 Okay. Good morning, everyone. Thank you for coming in to our last class. We have the last two lectures for the course. We are so blessed and privileged that I could journey alongside with all of you through the last months as we discovered God's purpose and design for matters. So we've come to the fag end of our class. By the end of our second session, I hope to finish a couple of minutes early just to open it out for testimonies. If any of you would like to share how, what you have learned, what you have, what we have worked together with looking at God's Word has in any way transformed you, maybe changed in attitude or probably you've helped another family. Any which way which you have seen God's hand through the course we've learned will be an encouragement for all of us here together as well as for our e-learning students. For the e-learning students, if you would like to put up a few testimonies, please go back to the page where there is a section where you can post in your testimonies of how this course has been a blessing to you. So today, through the course of the last three months, it's almost like we've journeyed through a person who was getting ready to be married, planning for married, making a choice of who they would want to marry, making the vow to be married, living through the roles of what God expects of them, working through these elements of marriage of being able to communicate, being able to work together as a team to be able to resolving conflicts, to be fulfilling a good physical intimate relationship, to be placing boundaries, to be working with children, nurturing children, blessing children, to knowing as a family how one would invest themselves in the life of a church, of a bigger family. So we've almost like journeyed through maybe a couple, a new person getting married. And now we've come to the end of what a journey may look like. So as part of these parenting years, there comes a time in the lives of people where the nest becomes empty. Children leave the home either for studies or for marriage. They become young adults. They develop families of their own or careers of their own. They step out from the original family, the family of origin, as we call it. And they go ahead to make a new family, a family of procreation, as that's called. And through this, the original to some continues to be together. Yet parenting does not, although a large part of nurturing and caring is completed by this time, there still is an influence and an impact that parents do have in the way that they relate to their adult children. So a lot of us over here may be in the state of having elderly parents who relate to us. And we see that having them is a blessing. Maybe you don't go back to them for every decision or every thing that you have to do. But they continue to remain as a sense of a support as a mentor, maybe as an advisor. Or sometimes the roles change even a bit where you've probably assumed the role of being the parent for your adult, sorry, for your elderly parents. So personally, I'm in that state right now. My parents, I have elderly parents who are aged 83 and 80. And my parents are more like children now to be, you know, to ensuring that they've got their needs met, they're being taken care of, encouraging them, speaking the word over them, praying for them. So, you know, some of those things change. However, when we are dealing with adult children, so like most many of us here may be having adult children, those probably above the ages of 18 or around that age when they are moving into youth and adulthood, what should some of our principles be in the way that we relate to children? Now, that's what we are going to be looking at in this chapter. So if you'd like to follow along with me, I'm on page 191 in the textbook with the chapter 18, which says, when children become your friends. When we look at scripture in Deuteronomy 32, 11 and 12, this is what it reads. It reads, He was like an eagle hovering over its nest, over shadowing its young, spreading its wings, lifting them into the air, teaching them to fly. God alone led him. There was not a foreign God in sight. You know, there is a lovely analogy that the scripture brings about. And if you've seen the animal world, you know, as, for example, the eagle that it's talking about here, little eagles are, you know, they don't, the mother eagle does not wait for the little eagle to grow up and be strong and, you know, wait for it to, you know, be an adult to move out. But as in its growing, what it does is it pushes out the eagle it from the nest, you know, on to, you know, maybe it's a high perched tree, pushes the eagle it out into the open and gets it to fly, you know, attempts it to fly. And the initial few times the eagle it is still trying to build its muscles of its wings. But what the mother eagle does is it swoops down, you know, ensures that the eagle eagle it doesn't hurt itself or doesn't, you know, fall flat on the little swoops down and comes back and purchase it back on the nest again, and repeats this exercise over and over and over again, till the eagle it begins to start to fly and do that. So the mother eagle does that, you know, ensuring that it learns to fly on its own by teaching them to fly. So they, so that's what it said, spreading its wings, lifting them into the air, teaching them to fly. So in the same way, when we, when, when we look at our adult children, when we nurture our adult children, it's necessary for them to give them the freedom and the, the ability to start functioning on their own. So even as you release them, teaching them ways on how they could fly on their own. Because once you let them out of the home, they learn, they must learn to make decisions of their own, find pathways of their own, learn to encounter God, faith so many, there are, there are many things that may be involved here. So as a parent, towards adult children, we take a step back and learn not to interfere in the lives of our children and their families. It is important to be there as an advisor or a mentor, as and when they may require it and if they need it, but putting your hand and fingers into their lives and dictating things for them could probably do them a lot more harm than they, than it does good. So children, as they grow up as adults need to make their choices, make their mistakes, but being there with them to, to bless them, to journey with them, to help them in whatever way needed. So even when they start their own families, if you, if you look at, you know, we looked at some of this as we spoke about in the initial points in our second or third chapter where we said of how we got to be careful not to interfere in the lives of our newly wedded children. All right. So similarly for them to be able to establish their own families, learn how to be resilient to cope with the challenges of life. It is best that, that parents keep away from interfering in their lives. Now, as they, as they keep growing, what is it that we encourage the children to do? And we'd like to bring this chapter brings about an interesting event that happened in Isaac's life and we'll take some implications out of that. So if somebody would just turn to page 191 and read the verses that's given the second half of the verses, Genesis 26, 18 to 23 and 32 to 33, if someone could unmute and read, you know, we could, we could talk about the implications of what that means. Yes. Shall I read ma'am? Yeah, sure, Ammi. Go ahead. Genesis 26, 18 to 23 says, and Isaac dug again the wells of water which they dug in the days of Abraham's father, but the Philistines had stopped them after the death of Abraham. He called them by the names which his father had called them. Also, Isaac's servants dug in the valley and found a well of running water there. But the herdsmen of Girard or Girard quarreled with Isaac's herdsmen, saying the water is ours. So he called the name of the well, Isaac, because they quarreled with him. Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over that one also. So he called its name, Sitna. And he moved from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it. So he called its name, Rahubot. Because he said, For now the Lord has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land. And then he went up from there to Baershiba. 32 verse 233. It came to pass the same day that Isaac's servant came and told him about the well which they had dug and said to him, we have found water. So he called it Shiba. Therefore the name of the city is Baershiba to this day. Amen. Thank you. Thank you. So if you look at this, you know, it's a simple household agricultural thing that maybe people of the past did to ensure that they have water in their community to live in. But I think the implication that we look in here is interesting to see how Isaac went and dug some of the wells that Abraham had dug. And, you know, something that he that his father had done, and he reopened some of the wells that Abraham had dug. But you see later that he goes on to dig more wells. So he's dug one, called it Isaac, he called dug the other called it Sitna. And both these places, there were quarrels that happened. There were some some issues and some challenges that he that he did face. But there you see that he continued to he kept going. He continued to do new things, dig more wells. And finally, he found a place where what which was fruitful. And that's where it's called Rehoboth, where a place that is fruitful. So what is the implication that we take from here is that, you know, as parents, we may leave behind certain blessings, whatever it may be, either which may be in the natural in itself, or it could be spiritual. Yet, even as they can enjoy that, encouraging them to dig their own wells, encouraging them to draw out from new wells, establish new things so that they can be blessed so that they can be made fruitful and they can keep growing. So that's what as parents, we encourage them to do to establish new things and new ground, face new realities, and face and move past certain challenges or oppositions that may come. And then, you know, coming to a place of establishing themselves. So not weight, not not restricting them to only being blessed by what we as parents probably have established for them, but allowing them to, to explore and find new ground that God may have in store for them. So so that's the implication we see out of this. Now, even as we were talking about, you know, where they have a blessing of our spiritual blessings, even in this process of finding new ground, we are, you know, in this case of Isaac, where he was digging his own wells. We see in the next couple of verses, which is written on on page 192, that he he he had his through all of this, he had his own encounter with God. So let's just take a read that this is in Genesis 26, 24 to 25, verse, sorry, page 192. Would somebody like to read that please? Rose, would you like to read that please? Yes, faster. Genesis 26, 2040, 25. And the Lord appeared to him the same night, and said, I am the God of your father, Abraham, do not fear for I am with you. I will bless you and multiply your descendants for my servant Abraham's sake. So he built an altar there and called on the name of the Lord. And he pitched his tent there, and their Isaac servants dug a well. Thank you. Thank you, Rose. Yes. So you see, you know, if we look before this, where Isaac revealed, where God revealed himself to Isaac, we we know the, you know, those chapters where God had come to Abraham, given him multiple promises, given him a blessing, you know, kept kept reassuring him of the promise that that that he would be blessed, right. And this is one of the first times that you would see Isaac has that personal encounter. And God comes back and reiterates that promise. He says, I am the God of your father Abraham, for I am with you. Now it's no more I am I was with Abraham, but it says I am with you, I will bless you and multiply your descendants. So there is a personal experience that Isaac has built with God. And you see here that he builds an altar for worship. He calls on the name of the Lord. And, you know, he, he consecrates that place by by digging a well. So similarly, for us as parents, one of the best things that we can pray for is that our children encounter God for themselves. It shouldn't be via us. They need to be making their own journey with God, having those special and personal encounters and coming to a place of growing in fellowship, growing in intimacy, growing in the power and the knowledge of God in the anointing of God. And that's what our prayer and and our nurturing should position them to do a place where they can have their personal encounters with God, a place where they begin to worship God, a place where they find God. And that I think for all parents would be the most fulfilling part of parenting that through the toil and the work that you have put in over maybe the first 1820 2530 years, not just physically, but even through sowing in promises of God and in prayer is when they have their own encounter. And I think that's that's a place where where a parent can completely say that, you know, they have done their work, they have, they have run that race. So praying for that. And I think it's it's something that each of us who are parents can pray that our children come to a place of personal relationship with God, that intimacy with God far greater than what you and I have experienced that that it would it would take them from strength to strength and from glory to glory. Now as you do this, your work doesn't get over. Because as your children grow, there are more blessings that will come as in the form of grandchildren. So as grandchildren come along, the best part for grandparents is to be able to impart faith and wisdom to the grandchildren. Looking at two scriptures that's written there on page 192. One of you can read Isaiah 59 21 and 2 2 Timothy one verse five. Would would somebody take the turn to read that please? Abhishek, would you like to read that? The class is very quiet today. Okay, anybody else? I don't know if Abhishek is there. Anyone else? Susan, would you like to read? Yes, ma'am. In Shreya 59, the word ma'am. Yes, go ahead. Isaiah 59 verse 21. Okay, as for me, this is my covenant with them, said the Lord, my spirit that is upon you and my words, which I have put in thy mouth shall not depart out of their mouth, nor out of the mouth of the seed, nor out of the mouth of the seeds seed, said the Lord from henceforth and forever. Thank you. Somebody would like to read 2 Timothy chapter one verse five. No problem. No problem Abhishek. Thank you. 2 Timothy chapter one verse five. Shall I read man? Yes, Susan, go ahead. When second Timothy first chapter fifth word, when I call to remembrance the unfaith that is in you, which dwells first in thy grandmother Lois and thy mother unique. And I am persuaded that in the also. Thank you. Thank you, Susan. So in these 2 scriptures, you see that one of the things that the Lord desires is to pass on the the the teaching, the covenant, the the statutes that the Lord has given unto you, to your children, and to your children's children. So it this is a stipulation that God had given the Israelites, where they, you know, he was establishing the covenant and said, so ensure that the all that I have spoken to you will not be forgotten. And the and the way that it happened in the Israelites was only through instruction. So the parents would instruct the children, the parents would instruct the rest of the family, maybe the children's children. And that's how the the the covenant of God, the the teaching, the statutes that God had placed for them went from generation to generation. And we take that principle for us even today, although we have the written word with us, we do speak out of our encounters, our testimonies, our experiences with God, and we bring that into life as we as we share it with our children. So as grandparents, we, our work is not over. We are called to impart that wisdom, and that faith to our children in a way, of course, that will not interfere with what maybe their parents are doing that your children are doing for them. So we, we do all that we can to impart these experiences into the lives of of our children's children. I'm sure many of us have testimonies of how our grandparents have invested and soared into our lives where they've I the one thing that I remember, although I don't remember too much of a grandfather of mine, because he passed away when he was four years old. But something that is vividly in my mind is the way that the both of them used to kneel on the floor, lift their arms up and pray. And something that you would, you know, often see, I come from a state called Kerala, which is the south of India. And in the in the in many in the earlier years, and I'd say that is even before I was born. So we're looking at the 1950s and the 1960s, when electricity wasn't a feature in a lot of the villages and the and the suburban towns in in Kerala, you would, this is a familiar thing, my father used says this, you know, it is a familiar thing that you would see. If you would pass by, you would find these lamps that are lit early, we hours in the morning of 435 o'clock in the morning. And you will hear people singing, praise, or worshiping or praying, you know, and that's the vivid memory that I have of my grandparents is on their knees, lifting their arms up and praying and crying and praying for each one of their children and their children's children. And we see that, you know, and that's only actually a memory that I have of them, but the influence and the impact of what I saw and what I what I witnessed as maybe a three or a four year old is still stuck in my memory. And even even that, they've imparted being an example. And I'm sure some of us have those similar stories. I'm just going to quickly open that up to hear from your do any of you have memories or, you know, are so blessed, by the way, that your grandparents have imparted some sense of a wisdom or faith to you. So a quick time of sharing because the class is far too quiet today. Yes, I'm opening this out for some sharing. Come on, I thought we've all gone past the time of feeling shy and embarrassed. And we all know each other. Yes, go ahead. Buster, I can quickly share. Sure, Rose, go ahead. It's about my grandma. When she visits our place, because she's in another region of our country. So when I was still very small, maybe around six or seven years old, and I would be the one to accompany her. So we have a separate like a guest room where she can stay. But my mom appointed me to keep her company. And I remember a store every with no fail every four o'clock in the morning, maybe sometimes even earlier, she would get up, and she would have all these pamphlets of devotionals that she would pray. And as a kid, I just, you know, in the in the middle of my sleep, I would wake up or what is she doing? And then I go back to sleep. But I'm thankful, pastor, because I think somehow in her prayer, I was included there. And the fruits of her prayer is shown in in my life today, just long past gone. But that legacy that she she left is indelible mark in my memory, pastor, and I strive to maybe follow her pattern, if I could, but she was really, really determined to do it. It was part of her routine. Yeah, pastor, just that one. Thank you. Thank you, Rose. Amazing. Yeah. Yes, blessing. Would you like to share blessing? Okay. Okay, anybody else? Anyone else would like to share anything that they remember of their grandparents of me? Yes, ma'am. Yeah, go ahead. Just want to share that we've grown up with my grandmother in the house. She was 96 when she passed away. And what I would see is day in and day out, she would sit sitting with the word of God and reading Psalms. She was very fond of reading Psalms. And, and whenever she would hear about somebody being sick, or she would just walk down, very hardworking person though in that age, she did not have any responsibility in home, but she would take care of herself till the very last stage of her life. She would wash her own clothes, you know, be very active in the house, be with us as friends. My mother was working father was working they were not there but she was always with friends as a friend playing with us, spending time with us always joyful. And I one thing I have is her Bible where I see the Bible, all the pages of Psalms are almost like decade. She would read and read and read and very fond of that. Another thing my maternal grandfather was a pastor. So he passed away when I was in grade four, but I remember every evening he would come to our house, sit for like five, 10 minutes, pray with us and go from his house. And he would come for home visits in our place every evening he would come for home visits to pray with other people and he would come to ours also. So when I got born again, I truly felt that it was his prayers and blessings over my life that led me to the Lord and let help me seek him the way he served for 38 years as a pastor in the church. And his testimony I still hear when I go to people and when they introduce me as his grandchild, I feel so blessed and I feel so encouraged that he has such a great testimony of being a Christ-like person. Basically his testimony is that he was Christ-like and he served with so much humility and love for people. So I remember both of my maternal and paternal grandparents as you know, very strong in the Lord. So that's what I want to share now. So bless you. Amen. Thank you Amni. Thank you. Yes Charles. Oh thank you pastor. I did not see my grandfather. I saw my grandmother. I'm meaning the the mother of my father and she's the one we grew up with me and my sister because my dad married another man when we another woman sorry when we were I think I was two and my sister was one year and then we were taken to my grandmother and then she was going to church. She did not know how to read. She had no Bible but she would take us to church. She would pray for us. She would pray for us. She would she would make sure that we have attended church and we have we have paid in some money to a time when we reached a time that she did not have money and then she she could pick some flowers. I remember there were euro flowers. Whenever we would be going to church, she would pick euro flowers and give them to us and say I don't have money today but when the time for offering comes, please put in these flowers. Don't lose them and that's what you would do and ever since I I have learned to go to church when I have something to present to the Lord. So we were we were not able to hear them reading some Zodiac what but she would pray and we grew up in that way and here I am today. I can read the Bible. Praise the Lord. Amen. Amen. Thank you. I think Beth also has shared so you all could look up the chat what Beth has written. Yes Rupa go ahead. Thank you ma'am. I would like to share about my both grandmothers. You have played a very great impact and role in my life. My mother's mother was a widow and but she was it she used to work in a place called Yannam safe union territory and she lost her husband very young but she used to teach in that place and she was a great leader and she left a legacy in that place and in my childhood she took care in teaching me how to write beautifully and she used to teach me so many value systems and she was very loving and caring at the same time she took time and she was firm in teaching me write values and she was at the way I saw her till her 90 years every day I used to see her clean ready for the day wearing iron clothes beautiful clothes it's a beauty to see her a joy to see my grandmother and I won my father's mother she was a bible woman and my father they were 10 children my father was the eldest and I was the eldest granddaughter I enjoyed her all the love and dotting and and I used to see her even though she had so much work she was so organized and every day by the time nobody was there to ask them when they were to report but I saw her commitment and how she kept her time going to villages to preach the gospel every day and I used to really admire her and learn so much so many things from her and not only that in that village she she brought her 10 children so well disciplined educated and in the Lord I feel so blessed to have a grandmother like that and my father was grandfather was a pastor and she stood with him she was she used to sing from the hymnal without seeing all the songs she knew by heart they don't have a choir in villages but I used to hear my grandmother sing all the songs and she taught the bible and the values I learned her practice the values in her life and it was I am really blessed I'm very blessed thank you thank you thank you Rupa yeah so I mean I think each of us will have a story like this that sometimes when we look back we know the reason why you know there is so much of favor and blessing over us is because of the prayers that people we may not even have seen have sawed in our lives they prayed for their children's children's children too and we are seeing that up to the generation that we are so how much more you know we prepare ourselves knowing that the influence we will have not just on the children who we're grooming today but on those that we may never see and we may never get an opportunity to enjoy but the the position that we have as we impart that faith and prayer into their lives wonderful thank you thank you for sharing okay so we've we've come to the end of this chapter and we will be moving on in the next lecture for in the next lecture to the last chapter is which is enjoying the rest of the journey on how we look at the this original couple how they moved into the an emptiness and how can they keep running the race till God has called them okay do you all have any questions we have around five minutes uh any questions at this time or any sharing or any thoughts any observations that you would have you could quickly unmute and speak just a thought ma'am when we're talking about grandparents I believe that in Indian culture this is the best thing that happens that we have our grandparents with us and for them raising up their grandchildren with love and investing into their lives is a blessing as well as grandchildren having them all the time available for anything that we need for company for guidance for love even for escape when parents are angry and we just run to I used to run to my grandmother's bed and just sit there and my mother got angry and my mother would never come you know those days culture was that she would not come there and you know be shouting at me or something she knew if she's there I have to be you know waiting for her to come back here then you know she would take charge of things so you would escape to her and sit there until my mother's anger would get over and that was the escape we had and so I always think that this thing which is now lost like being nuclear families there is so much that the enemy is trying to do because there is no one covering over their heads of our children when their grandparents are not around because when they were around they were not left alone on their own and we know that both the parents are working and children are left alone so having grandparents was such a beautiful blessing in Indian culture even though this is not a Christian country but some cultural things that are still prevalent are really a blessing to us as Indians and I thank God for this blessing which I enjoyed my grandmother's company and we really miss her for and we really enjoy her because things that she did at the end in an older age were like quite like children so those were funny things and we enjoy we laugh at them and we say how she used to do that she was so fond of mangoes and she would keep the mangoes in her box and then forget them and then when she would clean the box you would find mangoes in it because she would love mangoes and she thought before they finish I keep some for myself so those are funny things and we really remember for you know certain things and such a blessing to have them around so that's what I want to share that I just really hope our children have this privilege of having their grandparents you know because grandparents love without you know any burden and you know that this is love so that love is so pure and beautiful to experience so that's what I want to share man thank you thank you thank you thanks someone else's bet there's also written I'll just read out what bet's written uh it's been a long time since I thought about my grandparents it was really lovely to be reminded today of how their prayers have influenced my mother's prayer culture which was which has in turn influenced mine and also brings blessing to my children I actually didn't have a lot of time with my grandparents as they lived in another country but to see the generational effect of their prayer today has been so encouraging absolutely yeah yes blessing would you like to say something okay all right yes so um I think I'm since Avni did bring about the kind of culture that we see here in India where which is slowly kind of dwindling and losing its effect of grandparents of joint families you wouldn't don't see that much now what is it like in other cultures represented here I know we have a few people here from from the other continent so would would anyone like to share what's what is the current cultural family kind of settings that's there in your part of the world Shea, Charles, blessing, Beth, Maxon, Kennedy, Abraham would be interesting to hear okay all right maybe that's that's fine all right so um let's take a 10 minute break um this is for the first time we are closing in three minutes early so it's 1048 on my clock and we will be back at 1058 so that we could wind up our last lesson and just have a couple of testimonies before we close the course and the session for the semester so we'll catch catch up in 10 minutes have a good coffee break