Transcript SESSION 1
There's two things for sure that you can say about parenting. One is there are few things in life that would rise to the level of importance of being God's chosen instrument to be part of the forming of a soul of a human being. That is a pretty awesome task. The second thing you can say for sure is parenting is hard. And so what we want to do this weekend is I want to take you on a bit of a journey. I want to begin tonight with laying two foundations that will be the basis of everything else that we consider for the rest of the weekend. And then tomorrow, we will apply those two foundations to three stages of parenting: 0-5, 6-12, 13-18. Now if you're a parent of a teenager, don't think that you can come at the end tomorrow. You need to be here because you will identify gaps in your parenting and places where you need to remediate. If you're a parent of a young child, don't think that you can leave early because it happens very fast that you'll have teenagers. It's just impossible for me to imagine that I am the father of a 33-year-old man. Now I know you're looking at me and thinking this man is way too young to have a son that old, but it's true. I must quit thinking of myself as a recent graduate of college. And I would like you to think with me this evening, think rubber meets the road. Think what you do in the vans and kitchens and family rooms of everyday life. What is it that you're working on? What in the world are you doing? Why do you set the rules that you set? Why do sometimes, you get angrier than you ever thought you'd get at somebody who happens to be your own child? Why do you have conversations and avoid others? What are you doing and why are you doing it? What in the world is this thing we call parenting anyway? Well, I want to do this for you. As we begin, I want to get you to think about the family. If you had a pencil and a piece of paper right now, and you were going to write what God's plan is for the family, what would you write? What's the job description for the family? I'm deeply persuaded if you don't get the family, you'll never get parenting. And I want to start by taking you to a passage of scripture. If you have a Bible with you, please turn to Judges 2. If you don't have a Bible, please bring one with you. You're going to need it. Now this passage of scripture is about the time when Israel is crossing over into the Promised Land. The Bible says these things were written for our example and our instruction because these are people just like us. Follow as I read. 6 When Joshua dismissed the people, the people of Israel [each] went... to his inheritance to take possession of the land. 7 And the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great work that the Lord had done for Israel. 8 And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of 110 years. 9 And they buried him within the boundaries of his inheritance in Timnath-heres, in the hill country of Ephraim, north of the mountain of Gaash. Now listen very carefully. 10 And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers. And there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord or the work... He had done for Israel. 11 And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals. Now you may be thinking, "What in the world does that passage have to do with anything that's remotely interesting to me as a parent?" This is a rather shocking passage of scripture because it says that after that first generation that crossed over the Jordan River into the Promised Land died, the very first generation of children – Israelite children – born and raised in the Promised Land – are you ready for this? – grew up as virtual pagans.
Transcript: Session 1
GETTING TO THE HEART OF PARENTING
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