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Your children and trusting you

Train them to a habit of faith.

By this I mean that we should train them up to believe what we say. We should try to give our children a confidence in our judgment and a respect for your opinions as being better than their own. Get them used to thinking that when you say a thing is bad for them, then it must be bad. Likewise when you say it is good for them, then it must be good. Help them to understand that your knowledge, in short, is better than their own and, therefore, that they may rely implicitly on what you say. Give them the assurance that what they don't yet know or understand now, they will probably know and understand in the course of time, and that in the meantime they can be sure there is a reason and a 'needs-be' for everything you require them to do.

Your children and church

Train them to habits of diligence, and regularity about being part of a church, God's public means of grace.

Tell them of the duty and privilege of being part of a church, and joining in the prayers of the congregation. Tell them that wherever the Lord’s people are gathered together, there the Lord Jesus is present in an special way and that those who are not with his gathered people should expect to miss a blessing, much the same way Thomas did when he wasn't with the disciples on the day Jesus rose from the dead (John 20:24-25). Tell your children of the importance of hearing the Bible preached and that it is God’s chosen and ordained means for converting, sanctifying, and building up the souls of men. Tell them how the writer of the book of Hebrews encourages us to ' not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another - and all the more as you see the Day approaching' (Hebrews 10:25).

Downloads and extra documents from a recent seminar at the Capital Youthworks training morning.

Here are the files that relate directly to the seminar...

• Seminar handout
• Parent profile Excel spreadsheet (Excel 97-2003)
• Parent profile Excel spreadsheet (2007)

Here are the extra documents related to YCM registration processes and forms...

• YCM registration process
• Initial contact card (for youth groups)
• Registration form
• Members file
• Parent profile sheet

Your children and prayer

Train them to a habit of prayer.

Prayer is the very life-breath of our walk with God. It is one of the first signs that someone has been born again. "Go," Jesus told Ananias, "and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying." (Acts 9:11). Paul had begun to pray, and that was all the proof Jesus needed to give to Ananias. Prayer was the distinguishing mark of the Lord’s people in the days when there began to be a separation between them and the world. "At that time men began to call on the name of the Lord" (Genesis 4:26). Prayer is the peculiar trait of a true Christian. We pray because we tell God our wants, our feelings, our desires, our fears... and we mean what we say. A nominal Christian may repeat prayers - and good prayers too - but they go no further. Prayer is the turning-point in a person’s soul. Our ministry is unprofitable and our labour is vain, until we are brought to our knees. Until that happens, we have no hope about us.

Your children and the Bible

Train your child to a knowledge of the Bible.

We cannot make our children love the Bible. Only the Holy Spirit can give us a heart that delights in God's word. However, we can make our children be acquainted with the Bible, and we need to be convicted that they cannot be acquainted with God's great gift of Scripture too soon, or too well.

A thorough knowledge of the Bible is the foundation of all clear views of Jesus, and faith and obedience to him. People who are well grounded in Scripture will generally not be people who waver or doubt, carried about by every wind of teaching. Any upbringing that does not make a knowledge of Scripture the first thing is unsafe and unsound. It is vitally important that we understand this, for the devil is at work and there are many erroneous ideas and false theologies out there.  For example, some people place a degree of honour, power and authority on the church that should only be reserved for Jesus Christ. There are others who take baptism and communion and make them out to be some sort of spiritual passports that give us access to eternal life. And there are some who honour a certain approach to teaching and parenting more than they do the Bible, being more concerned about filling their child's mind with the tales of irrelevant little story-books instead of the truth found only in Scripture.