Preparing Your Kids for the Real World (Part 07) - Spiritual Development (Part C)

Watch the video of this sermon on YouTube: Preparing Your Kids for the Real World (Part 07) - Spiritual Development (Part C) For the outline and the rest of the sermons in this series, click here: Preparing Your Kids For The Real World To listen to or watch the previous sermon in the series, click here: (Part 6) To listen to or watch the next sermon in the series, click here: (Part 8) 7. Teach them to repent and ask for forgiveness when they sin. A. Teach your children that anytime they sin, they have sinned first and foremost against God (Gen 39:9; Psa 51:4). B. Teach them that in addition to sinning against God they have also sinned against whomever they trespassed (Gen 42:22; Luk 15:18; Luk 17:3-4; 1Co 8:12). C. Teach them that when they commit sin to first repent and confess their sin to God and ask for forgiveness (Psa 32:5; Psa 38:18; 1Jo 1:9). D. Teach them that each time they pray to think of the sins that they have committed that day and ask forgiveness for them (Mat 6:12). E. Teach them that after they have asked God's forgiveness, they should approach the person they sinned against and ask for his forgiveness (Luk 15:18). F. Teach them that they will not prosper if they try to hide and cover up their sins (Pro 28:13). 8. Teach them to forgive others. A. Teach them that we must always forgive those who ask us to because God forgave us (Col 3:13). B. Even if someone repeatedly sins against us, we must forgive them if they repent and ask for forgiveness (Luk 17:3-4). C. Teach them that if they don't forgive others then God will not forgive them (Mat 6:14-15; Mat 18:21-35). 9. Teach them that in order to be a Christian as the Bible defines it they must repent and be baptized, thereby being added to a local church with which they assemble. A. Teach your children that the first act of obedience to God after hearing and believing the gospel and repenting of sins is to be baptized (Mat 3:1-2,6; Mat 28:19; Act 8:12; Act 8:35-38; Act 18:8). i. Teach them that the act of baptism adds a believer to a local church (Act 2:37-42,47; 1Co 12:13). ii. Teach them that baptized disciples who assemble themselves with the local church are called Christians (Act 11:26). iii. Teach them that they are not Christians until they have been baptized and added to a local church which is the body of Jesus Christ. iv. Note: in scripture, the term Christian is NOT synonymous with a child of God, an elect person, a person who is born again, or a person who is saved eternally. A Christian is a person who is all those things and has been baptized and added to a local church with which he assembles to worship Jesus Christ. B. Teach them that being in the kingdom of God which is the local church is worth more than anything else in this life (Mat 13:44-46). C. Don't pressure them to get baptized, just teach them that the Bible commands those who believe the gospel to be baptized. i. Let the Holy Spirit convict them (Act 2:37). ii. You don't want your kids to get baptized for you, but for Jesus Christ. 10. Teach them the importance of church and worshipping God. A. Teach them that God desires to be worshipped in spirit and in truth by His children (Joh 4:23-24). i. Teach them that God doesn't want to be worshiped in vain by the traditions of men (Mar 7:6-9,13). ii. Teach them that any old church will not do, but only a true church that worships God in truth according to His word. iii. Teach them that God will not be pleased if they grow up and go to an incorporated entertainment facility. B. Teach them that God values His house more highly than any other place (Psa 87:2) and so should they (Psa 23:6; Psa 27:4; Psa 84:1-2, 10). i. The best way to teach them this is to show them that the church is more important than any other place to you by your actions. ii. If you choose to be somewhere else on a Sunday morning, you are teaching your children and others that that other place is more important to you than God's church. iii. Your words mean little -- your heart is where your treasure is (Luk 12:34). C. Teach them to seek God's kingdom first in all that they do (Mat 6:33). D. Teach them that the church is the place where God dwells (1Co 3:16; Eph 2:19-22). E. Teach them that the church belongs to Jesus Christ and that He protects it (Mat 16:18; Act 20:28). F. Teach them that the church is where praise and glory are given to God from now until the end of time (Eph 3:21). G. Teach them that Christians ought not to forsake assembling with the church (Heb 10:25). H. You should teach your children to value church by your example. i. On the way to church ask them if they are ready to go to God's house and worship the LORD. ii. On communion Sundays, tell them that it is a solemn time to examine yourself. iii. On the way home from church, ask them what the sermon was about and what they learned. iv. Quiz them on things that you learned from the sermon and show them that you value being taught the word of God in church.