Introduction
Introductory video
I hope that one day my girls will thank me for their spiritual heritage.
Describing the Biblical Text
Egypt has suffered several plague because Pharaoh's refusal to release the Israelites to go into the wilderness and to sacrifice to God.
Now, a tenth and final plague has been announced and Moses has passed the information on the people.
The final plague will come to be known as the Passover as God will judge the Egyptians by sending the angel of death to claim the firstborn of each family.
It will be celebrated for time immemorial including in the death of Christ as we partake of the Lord’s Supper.
Narrate the Contextual application
But, included in the description of the Passover is a reference to our heritage as followers of God in that the instructions for passing on the celebration from generation to generation are included.
The Passover was such a vital part of the Hebrew faith that I know of one OT Scholar that actually begins his teaching odf the OT with the book of Exodus.
This vitality and understanding needs to be passed from generation to generation.
Life Application (thesis)
I always hated the music to which my dad & mom listened. They liked the swinging sounds of big bands, country/western and Neil Diamond.
Now as I have grown up, I really like Glenn Miller, Charley Pride, and I crank up the sound when I hear “Cracklin’ Rosie” and “Brother Love’s Travelin’ Salvation Show.”
The point is, the kids may not seem interested, even if they ask but they will not forget your life surrendered to the Lord.
Dads, we have a job to do as we bring our children up in the nurture and admonition or in the instruction and discipline of the Lord.
Fathers are to make sure that Children have a reliable understanding of their faith.
SO WHAT!! (Outline)
In looking at this text, we will see two things that dads must keep in mind when teaching their children spiritual things.
The curiosity of our Children will make them teachable.
Children are naturally curious creatures.
They use all of their senses in trying to see what something is and trying to learn about it.
I remember a video on America’s funniest that showed a little boy putting a frog in his mouth.
Why do kids eat dirt, play with bugs, crawl into boxes, play in the toilet, climb out of their beds, or are attracted or repulses by loud noises?
It is because they have a natural curiosity about things, which can even be harmful as we have to put locks on cabinets and keep matches and lighters out of reach, that makes children teachable.
I can promise you that if you are around Children, they will ask you questions about why you do and why you believe the things you do.
So, what do we do when they ask that all important question about your faith.
Do we put them off or do we take advantage o that teachable moment by sharing Christ, his doctrine, his expected lifestyle or his means of relating to others?
Our kids will give us teachable moments.
What happens though when one of those teachable moments comes along and we miss it?
We could end up doing exactly what the New Testament says that a father is not supposed to do and that is to exasperate our children.
I used to have a friend who lived across the street from me when I was a child and whenever he asked his parents a question, the usual answer that they gave him was something like I told you so or worry about that when you are older.
If his curiosity was never fed by his father and he never received the answers to life’s questions that he needed, how would he end up spiritually?
Tom wound up being an atheist.
He is cynical about any religious teaching and I think a good part of that was that no one fed the foundations of his curiosity and he ended up pouring himself into science fiction that was completely naturalistic in its world view.
I want to tell you something dad.
Our kids will be curious and they will come to us with questions.
We need to let that natural curiosity give us the opportunities we need to teach them about the foundations of our faith.
A second thing we need to consider this morning is this.
We must know the tenets of our faith to be able to teach them.
I need to ask Heath Ward a question.
In NASCAR racing, how many crew members are allowed over the pit wall during a pit stop?
Obviously, Heath would not know that answer like say Scott Hutchins would.
Well, dads, we need to know the answers to our kids’ spiritual questions.
Look at verse 27
You shall say.
We have to know how to answer the spiritual questions that our children will ask.
It is our job to lay the Biblical foundation for them as they grow into adulthood.
That is how we can help to keep them from going astray or from feeling like it is natural for every boy to go out and sow his wild oats.
But that also means that as fathers, we need to be ready to lead.
Leading our families spiritually is one of our most important responsibilities.
A father that does not think it is important to be involved in the spiritual development of his children is simply lazy and truthfully he is a slacker in the faith.
The book of Malachi tells us that one of the reasons that God gave marriage was to produce Godly offspring.
The fathers of Israel needed to know what their heritage and what their faith were about.
They needed to know why their God was the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
But you know dads; we need to know the same things.
Why do we believe that a person will perish in hell apart from a relationship with God through Jesus?
Why do we believe that the cross is necessary in the life of a follower of Jesus Christ?
What are faith and repentance and from where do they come?
There are countless people and ideologies out there just waiting to lead your young skulls full of mush astray.
The world’s system is constantly bombarding them with the idea that they are nothing more than an advanced “read evolved” piece of pond scum.
I bet we can go right into the church youth in almost any church in this city and find kids that believe that homosexuality is a normal alternative lifestyle.
Listen to the language that this generation uses.
They word normatively that used to be considered vulgar or at least questionable in mixed company.
This is because fathers have dropped the ball in teaching their children.
But sadly, society has dropped the ball on fatherhood and its importance.
Back in the mid 1990’s, there was a huge controversy over then VP Dan Quayle commenting that single TV mom Murphy Brown was sending a bad cultural signal by intentionally having a baby in a fatherless home.
The talking heads and the pundits all thought that Dan Quayle was a dolt for his backward thing but he has since been proven right.
Dad, How important are you in the home?
63% of youth suicides are from homes without fathers.
90% of homeless and runaway kids are from fatherless homes.
75% of youth in chemical dependence treatment centers are from fatherless homes.
71% of high school dropouts come from fatherless homes.
We can see that a father is not just a vital part of the family; a father is a vital part of society.
Dads, we can make a difference but only if we are intentionally active in our families and with our kids.
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