Grace Blog

We had the priviledge of hearing from guest preacher Matthew Maka on the topic, The Gospel and Parenting from Luke chapter 6. You can listen to the sermon below or even download it from this post as well.

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Parenting is both thrilling and humbling. Parenting is thrilling because kids give and receive love so easily. Children are natural lovers who haven’t learned how to hold onto hurt, pain or disappointment. Parenting is thrilling because of the power of influence. Parents get to influence a life for good or for bad—for a life-time. Parenting is thrilling because God entrusts parents with a soul that will live on for eternity.

But, maybe more than anything, parenting is humbling. It is humbling to watch a little life display your own sin patterns. It is humbling because we parents often love conditionally—while our young kids so often give and receive love so easily. Parenting is humbling because we realize that our kids would be much better off if they "did what we said, not what we do," for what we do is no better than what they do. We quickly discover that we both, parent and child, are sinners and in need of God’s grace. Maybe that is the best place to start everyday as a parent—giving them grace because we realize how much grace God has given us in Christ. Parents, "be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God" (Ephesians 5:1-2).

Parenting is difficult- maybe the hardest task any of us will ever engage in. No step-by-step manual. No diagrams. No warnings for upcoming challenges. No way to gauge our progress. No crystal ball to tell us the future. If you're like me then you are often far more aware of your failures as a parent than you are of any grace for parenting. Sometimes we are left wondering how God can work in our children's lives when our efforts seem so ineffective. Below is some rich encouragement from the book "Give Them Grace" (Fitzpatrick & Thompson) that reminds us God is not limited even by our errors in parenting:

The disciples couldn't hinder the children from coming to him even though they tried.

When God calls our children to come to him, even if we haven't gotten it all right, even if we've trained little Pharisees or have a house full of prodigals, nothing is impossible for him. He can break through all our flawed methods and redeem all our frail errors.

Parenting is hard. The details of daily life with children can quickly become overwhelming, for even the most organized parents. Meals, school projects, and sports practices keep us running around and keep us wondering if we will ever get a break. In all of our running around and busyness are we just checking off tasks or are we giving our kids grace as they live life alongside us?

The Bible has a lot to say about how we parent and what's to be front and center in our parenting. The Bible help us to prioritize what's most important as we parent our children. The Bible even tells us what's to be the centerpiece of our parenting.

Join us as we look at what the Bible has to say about our roles as parents. Hear how the good news of Jesus is central to the way that we teach and train our children. Explore some ways that we can use the gospel as we engage with our children on a daily basis.