Became::Become

Click here to watch the Facebook Live video of this morning's sermon preached by Kevin Russell.

--1 of my guys who professed to be Muslim but wasn’t really walking out his faith came to Christ a few weeks back

--He came to the Bridge service slips in/stays to himself and reads

--Approached him and he is reading the Quran and we had a little discussion about that NOT being the word of God

--He puts his arm around me shares how since he got transferred to me he now doesn’t see law enforcement as the enemy and there is something about me that draws him to me

my response was what you see in me, what you are attracted to is Jesus Christ, and then suggested that he read the Gospel of John and get to know this Jesus that he is being drawn to

When you look at the content of Scripture you must also look at the context, and so to more firmly grasp the fullness of today"s passage we must understand the context in which Paul wrote this passage nestled into this letter to the Church at Corinth.  Paul is helping the church at Corinth and is relevant for us today to understand is that as Christ followers we are God’s Ambassadors

In the first-century Roman Empire, an ambassador was personally appointed by the emperor to represent his interests to another party. Paul used ambassador language in describing the responsibility of the Corinthians to outsiders. Which means that in order for an ambassadors to succeed, they/we must have a clear understanding of the message they/we are entrusted with. But delivering the message is not where it ends, they/we must know whether any response is expected to the message being delivered. This is what Paul is addressing in 2 Corinthians 5:20-21, Paul addresses the fact that we are God’s Ambassadors and that God expects a response from both his ambassador and for whom he sends the message to.

In the ASV it reads “Him who knew no sin he made to be sin on our behalf; that we might become the righteousness of God in him”

Verse 21 beautifully summarizes what happened through the death of Christ when he was lifted up. Paul affirmed the perfect sinless-ness of the Savior.

Jesus is the only human who “did not know sin.” He never sinned, and both he and his closest followers, Peter and John, explicitly attested to this holiness which you look into at your leisure (John 8:46;1 Pet. 2:22; 1 John 3:5).

Yet God made him “to be sin.” Paul’s language is careful.

He did not say Jesus became a sinner, which would be untrue. Rather, Jesus became the representative sin-bearer.

He identified 100 percent with the sin of the world when he died on the cross. God treated Jesus as if he were sin itself.

When God made Jesus to be sin, it was “for us” for the lost, for our benefit.

And the benefit is that we are joined to him in faith; we become “righteousness”—the exact opposite of sin. Again, Paul’s language is careful, he didnt just say “We become righteous.”

What he says is that we become the very righteousness of God himself. Jesus, who was sinless, became sin for us so that we, who are sinful, might become righteousness when we are united to him.

In verse 20, Paul issued the expected response—the urgent invitation. He framed this carefully. First, he recognized that he and the believers in Corinth were ambassadors.

Paul noted twice that the One sending these ambassadors was Christ himself.

The invitation/response is simple: “Be reconciled to God.” For Paul to use reconciliation language implies a broken relationship that must be restored.

God had done everything in the death of his Son to provide salvation

Christ’s identification with sinners is the foundation for our mission. 

Which is what God laid on my heart to speak about today, our mission  as God’s ambassadors.  Not only does God expect a response from the lost to His message of forgiveness & salvation, God expects a response from his ambassadors to go represent him, to take His message out to the nations.

I think about this way Jesus Became sin so we could Become righteous……..Because he expects us to allow His message to create a rippling effect out into our world causing a righteous impact.  What might that righteous impact look like?

Proverbs 21:21 NIV  “Whoever pursues righteousness and love finds life, prosperity and honor.”

Lets look at some of the words in this passage such as Righteousness is the Hebrew word Tzedakah which means to bring justice into the world by helping someone in need. 

Being generous with time resources to help poor/oppressed.

This is what we should be pursuing, chasing after opportunities for tzedkah because this is the closest thing to the heart of God

Pursues=chase after, seek out

Love/Mercy “chesed” [kheh’-sed] = goodness kindness, faithfulness, merciful

Life=picture of green, flowing fresh, lively, reviving, sustenance & community

So what would that look like for you and I today?

Entertainment/Social Media….what we expose ourselves to

--Music/movies

--Who are your friends in person and in the digital world?  Are they representatives for Christ striving for holiness or heathens?

--What are you “liking or following or retweeting”?

My point is Don't take Holiness Casually….God doesn’t

Ambassadors are not commissioned to to sit/soak/sour but to…. Spread the Gospel, to share the Good News, to be Clarions

Note that the first two letters are GO in GOspel

How?

Go spend yourselves for the nations who aren't like you…Matthew 28:18-20  How has God uniquely made you to be His ambassador and to whom?

Success in witnessing is not # of converts….but is simply witnessing, simply sharing what God has done in your life .

In Matthew 4:19 Jesus said come follow me and I will make you fishers of men”

He called us to follow him, to go to the fish not to be keepers of the aquarium, sitting in here is not the ultimate point

The gospel message has the power to change lives, shine light into darkness, and deliver evil men from hell.

There is power in no other message and no other “bait” can catch the fish of God.

This was Jesus’ message to Peter and Andrew—follow Me, learn of Me, know and understand My mission and My message.

Only then will you be able to be fishers of men.

I'll end with this from the Gospel of John 20:21 “As the Father Has Sent Me, So I Send You”

Secure in the Storm

By Gayle Bragg Johnson

Last night, a severe storm went through our area. The winds blew and were very loud. We lost power for about an hour and a half and there was some hail, but we were all safe and sound in our house, protected from the storm. 

Last night, we saw pictures on Facebook of about 6 or 7 telephone poles in a row laid flat after the storm. But it wasn't really until I went to work that I saw the destructiveness of the storm. Large limbs lying all over the place and leaves everywhere, even plastered to the windows of the building I work in, testified to the  fierceness of the storm. I saw a trampoline in someone's front yard from who knows where. (It was not theirs.)

I heard a story of one of my co-workers driving through the area where the telephone poles were flattened at the time it happened. The storm was so violent she thought the windows of her car were going to shatter. Stories of damage were being told in the office. 

But I noticed several things this morning. First of all, dark clouds were rolling in. But through the clouds, I saw a rainbow. The clouds quickly rolled over the rainbow to obscure the rainbow from view. But then I saw it again in a different area. Again, the clouds rolled over, hiding the rainbow again. A third time I saw the rainbow, bigger and brighter than the other two times, and again, in a new area. Then I saw the destruction that was all around me. 

Two things came to mind. First, Gods promise to Noah. The storms were over. Healing was beginning. And two, sometimes we have no idea what destruction Almighty God protects us from ever seeing. I had no idea the storm was so ferocious last night. My family was safely protected in our home. We could hear the wind, but no destruction touched us. We were hidden in the Cleft of the Rock, that is Jesus. 

Satan tried to hide the rainbows in more storm clouds. Too late. I have already seen the Salvation of Adonai. 

“For my eyes have seen your salvation,”

‭‭Luke‬ ‭2:30‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Be Still

By Gayle Bragg Johnson

Hurricanes are powerful and destructive. The winds blow and the waves send destruction. It's a fearful experience. But the eye of the storm is quiet and calm. 

The Sea of Galilee is known for the sudden appearance of ferocious storms. The weather can change rapidly. One day the disciples were on the Sea of Galilee. A ferocious storm rose up and they feared for their lives. Jesus, however was sleeping at the head of the boat on a pillow, comfortable and unconcerned by the noise of the storm. The disciples woke him up and asked " Don't you care that we are going to die?"  Jesus got up and commanded the storm to be quiet. Immediately, the storm died down and the sea became as smooth as glass. Jesus asked them "Why are you so afraid?" I want to ask them,"Don't you know the Savior of the world is in your boat?" Your boat will not sink as long as the Savior is at the helm. 

When I was a nurse in ICU, visitors would come in. Sometimes they would run out of the room and report the ventilator was alarming, after one chirp, caused by the patient coughing. I could hear the alarms from where I was sitting. I would explain to them that it was like a mother listening to the cries of her child. She knows when the child really needs attention and when they don't. I would tell them "When I get excited, you can get excited."  Of course, I never got excited. And the visitors would calm down. 

My advice to those Christians going through the storm is this:  When Jesus is riding in your boat and sleeping, chill out. He's got this. With one word He can calm the storm. He CREATED the winds and waves. He can tell them when to be still. When Jesus gets excited, you can get excited. Of course, He never gets excited. 

“He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?””

‭‭Mark‬ ‭4:39-40‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Gospel Parenting Parts 1 & 2

Gospel Parenting Part 1
Message by Kevin Russell

Click here to watch the Facebook LIVE feed of this message from 3/26/17

The goal of biblical parenting is train our kids up in the ways of the Lord.  Our goal is not to get them the best education or hone their skills as an athlete or to set them on a path to have a great career and make lots of money. 

These are all important things, but they are not the goal of parenting.  You do not see these things outlined in Scripture as the responsibility of parents.  That doesn't mean we don't strive for these things for our kids, but they should never be the focus, the end-all.

Our purpose statement reads: “We are a family oriented community where the Gospel is proclaimed, lived and taken out”  This morning we are going to look at the aspect of family that relates to parenting. 

Now let hit the pause button for just a second, because we may be small, but we have a diverse cross section of people here.  There are folks here who have raised their children, and they are older than I am.  Their are folks in this church who don't have kids.  But the reality is that we all have influence in some young person around us.  Perhaps its the neighbor kids, our our nieces and nephews.  Just because we don't have biological offspring doesn't mean we are devoid of influence.

Today we are going to look at how the home, the family unit is designed as the primary vehicle that God designed for the spreading of the Gospel.  Parents have the privilege & responsibility to raise their children for the glory of God, rather than focus on the achievements the world defines parents must disciple their children with a greater purpose in mind mainly the great Commission.  Paul’s commands in Ephesians 6:1-4 require parents teach Gods word and model godliness and provide loving discipline for their children.  Children in turn must honor and obey their parents as they submit to the Lord themselves.  Actually this is going to a be a 2-part message, because I couldn't get it all into one Sunday.

If you have your bibles turn it on or open it up to Ephesians 6:1-4 and just hold that for a second. 

As you can see I have a collection of Barbie's and GI Joes here on the table, we are going to look at some current trends and these dolls & action figures represents our kids, the research says that 8 out of 10 kids 80% of kids in the church by their 2nd year in college will be gone from the church. 

By the time our kids are 20 years old on 2 out of 10 will remain a part of the church, participate or practice their faith in any way, and that's just one generation, think 2, 3 generations down the line.  Houston we have a problem…..we need to talk about the Gospel & parenting, the Gospel and passing it on from generation to generation.

Let me read the passage for us Ephesians 6:1-4

We are going to look at 3 elements that we will draw out of these passages that will reveal themselves as biblical foundations in this text.

The 1st foundation block is “The Word is Sufficient”.  God knew exactly what he was doing when he gave us this word.  He is not wishing he came out with a revised/expanded addition of the NT that has more to do with parenting teenager or toddlers in the 21st century.  Which means that it is really important that we understand what it says about parenting.  I know what your thinking about now…..”Kevin I appreciate your focusing us on the word, but I don't see anything in Leviticus/2 Chronicles/Habakkuk about dealing with my teenager in this particular situation. 

However the Word is sufficient.  I'm just gonna keep it real with you, their is an unhealthy dependency on books/conferences/professionals/seminars, their is a danger to run to those people, those conference, those books and bypass the Word that is sufficient for us.  The Bible is not intended to be Google or Siri that provides you with the exact answer to your unique question on parenting.  

Hear me on this parents because this is key the most important thing you can do for your kids is to grow into the image of Jesus Christ.  That's it… grow to become more like Jesus. 

That's the purpose of the Bible and that's what Leviticus/2 Chronicles/Habakkuk will help you to receive that transformation.

Our kids need to see Christ in us, not Dr Phil.  And when we bypass the Word that is sufficient for all life for all godliness and for all parenting to make us into who we need to be, then we grow. 

I'm not saying that books/seminar/conferences or professionals are bad, they just should not be stop #1, they should never usurp this position of God’s word for direction.  If we run past the word to get to them we will end up starving our very souls and the souls of our children for the Word of Life that we all need.  The Word is sufficient.

2nd Foundation block “The Home is Central”  We live in an era of professionalism.  Meaning we hire out to a profession to meet our needs.  Example, we want our son or daughter to excel in a sport and so we will hire a professional to hone them in their skills to amp up their game, or we we want our son/daughter to get into the best college so we hire a tutor to help them to push their SAT scores up. 

This mentality transfers over into the church, we want our kids to be good Christians and so we think that requires a youth pastor to do that for us.  But what we see in the word todays is that from the beginning he established that home be the central delivery system for the transfer of his truth from one generation to another.  Yet if we look around at how our culture and even the church approaches families I am concerned that we are encouraging families to abdicate our responsibilities by looking to others, whether it be Sunday school teachers, or VBS or school to evangelize our kids for us.

What this and other passages reveal is that it is not Hanging Rocks job to evangelize your children it is your job, is not the Sunday school teachers job to disciple your children it is your job.  We cannot relegate the job of discipline our kids even to a Christian school. 

You and I are the primary agent for the discipleship of our children.  I want to encourage parent listening today…..you have everything you need to disciple your children, you do not have to go to seminary to read the bible with your kids, or to pray with your kids and to teach your kids how to walk with God.

Here is another way to look at this the largest rise of full time youth ministers has been accompanied by the biggest decline in youth ministry effectiveness.  The answer is not adding youth ministers..kids don't need to see the glory of God in a youth pastor inside a church 1/week + special events they need to see the glory of God in the homes they hang out in all week long, they need to see God in their moms/dads who show them how to follow Christ.

We need to come back to the truth that the home is central and Gods plan for taking the Gospel to the world. 

Stick a push pin in that for a second, do you see how that directly relates to our purpose statement “We are a family oriented community where the Gospel is proclaimed, lived and taken out”. 

The gospel starts at home where it is proclaimed, lived and then from their it is taken out into the world.  That's why God is emphasizing family to us, so that we begin in our homes so that we can impact Boone Co and beyond.

The Word is sufficient, the home is central and the 3rd foundation is “The Gospel is necessary”  The gospel is foundational in parenting because it is the only source of salvation. 

Lets be real marriage is the uniting of 2 horrible sinners, as we think about parenting that baby enters this world and greets you with a sinful nature and is absolutely ready to take you on.  I'm not trying to tarnish the beauty of  childbirth here but its a reality.  Every child has a propensity to sin, they are prone to sin and so are you.  You put that equation together and boy are we in trouble, especially if you try to approach it without the gospel, your hopeless.

The gospel is necessary, our kids ultimate need is to be saved from their sins, this a heart issue.  Don't get distracted trying to modify behavioral issues on the outside until the heart issue is dealt with.  We all need new hearts, but this isn't just a matter of being saved from the penalty of sin to pray a prayer & move on.  When a child comes top Christ their is still a proneness to disobey & wander from God. 

The gospel is the source of salvation but also our transformation.  That's why Ephesians 5:18 talks about being filled with the Spirit of God and his work in us.  As parent we must realize that we cannot do this job apart from his transforming spirit in us.  We need to understand that we cannot make it on our own, and our kids need to see that in us as well, because they then learn that they cannot do anything apart for the transforming spirit of God within them. 

This is counter cultural, some would say its radical, because the world saturates our kids and parent with a message entirely different.  But the fact is The gospel is necessary.

So based on these 3 foundations the Word is sufficient, the home is central and the gospel is necessary lets now dig a little deeper into our text REREAD Ephesians 6:1-4. 

We are going to unpack this from the back of the passage to the front.  So we are going to look at the authority God had placed in the home with parents.  Gods word to parents then Gods word to children. 

Note when the word father is used here it is the same as the word in Hebrews 11 and Colossians 3 that refers to both parents.  To be clear the husband the father does have a leading responsibility in the home, not a sole responsibility but a leading one.  So he says parents (fathers you lead the way in this) so not exasperate your children but instead bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.

Here’s the deal, God gives you children by his grace, God has entrusted children to parents, our children do not belong to us, they belong to God, we have been given a trust, we are to steward, we have been given these children by his grace AND for his glory. 

Parenting exists more for God than it does for you.  We have been given a trust to raise up children who bring glory to God, who love God, who honor God.  We are given children for his glory.

To draw this out lets look at the Biblical idea of parenting next to the worlds.  Because the reality is this is what the world/society/culture and frankly our natural inclination will scream at us. 

But our goal is not to help our kids get a great education, gets great grades and goes to college.  I'm not saying education bad or that we shouldn't have a role in these things.  But the goal of biblical parenting is not to help our kids get the best education in the world. 

Nor is it our goal to help our kids be the best athlete, schlepping our kids around town keeping up with their friends in sports so they can win trophy's that eventually gather dust in the basement.  That's not the goal of biblical parenting.  I'm not saying that great careers or that making great money are bad and should be avoided.  But I am saying that put all things together and you have the worlds definition of success.

This simply not true.  Because when we walk with our kids as we encourage them to get good grades and we run them to football or gymnastics and point to the importance of a good degree and career we walk with them to teach them all these important lessons but we fail to teach them to serve God, then to top it off we think that if we drop our kids off at VBS or send them to horse camp at hanging rock or they go to Bethesda Christian school that they will do it for us. 

The goal of Biblical parenting is not grades/college or career the goal is to help them accomplish the Great Commission.  is the question “How can I help my child make the Glory of God known to the whole world” what is driving my parenting? 

I would offer that as the big C church its not otherwise 8 out of 10 wouldn't be walking away.

Our children do not belong to us, they belong to him and exist for his glory, not ours.  Biblical parenting always propels kids into mission and never prevents kids from mission.

We will pick part 2 up next week with this the answer to this question…. How do we raise them for his glory?

Gospel Parenting Part 2
Preached By Kevin Russell

Click here for the LIVE Facebook feed.

Last week in part 1 of The Gospel & Parenting we dove into how the goal of biblical parenting is train our kids up in the ways of the Lord.  Our goal is not to get them the best education or hone their skills as an athlete or to set them on a path to have a great career and make lots of money. 

While we can all agree these are all important things, but they are not the goal of parenting.  Lets recap last week so we can jump into part 2 today.

We reflected on our purpose statement…“We are a family oriented community where the Gospel is proclaimed, lived and taken out”  This morning we are going to look at the aspect of family that relates to parenting. 

And we touched on the fact that  even though we may be small, we are a diverse cross section of people.  Meaning there are folks here who whose kids are grown. Their are folks in this church who don't have kids, and there are folks who are on the front lines of parenting. 

But the reality is that we all have influence in some young person around us….neighbor kids…nieces/nephews.  Just because we don't have biological offspring doesn't mean we are devoid of influence.

The focus last week was on how the home, the family unit is designed as the primary vehicle that God designed for the spreading of the Gospel. 

Early in the Creation story we learn that we are charged with multiplying and spreading the Glory of God throughout the whole earth, and then in the Great Commission this is further clarified in that we are not not just represent Him throughout the world, but to make disciples of Christ.

Which is why we should not be surprised why satan has attacked this very foundation, the primary vehicle for spreading the Word of God the family.

Last week I used the illustration of a collection of Barbie's and GI Joes to represent our kids that current trends and research says that 8 out of 10 or 80% of our kids in the this and every church by their 2nd year in college will be gone from the church. 

Before they are even of age to legally consume alcohol only 2 out of 10 will remain a part of the church, participate or practice their faith in any way, and that's just one generation, think 2, 3 generations down the line. 

This is a huge problem…..which is why we need to talk about the Gospel & parenting, the Gospel and passing it on from generation to generation.

Now we don’t have time today to review these in detail, so if you missed last week/or need a refresher go back and check this out on FB where you can watch the message again. 

But the high level recap is that we looked at 3 Biblically foundational elements found in this passage:

1.        First is “The Word is Sufficient”.  Don’t run past the Word of God to a book/conference or the opinion of man, read the Word let it transform you because this is precisely what our kids need to see is God working in/on and through you.
2.       Second is The Home is Central. I know I came at you hard and heavy last week with the message that it is not the job of the Sunday school teachers, VBS or Hanging Rock to evangelize your kids.  God makes it clear that it your responsibility.  The gospel starts at home where it is proclaimed, lived and then from there it is taken out into the world.
3.       The 3rd foundation is “The Gospel is Necessary” The gospel is necessary, because our kids ultimate need is to be saved from their sins, this a heart issue.  Which means The gospel is the source of salvation and their transformation. 

Let me refocus our attention to our Scripture from READ Ephesians 6:1-4

Last week we began to unpack this from the back of the passage to the front.  We dealt with the authority God has placed in the home with parents.  Today we begin to look at Gods word to children. 

Last week we contrasted the Biblical idea of parenting next to the worlds, which quickly summarized is…….READ FROM ABOVE

We ended on the note last week of……if the goal of Biblical parenting is not grades/college or career but rather to help them accomplish the Great Commission. 

And we asked ourselves the question “How can I help my child make the Glory of God known to the whole world” what is driving my parenting?

So lets answer the question…. How do we raise them for his glory

We can raise them to be doctors, lawyers, musicians or to be successful in business but if we do not train them to honor us and obey God we have failed.

How do we be faithful with the trust that has been given to us?  Lets return to v4 bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.

Instruct your children so they know the word.  The word instruct here means to put in your children's mind and to and to lay on your children's hearts to it means to impart to them. 

Hold your finger here in Ephesians 6 and we are going to connect this with some OT teaching.  Go back to Deuteronomy 6:6….

and while you all are turning back there let me sow a seed for you to look at on your own in Genesis 18:19 which is when God speaks to Abraham about his children and it is the 1st time in the Bible that teaching/instructing is ever mentioned in the Bible and its mentioned in the context of family its God saying to Abraham instruct your children in my ways.  So the first picture we have of teaching in the bible is a father teaching his sons/daughters…

now READ Deuteronomy 6:4-9 this is know as the schma.

Are you getting the picture here? From the very beginning the central avenue for disciple making, for spreading the word of God has been through the home.  So what does this mean for you and I today?

Well it means we must have a verbal commitment to the word in the home (v7) impress these things upon your children repeat them, talk about them when your out and about/when your chilling/when you wake up talk about the word. 

Talk about the word more than baseball math and makeup…all the time….make a verbal commitment to the word in your homes.

The best bible teachers in this room are the dads/moms in this room. I say that with complete confidence and authority because God has designed it this way.  He has designed the family so that fathers/mothers are the primary instructors of the word in their lives, talking about it all the time.  If our kids are only getting fed the word here on Sundays or even at school or small group during the week then they are starving for the word, because they are designed to receive it from you and I.  About now your probably feeling the weight of this like I am.  We are the best bible teachers for our kids, God help us to meet this responsibility found in Deuteronomy 6.

Secondly we must have a visible commitment to the word in the home.  Even when mom/dad are talking about it there's no relief because the word in on doorposts/houses/gates. 

The picture in v8 is to make the word so visible, so prevalent in your home that it is like life and breath to our family.  The word should dominate every facet of our family our conversations, our physical home. 

This is how we instruct based on Deuteronomy 6 coupled with Ephesians 6 where it says instruct them and then it says to bring them up in the training of the Lord.  Train your children so they show the word.  In other words the word that you impress upon them help them to come alive within them.  Remember a few weeks back we talked about admonishing means to come alongside and help someone use what they heard.  The word here for training is literally discipline.  

The reality is we have a mandate to discipline our kids because our kids don't pop out honoring us and glorify Christ.  So we have the responsibility to discipline them so they will learn how to do this. 

This is a tall order isn't it, to discipline our kids when we struggle with lack spiritual discipline in our own lives.  The reality is that our kids will not be what they cannot see.  We cant teach our kids to do what we don't know how to do. 

If our kids don't see us modeling submission to authority or to one another, or if they do not see us studying the word how are they ever going to submit to us or to God or pursue him through his word.  They need to see Him in us, they need to see what it means to submit to the loving authority in God.

But why does he say fathers do not exasperate your children instead bring them up.  This is a caution to parents, in your discipline do it with love that leads them toward God not with anger that leads them away from God.  We discipline because we want to spur our children on toward god not away from god. 

We are not to discipline because they are not fitting into our pattern for their lives, we discipline out of love because they are missing out on Gods pattern for their lives…there a huge difference there. 

We discipline because God says it will go well for those kids who obey their parents.  Because he is teaching them in an earthy way by helping them learn it is not good to rebel against authority so that when they turn to him they already have know that it is not good to rebel against a loving authority. 

We train them that when they disobey and step out of bounds that they come back into line because they have been lovingly disciplined previously.  That skill set is then applied in their relationship with God so they realize that when they sin they realize and repent and turn back to him not rebel, because he lovingly disciplines, they come in line with what he says is best for them.  

Now for the first part of the passage that is Gods word to children.  It says Children obey your parents because you belong to the Lord, for this is right. 

So you are made by God and you are responsible to God and God is saying do this because it is my law to you, this is right, its not a suggestions, its a command. 

Everything about our kids worlds saturates them with the idea that they are the center of their universe, and it isn't true. 

Our kids are responsible to the God of the universe, he made them and they are accountable to him for their life. 

The relationship kids have with their parents always effects their relationship with God.  How a child responds to their mom/dad is an indication of how they will respond to God. 

Children are given some commands here in this passage such as honor your parents, with your attitude.  Honor here means respect your parents, value your parents, ascribe worth to your parents, love your parents. 

Disrespect towards parents is not an option before God in any circumstance.  Ephesians 6 goes a little lighter than the OT went EX 21 said if you strike you mom/dad you were put to death; he who curses his mother/father would be put to death….that sums that up, not any gray area here.  

God takes this very seriously.  Ephesians 6 tells every child to look at their heart and see if their is respect, honor, value that flows out of your heart when you think about your parents. 

Well your child's actions are the tell tale.  This is the 2nd command for kids in this verse Honor your parents with your attitudes and Obey your parents with your actions.  Obey your parents in the Lord. 

This word obey is two words/ideas fused together which are to hear and to be under authority…to hear under authority.  Hear what they say….don't turn the switch off….listen. 

Once you hear you do what they say.  The reality is that God expects you to do things that you don't want to do in obedience to your parents. 

To dishonor and disobey against your parents is to rebel against God…the only exception is when parents are instructing a child to do something that is blatantly against God’s word.

In the OT disobeying your parents is equivalent to treason and idol worship!  Look at the end of Romans 1 where disobeying your parents is listed among horrible sins, God takes this thing very seriously, that's why he includes it the 10 commandments.  That's why he connects blessing to it that if you honor/obey your parents it will go well for you.  You will have an eternal satisfaction of walking with the God of the universe.

This is how faith is instilled from generation to generation…this is how legacy is forged

Parents love/lead and discipline your children….kids honor and obey your parents and God infuses generation after generation with faith in him.

The word will not stop in you it will be carried down the line because he will multiply your legacy.