Just as this is baby giraffe is aware of his mother's presence and protection, we want our children to be aware of God's. Every child is going to worship something, whether it is us as parents, themselves, princesses, toy trains, or God. Our goal is to point them to know their ultimate source of protection and life.
We do this by the shaping influences we put in their lives (going to church, teaching songs, praying before bed), and we do this by modeling it in our own lives, which technically is still a shaping influence. We are not going to be able to make this happen for our children, but through prayer, consistency, and God, our children will gain a deep love of God.
You might have thought that I tipped Pastor Alan in order to get his sermons to coincide with the last couple classes. Today's sermon was perfectly aligned to today's class. When our children have a correct Godward Orientation they will know that they are blessed. When they know they are blessed, they are free to be who they were created to be. When the live out of who God created them to be, they will be successful. If you missed today's sermon, go to "The Secret of a Fruitful Life" (removed - go to Reynolda Church's online sermons for most recent sermons). My guess is that next week's sermon will not follow the chapter as closely as we start to dive into discipline.
We had some great discussion and examples about how this can play out. While we might not all lead our children to take fishing trips with Jesus, this is a wonderful example of bringing a relationship with Jesus to your child's life. They get to experience that Jesus is not just a character in a story, but He is available all the time. Here are the notes for this chapter's class: Godward Orientation.
Here are each week's topics:
- Week 1: Introduction to Shepherding a Child's Heart
- Week 2: Chapter 1: The Heart of the Behavior
- Week 3: Chapter 2: Shaping Influences
- Week 4: Chapter 3: Godward Orientation
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