There's a War for Your Minds, Kids (Part 1)

There's a War for Your Minds, Kids I. This sermon is for the kids in the church. 1. There's a war being waged for the control of your minds, kids. 2. There are many fronts on which the assaults are being made including: A. Teachers discounting God and Creation, and teaching evolution. B. Friends pressuring you to not believe in God or to believe in a false god. C. Teachers, society, and the world in general teaching you to go into debt. D. Teachers teaching that homosexuality is good and normal. E. Friends pressuring you into sin: sex, drunkenness, drugs, theft, foul language, etc. F. Teachers and society teaching girls to have careers. G. Teachers, TV, and society teaching boys the wrong idea about manliness. H. Friends corrupting good manners such as respecting parents and adults and submitting to authority. I. Friends pressuring kids to go to other churches. II. The necessity to listen to your parents and your pastor. 1. God has your best interest at heart which is why He gave you parents to raise you. 2. God has given your parents the responsibility to raise you and train you in His ways (Eph 6:4). A. They are supposed to make known to you God's law so that you can put your hope in God and not forget His works and someday teach them to your children (Psa 78:4-8). B. They are commanded by God to train you up in the way you should go (Pro 22:6). 3. God commands you to obey your parents (Eph 6:1). A. You must obey them in all things (Col 3:20). B. You must honor them so that it may go well with you (Eph 6:2-3). i. This means not talking back to them or questioning them when they tell you to do something. ii. This means not saying "no" when they tell you to do something. iii. This means being respectful to them. C. God tells you to listen to your dad and mom (Pro 1:8; Pro 6:20; Pro 23:22). D. Don't make your dad and mom angry and sad by being fools (Pro 10:1; Pro 17:25; Pro 19:13). 4. You need to obey me as your pastor too (Heb 13:7; Heb 13:17). A. I am one of your teachers given to you by God (Eph 4:11). B. Listen to my instruction (Pro 8:10; Pro 8:33). C. If you despise my words and don't listen to me now, you will regret it later (Pro 5:12-13). D. Don't prove to the world that you are stupid by hating my reproof (Pro 12:1). III. The need for discernment when listening to teachers, other adults, or friends. 1. God's word (the Bible) is our standard by which everyone else's ideas are measured. A. It is our flashlight in the dark to show us where to go so we don't run into things (Pro 6:23; Psa 119:105; Psa 119:9). B. We must compare everything someone tells us with what God says and see if they agree with God, and if they don't they are wrong (Isa 8:20). C. If anyone tells you anything that is different than what God says in the Bible, then you must not listen to them (Pro 19:27; Pro 14:7). D. If it is a teacher or an adult that teaches you something wrong, be sure to be respectful when you reject their teaching. IV. The various assaults on God's word and teaching you will likely face from teachers and friends. 1. Teachers discounting God and Creation, and teaching evolution. A. Some of your teachers might deny that God even exists. i. This stupidity must be rejected immediately. ii. It is a fool that says that there is no God (Psa 14:1). iii. The creation itself teaches us that there is a God who created it (Psa 19:1; Rom 1:20). B. Many or most of your teachers will teach you that the earth and the universe are billions of years old and that they came into existence as the result of a cosmic explosion and that all life (plants, animals, and people) evolved from lifeless elements over millions of years. i. This is not only impossible, but it is completely contrary to how God says He created the universe and all life on earth. ii. The Bible says that God created the universe and all plant, animal, and human life in six days, not billions of years (Gen 1:1-31). iii. The Bible states that the earth is about 6000 years old, not billions of years old. iv. If you get into a debate with your teachers about evolution, just ask your parents or me and we will give you plenty of arguments from scripture and science to support what God says about it. 2. Friends pressuring you to not believe in God or to believe in a false god. A. Your friends may make fun of you for believing in God or Jesus Christ or for being a Christian. If they do, you are blessed (Mat 5:10-12). B. There is only one God (Isa 44:6) and He is the God of the Bible. C. God is a trinity, one God in three persons (1Jo 5:7). D. The most important thing you can do in your life is to love and believe in God with all of your heart, mind, soul, and strength (Mat 22:37-38). E. Jesus Christ is the only way of salvation (Joh 14:6; Act 4:12). F. You remember this and stick to it with all your strength and don't let anyone convince you otherwise. G. Don't even listen to anyone who tells you that the God of the Bible is not the true God (Pro 19:27). 3. Teachers, society, and the world in general teaching you to go into debt. A. Debt - 1. That which is owed or due; anything (as money, goods, or service) which one person is under obligation to pay or render to another: a. a sum of money or a material thing. B. God doesn't want us to be in debt. i. Sin is called debt (Mat 6:12 c/w Luk 11:4). ii. We are to owe no man anything (Rom 13:8). iii. You are a slave to anyone to whom you owe money (Pro 22:7). iv. Get a job, save money, and then build your house (Pro 24:27). 4. Teachers teaching that homosexuality is good and normal. A. Your teachers will likely teach you that homosexuality (gays and lesbians) is normal and should be accepted just like male-female relationships. B. God says that homosexual relationships are sinful and go against nature (Rom 1:26-27). i. God says that men should not lie with men as they lie with women (Lev 18:22). ii. They that do such things have no place in the kingdom of God which is the church (1Co 6:9-10). C. God says that men and women should marry each other (Mat 19:4-6), and therefore men should not marry men and women should not marry women.