Raising Kingdom Kids (Part 4) - 8/23/2026 11AM

Welcome to the Living God Cast, our prayer is that this message speaks to you, impacts you and inspires you. Please enjoy today's message and we invite you to contact us if you need prayer, appreciate this word, or would like more information on Church of the Living God. Be blessed today. Thank you for being here. If you are a guest with us, thank you for giving us a shot. We hope that you have sensed the Lord's presence in the place He has been here today. Has He not? Amen. Amen. Awesome. If you've got your Bibles, let's go to Ephesians chapter 6. While you're turning there, I will share some news with you. We have over the last couple of years been talking about and of course gotten congregational approval through the by-laws and all that to sell our 25-passenger. We have had a couple of serious buyers over the years, but nothing has ever panned out. We were at the point where we really felt like, well, it's going to have to be in the Lord's timing because either He doesn't want us to sell it or the right person hasn't come along. Well, this past week, the right person came along. We were able to sell our 25-passenger bus for $24,000. Now, it was paid off, so all that money is going to go into our savings account, which is going to end up back in the facility here. So please understand and do not think that, oh, we just got $24,000, that's a lot of money. First of all, it's not what it used to be. Amen. Not what it used to be. But also, you know, so I can stop giving or I cannot give whatever. No, come on. Like, we have six more air conditioners to replace at about 8 grand a pop. It's a little more than $24,000. And as well, you know, it's just like when you pay off your house at home, you still got to pay the electric bill, you still got to pay for internet, you still got to, you know, there's still all these things. So let's not disengage because large things come in or get paid off. Amen. Let's not disengage. Is God still able and willing to bless us when we are generous? Yes. Absolutely. So, what point should we stop being generous? Never. Never. We should never stop being generous. I heard somebody say this week that mercy is reckless generosity. God has been recklessly generous to us. Not reckless to himself or unplanned or, you know, I'm not trying to turn him into human. What I'm saying is, is that God has with abandoned been kind to us and generous to us. And he has put means within our hands to bless others. So let's do that. Let's trust him. Doesn't the Scripture say it? Trust me that I will not try me, that I will not open the heavens and pour out blessings so great they overflow your lives. He said that. Try me. So let's try him. Let's not stop trying because we've had a little bit of a windfall come in. Like I said, we do plan to use that. We're going to replenish the savings account that we've been tapping into for some time. And then we're also going to be prepared as these things break down because they're going to at some point to replace them, all right. So we have gotten 26 years out of most of these air conditioners. That's incredible. That's the blessing of God. Amen. We got 25 years out of a roof. We've been blessed. But let's keep giving and trusting God to make up the difference. Amen. Amen. Awesome. Ephesians 6 verse 1. Children obey your parents in the Lord. For this is right. Amen. You guys picked the right service to come to. All you young folks, children obey your parents in the Lord. For this is right. Honor your father and mother, which is the first commandment with the promise so that it may turn out well for you and that you may live long on the earth. Fathers do not provoke your children to anger but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord or your version might say fear and admonition of the Lord. So we're on week four of raising kingdom kids. Kingdom kids. Now again, your place in life may not directly speak to this. You may not have young kids at home. You may not be a kid with parents. Maybe your parents have gone on to heaven, whatever it is. But regardless, there is something that you will get out of this if you will allow the Lord to speak it. Amen. So let's ask the Lord to bless the word and to open us up to her. Does that sound good? All right. Father, we thank you. For your word, we thank you for what you're doing in this place. Father, thank you for these four souls who have come back to you, freshening you today. God, we are honored that you would do that in our midst. Father, we ask you to open up your word to us. More importantly, open us up that we may receive it. Whatever stage or phase of life that we're in, God, that you would speak a word to somebody. I'm sorry, Lord, to everybody in this place today. In Jesus mighty name. Amen. Amen. God, raising kingdom kids, God is the life builder and the family designer, right? So far, we've learned that to raise kingdom kids, we as parents, grandparents, guardians, must understand that Jesus values our kids and he has plans and purposes for them. Jesus will take our hands as parents, as we take the hand of our kids and attempt to lead them toward him. He will come alongside us and help us. How many have found that to be true? Amen, that Jesus will avenge our kids. Should anyone deceive them or cause them to sin? Jesus himself said, "They would be better if a millstone were hung around your neck and you were drowned in the depths of the sea than to purposely mislead or lead one of these little ones into sin." That's a hefty sentence from God and that was straight from the mouth of God. But that shows us that Jesus has our kids back. Amen. He has their back. He's watching over them too. We must first make sure that the Lord is our God, as parents. If he's going to be their God, he's got to be our God. Amen. He's got to be the Lord our God and that we love the Lord God and serve him with everything that we have. Also we must get God's Word into our heart because when it gets in our heart it will come out of our mouth and our job as parents is to repeat God's Word that got into our hearts and repeat it back to our children. It's our responsibility as parents first, not just as pastors or Sunday school teachers, but as parents, let us be the primary source by which our children and generations receive the Word of God. Not just abdicate that to someone at church. We must let God's Word be the authority in our life as parents and guardians. God's Word has to be supreme above our politics, above our opinions, above our preferences. God's Word must be the authority in our life. We've also learned last week that we have to memorialize God's work in our lives so that our children will know what God can do. Amen. Our kingdom kids need to hear the testimony of God's work in mom and dad's life. They need to know what God did for grandma and grandpa way back when. Amen. Oh, what exactly God brought you from because they weren't there for it. They need to hear about it. And we need to steward the testimony of God in our homes for every new generation. It said in Deuteronomy and in Joshua, in the time to come when your children come to you and they say, "What's this about? What are these stones for? What's this Word for? What are these commandments for?" That you will say, "This is what God has done in me." Amen. Our responsibility is to steward our testimony for every generation that comes up in our family. They need to hear and know what God did for you, what he's doing in you, and the promises he's spoken over you. Amen. All right. Are they okay? This week we're back in the New Testament looking at Paul's instructions to children and parents in the Ephesian church, please remember when he writes to a church, he's writing to a church of people he knows, a church of people he loves. These are people he was there for their children being born, he was there for their weddings, he was present in all these things. Ephesians 6.1, "Children obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Kingdom kids obey their parents because that is obeying God." I got to look over here at these guys, "Obey your parents." Thanks for waving, obey your parents in the Lord because it is right, okay? It is right obeying your parents is obeying God, obeying your guardian, obeying your grandparents is obeying God, all right? Children, parents, the expectation is obedience. So long as the command is not a violate God's word, now they command you to do something that is sinful, then you don't have to do that. That goes with our government, our society as well. We obey the laws of our land until it conflicts with the word of God, amen? So we are to be subject to authorities, we are to be subject to our parents unless it violates God's law or God's word, but it is your responsibility kids to obey your parents in the Lord. What I mean is, is that your obedience to your parents reflects how well you obey Jesus. That's exactly right. Well, that stinks. That's not fair. I'm just a kid. How many of you thought that right then? I'm just a kid. That's not fair. I'm just a kid. I can't help. I don't always listen. I don't always obey. But your responsibility is, as a Christian kid, that you obey your parents. See, here's the thing. You're not just a normal kid anymore. You know Jesus, and he knows you. So that means you got to do what Jesus wants you to do. Even when people aren't looking, you got to do what Jesus wants. What you want you to do when you're out with your friends, when you're at school, when you're out with your boyfriend or girlfriend, especially then, you got to do what Jesus wants you to do. Amen? Obedience, it reflects your ability to obey Jesus. How are you going to obey Jesus whom you've never seen? If you can't obey mom and dad who you see every day. Amen? It's true. How are we going to obey somebody we've never seen with our eyes if we won't obey our parents? So if we can't, if we can't, then we've got to check ourselves, right? Now likewise, parents and guardians, it is our responsibility to make sure that they are obeying because it honors God when they obey. Now listen, when your kid fails to obey, when they disobey, that's when you have to instruct. And we're going to talk about instruction here in a minute. But the opportunity for instruction involves helping them understand why that disobedience was bad, right? If you just yell and pop them in the face, that's not going to do anything. They're not going to learn. All they're going to know is they did something that will make you yell and pop them in the face. They won't know that it actually grieved the heart of God what they just did. They won't understand that actually now because of that being sinful, they might actually be in trouble of going to hell because it might begin to grow in their life and become a stronghold or a bondage to them. So we need to train them to honor God, amen? It's our responsibility to make sure they are obeying because it honors God when they obey. Obey because it honors God, not because it honors your parents. It does honor your parents and you should. Adult children, it's still honors God when you obey your parents. Amen? Now I realize you're out on your own, you're living in your life, whatever it is. But when you walk in their house, whose house is it? It's their house. If they tell you to do something, you ought to do something. If you see something that needs to be done, you ought to do it. If the trash is overflowing, take it out. What do kids do in that situation? Well, it's not my trash. It's not my mess. How many times parents have we heard that? If you got multiple kids, you tell them to pick something up, they're like, but I didn't leave it out. I didn't spill it. It's not mine. I hope that this house is. We live in this house together, we're in this family together. You can take 30 seconds and pick that up, right? Parents, make sure that what we're asking of them also does not violate God's Word. Another reason why we need to be students of the Word, amen? To make sure that what we're asking them does not violate God's Word. He says, children obey your parents in the Lord for this is right. The Word right in the Greek, the original language, this is written in. It means equitable, beneficial. It means holy or righteous. It is beneficial, it is holy, it is Christ-like to obey your parents. Yeah, but I don't like the way they said it. Junior, it's not up to you to like the way they say it. Now, as Christians, they ought to be a little bit thoughtful in the way they say things, right? Amen? We're not supposed to provoke our children to wrath. We read that. We're going to talk about it. We ought to be considering the way we say and do things. However, if we're not son, daughter, it's not up to you. You don't get to disobey because you don't like their tone. Amen? And I really don't recommend it. It's not going to turn out well for you, is it? I really don't recommend you call out their tone because that will get worse. Amen? But it is beneficial, holy and Christ-like to obey your parents. So here's the bottom line. Whether or not you like what they said or how they said it, Jesus expects you to obey. Therefore what do you do? You obey, unless it violates God's word. Yeah, but that's immaturity speaking. Only children say, yeah, but, yeah, but it's not, yeah, but they said, but it wasn't right. But it was point and blame, point and fingers, cast and blame elsewhere. But I don't want, I don't feel, I've got this thing to do. All that stuff doesn't matter. Obey your parents for it is right. It's holy, it's righteous. Amen? Verse two, honor your father and mother. Honor your father and mother. Honor means to prize or to value, to revere. Honor your father and mother, which is the first commandment of the promise. This is for adult children too, by the way. Honor your father and mother, even when they're not all that honorable. The most Christ-like thing is to honor someone who doesn't deserve it. That's what Jesus did. He honored us. He was getting nails driven through his body and saying, father, forgive them for they don't know what they're doing. He had more honor toward the people afflicting him and killing him than we do toward people that we see and love. And mother, I want to throw this in, and mother. My dad said to me all the time, she was my wife before she was your mom. You're not going to talk to my wife like that. I tell you what, it only took me two or three times to figure out he was serious about that. Gentlemen, that is our responsibility. They are to honor her, right? They are to honor us. They should be a little bit afraid of us. They should be, but they should be a little bit afraid of her. They should honor her, or they should at least be afraid of what we're going to do if they don't honor her. Amen? That's my wife. Hey, nobody going to talk to my wife like that. Certainly not in my house. Amen? Value, prize. For those of us who have lost a parent, how much more do you wish you could have valued and prized and honored them just a little bit longer? Hey, man, even, gosh, even disagree with them a little bit longer, amen? Honor, prize, value, revere your parents' kids. Well, they're not always the best. Yeah, neither are you. Can I be real for a second? Like I know we have to keep you alive or we go to jail. I know that we have to take care of you, but do we always want to? Parents, do they always deserve it? Is this too real for everybody? Are they always sweet and compliant and grateful? I don't want that. Well, you wanted it yesterday. I don't want it anymore. I don't like it. It tastes weird, but you ate it yesterday. I don't want it. That's silly stuff. You get malty as kids, kids get malty sometimes. They get disrespectful. Kingdom kids honor, prize, and revere their parents even when they don't deserve it. God gave you those parents, believe it or not. He gave you to them. Even if they're messed up, even if they're dysfunctional, even if they're far from God. Honor them. Your testimony, your honor will be a testimony to them. Most Christ-like thing you can do is honor this honorable people, amen? The same God that led me out of bondage and open seas and rivers for me has done great things for me, has also called me to honor my parents, amen? But mercifully, the calling also comes with promise. Next to this 20 verse 12, it's a cross-reference with Ephesians 6. This is where the 10 commandments are first listed. Honor your father and mother so that your days may be prolonged on the land which the Lord your God gives you. Honor your father and mother so that your days may be prolonged, not just because they won't kill you if you honor them, right? But because there's a promise connected, Paul mentions that this commandment is the first one given with a promise, and what is the promise? So that your days may be prolonged on the land where God has given you. There's a promise with obedience, in fact obedience facilitates long life. The lifetime of kingdom kids can be prolonged by being obedient to parents. And again, not just because they're not going to knock your head off of your obedient. But because you are living a life that honors God and God honors that kind of living. That's the way it works. God honors it when we live according to His Word. One promise is that He will prolong your life in the place where He's called you to go if you obey your parents. That's wild. You will literally lengthen the number of days that you're on this earth if you obey your parents. What a promise. So the lifetimes of kingdom kids can be prolonged by obedience to parents. He says in verse three, "So that it may turn out well for you and that you may live long on the earth." This is also a cross reference to the team commandments from Deuteronomy 5. Ronomy 5/16 says, honor your father and mother, just as the Lord your God has commanded you, so that your days may be prolonged and that it may go well for you on the land, which the Lord your God has given you. So the next part of the promise, I'm sorry, the first part of the promise, is that you will live a long life. The next part is the quality of your life. Not only will you live longer, but while you live, things will go well for you as you live in the place God has called you to. That when you obey, not only are you prolonging your life, you're making it better. The quality of life is improving when they tell you to get off your phone and you get off your phone and go to bed. When they tell you to eat the food that they paid for and made for you or paid someone else to make for you. And you obey, you are not just prolonging your life, you are prolonging, you're increasing the quality, sorry. You're increasing the quality of your life. The quality of life for kingdom kids can be improved by obedience to parents. Not only in the sense of God gets involved, but also practically speaking, it's better at home when things aren't tense. Have you noticed that? It's tough when you got to walk through the house, hoping you don't see mom or dad. It's tough when you're sneaking through. Hoping they don't hear the floor creak. In that spot, I just stepped in that spot. Oh, it's gonna creak. And they're gonna stick their head out and they're gonna be like, hey, come here. Right? It's better when things aren't tense. It's better when you're obeying and you're doing what you're supposed to do and you're pulling your weight and you're doing your part. It's better. The quality of your life improves. I wonder if sometimes our struggle, even as adults could be due to how we are or are not honoring our parents. Even as adults, but certainly as kids. I can't tell you how many times parents would come to me as youth pastor and they'd say, "Junior's doing this or that." And I don't know what to say. I'd be like, well, you know what the Bible says, right? Yeah, I know and I told him that, but he's to hear it from you. Well, okay, good. He did hear it from you first. That's a good thing. That is a win, for sure. But yeah, no, I agree. No, they're right, junior. No, that's sin, bud. You can't do that. That is sin. It's actually in the Bible. Now, honor your parents. Honor your parents. They said you can't do it. You're either gonna live in opposition to that ruling and you're gonna live a tough existence or you're gonna adapt and conform and have a better existence. Which one do you want? 'Cause here's a deal. As parents, we're not budget on stuff. Amen? If it's in this book, we don't budge on it. Amen? I don't care what culture says. We don't budge. It's what God says. Verse four, they're right, okay? Alright, first of all, fathers do not provoke your children to anger but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. Provoke, it's interesting thought. Do not provoke your children. How do we provoke our children? First of all, what does it mean to provoke? In the Greek, it means to enrage or to create wrath. You've ever been roused to wrath by your parents? Yeah, truthfully, adults do. We can admit that, can't we? Absolutely. We're enraged by our parents. Do not provoke, do not enrage your parents or your kids. This word is only used twice in the entire Bible, this verse and Romans 10, 19. Translated in this verse is provoked and enrolments as anger. So it makes me think that perhaps the issue is not individual instances of provoking the kids to sinful anger, although that's not okay, right? We should not become so angry that we make them so angry that they sin, that's not what we're supposed to do. But what if the issue is that we're teaching them how to behave by how we behave? What if we're teaching them to process anger by how we process anger? What we're provoking in them is not godly because we're not showing them anything godly. Fathers do not provoke, do not be aware that how you behave, they will behave. See, children are products of their environment. Did you know that? They're products of their environment. So the dysfunction that they grow up in, if it is normalized in their life, then they will live thinking it's normal. But that's why we have something counter to the dysfunction of this world, amen? We have the Word of God, the full counsel of God. We have Jesus in our hearts, we have the Holy Ghost, within us we have the fruit and the gifts of the Spirit. Working with this, we have everything that we need to produce a counter cultural home, to produce behavior within us as parents that enables them to behave better because they see better. Amen? They see us behave the right way and they imitate it. Or they see us behave the wrong way and they imitate it. Most of the time when your button heads with your kid head on, it's 'cause they've learned to behave and operate like you have. Amen? Is that true? Is it true? A lot of times the problems you're having with your kid are actually your problems that you've not dealt with. They're just coming out of junior and Sally and whatever. They're coming up out of them because you haven't given Jesus Lordship yet. You've not let him change you. And so you don't know how to show them what's different. Everybody okay? So they see and encounter dad and anger, their exasperation, frustration, so they learn anger, exasperation, frustration. They see dad living before the Lord, frustrated and aggravated all the time, so they approached the Lord the same way. Instead of provoking them to wrath, our God-given responsibility is to bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lordness, what the verse says, do not provoke, but bring them up. So the language here kind of evokes a picture of like a tender plant. You guys, were you ever given that little plant in the egg carton cup at school? Are you gonna take it home and keep it from dying? Remember that? The little tender plant, the little chute that sticks up is just a little bit of thing and then you gotta grow it up and water it every day, put it in the windowsill, all that stuff. That's what our kids are. Our responsibility is to nourish them to maturity, to bring them up to maturity. That's gonna be hard if I'm not mature. Amen? If I'm not mature in the Lord, how am I gonna raise a new generation to be? That's why I've gotta be a student of the Word. That's why I've gotta be a church. That's why I've gotta read the Bible. I've gotta do all the things God prescribes because as I grow, they will grow. I'm gonna grow them. I'm gonna guide them like a tomato plant. You gotta build the lattice of the structure, right? It's gotta grow. The vines have to grow along the structure. I've gotta have that structure in my life before they have it in their life. Obviously things can go sideways. Parents can do crazy things, lots of things happen. God can handle all of it. He can heal anything and restore you from anything. But what they see in us will come up out of them. The Apostle actually spent a fair amount of time earlier in this letter detailing what a Christ-like life looks like. Read chapters four and five. That'll help you out. That's what we're to be imitating. Therefore, as parents, we imitate the right things of God in front of our kids so they can imitate us and do the right things of God themselves. That's how it works. Now how many of us did not have a good Christ-like parent like that, but we had somebody the Lord brought our way. At church or whatever we had a youth pastor, a Sunday school teacher, a teacher at school, we had somebody come along, put their arm around us and say, "Hey, follow me as I follow Christ." All kinds of great people like that in our lives. And that's the beautiful thing about a church family is that mom and dad, not only do you have to be firing on all cylinders all the time, but you've got people around you who can come alongside and help. You do have Sunday school teachers at youth pastors and pastors of people who can say, "Hey, how's it going? What can I do to help? What's happening in your life?" That's why we're here. Our kids in this church need to see the white-haired folks come up and give 'em a nugie and tell 'em they look good today. Tell 'em they saw 'em worshipping in church and they're proud of 'em for putting their hands up in the air. Amen? Tell 'em they saw 'em praying up front and there were tears coming out of their eyes and they think that's wonderful and amazing. They need to hear that stuff in the church house, but they need to hear it at home too, amen? That we as parents and as a family of God come alongside each other and we imitate the right things so they will imitate the right things. Fathers do not provoke your children to anger but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. Discipline, that word discipline looks at awful lot like a good church word. Disciple, right? Disciple, bring them up in discipline and instruction of the Lord. The key to discipline is consistency. It's the same key to discipleship that you just don't stop. Discipline is key to raising kids up in the fear and ammunition of the Lord. It's about consistently and proportionately correcting the course of their life. Here's the deal. This is something I'm going to tell you. that I've learned. You can either do minor corrections as they grow or have to suffer through major corrections once they're grown. Amen? How many folks in here can say I've been through a major correction or two? Absolutely. Where you are the one being corrected, right? Amen, absolutely. A reset even. But if we will, if we will do minor corrections along the way, then they won't get so far out in left field where the Lord's got to step in and take them into the pit so they come to themselves. Amen? So they realize what's going on and they got to change. Minor corrections, discipline, consistently and proportionally correcting the course of their life because kingdom kids still need discipline. They got Jesus in their heart but they don't know how to navigate life. Amen, they've got Jesus in their heart. They're going to heaven but they don't know how to deal with people yet. They're learning just like we did. We can't just be hands off and say it's the Lord's business. They're His will take care of them. No, we are called to be involved in the process to bring about those minor corrections along the way. Discipline in a Christian home should be handled from a united front. If you're able to do it, if you're fortunate and you've got both parents at home, then it should be a united approach to discipline. By that I mean one parent can't undermine the other. Okay, I'll turn around. So nobody thinks I'm talking about it. Ladies and I'm saying this because generally the husbands are disciplinarians. If your husband brings discipline, you cannot follow that with no, we're not doing that or no, don't shudair spank them. It's got to be united. If you undermine each other, it creates confusion. God is not the author of confusion. It will confuse your kid and guess who wins in the end if they've got two confused parents, the kid. The kid gets to do whatever they want to do because mom and dad are over here fighting about what should be done about it. United front. United front. One thing my parents always did was if my dad said something and then I went and appealed to my mother, which is what we often do. We appealed to the other. The first thing she would say is what did your dad say? And that knows cooked. Ah, dad got it. She thought about that. What'd your dad say? Or I'd go to him because she was mad and I'd go to him and he'd say what your mom say. Now if I erroneously reported what the other said, it got worse. You know how you try to down, you downplay it. Well, she said that it wasn't that big a deal to her, but it's up to you, you know, and then they talk because they'd actually do talk later. Not just in that moment. They do talk to each other. And then they'd come back both of them united and say, hey, that's not what you, that's not what she said. And now I'm in more trouble. United front. If dad thinks it deserves a spanking, wives submit. Oh God, I felt the air leave the room. Whoo. Everybody okay? Submit. One thing that my parents did and it worked for us. And that scene has to be done your way. But my mom's nuclear option was, I'm telling your dad when he gets home. And my dad is coming in off of God knows what on the day, right? I don't know what always dealt with. And the last thing he needs to hear is that I disrespected mom in such a way. Or I did this thing or that thing. That was the nuclear option. We got used to her. And it's not her fault. My mom was saying, mom, many moms in the same way, your kids get used to you. They literally get used to your voice. Like it's biological to some degree. But they get used to you and they, you know, you threaten them, doesn't do what it does when dad threatens them, right? Ladies, you need to give dad room to be that threat. Okay? No, obviously if he beats them with an inch of their life, that's not okay. I'm not saying that. Let's use reason. I'm saying if he thinks it deserves a spanking, it deserves it, let it happen. Because I'll tell you this, I can count on two hands the times I got spanked. It was always by my dad. No telling how many times she swatted me. Hopefully not a whole lot. I was the good kid. So, but I got immune to that stuff. But when dad did it, first of all, here's how dad did it. Dad would call me in. Or he'd come into my room. And he would lecture me. And it wasn't just like, hey, the Bible says this is bad. Don't do it. It was like, hey, I know you're better than this. I'm disappointed in you. Oh, that was the worst. Just beat me to death. Get it over with. What made you think that was okay? You know that we don't do that. You know that it offends God when we do that because I've taught you that it offends God when we do that. I was in tears before he ever laid a hand on me. I was already broken and corrected and then came the hand. And it took about two pops and I was done. Right? And then what he would do when he was done is he'd stand me up and he'd put his arms around me and tell me he loved me. He'd tell me he expected more out of me because he knew I had more in me. And I tell you what I'd give anything for him to do that to me again. I really would. But I do that with my kids. So we got to have a united front. A united front. We cannot undermine each other. Ladies, let me say this. I know that so many ladies have grown up in horrible situations. They've come from unspeakable things. I understand that. But you've got a good, hopefully you got a good, godly Christian man that you're married to. That is the father of those children. And if he is, if God is so good as to give you that man and to make him that Christian man, then he will make sure that he doesn't hurt your children. Amen? So come alongside. You didn't marry the monsters that have been in your life. You didn't marry that. You married the man that God has brought. And if God has truly brought him, trust him. Amen? And if you don't trust him, trust the Lord. And let the Lord do a work in him. Obviously, if he hurts your kids, it's different. I'm not saying anything goes. I am saying, if he's a Christian man, trust the Lord. Amen? Discipline on a united front. Are they okay? All right, verse six, fathers do not provoke your children to anger, bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. Instruction is to call attention to. It's a mild rebuke or warning. Parents, not everything is Defcon 1. Don't beat your kid over everything. I use that term. I don't mean it literally. Don't scream and spank your kid over everything. You ever been in Walmart and heard somebody tearing into their kid in the next aisle and you peek around the corner and it's like a two-year-old. They don't even know where they're at. Much less what they just did. And their mom is laying into them. Now, to be fair, we also know how the day could have been, right? All eaten up that day. They could be pushing and pushing and pushing and pushing. Pushing every button. Absolutely. But nine times out of ten, you are the adult. They are the child. Be the adult. Be the Christian adult. Temperance. Invoke that temperance. And bring a mild rebuke. If you won't bring a mild rebuke, you won't have to bring a great rebuke. A major rebuke. Bring the mild rebuke. When I start bobbing their head at you, hey, hey, hey, hey, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, we're not doing that. They talk to you or your spouse like that, hey, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. You won't have to worry about them at eighteen cursing your name to your face. You won't have to worry about them disrespecting you in front of others if you do it when they're five. Amen? And sometimes that does mean a little pop on the behind and a reminder that they're not the biggest dog in the yard. Amen? All right, everybody okay? I'm feeling the air go out again. I'm telling you what I've lived through. My parents spanked me. They didn't have to do it often, but there were certainly times I deserved it. There were other times I deserved it and they didn't do it because they were merciful. But it did not hurt me, and it does not hurt my kids when I have to do it, and I don't have to do it often. Because usually by the time we get to the spanking, they're already sobbing from the lecture that I learned from the master. Amen? It works. So if we scream or spank with extreme severity over everything, we will create kids who don't know what's important and what's not. You're skewing their perception of consequence. If they spank me the same over spilling my milk as over shooting a paintball through the window, then how do you scale that? How do you know how to process that? That's a little brain. Everything will be be an emergency or a failure to them. Kingdom kids need consistent instruction. Consistently, instead, choose to call attention to the thing or the choice of the event as it happens if possible, while it's fresh. Now sometimes you're mad in the moment, and you need to go be with Jesus for a second. Is that true? Sometimes you know what, I need Jesus, I need a minute 'cause I am gonna do something sinful. But what we need to do is we get with Jesus, we come back and we talk about it and we deal with it. If you can't do that because you're so mad, take a minute. But call attention to the issue and explain, instruct, raise them up in the discipline and instruction, not just the discipline, not just the instruction. Hey, man, if you discipline with no instruction, they're not gonna know why they're being disciplined. If you instruct without discipline, they're not gonna believe that what you've instructed them is true or necessary because there's no consequence. They don't feel it. So discipline and instruction, fear and admonition. Call attention, explain, instruct, why it's an issue. We are Christians and Christians don't do those things. Also choose to call attention to the good things. Hey, man, part of the discipline and instruction is the good. When they ace that test, tell 'em, good job. Let's go get ice cream. And when they clean their room without you asking, what's even a proportional response to that? (audience laughing) Like ice cream's not enough. Like, but you can't just go broke. You can't buy 'em an Xbox or clean in their room. But you want to sometimes, don't you? That's, wow, you did that on your own? I didn't have to ask you that. Really? You thought it would be helpful? Believe it or not, those days will come. Choose to call attention to the good things too. When they get it right, tell 'em and they make a good decision, acknowledge it. Bless them for their good work. Hey, man, bless 'em when they're good kids. The Apostle Paul will go on to the end of this letter speaking to the people about the whole armor of God. But that discussion is in this very same chapter that begins about parents and children. The armor of God is preceded by obedience and discipline and instruction. Amen, we might have the armor of God at our disposal, at our disposal, but if we are not disciplined, we're not gonna be able to use it. If we've not been instructed, we're not gonna know how to use it. If we're not obedient, we're not gonna obey the general, the commander, the one who's leading us in the battle. It was Paul's desire that we may be equipped and empowered to withstand the attacks of our enemy and even to take ground from the enemy. So it's no coincidence that he first talks about parenting and obedience. It is crucial to the success of our children's spiritual life that we raise them up to be obedient to the Lord by first being obedient to us. If they know and trust and love your voice, they will learn to know and love and trust his voice. We must model for them the kind of relationship with Jesus that will make them want to know and walk with Him too. We must instruct and discipline them through their successes and their failures. So when it's all said and done, they know how to stand toe-to-toe with their adversary, but on God's side. That's the goal. We're talking about generational, perpetual belief. Not just right here right now. Amen? Stand up, I'm done. I went over pretty bad on that one, sorry. (audience applauds) At least you guys know I'm aware of how long I'm taking. So at least you know that much. It's the best I can do for you. We've got at least one more week. I'm pretty sure just one more week. Talking about raising kingdom kids. But I want us to understand that as a church, I believe this is God's word for us for now. And see, I know that what we want, especially we're penicostles, man, we want glory word. We want like, man, if we'll press in, then God's gonna open the windows of heaven. He's gonna pour out glory and he's gonna just do all these, we're gonna see stuff. And we're gonna experience signs and wonders and all that's great and well and good on its own. But if we go home and our family's a mess, our marriage is a mess, our kids hate us. Or we've caused them to hate us 'cause we've been terrible parents. What's the point? What's the point of revival? If we go home and hate each other. What's the point of revival that changes Winchester but doesn't change my house? I'm just, I'm not saying we don't need revival. I'm saying, God is so good that he's allowing us to line things up first. That before he pours out his spirit on all flesh again, he wants to make sure that you and your wife are good. That you and your kids aren't aligned with his word. I think that's goodness of God. It's the goodness of God. Because he wants your kids to serve him all their days. 'Cause he wants to bless them all their days. Amen? He wants their kids to serve him so they can, so that he can bless them. See, God gets nothing out of this. Whatever we serve or give to him doesn't make him anymore God. This is all his mercy, his generosity being poured out upon us. So mom and dad, grandmother, grandfather, guardian, whoever you are, whatever relation doesn't matter. Do you receive the word today for your home? Do you receive the word for your home? (congregation applauding) I want my home first to be this beacon of God's kingdom. We expect the church to be, but he expects our home to be. And this is how he's gonna do it. By throwing his word, challenging us over and over again until we, he's course correcting us. He's doing, actually, to us through this series, through this word, what he tells us to do with our kids. We're starting to step this way. He's like, hey, hey, don't go that way. Go back this way. And he's like, hey, hey, no, no, no, no, no. Here, here's how you handle your kids. We're starting to parent from our trauma. And he's like, no, no, no, no, parent from the word. We're trying to be married from our failures. No, no, no, no, no, no. We'll be married from the word. He's course correcting us so that we don't have to have a major correction, because he's just good like that. Hey, man, can we lift our hands and thank him today? Lord, we thank you for your word. God, we are so, I hope, just so aware that you are in this, that God, you are one to get into every single home, every single marriage that's represented in this place, every single heart and generation that's represented here. Father, come in and do what you want to do. God, make my marriage what you want it to be. Make our parenting what you want it to be. God, before you pour out a gift, God, help me to store the gifts you've given me through my children. God, pour out upon me this word. Let it get in my ears and pass there and into my heart. Let me hide it that I'm like not sin against you, even while I'm parenting, even while I'm being married. Father, change, anything in my home that needs to be changed. Can we say that? Jesus, change anything in my home. Anything in my marriage that's not like you or your design. God, you can take it, you can have it, rework it, throw it away, whatever you want to do. God, take it in the mighty name of Jesus, the mighty name of Jesus. God, make this house a beacon of family and faith in this community and in their own family's God. And let their example draw those in their family who don't know you yet or who have turned their back on you. God, let our light so shine before men that they see these good works and glorify our Father in Him. We thank you for it, God. We thank you for your word. God, thank you for teaching me to be a better husband and a better dad. God, thank you, God, it has been hard, but you have taught me graciously and mercifully. And I just want you to know, God, I'm grateful. I'm grateful that I'm not who I was. My kids will not be who I was. Jesus, mighty name, amen, amen, amen, pastor, mighty name. Thank you for listening today to the Living Godcast. We trust and pray that you are blessed by today's word. If you would like to contact us for prayer or for more information about church of the Living God, please visit our Facebook page at wincity.colg or give us a call at 8.59 745 1865.