I thoroughly enjoyed Sunday Mornings service. After we nearly avoided seeing a man have his head blown off by a mad grandma with a shot gun at 9:40 am in the parking lot (I am not making this up, but I can not comment any further). We celebrated the as three people were baptized and then shared in theLord’s Supper, it was a great morning. But, we did run out of time really for the sermon, so for those of you who care here are my unedited sermon notes (no comments about, spelling, punctuation, or grammar please). Have a great week, got to back to working on our next sermon series on unanswered prayer.
Looking in to getting a concealed carry permit today! Pastor Phillip
1. The Last Of Our Parent Traps: The Trap of Happiness: We should strive to foster holiness over happiness
a. Heb 12:14 Pursue peace with everyone, and holiness( not happiness)–without it no one will see the Lord.
b. Holiness means different, set apart, unlike the rest.
i. Don’t we want uniquely different and Christian children that live lives of worship that are different from the rest of the world?
c. So if we are going to do this we are going to have to discipline.
2. Spanking and discipline.
a. Fanny Whatter: my dad would spank we with. I did not like. My dad would always give me the “it is going to hurt me more than it hurts you” speech.
i. Parents that sounds nice, it maybe true.
b. But, physical discipline subject for some debate especially in schools and amongst hippies, who are afraid of wounding an inner child.
c. Decades ago, the spanking of children was a commonly accepted practice.
i. In recent years spanking have been replaced with “time-outs” and lots of very slow threatening counting and other punishments that do not involve physical discipline.
d. Spanking children has actually been deemed illegal in some countries.
i. Many parents fear spanking a child and being reported to the government and having their children taken away.
ii. Do not misunderstand—I am not means advocating child abuse.
e. A child should never be disciplined physically to an extent that it causes physical damage to the child.
i. But, according to the Bible, the appropriate and restrained physical discipline of children is a good thing, and contributes to the well-being and correct upbringing of the child.
f. Scripture clearly promotes physical discipline.
i. Pro 23:13-14 Don’t withhold correction from a youth; if you beat him with a rod, he will not die. (14) Strike him with a rod, and you will rescue his life from Sheol (death or hell)
ii. Pro 13:24 The one who will not use the rod hates his son, but the one who loves him disciplines him diligently.
g. The Bible strongly stresses the importance of discipline; it is something we must all have to be productive people and is much easier learned when we are young.
i. Children who aren’t disciplined often grow up rebellious, have no respect for authority, and as a result find it difficult to willingly obey and follow God.
ii. Psa 94:12 LORD, happy is the man You discipline and teach from Your law
h. So, since disciplining children is not an option, how do we go about rightly doing it?
3. First, make sure the discipline exacts a cost. If a “punishment” doesn’t “hurt”—physically or emotionally—it has not done any good!
a. Pro 20:30 Physical punishment cleanses away evil; such discipline purifies the heart.
i. This purifying of the heart is crucial, because listen to what Proverbs says about the heart of a child
b. Pro 22:15 Foolishness is tangled up in the heart of a youth; the rod of discipline will drive it away from him.
i. You see discipline clears out sin and folly and opens the way for loving and respectful relationship with Jesus to fill right in!
ii. So failure to discipline a child and not driving to sin out of the heart, may just keep Jesus out of it!
c. Please don’t misunderstand me. I’m not saying that physical discipline is the only way to discipline a child, I am saying you have to do what hurts them the most.
i. This may mean, denial of privileges—no TV, no phone, no CDs, no friends over for a week.
ii. Figure out what will properly get your kid’s attention. Then use that as a disciplinary measure. What hurts the most do!
d. After all went holiness and not simply happiness
4. Second: discipline on purpose, not as a reaction. Parents whose first response to disobedience is uncontrolled yelling or spanking give biblical discipline a bad name.
a. When you’re out of control, you can’t do the will of God in any area of life—let alone in the crucial area of disciplining your kids!
i. Jas 1:19-20 My dearly loved brothers, understand this: everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger, (20) for man’s anger does not accomplish God’s righteousness.
b. This verse you listen closely, speak slowly, and act purposefully.
i. You can’t accomplish God’s purpose for your child when you are out of control.
c. When we discipline our children, it’s important not to violate the biblical principle found in 1 Peter 3:8-9 Finally, all of you should be of one mind, full of sympathy toward each other, loving one another with tender hearts and humble minds. (9) Don’t repay evil for evil. Don’t retaliate when people say unkind things about you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing. That is what God wants you to do, and he will bless you for it.
i. When you children wrong you and disobey, you don’t fire back in anger, you bless them by giving them a spanking or giving the some other punishment.
d. So you can tell your kids it is time for me to give you a blessing!
i. We must correct them for their own character development, not to vent our anger.
5. Third: be consistent, be quick.
a. When a crime is not punished, people feel it is safe to do wrong. Ecc 8:11
b. If you discipline a child for watching a forbidden TV show one week but let it go the next, you’ve confused him and set a precedent for inconsistency in his own decisions.
i. Salutary neglect: Salutary Neglect - Salutary neglect refers to the state of Anglo-American relations before the end of the French and Indian War. British Parliament did not interfere in the government of the colonies, and America existed in relative political isolation.
ii. They had always been there they just deiced to enforce them and we were like no way you are kidding me!
c. Consistency is especially important for younger children, who will test your “No!” five times in five minutes.
d. Through consistent, repetitious discipline, your child will learn that you mean what you say, and you will set a pattern that will encourage your child to obey your word rather than fight it. This respect!
e. Mat 5:37 But let your word ‘yes’ be ‘yes,’ and your ‘no’ be ‘no.’
6. Fourth: overlook a lot of foolishness. Enforce fewer rules in the home, but enforce them more consistently.
a. Wearing out them Ephesians 6:4 And now a word to you fathers. Don’t make your children angry by the way you treat them. Rather, bring them up with the discipline and instruction approved by the Lord.
i. Proverbs 19:11 People with good sense restrain their anger; they earn esteem by overlooking wrongs.
b. For you who overdo it on rules—relax. If you underdo it—tighten up a little. Your kids will respect you for it.
c. Plainly put if you love your kids you going to discipline them.
7. Let’s look at sheep and shepherds
a. Four observations about sheep:
i. They are stupid. They even need to be led to food – they will not find food on their own.
ii. They are unable to defend themselves – they are slow, and have no significant teeth or claws.
iii. They are easily lost. If separated from the herd, they will not find their way home.
iv. They will walk right into trouble unknowingly
b. Given these characteristics of sheep, what are the tasks of a shepherd?
i. The shepherd must watch out for and care for the sheep or they will starve, be killed by predators, or wander off.
ii. Shepherds must guard the sheep, lead them to pasture and water, keep the herd together, and bind up those who are injured, in order that the sheep might fulfill their purpose: providing wool, meat, and animals for sacrifice
8. Now are kid’s sheep? Yes and no
a. Now, kids are not dumb they are very bright, but they will easily wonder off and follow the influences of others.
b. Kids can’t defend themselves from people who might want to harm them and they also can’t the danger of following wrong paths unless they are taught
c. Kids can become easily lost, spiritually make decisions that carry them away from the faith, unless they are guided.
9. So, parents if you are a shepherd what must you do?
a. Keep watch ,Pay careful attention to, guard, Protect Equip, build up, Pray , Teach
b. What about kids as sheep? What do you do when they wonder away?
i. Go get them, go get them, go get them.
ii. Each time you discipline them
c. According to the story, if a lamb has a tendency to wander off or run away, the shepherd will actually break one of its legs. He will then tend the broken leg – put a splint on it and bind it up. Then for several days or weeks while the leg is mending, he will carry the lamb on his shoulder. If the anecdote is true, once the sheep’s leg has healed, it will follow the shepherd, close at his side, the rest of its life. It will never again go astray.
i. Now, breaking a sheep’s leg is a bit harsh, yet the shepherd knows it is better for the sheep to suffer temporary pain than to wander off into the wilderness and become lamb chops for some hungry wolf.
d. Psa 51:8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones You have broken rejoice.
e. This makes things far more difficult on the shepherd, but his love for the sheep means he do anything he can for the well being of the sheep entrusted to him.
i. Remember, when the Lord wounds, he binds and heals again. He will not leave us broken and bruised. And once we have healed, we will never stray again. How enviable is the man whom God corrects!
f. Action points:
i. Take time today to examine your heart. If there is any tendency to stray, make the corrections so God will not have to do it for you.
ii. Do you need to break any of your children’s legs? Ask God to show you the lesson He wants you to learn, and then learn it quickly.
iii. Are you willing to hurt them now to make them happy later?
10. Maybe God needs to break your leg, because you have strayed far from him?
a. Now is the time to return: Psa 32:6 Therefore let everyone who is faithful pray to You at a time that You may be found. When great floodwaters come, they will not reach him.
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