooting arrows to a to a time where you can't go. Arrows that are going to create the fruit. Of young people that love Jesus and will be ambassadors themselves. God wants our kids to know how much he loves them. He wants to know how great of a God he is. And guys, we know the primary delivery system is through Parent, a grandparent, maybe a mentor. This doesn't mean they're not gonna wander spiritually sometimes. It doesn't mean that they might love not love God on the timetable that You wish they would. Um, but it does mean we are his stalwart, unmovable, representative of his hope, his love, his kindness, his mercy, and his patience Our children, our grandchildren will never interact with a more influential ambassador than us. 2 Corinthians 5. 20. This is really a life verse that dad has And mom has has mentioned to us so many times we are Christ's ambassadors as though God were making his appeal Through us. It's such a powerful scripture because it means when people are watching us and interacting with us, they're getting their idea of who Jesus is, whether we like it or not, from us. Because we're his ambassador, our kids are deciding who Jesus is by who we are. As we represent Jesus and say, how are we doing? Short little test. God says, I am a patient God. I put up with a lot. How are we doing? As his representative to our kids. I'm a God who forgives no matter what. How are we doing? I keep no record of wrongs. Because love keeps no record of wrongs. How are we doing? I'm a patient. God, I care more about what's going on in the inside than anything on the outside, including your grades. Important, yeah, but nothing compared to what's happening in here. Spiritually, how are we doing? Our ambassadorship starts early. One of the most Amazing impressions I have in my mind was my dad and my mom, as soon as each of our children were born. Can I take them for a moment? Right when they were wrapped up, done with the SWAT and crying. And Dad would pray over them. Say you are God's masterpiece, created in Christ Jesus. To do good works which He has prepared you in advance. To do. So have you heard about this? There is a new job in this young generation. Have you heard about the job of an influencer? Have you heard this? What in the world is this? Yeah, you ask this person, what is your job? I'm an influencer. What does that mean? I influence people. Well, that's awesome. How do you do that? Well, they apparently take pictures of themselves doing cool things and using certain products. So People will buy the products that are paying them to be the influencer. Nice work, I guess, if you can get it. That's not that's not an influencer, that's a commercial. You, however. Now that's an influencer. Um You're being intentional about your legacy when you're being intentional about your influence. You're an influence in your home, some with what you say, mostly with what you do, and this intentional faith is legacy Living it's and and God has a prescription for this legacy of living all through Deuteronomy. It surprised me. It might surprise you too. It's one word 16 times in the Bible, I'm sorry, 16 times in Deuteronomy, 350 times this word in God, this word in God's word and variance of it, 550 times. You know what the word is? Remember. The key to legacy living. Remember. We go, we look at. the Israelites and we go, how could you possibly keep forgetting all that God has done for you? He does these amazing things, you enjoy his blessings, and then you go off the trail and you're off doing your own thing again. Well it's easy to say that about them, but how about us? How many times do we need that reminder? This is this is why why Jesus said Break this drink this do this in remembrance of me because we forget We forget. All the times he's been so faithful we've seen him deliver. I've seen God deliver in my son's life, my son Taylor's life, in his health with miracles, time after time after time after time. And still sometimes I wake up in the morning and I worry about it. Why? Every time he's delivered on his promises. Now remembering it's not having a jeopardy level memory, it's keeping my family's heart fixed on God's faithfulness. No matter what, because our kids are always watching, no matter how pressing things are, no matter what's in our checking balance, no matter what the news from the doctor is, or how far my child is wandering from God I'm gonna let them know what I know, that he's delivered before, he will deliver again. I believe that, I'm gonna live that, I'm gonna speak it, I'm gonna show it. So I make sure my kids know. Sometimes we might go, uh it's very natural for a parent to ask this sometimes. We might not be thrilled with something one of our kids doing and go, God, am I missing something? What am I doing wrong here? He says a lot. What am I missing? Plenty. Well my di my dad says God is also the God of the gaps. Just obey him. He'll fill those in. He wants a heart committed to him. That's why I love Matthew 6. 33. See first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. Put me first. My commandments first. If you love me, you'll obey my commands. New Testament Jesus, Old Testament Deuteronomy, the Father of God. God's promise, put me first, I'll provide. What an amazing promise for parents who sometimes are like, oh no. I love Psalm 78. This is a generational battle cry. I would hang this up somewhere in your home. Type it up, write it up. I will open my mouth, I will utter the things from old things we have heard and known. We will not hide them from our descendants. We will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, his power, and the wonders he has done. Alright, great. That's amazing. A generational battle cry. So how do we do it? So let's jump into this a little bit. My dad always makes up words You probably noticed this, especially in his teaching. And so I decided to make one up. I'm calling this plan the Deuteronom Deuteronomica plan. I don't know how to spell that, so don't ask. But here's how it is. Here's what we do. The plan for legacy living. Number one, share your God stories We were just doing doing that with our kids all the time. We all have them special times where God showed up in a big way. We look and In um Deuteronomy 4. Watch yourselves closely so you don't forget the things your eyes have seen. Let them fade from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children, to their children after them. Remember And then it goes on the huge list, lots of details, the blazing mountain, my covenant, the Ten Commandments. Remember, remember, remember In chapter 11, remember today, there's that word again, that your children were not the ones who saw. So here's God saying, It might be obvious to you how great I am because you've lived it. They haven't. You might say, well, I'm not much of a talker. I have a great prescription for that. Become one. Especially to your kids and when you're sharing your God stories. Some people call them tent poles. We've all got 'em. We've had 'em in in our family. They kind of become legend. When uh we had like no money, I was probably eight years old, and uh it was Thanksgiving. I didn't know this, but our parents knew it. We didn't have any food left Some baking soda and some orange juice or something. And once you know that night, knock on the door, we by the time we get there, no one's there, but here are a bunch of bags of groceries For our family. We had a great Thanksgiving and a lot of food for a long time after that. My mom and dad made sure we never forgot that. Um, I had a time in my life where our son Taylor I was told by our my uh Anna and I were told by our cardiologist, I I don't want to sugarcoat this, but your son is dying She was very kind, but she was also very straight. She wanted us to know what the deal was. She said all the things that surgeons can do and God had Set us up with the most amazing surgeons through some amazing, miraculous stories at Children's Hospital, Philadelphia. But everything that the surgeons can do, they have done, and still his heart is not pumping. Enough to get it to the rest of his body, and he's not growing, it's not getting here, it's not getting to his body. And forgive me if you've heard some of this story before, but the punchline, what she said, is so awesome That we keep repeating it over and over and over and telling the story in our family because we we took God at his word. I had never done this before But we looked at the book of James and said, if if any of you are sick, go to the elders of the church, have them anoint the sick with oil. And watch God do His thing. So we uh we brought Taylor back to the doctor, the cardiologist a few weeks later to to determine what had to be done because she said the only thing I can think of is we will probably have to do a heart transplant, but he's so small I'm not even sure it'll work. It's a really difficult thing. It could be dangerous for him, but if it's not that, then he could die. So after this prayer time they go and they they do the tests, they do them again. She comes back into the room with a really Funny smile. And she says, I don't know how to explain this, but his his heart function is like a normal kid's. He says it it's it's now pumping and and going to his body and going to his brain. And if you remember, tell the story, you remember, I said, God, I said, uh doctor Is it okay if if we say praise God? And she said, if you don't, I will. Because I don't know how this happened. We did. And he would still be the amazing great God if he hadn't decided to do that. Because there are some things we we have to look at and deal with, we all do, so we continue to count on him. Um now he's eighteen. They said if he's lucky. Remember they've told us he wouldn't he probably wouldn't come out of at Chop they said he probably won't won't come out of Anna's birth canal alive. We want you to prepare for that. That's how that's how bad things were. There's bleeding on his brain, there's all these things. And he was born. He had a heart surgery when he was two days old. And they said All right, that's great. We're so thrilled that he's born, but just prepare yourself because he's so small. He'll be lucky. Listen to this if he gets over four and a half feet tall as an adult. Well now he's two inches shorter than me. Then that's not that hard to do. I know. I am a Hodgecraft. Wow, amazing. I mean he's already five and a half feet tall. He's still got some room in those growth plates. Share your God stories. Uh several years ago I was in an awful car accident. The emergency vehicles that came, emergency technicians said, Sir, do you know how lucky you are? And I was still kind of dazed And he said, you should not be walking away from this. He said, I see accidents like this all the time that this is worse than, that aren't this bad. And then a walk away from them. I had a few bruised ribs. And there's a whole story there. I don't have time to get into of I'm certain an angel that pulled me out of there about ten seconds later after and I couldn't get out and was hanging and I said I wouldn't tell the story, but here I go. And uh about ten seconds it was too way too fast for anyone who would get there. Do you need help? I didn't see him. Yes, he cuts me out of there, pulls me out before I suffocate And then he's gone. I have no idea where he went. I'm sure it was an angel. We make sure our kids hear these stories. You've got your own. Share them. Even if you think they know, just keep it going, keep it going. And when you do it, get into it, be into it, tell it like a storybook. Tell me like and then I had my accident And God did good things. Let's eat. Be into it. Tell it like a storybook. Include the juicy details. When you tell these stories, be transparent. There's something so funny. My boys, there's nothing for some reason they love more than to hear stories about me when I was being really bad as a kid. They just love it. They crack up and then I they won't let me forget it for a few weeks. They remember the juicy details. But don't be afraid to be imperfect in front of your kids. They already know you're imperfect. They just don't know that you know. that you are. Powerful connections happen when kids realize you're human. And uh Maybe share these stories during a scheduled family devotional time if you still have kids in the house. It can be hard to keep up with this, but be intentional about it and do it. You've got them for a few years And when you tell these stories, be creative in the telling, be consistent. Those times, those Bible times with your kids, the more negotiable they are, the less they're going to happen, I promise. So that's number one, share your stories. Number two, your God's stories, impress their hearts. In in uh Deuteronomy 6, these commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts, impress them on your kids. Talk to talk about them when you sit at home, when you walk along the road, you get this when you lie down, when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands, bond them on your foreheads, write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates. God is saying just make it life. Make it life. You're going to the pharmacy with your son. Fine. My dad was and mom were so good at this. It didn't matter, you know, my dad uh can can find an illustration in anything, and then he will and use it for a word with you. And he got his practice with us Because it didn't matter if it was a football game, it didn't matter if we were on the on the way to get something to eat. He was always looking for opportunities. I got a few minutes where it's just him and me. We're gonna talk about something more than football or your grades. So we do in the classroom of everyday life experiencing a real God, not beliefs about God. Man, uh man, my folks did this in so many ways. I can't get into all of them, but just in prayer, they would make sure, because uh prayer is when you pray with your kids, they're seeing Your beliefs, your religion, or whatever, with skin on. They're seeing it in real life. And so it was We would pray before trips, before bed, before meals, before football games, finals, the start of the school year. We had a prayer chair. We would all Sit in it and lay hands on each student, each one of us, and and pray. And they would look at holiday seasons as more times, just anything to jump off what's happening around us and Figure out a way to discuss the character of God and how great he is. So Thanksgiving. We focus on gratitude. July 4th, freedom, Halloween time, fear, Valentine's Day, love. Even MLK today, justice, moms on Mother's Day, Jesus becoming one of us Christmas time, my mom was so serious about this that each year she would dress up as a sheep. You heard that right? She would dress up as a sheep. My mom, this this um Amazing woman, she would just put on a um, we had a big sheepskin rug and we'd walk in one Christmas, uh, close to Christmas and she'd be draped in it. So we'd remember, guess what I remember? We'd remember the story of Jesus coming a man. Yeah, it takes time, but your time reflects what you say your priorities are. So what are you telling your kids about time in the word? Um we have a we have something I do with my two sons. Okay? We learn scripture together, but it's not, we don't call it learning scripture. We call it there's just three of us, nothing against the ladies, but it's just when the three of us are together, my son Taylor and my son Sam and I, and we have adjust the dudes. Power verse for hero living. And so we start just the dudes, just the dudes. Recently we just learned this together, Hebrews 4. 12, the word of God is alive and active, sharper than any double-edged sword. Penetrates even dividing soul and spirit, judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. You may not be able to change your children's hearts, but God's word can. So keep it at the steering wheel in your family. Because pretty quickly your kids figure out what's important to you, don't they? Okay We're missing church this morning, but Dad's not gonna miss the football game. Copy that When you're doing it, be strategic. Make lists. I have to do this. I'm glad for this phone because if I think of a good idea to do it My daughter, my sons, there's a there's a thing on here I can just talk into and say, I know I will forget this. Every year I forget more. Make a list when you have great ideas So remember to do them later. Give it a lot of thought in uh in uh Deuteronomy 11. Guess what? I'm not gonna read it again, but God In case you're wondering if this is important to God, he says it all again. Fix these words of mine in your hearts and your minds, so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land. And the Lord swore to give your ancestors. I turned. the corner in our home the other day from our kitchen. I turned the corner quietly because I heard it was very quiet in the living room and I knew the boys were in there and that's usually something very bad is happening But I actually turned the corner and they were both there with the video games off with their Bibles open. Reading them. And I praised God for that. Before you think they're too ultra-spiritual. Our Sam Sam, our 11-year-old, I said, uh, I I asked them if they would come up with a scripture verse themselves that we could make our just the dudes Power verse, he very seriously and solemnly says, I found one dad, and I really want us to learn it. What is it? Oh, it's Mark 14, 51 and 52. I'm not familiar with that one What is that? Complete straight face. He reads it. When they seized a young man wearing only a linen garment, he fled naked, leaving his garment behind. And then the Sam O'Blamo smile So yeah, impress their hearts, explain why you make the decisions you do. Josh McDowell's got a great uh uh a great saying, rules without re religion uh without relationship leads to rebellion. Um in uh Here we go with chapter 30. I've set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God. Listen to his voice. and hold fast to him also in uh chapter six in the future when your son asks you anyone else have kids that whenever you tell them um that we're going to be doing something. Why? Why? Well, explain it to them. Don't just say these are the rules. Why? Because I said so. And that's good enough sometimes, yes. But uh God's trying to win a heart here, okay, before they're off and they're 18 years old or however old they are and they're off living life On their own. So explain the reasons for the boundaries, the whys for the should. I've talked with my boys, won't shock them. Because I talked to them about it. Recently we talked about the dangers of what you can find on the internet, specifically pornography, and why we don't that's why we don't watch or listen to stuff that's not pornography, but that does not take Sex seriously, as seriously as God takes it, takes it lightly. And and I I it took some time to explain why, and even use the word that you can become a slave to it, because that's why God in Deuteronomy is telling Parents tell their family, so you that their children, they don't know that they used to be slaves, and God doesn't want us to become slaves again, and that's what I told them. Like I said, it's much more about winning their heart than winning your point. Have them having it in their head is is not enough. It's eighteen inches Missing it by 18 inches, the heart. Moses gives a big speech to the Israelites in um in Deuteronomy. He uses the word heart 40 times. You think the Lord wants us to obey him out of love? Look in in chapter 7. The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth. to be his people, his treasured possession. You hear that? It's guys, it's not for our kids. We're not trying to we don't tell them these things because I want you to be a Christian. It's not about being a Christian. It's about belonging. To him, because you were paid for at a high price. And if you have a disagreement, just a little word of advice, you do more praying than pushing. When they're little, that's one thing, it's a little different. It's more about behavior. But I'm gonna tell you this. I had some times where I was an awful human being. When I was a teenager to my family and to my parents. Times I know now I was making my mom go into a room and cry I still regret that. But there were certain times where you would think my mom and dad would have come down so hard on me and they would have had every right to To bring the hammer down. Haven't you learned anything? Don't you know the kind of family that we're trying to be? And I I asked him as a when I was in my 30s, I'm like, Dad Why did you what happened? Wow how did you guys know it wasn't time at that point to come down on me because I know what I was going through and if they did it probably would have led to more rebellion. By the way, I wasn't rebelling against my parents I just was being a rebel. I just wanted my own way. And I'll never forget what he said. He said, when we were in those moments Instead of coming down on you, we were putting holes in the carpet praying for you. They would go into their room, close the door, and lock it, and bring their son to the Lord, and I'm so glad that they did In Exodus 17, Joshua's fighting the Amalekites. You guys know this story. Moses, as long as he held up his hand, Israelites were winning. But whenever he lowered his hands, Amalekites were winning. When Moses' hands grew tired. Aaron and her held his hands up so that his hands remained steady till sunset. So Joshua overcame the Amalachite army. The difference in the battle is the man on the hill praying. The difference in your family will be the mom and dad or the grandma and grandpa praying. Don't lose hope. S. Steve Gordon said, prayer strikes the winning blow. And also look just a couple little pieces of advice here that I learned from being kind of an idiot as a kid Speak up for truth, but choose your battles wisely, like my folks did. Can't tell ya how many times I have been ready to lovingly correct our kids and are about to do it, and as before the arm comes down, Anna's hand gently is on my arm. It says Be patient. Choose your battles. Um When it comes to sex stuff, um when you're talking with your uh explaining these things to to your kids. Be like Nehemiah, Bible says that he built a wall, but he also planned for battle. There's almost zero chance that your kids won't be exposed to some of the nastiest stuff that there is out there. The kid kids who I know, their parents, had built basically a iron wall around their family making sure nothing could get in. Their kids still struggle with it. Because even if they're not trying to find it, it will find them. So, yes, take the precautions, but If and and when it happens and you find that out, just be ready with the plan. To not freak out and help your help your kids understand the truth. Real quick, explain why you make the choices you do. Here's another one. Celebrate the right stuff. In chapter 16, celebrate the festival of tabernacles, be joyful, celebrate the festival to the Lord your God. I love what Ken Davis was saying last night. He's a God of joy and celebration. Couldn't you feel that in this room last night? Some not some dour God, like he said, waiting to step on us when we start to have fun Make a big deal out of his blessings. We'd have we have Thanksgiving dinner every year, and every year there seems like there's a few more, a couple more hutchcrafts around the table. 22 hungry hutchcrafts at the table, ready to dive in, getting the fork out, and then dad says, hang on First, what are we thanking God for? We're going to give honor to the giver first, even though I know we're hungry. We're going to celebrate him all the time. Be intentional about what you celebrate. By the way, real quick a big blind spot I think we have as parents with our kids is what we watch and what we entertain ourselves with. You're celebrating that in a way when you gather around and watch it, or they know that you're watching it. Um I knew a family whose whose uh son was super smart, straight A's, he was like in every club, and they were Christians, they were leaders in the church And he went to them one day and he said, I've decided I want to be a missionary. And they were like, hang on, hang on. Are you sure about that? Sure about that? You get straight A's. That that's you're supposed to be a doctor or a lawyer. That's for like the pastors' kids or or maybe for for Kids who can't do any or people who can't do anything else. Let them become the missionaries. They were very subtly, maybe not so subtly. Saying that's not something we celebrate here. But the priorities you set now will be the ones that are. They set later. Celebrate the right stuff and encourage them. This is the last one. Chapter 3. Real short here. Encourage and strengthen Joshua. Encouragement. Um dad says it's pouring encouragement, incur pouring courage in. The people in Joshua certainly need that Uh our young people are surrounded by others in a culture telling them what's wrong with them. They are bombarded with all the things that are their shortcomings. They don't look the right way, they don't talk the right way, they don't like the right stuff. So before you ever say, hey, I wish you'd work on this, tell them what they're already good at. And helping them see the difference they're wired to make. One way I know how I know my parents loved me is one word. SOAR Four was a my dad I after I I wrecked my knee and I I had my God was football long story and the bottom line is I got interested in guitar and my mom and dad agreed to buy me an enormous guitar ramp that was this big. I have no idea why they bought one that big. But it was really loud. And I was not playing the gaithers through it. With my guitar. And Dad told me yesterday, he said I still remember that. He says it was right below my study. And he said I'd be bouncing up and down while you'd be playing it loud. I sure love this kid. I sure do love this kid. I sure do love this kid They wanted to. It's more important than that they that they fed the way God was wiring me. Don't let them settle. And if they're messing up, instead of don't be an idiot, try, I love you, I don't want you to settle Like I was saying a little earlier before with the boys when you're praying with them, uh make it less of a custom and only something that you do at uh dinner time and make it really strategic. When I pray with my boys I'll tell you this, I pray really specifically. I didn't used to, but now I pray exactly what I want the Lord to do in their lives. Lord, I pray they become a mighty oak of righteousness, a display of splendor for the king. I pray they will love your word. I pray they will be rescuers. I pray they will put others first. And you know what I'm singing Day by day, they're becoming these things, not because of the power of anything I'm saying, but because together we're agreeing in prayer On it praying specifically with them and for them. Jesus a Jesus of their own that dad just came out with. He talks in there about a parent's greatest fear, which is the prodigal. Fight too many of us experience it, we really don't want to. This might resonate In um Deuteronomy 28, your sons and daughters will be given to another nation, and you will wear out your eyes watching for them, day after day, powerless to lift a hand. You will have sons and daughters, but you will not keep them, because they will go into captivity. And that makes someone's heart in here. Think. Because that's that's exactly how I feel about my child Grandchild, I'll tell you this, the enemy wants you to give up. He knows the parable about the judge. Devil knows the Bible. And where the widow keeps coming and saying, please just do what give us justice, give us justice. He's an evil judge, and finally he says, Fine, you keep coming to me. So I'll do it for you. And then Jesus says, if that's what this unloving, evil Man will do, what will your father do when you keep asking him? There's something that glorifies him in the asking. I don't know what all the equation is. I really don't, but I know I went through things, and because I went through them, now I can speak to other young people about them. And whether they're 15 and wandering or a 30 and wandering or 40 and wandering, it's just a chapter. It's not the whole book. Don't give up and don't listen to the accuser telling you that you must have done something wrong. Because that's how he gets you to lose hope. I had a conversation with a friend right before we came here who was a great parent, a great believer. He said, I've got one child that is living for the Lord and three that aren't. But I love what he said right after that. He said, yet. I told him, I'll tell you this from my own prodigal time, I was always listening. Even when it seemed like I wasn't, I was listening. And I was noticing how they were responding to the things I was doing. Like Brad said so so eloquently the other morning, when it's their time. to come and they need God in the biggest way and they come to you. They'll come because you're a safe space, because you've loved them through everything, no matter how much they've hurt you and disappoint you Don't let the fact that they've hurt you so much burn the bridge in your relationship with them. Just don't. Don't let it. That's what the enemy wants Real quick, ways to pray. These are actually in, I'm not going to go into all the scripture here, but I'm just telling you this to give you enough morsels so you'll get this book If you've got a pro even if whether you have a prodigal or not, it's amazing about this book is amazing about about having kids and Bringing them a Jesus, so will they have a Jesus of their own real quick ways to pray, Lord, these are ways to pray for a prodigal, frustrate their sin. Don't let their sins satisfy them anymore. Lord, block their exits. Um when when you're running from God, we use all kinds of exics to get out. Maybe it's hanging with the wrong people, because I don't want to deal with the fact that there's this voice telling me there's a different way. Maybe I'm using alcohol or drugs to to ignore it. Um pray Lord get their attention, whatever it takes. I know my parents were praying that for me. Lord, remind them of Jesus no matter what's happening. Remember, we do not have because we do not ask. Pray these specifically every day for your prodigal. Maybe every hour. Keep knocking on the door. He's glorified in the asking. Second Corinthians four four, the God of the Savior has blinded the minds of unbelievers so that they can't see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ. who is the image of God, Lord, take their blinders off, please. Remind them of Jesus and Lord, do whatever it takes. Do whatever it takes to bring them back. I love this. This takes guts. King David, it's time for you to act, Lord. Your law is being broken. Pray honestly with God. And finally, Lord, bring them home. In Luke, suppose one of you has a hundred sheep. What an amazing. Reminder, thank you, God. Thank you, Jesus, for this. Suppose one of us has a hundred sheep and loses one of them, doesn't he leave the ninety-nine and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? Pray that, pray that, pray that My mom to wrap up here, my mom had a song that my dad says every time she heard it, she couldn't get through it. without crying tears of joy. It was a song from Steve Green. The lyrics went like this. Oh, may all that who come behind us find us faithful. May the fire of our devotion light their way. May the footprints that we leave lead them to believe. And the lives we live inspire them to obey. Oh, may all who come behind us. Find us faithful. A couple great parent promises. He tends this flock like a shepherd. He gathers the lambs in his arms and he carries them close to his heart. He gently leads those that have young, be encouraged by that This is my covenant with them, says the Lord. My spirit will not leave them, and near the world these words I have given you. They will be on your lips and the lips of your children and your children's children forever. I, the Lord, have spoken This is legacy living. Amazing promise. Amazing promises. And these are, by the way, great prayers back to God. These verses script these scriptures specifically. Let's pray together. Lord, thank you for the your the trust. of influence you've given us with the people in our family, specifically our kids, our grandkids, young people in our lives. Lord help us be what they need. Open their hearts to your truth. Lord, Jesus, you prayed they'd be protected from the evil one. That they would grow in your word, and that's what we pray. Wherever they are right now, spiritually. We pray they would be mighty oaks of righteousness. They would become that a display of splendor for the King, for King Jesus. And Lord, I pray for every Sad and hurting heart this morning for those that have a prodigal in their family. Encourage them. That you are not done working in their child's life. Help them to be there for them no matter how much they have hurt their parents, frustrated them. I know there's a way back. I've walked it. Because my parents were faithful. I believe that's why. And so I pray for those parents in here this morning. They will be two. Jesus' name, amen