 This is something dear to my heart. I was the children's minister here from July of 1995 to November of 1998 and I'm sitting back over there and And realizing that 21 years ago 22 years ago, I was sitting in the same spot pretty much. I was just serving as you are I wasn't on staff and that was just beyond me and a couple of weeks ago God had laid it upon leadership's heart to have a Seminar such as this with the children's ministers of the area and They asked me to teach one of the main teachings and I'm thinking well How long is it and they said it's gonna be 45 minutes, and I'm tell I don't know if I can talk for 45 minutes See my church now would say yeah, you can't talk for 45 minutes because you go way over But nonetheless that was just so beyond me that I just didn't know what I was going to do And I taught about the same time that I'm teaching now. It was after lunch I had something I had to do in the morning and then I I came here and had lunch with some people and I was sitting over There I was scared to death and I came up here, and I took 45 minutes It was it was the Lord without a doubt not too many people backslid because of it and children's ministry did continue on But that was the first time that I ever gave a teaching from a pulpit and So God does great things. He does great things where we are at just as long as we're being found faithful We're doing what we know that God has called us to do we continue to fight the good fight We continue to push forward and we never give up We look at the landscape of what's going on in our society now and you can kind of think well. It's over It's not over. It's not over until you hear that final trumpet until we do we continue to push forward So a couple of things before we start first of all If you remember my church, you know this but there is the mandatory selfie that I have to take And so where's my church? Okay? I'll be taking picture of over here Now let's go ahead and stand up and everybody wave Come on All right, everybody waiting. All right one two three All right Secondly, let's pray Father we do come before you Lord and God this just means so much to me Lord just having an opportunity to minister to those Who minister to our children and I just pray father that we are all encouraged here today through the Teachings that have taken place already through the workshops for this moment that we have and for the workshops this afternoon And I pray father for the things that we bring back to our churches that they would be effective and raise in our children So we just lift them to you God that your spirit would fill our hearts that you would give us understanding and wisdom and father we would see Lord just the great work that you want to continue to do we thank You that you have called us to be part of it We pray right now Lord though that you would direct us and that you would guide us through your word we ask in Jesus name Amen, turn your Bibles to 1st Peter chapter 3 verse 15 1st Peter chapter 3 verse 15. I have entitled the study the hope within It's the hope that is within us There's no doubt about it But it's also the hope that we need to instill in the future Generations that are coming after us in 1st Peter chapter 3 verse 15 We are told to sanctify the Lord God in your hearts and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a Reason for the hope that is in you with meekness and in fear Now as we compare with the things that Jesus has told us to what we see that is going on today It seems like we are on the verge of the final days of the end times Europe Europe seems to be falling apart All of a sudden Russia is back upon the scene as I was a child of the 60s growing up in the 60s There were the air raid things they would hide you under the desk and all of that then 80s and the walls taken down and we think it's done But there is Russia back again one more time Isis is terrorizing the world and the best that we have to confront these are either Hillary or the Donald It surely seems like we are in the last times It seems as if Ezekiel chapter 38 has collided with Matthew chapter 24 And we're approaching the tribulation of the book of Revelation But let me ask you this and this is what I want you to consider or even if we are in the last days We need to conduct ourselves as such as if this is not the last days What if the Lord isn't coming back in our lifetime? That means he's coming back in either the next generation's lifetime or the generation after that So we must consider today. We must consider now What are we doing to prepare the future generations to give the reason for the hope that resides in them? If in fact a hope does reside in them See if the Lord continues to wait we must continue to watch but our watch our watch has to be an act of watch We need to be watching in the word of God. We need to be watching in worship We need to be watching and gathering together We need to be watching and witnessing and preparing for the future We're told in Hebrews chapter 10 verse 25 And this is something I I told my church last Sunday that we can so get the commandments And we can lump them in with the Old Testament and just think commandments that that is something that has passed and not really Pertinent to the church today, but here in Hebrews chapter 10 verse 25 We have a command it says to not forsake the assembling of ourselves together as is the manner of some But exhorting one another and so much more as you see the day approaching the day That is approaching that he is referring to is the day of the Lord So as the end times are approaching we need to be gathering together And we need to be doing the work of ministry So if the Lord does continue to tarry as a father of four children as a grandfather of seven children I want to think and consider what about our children. How does the Lord want to use our children? Well, if all that I say is so that the Lord waiting that these are not Right at the last days. They must be taught. They must be trained and they must be prepared They're going to be moving into the most difficult times that this world has ever experienced And so you need to consider Maybe God has you here for such a time as this Maybe God is going to work great change through you through your ministry in the future Generations simply because you showed up you showed up and you showed up with the desire of your heart to be able to Absorb for the purpose of giving out now This is not to supersede the teachings of your pastor But it should come alongside of them and it should even accentuate them that I have to understand Who is my target audience? Who is it that I am ministering to see you have been called to stand in the gap The problem is the gap keeps getting wider and wider and wider and wider the gap Well, just for a few thoughts perennial disobedience Worst thing that I see in the body of Christ I see parents that bring their kids to church and then go home and act like the world They can act like saint plug in the name at church, but at home they act Worldly they act in the flesh and it destroys the faith of our kids the gap Ecclesiastical indifference churches that no longer teach the word Churches to where things of holiness are no longer a priority But there are after more towards once again the flesh and then societal neglect We have an apathy that society seems to be ingrained in a society today that There's not the things of the Lord that are adhered to her anymore See it used to be in our society that biblical concepts. They were taught in the home Biblical concepts. They were reinforced in the school system biblical concepts They were exemplified by the leaders of our community. Is there anything like that that goes on anymore? It's a great wrong that I see even in the church today very few people doing devotions very few men Rising up and showing the importance that they place upon the word of God By delivering the word of God to their children so many times at church. It's like here's my kid fix them Here's my kid teach him and we will and we must but in essence that's got to start within the family It's got to start within the home and so we look at these things and we look at these realities And we must understand now more than ever that we have to train our kids to be able to give a reason for the hope That is within them keeping in mind that your faith is trusting in God for today Hope is trusting in God for my future and there is a future and we always have a future in a hope in the Lord Jesus Christ, I don't know how many more days that we have but I know we have this moment And we need to make the most of it more than likely we're gonna have tomorrow We need to make the most of it take it one day at a time once again continually pushing forward So my purpose for today is to encourage you to give a reason for the hope that is within you to your children That they may mimic you that they that you would be that example See we so speak of and teach the love of Christ to our children, which we should But I pray that that love would be manifest in a desire to share Christ That it would become part of the love that they have for others The problem is most of us don't share our faith unless it's out a scheduled time within a classroom or whatever But this is to be part of the body of Christ the fabric of the body of Christ It's what Jesus said to go forth and make disciples and so just think of the army that we have Available to us these children that have properly taught if properly trained Just think of the tool that they can be in the hands of God, especially during the difficult days so Two main things that two main points that I I want to make right off is Whatever it is that you are giving a reason for the hope for you do so on a theoretical level Everybody's got a theory out there. Everybody has something that they believe some people just dream things up But for others there are things that are rooted and grounded in whatever it might be John the Apostle John turned over to John chapter 1 The Apostle John he had a theory his theory was that Jesus Christ is God And so what he did at the beginning of his gospel he presented his theory and John chapter 1 in the first five verses It says in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God He was in the beginning with God all things were made through him and without him nothing was made that was made in Him was life and the life was the light of men and the life shines in the darkness and the darkness did not comprehend it So he presents his theory then he offers his thesis This is why I believe that and we have that from verse 6 of the first chapter all the way through to chapter 20 Verses 30 through 31 when you get there. He comes to his conclusion. He tells you why he had offered these things He says in verse 30 and truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples Which are not written in this book but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God and that by Believing you may have life in his name So we have a theory the theory is the Bible well the good thing about our theory our theory We know is built upon truth and we also understand that our theory is proven through practical application Look at your life as I encourage my church so many times You should be able to look at the timeline of your life You should see who you used to be you should see who you are now And you should be able to pinpoint at least that period of time when Christ came into your life, and you were born again Rarely do I ask people anymore? Are you a Christian because like everybody's a Christian? You know whether they know Christ or not are you born again? See because that's what Christ asked he didn't ask are you a Christian? What did he ask Nick at night? Are you born again? Well, he told him you must be born again He told him that because he he wasn't so theory we have the Bible our theory We know it to be based upon truth, and we've seen the result of that in practical application And so we present our theory in the classroom every Sunday every midweek whatever it might be we present it But we also have this surety that we're able to present it with a confidence because we know these things to be true John he presented his theory and he proved it with his thesis because he saw these things if you go to 1st John Don't turn there, but in 1st John chapter 1 verses 1 through 3. I saw him I Touched him I heard him John lived with him day by day for a period of about three years See you should be able to have that same confidence Christ came into my life I've been living with Christ, and I've seen the change that Christ has caused to to to come about in my life I've seen the amazing things that that I've seen Christ accomplish through me through the power of the Holy Spirit And it's that passion that reality and that knowledge that you need to give to our children today Because the same God that worked in you is going to work through them And you're gonna be planting seeds and you're gonna be preparing the soil so that they would bear much Fruit and how much more so as people are out there and they're starving to death How much more so is that necessary? How much more so should we be passionate about it? I got a little emotional thinking about man I was just some electrician sitting over there on the side and then God called me up there and he changed my life Now wasn't the day of my salvation, but again God has constantly changed in our lives And every time I see a miracle of the hand of God those things that we can so subtly Allowed to pass by without acknowledging I've learned to see those things and to embrace those things you have a child receive Jesus Christ in your classroom Rejoice and that see that as a miracle of God because salvation is a miracle of God And as we see these things we need to rejoice in what God is doing and realizing that he's using me Because most of you know how well just how undeserving you really are place God for his grace But he's gonna use them as well, and they see you excited about these things. They're gonna be excited about these things as well so Theory like-minded people like to gather together Truth the Bible tells us to do so because it's part of how God has created us Children's ministry conference application children's ministers come together Like-minded people all for the same purpose of training up a child in the way that they should go I remember going to the children's ministry conferences back in the early 90s And it was just neat to get together with those like-minded people to be refreshed to be strengthened You know what I've got this problem child. Have you ever hadn't yeah? I had somebody like that. Well, what did you do? Well, this is what I did and that we're strengthening one another not to make the classroom Easier but to make the Christian deeper to make them prepared for what God would have for them in the future It was kind of a neat thing. I did a wedding This was about a year or two. It's actually about five or six years ago The years go really fast. They kind of pick up speed It's about five or six years ago. It's probably even longer than that But anyway, it was for a young lady a young man in our church and they had Graduated college maybe two years before that and they they had obviously developed relationships in there And so I did their wedding and Afterwards it's all over and so I go up to the food table because I'm a pastor and a lot of times That's the only place I get to eat. But anyway, I go up to the food table and this woman this young woman This beautiful young woman comes up to me and says Pastor might do you remember me and I hate when people say that because I can't remember more than a week ago and Well, well, no, I don't remember you and she goes I'm Lee Lee the bumblebee Now I remember Lee Lee the bumblebee and that's not Lee Lee the bumblebee Lee Lee the bumblebee was a four-year-old about that tall that I knew back in the early 90s But now there she is she's grown up into this young woman this young woman who was serving the Lord and Walking strongly in Jesus Christ not because of me because of God But I had a little part of that and it's neat just to see the excitement. She was always so quiet And I thought well, maybe she doesn't like being called Lee Lee the bumblebee But it stuck with her just some weird teacher way back and in the 90s that That just did what I felt God was calling me to do I mean do you understand that that this is what God has called you to do Lord God of all the universe. I remember the day of my calling into children's ministry We get saved and pastor tells us that we need to serve the Lord and so okay. Well, maybe ushers I'll serve the Lord playing basketball. There's a basketball team. I mean that's service, isn't it? I mean I thought it might be and so God said, okay Well, that's the way you want to go is God so often will do you go ahead go ahead I'm gonna bring you back to something But you go ahead and actually those ministries I thought they went pretty well or whatever But I knew that wasn't what I was talking to and one day we came home from a Sunday night church This is when this church was over at a Ontario high school We're driving home is just a short way we live right there and the Holy Spirit spoke to me and the Holy Spirit spoke to me And an audible voice. I mean an audible voice the Holy Spirit said dear I signed us up for children's ministry and I said but why Lord Now that was completely other than me I mean that just was not me. I'm athletic You know like being the man thing that was kind of a woman thing at least in my own mind the kids when they mouth off And they do that you can't hit them, you know It was just gonna be a hard thing for me to be able to do and then I'm supposed to teach him And I'm supposed to teach him for an hour and a half. How is this gonna happen? But it's all part of what God did in my life see there was the usher thing There was a basketball thing which aren't bad things But they weren't the things that God had for me but that was the thing that God had for me and it's led me to here right now and It's gonna continue to lead me to wherever it is that God may have for me in the future So what we need to do is establish within the hearts and minds of our children a rational aspect the rational aspect of Christianity something that makes sense in real life now look at most of children's ministries We and we've done it and I've done it and all and I'm not saying this is a bad thing It's only a bad thing if you neglect the other things But we so easily teach our children the emotional aspect of Christianity We'll see later again that this is important But we'll teach him Jesus loves me this I know because the bible tells me so that's essential There's no doubt about it. We'll teach him the bible stories We'll have Noah with the animals We'll have Jonah with the big fish and Daniel with the lion because that's what we do now Matthew 23 23 He's rebuking the Pharisees here. He says, what do you scribes and Pharisees hypocrites for you pay Tithe of myth and anise and coming and have neglected the way to your matters of the law Justice and mercy and faith these you ought to have done without leaving the others undone So we must consider have we left things undone Looking at the generations for those of you who have been in children's ministry for over a period of time Have we left things undone? Have we seen generations go off to school and walk away from the Lord? Have we seen kids not growing up and serving the Lord? We must consider our hearts and what our responsibility in this matter is So emotional is good, but it ought not to be sacrificed It ought not to be sacrificed at the expense of the intellectual So god when he's delivering the bible john 316 an emotional verse for god So love the world no doubt about it It's changed our lives that he gave his only begotten son that whoever would believe in him would not perish But have everlasting life, but that's not how god started the bible God started the bible at the intellectual level genesis chapter one verse one in the beginning God And consider that look at creation and see god And then he brings into the equation how god spoke and if you look at genesis chapter one You'll see i i don't recall i believe it's 11 times and god said and god said and god said We see all that we see come about by the spoken word of god And these things that we must consider and these things that we must understand And these things that we must process in our mind so that if we ever forget about god The only thing we need to do is look at all of creation and understand that this just didn't happen by chance That makes no sense that theory has no basis in thesis that can prove it true for practical application And so god desires to meet us at the intellectual level now consider Where is christianity? Being attacked today. Where are the children that you are teaching today? Where are they going to be attacked? Well, it's not going to be at the emotional level because what I feel is what I feel What I believe is what I believe these things are real to me. They may not be real to you But it's at the intellectual level that the attack takes place And genesis chapter three verse one now the serpent was more coming than any beast of the field Which god had made and he said to the woman has god indeed said you shall not eat of every tree of the garden He's making his attack not at the emotional level But he's making his attack at the intellectual level The devil's not very creative. He works the same way because we're not very creative. We fall the same way And so our children our children need to have a good balance of the intellectual and understanding of the lord And the things of the lord but also on the other side of emotional the understanding of the love that god has for them Why because strong reasonable hope is going to be built upon three pillars the first Pillar popping my piece the first pillar It's got to be something of substance. Well, again, we're always going to start these things with the word of god That's what we have that is of substance Psalm 119 verse 160 the entirety of your word is truth and every one of your righteous judgments endures forever Secondly, there's intellect second Corinthians 5 11 knowing therefore the terror of the lord We persuade men we preach the gospel to them in a manner which they are able to consider To digest and to make a decision And then there is the emotion Ephesians chapter 3 verse 19 to know the love of christ Which passes knowledge that you may be filled with all the fullness of god Now, let me ask you this When you were dating maybe some of you still are if you were dating And you went out with a person for the very first time You had an okay time and you know, it's just okay. It was probably not going to go anywhere But you know, we we went and we did and so we're coming back and this person drops you off or you drop them off And just before they leave they they look you in the eye and they say, you know, I love you Well, you're gonna think that's kind of weird and you know what your response more than likely is going to be How can you love me? You don't even know me And so How do we expect anybody to love christ if they don't know christ if they don't understand christ Now, I understand that god first place that he may meet us is at that intellect I'm sorry at that emotional level. There's no doubt about that But I I look at how things are developed and I I looked at well I used to work at jc pennies and the city shopping center at the end of the 57 freeway This is in 1978 and I saw some substance there. Her name was terry It was very nice substance He was very pretty young lady and I considered her and well, I asked her out on a date and got to know her I got to know her pretty good. So There was the emotional okay She's looking pretty good. And but then there was also the intellectual that I got to know her She got to know me and is there that we were rewarded with a marriage with something to project this relationship And this relationship is based upon looks but not just looks that's no basis for a relationship This relationship was also based on the intellect But I have a lot of relationships that are based upon the intellect But god brought these things two things together and he cleaved us together and now we've been married for 36 years Now I can remember as I said before when I started attending calvary chapel chino valley It was calvary chapel ontario. It was over in ontario And I remember at right after I first got saved Pastor david was up at the pulpit and he I don't remember what he was teaching about or whatever But he said i'm in love with jesus christ And it caused me to think I don't know that i'm in love with jesus christ How could I love him? I don't really know him yet. I just got saved Now I did realize the love that he had for me. That's displayed to all of humanity by the cross But nonetheless there was that love for him But it took me a period of time because I wanted to love jesus christ But I didn't know him so I would sit in bible study after bible study after bible study my wife and I we were christian fanatics We would go to sunday morning. We would go to sunday night and we'd go to wednesday night All of my kids complained about it matter of fact they developed a drug problem All of four of my kids developed drug problems. We drug them the church on sunday morning We drug them the church on sunday night and we drug them the church on wednesday But they're all the better for it without a doubt So pastor david says he's in love with jesus christ. I want to be in love with jesus christ When did I fall in love with jesus christ? I can't tell you exactly But one day he repeated that statement I realized i'm in love with jesus christ because I knew who he was talking about And I understood the magnitude of what he had done for me And there was that relationship that needed to take time to develop but as it did it was strengthened It wasn't just the love that christ had for me. That's definitely that's what started the relationship But also as christ spoke to me as a man through the open to the leading of the holy spirit And then it was I I understood who christ was and the the ability that I was still as a fairly immature christian But we developed that relationship. I look at that relationship that god uses as an example so many times of husband and wife And I see how god used this relationship as well Now in your children's ministry you should have substance you should have the word of god It's essential that you have the word of god You need to develop the intellect is what we call discipleship and growing in the knowledge of the lord jesus christ And then you will be rewarded with children that yes, there is the emotion But there's also the result of that deeper relationship with jesus christ and a belief in who he is You have an opportunity here as I look at my children. I see the various areas of learning I'm not going to go through the whole thing But I do remember there was a period of time when they looked at me and I was an absolute genius Anything I told them they would buy and I kind of played on that and you know, I'm Superman You know and all that kind of stuff But anything I told them they were the kids in your classroom the things that you tell them They think you're more spiritual than you really are and they're buying it all they're buying it all And so we have an opportunity But also responsibility to teach them truth Because the greatest harm that we can do is to teach them something not true And then to find out later on that it's not true and then the whole thing falls apart So I have the responsibility to teach them truth But there's going to be that time when they take the things that I've taught them And they take them out into the world and they try them One of the things that they're going to try is the grace of god And the only reason you know the grace of god is because of the sinful nature of mankind But when they return and that's been my experience my wife and I have not been perfect people by any stretch of the imagination We started walking with the lord who my son was probably around four years old my twins You know he was about five or six the twins were probably about four and chelsea was about three And so there were those lost years But we we drug them we drug them to church and we gave them to but we usually gave them two devotions a day Not because we're so spiritual, but my my wife would wake up, you know with them and give them a devotion I was already gone and the evening I would give them a devotion And I see him doing these things with my grandchildren today Because in their mind, this is what you do This is what a christian does I've even seen my kids when they've been in a backslidden state and make no mistake about it They've all been in a backslidden state all kids are going to test the lord to some degree I've seen how they come back to these things. We must instill these things in the hearts of our kids And so the greatest injustice that we do to our children is not teaching them I'm speaking of this from a parental standpoint We need to understand these things are going on with the parents at home as they do not make these things a priority These kids aren't going to make these things a priority, but we have opportunity These children these children are sponges waiting to sop these things up We got to strike while the iron is hot And so I look at my grandchildren now. I look at them from a different perspective than my children I was young and immature in the lord, but I look at my grandchildren my grandchildren I've got a three-year-old and he's excited about church is papa is tomorrow church. Yeah. Yeah. Are we going to your church? Yeah, oh boy. Oh boy. So what do you like about our church? Friends are there. Okay. Well, that's good. You have friends there. What else we get to play with the toys. Okay I hope there's more than this What else and there is more the donuts they get to have a donut afterwards because they come to papa and ask for a dollar The problem that's okay. Their intellect is not developed much more than that And so that's okay. That's not a problem We still need to be teaching them and developing that intellect But we have to meet them where they are at the problem is I got parents like that I got parents that come for the friends. It's kind of replaced the clicks of high school I've got parents that come from the toys. I don't know about toys, but they'll snooze in the In the pews during service. So they come from the naps I've got parents that come for the donuts the time afterward or whatever it might be You know we that that unfortunately is a reality And so really what that needs to tell us is is that we've got to be diligent about these things But then it gets worse from there if you have the picture We had a little bit of a problem. Could you sew the picture? Aren't those fine looking young kids? Those are my grandkids That's noah seth and mariah This is on noah seth and mariah's first day of school I don't remember if it was this year or last year, but that was their first day of school They're happy They're excited. They're going to school especially the guy in the middle. No, he's a brain He's probably smarter than I am and he's excited about going there because he just loves You know, we'll be driving in the car. Okay, pop. I asked me in my times table Well, I don't remember half the times table anymore But I get the right answers from him. So I just go with what he says But what's happening when we send him to school? The school is going to meet him on the level that we so easily neglect They're going to meet them at the intellectual level matter of fact Well, we're going to tell him I want you to be quiet. I don't want you to cause any problems I want you to sit there and I want you to listen and learn what the teacher is telling you What's the teacher telling them? I don't know. I don't have an answer for that Well, I do have a couple of answers for that and a lot of them are contrary to this And so I've got to fill their minds with the intellectual aspect of the scriptures So that they're built up in both areas Because our kids at some point all of them are going to have their faith challenged If it's not in elementary school, it's going to be at high school And I guarantee you if it's not at high school It's going to be at college And unfortunately we'll spend thousands and thousands of dollars to have them challenge our kids faith And even have some of our kids walk away from the lord But they're challenging them at an intellectual level. All right. You call yourself a christian Yeah All right. So tell me about christianity. Well, I love jesus. Well, what does that mean? I don't really know. Well, why do you love jesus? Because my parents told me I needed to love jesus I mean, I've heard this before Kid gets challenged at college. This was a kid who really did love the lord But he realized he had nothing to give when he was challenged He came to me and said, you know what my whole christian faith is based upon what my parents Told me it should be But they never gave me of anything of substance. They've taught me that jesus loves me, which again is a good thing But they never developed the intellectual. He was never prepared to give a reason for the hope that resides within them See and where where does that problem lie? Well, the average parent you need to understand this and i'm not Talking down the average parent, but the average parent doesn't know what he doesn't know He doesn't know what he doesn't know But he does know he doesn't know something. So if you get nothing out of this get that anyway, let's move. No He doesn't know what he doesn't he knows that there's holes in his belief And he's afraid he's dead. This is why people don't share their faith Deathly afraid that somebody's gonna confront him and that which he doesn't know He now is going to know but it's too late. He's gonna be found the fool And so you have somebody scared to death to share their faith And it's because they're going to be found out for who they are and they've been trying to put a band-aid over that They've been trying to ignore all their christian lives and again if they're not going to admit it in their own lives They're definitely not going to be teaching the child But they're sending the child into the lion's den because as an adult I can kind of sidestep these things I can kind of avoid these things, but the child the child is going. I love jesus Yeah, why? I don't really know I have to go ask my dad That's not going to fly at that level. It's not going to fly at a college. So how is intellect develop Intellect is developed through the continuous age appropriate cycle of content. It always starts with the word of god Of truth and trust Content is always going to be number one The word is always the cornerstone of what we do It has to be the cornerstone of our curriculums It has to be the cornerstone of our minds. It has to be the cornerstone of our hearts as teachers It's got to be built upon the word of god because that's what god Supernaturally works through if you want to be a teacher and you want to see god Supernaturally work through you what you do what you give has to be based upon the word of god Isaiah 40 verse 8 the grass withers the flower fades, but the word of god it endures forever The content that you choose see how important this is will define who you are define who you are If your content is the book of mormon your mormon If your content is a watchtower Jova witness origin of the species you're an atheist Communist manifesto you're a communist and so your content will define who you are We're christians. What was christ defined? I just read it in john chapter one as the word and we take the word And it's the word that we have to deliver because it's the word is defined who we are Secondly, we must show them in a practical way that the word is truth They have to see the word of god working in reality So once i'm convinced that the bible is true I then need to show my children the truthfulness of the scriptures in the light of all other philosophies This is going to be an 18 year process We call proverbs 22 6 training up a child in a way that they should go And so there's going to be questions that they're going to be asking They're going to be interested in different things They're going to hear things on the playground that teachers are going to teach them evolution and every other You know now when we got the marriage thing to deal and everything else We have to be able to show them The truthfulness of god's word and how it works in their lives teacher said it's okay to kill babies that they're when they're inside of mom Why is that wrong? I need to be able to go to the scriptures when god told king david when he told jeremiah that he knew them all They were still in the womb and need to understand that this is murder and it's killing What if mom and dad would have done that while you were in mom's womb? You see how important this is the bible tells us not to do it And so we don't do it simply because god has commanded us to not do these things Marriage it was always based upon a man and woman And so you you you take this line of reasoning so that they understand that this word that we hold so dear Is a reality in our everyday lives and the way that they're going to understand that and again It's got to start in a home But we get them for an hour once a week some of them they need to see that it's real in our lives as well So you're either going to be reinforcing what is taught in the home Or maybe you're going to be the one who is presenting what should be taught in the home either way you have opportunity Then there's the biggest lesson that we teach our children And that is is that truth will lead to trust And that's where they're watching That's where they're looking Because when they grow up, what are they looking for? They're looking for the hypocrisy in your life Are you living what you've been speaking all of these years? Are these things that you want to be real in my life? Are you our mom and dad? Are you teaching? Are they real in your life? See in a hard time. Do you abandon your trust and truth for the flesh? Or do you seek god out and pray? You know what we're gonna we're having this hard thing with this or whatever You know the things that maybe kids are aware of we're gonna come together and pray dealing with the kid on the playground We're gonna pray We used to have this dog that got hit by the car and developed Seizures and I remember the first time that this dog went into a seizure You see this thing and it looks like it's gonna explode And I remember my youngest daughter probably about four or five. Well, let's pray and I was convicted by that When the offering comes around Are you displaying are you displaying control over your finances? Are you giving and trusting the lord? Are you teaching those concepts to your children and a child's real life situations? Are you trusting in the truth? Or are you going according to the world things that we need to consider and you need to consider in your situations In your home and in your classroom how you are doing these things So how is a child's faith and I'll close with this How is a child's faith going to be attacked? It's going to be attacked at the content That's not really the word of god How do you know it's just a bunch of words that were written by man at at some point? How's it going to be attacked? It's going to be attacked at the level of truth Well, they probably changed it throughout the years and it's going to be attacked at the point of trust God's word. Well, you know, it was applicable back then But is it really applicable today? And most of you understand what I'm saying because you hear these things And we know that these things are really happening. There's the attack against the word of god But if a person is strong in understanding god's word if they're strong in knowing that this is truth And they're strong in trust They will fight to the end and that's what I want I want to raise up children that are going to fight to the end whether the end is rapture or the end is death Either way that our kids would be able to stand before the lord and hear those words that we so desire to hear Well done And I'm just going to close with this last verse. Matthew 22 verse 37 Jesus said you shall love the lord your god with all of your heart speaks of the emotion With all of your soul speaks of the effect of the word of god upon a persona And with all of your mind it speaks of the intellectual We need to meet these kids where they are at preparing them to give a reason for the hope that resides within them