 Hi, this is Pastor David Rosales of Calvary Chapel of the Chino Valley, California. We recently began a series on marriage and the family, and my next teaching will be on raising children. Of course, not every person who is married has children. There are quite a number of reasons that this may be so. With that said, one of the things that marriage is intended to produce besides a husband and wife who are blessed by the Lord is godly children. Malachi chapter two, verse 15, records God's angry words to Israel because of her failure to be faithful to the Lord in her marriage vows. The people were covering the altar with their tears and offering sacrifices to him that he refused to accept. And in that verse, he tells them why he no longer regards their tears or offerings. He says to them that he seeks godly offspring, but they were dealing treacherously with the wife of their youth. God seeks godly offspring. God intends for parents to communicate faith in the Lord to their children. He intends generations to grow up following him and his ways, and the way this is made possible is for parents to love and serve him and to communicate to their children the ways of the Lord and to encourage them to learn his ways and to walk in them. Raising children who love and serve Jesus is of utmost importance, and it is a very difficult task. It's something that parents must work very hard at and be fully dedicated to. It is especially important for us as parents and even grandparents to exert the influence and the greatest amount that we can on our children to follow the Lord, especially in light of all the pressure that is mounting against him being true followers of Jesus. They deal with so many things that distract them, peer pressure, sexual temptations that they encounter on a daily basis, the promotion of casual drug use, the enticement of materialism, the addiction to entertainment, the dangers that they can encounter by simply going to school or to a movie. Well, these are pressures that they're constantly dealing with. As Christian parents, we realize that we are the greatest examples and it is of utmost importance for us to be aware of where we stand with the Lord ourselves. It is interesting to me how that Paul told the church in Corinth and 2 Corinthians chapter 13, verse five, to examine themselves as to whether or not they were in the faith. He told them to test themselves and he asked them, do you not know yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you? This is an obvious but very important question for all of us to ask of ourselves, are we really saved? Many even to this day have deceived themselves into believing that they are, but one of the ways to reveal if this is true or simply self-deception is for the person to actually care if their friends and especially their families really know Jesus. Many are cultural Christians and because of this, they fail to see the importance of evangelizing and discipling their own children. One thing we all know for sure, we cannot give to others, but we do not first possess ourselves. If you have a relationship with the Lord, then it's a good thing to do your very best to encourage your children to have faith in Christ. How can we do this? Besides the simple discipline of belonging to a church family and bringing your children to church services on a regular basis, it's of tremendous importance for us to honor Jesus in our homes. In the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy, Moses gave commands to the children of Israel that I adopted as foundations in the raising of my kids. In Deuteronomy chapter six, verse five through nine, Moses wrote, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength. These words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children. You shall talk of them when you sit in the house when you walk by the way, when you lie down, when you rise up, you shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorpost of your house and on your gates. In these verses we see that we are to openly love God with all that's within us and that we are to memorize and apply God's word and all that we do in such a way that our homes become a genuine place of worship. We are to be open in and totally unashamed of the love that we have for Christ. We must be committed to teach our kids diligently. We're to direct the things that the Lord has given to us. We're to direct them in that direction also from the entry of our house to the leaving of our house to the world. God's word is to be what strengthens us, what guides us. So today I encourage all parents to take the raising of your kids seriously. Do the best you can in the Lord to give your faith to them. This isn't easy, it requires patience and faith. Our children have their own wills. And in spite of our efforts, they will possibly go in a direction that breaks our hearts. As a parent I can attest to that fact, but I also can say that your work's not in vain. We train up a child in the way you should go when he grows old, he will not depart from it. We lay deep foundations in lives and very often when they grow older and even rebel against the things of the Lord, well what we place prayerfully in their hearts will be remembered many times. These things will lead them back to the Lord. So hold on to your children, hold on in prayer, deposit in their hearts the word of God, serve the Lord as examples, trust the Lord to save them, as difficult as it may be, it is all worth it. As I mentioned, we're having a series on marriage and the family. I invite you to join us if you can, either by visiting us at a Sunday service or listening online. This is Pastor David Osales of Calvary Chapel of the Chino Valley, California.