This command of Jesus confirms the importance of discipleship in the life of a believer. Parents must once again assume their role of "bringing them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord" (Eph 6:4).
Initial Preparation Expert Panel Expert Panel
I designed this course to show the importance of family discipleship and give FBC families practical means to disciple their children. During the first week, I wrote five of the six planned lessons using research from this project.4 The first lesson was written to show the need for family discipleship. This lesson, titled "Why Family Discipleship?", focused on showing parents the importance of family discipleship.
The fifth lesson focused on single parents and families in crisis, citing the importance of the family disciple for these families. Based on feedback from the expert panel, I improved the clarity of course purpose in Session 1 and more carefully defined terms related to family discipleship. This sixth lesson encouraged parents to continually make family discipleship a priority and briefly reviewed the previous lessons.
Implementation of the Course Recruiting Families Recruiting Families
I also recruited students from my ministry and adults without children at home to provide childcare for the children of the parents involved. Prior to the course, each participant was given a copy of both the Family Discipleship Assessment (FDA) and the Specific Family Need Assessment (SFNA).7 The FDA was administered to evaluate the current family discipleship practices (or lack thereof) of each participant. . The FDA, written by Timothy Paul Jones, was copied from the Family Ministry Field Guide and used with permission.8 The SFNA was administered to assess the effect of nontraditional family situations on family discipleship.
Each week participating families met in a classroom at FBC for a family discipleship training course. In general, the course weeks of this phase (weeks 4–9) included a presentation of the relevant session, a review of the previous week's video, and an I received many questions about catechesis and its use, which led to a positive discussion about its use in family discipleship.
Evaluating Results Calculating Results Calculating Results
The results of the survey showed that parents were previously willing to answer these questions from their children. Throughout this project, parents were reminded of the biblical commands for parents to disciple their children. The second goal of this project was to develop a curriculum to equip parents to disciple their children.
The third goal of this project was to equip Fairforest Baptist Church parents to disciple their children in their homes. For question 14, there was no significant improvement (t(9) = 0, p = 1), indicating that there was little increase in the frequency of conversations about their children's spiritual development among participants. This project made a statistically significant difference in family discipleship practices among the participants and succeeded in equipping parents to disciple their children.
The results showed that most parents believed that their children felt loved both before and after the course. For question 8, there was no significant improvement among traditional families (t p = 0.611), indicating that parents from traditional families believed that their children had divine mentors both before and after the course.
Why Family Discipleship?
The priests taught God's word just as pastors do today, but it was never meant to be the full scope of biblical teaching.8 God's commandments were to be taught not only by the leaders of Israel, but also by parents who are charged to "teach them diligently to your children." . Hamilton Jr., “That the Future Generation May Praise the Lord,” in Trained in the Fear of God: Family Ministry in Theological, Historical, and Practical Perspectives, ed. In short, the commandments had to permeate every area of human life."9 . viii) "Each household had to be marked with God's words as a reflection of the inner reality that Israel is devoted to Yahweh."10.
The young men ran their own youth societies and had to report to the church elders what they were doing at the meeting once a month. j) The movement to cities and economic growth affected the churches and created a culture from which Christian parents wanted to protect their children. 16. k) Before compulsory high schools, young people up to the age of fifteen were engaged in business, considering Sunday school and church services childish in comparison. This model of age-separation ministry is responsible for the programmatic emphasis of the church and has its roots in the social changes of the industrial revolution! .. p) The current mainstream model rarely takes family discipleship into account. Their role is to impress upon their children the love and character of God.21 –Reggie Joyner.
What Is Family Discipleship and Worship?
What a terrible responsibility!”30 –D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones .. ii) Christian education goes beyond basic cultural expectations and must be done with discipline and instruction in the Lord.31. Plummer, “Bring Them Up in the Discipline and Instructions of the Lord,” in Trained in the Fear of God: Family Ministry in Theological, Historical, and Practical Perspective, ed. 35Lloyd. Both Jewish and Roman tradition placed the father at the head of the house with the responsibility of educating and disciplining their children.41.
Paul contrasts his prohibitive command with a positive admonition: "bring them up in the chastening and chastening of the Lord." Christian education extends beyond basic cultural expectations and must be done with discipline and instruction in the Lord. 44. As co-heirs with Christ, we share in the salvation heritage of Israel as God's people. 48.
A Church-Based Family-Equipping Ministry 1) Ephesians 4:11-12
A family-friendly church teaches parents to see God in everyday life so they can do the same for their children. Our fallen forgetfulness is why the church must continually recognize parents as the primary disciple makers of their children. iv) "Isn't this an inefficient use of the church's time and energy?" you might ask. The Spirit does not give gifts with the aim of making the church efficient; he arranges the gifts in the body according to his will to make us holy.60 .. v) A family-oriented church prioritizes the role of parents in the lives of their children. .. i) Do any of us need anything else to add to our calendars? . ii).
If you have children, you probably already have capacity when it comes to time and energy. .. 60Ibid iii) Family equipping ministry cannot simply be a new program that adds events to the church calendar; the church must give parents the tools they need within current programs.61. You can create a family mission statement with the purpose of seeking "a missionary passion for the expansion of God's kingdom." 65. 65Michael S. Wilder, "Building and Equipping Missional Families," in Trained in the Fear of God: Family Ministry in Theological, Historical, and Practical Perspective, ed.. v) A family equipping church sends families on mission. . f) The church must consciously resist the cultural norms that have given the church not only sole responsibility for discipleship, but also for the entire ministry of the gospel.
Tools for Family Worship 1) Family Worship by Don Whitney
The church he chose to attend is one issue for him to decide, but the issue at hand is easily resolved: he could play or sing hymns during family worship at home. Schemm, Jr., "Habits of a Gospel-Centered Household," in Trained in the Fear of God: Family Ministry in Theological, Historical, and Practical Perspective, ed. b) Family worship times do not have to be rigid and too serious. This book has 52 short guides for family worship; if you are not sure where to. start, this book can give you weekly family worship material for an entire year!.
In addition to practical methods, he provides a theological basis for family worship, the motivation for doing it, and the usual objections to it. 74. Even short prayers every morning and evening with our children, no matter how simple, will make a difference.78. g) Beeke's short book provides excellent guidance on how to lead times of family worship. This provides a simple, straightforward series of questions and answers that any parent can ask.
Adoptive Ministry, Helping Families in Crisis
In any case, the orphan and the widow in James 1:27 are a type, representing the afflicted of the world for whom the church is called to care ("visit") in their difficulties.88 (James 1:27) . g). The church is full of people who have sin in their past.. it lowers God's standard for His followers, the church should offer grace and comfort to those who have turned away from sin and need help.95 .. f) The ministry for equipping the family should focus not on the "earthly inheritance" of sinful brokenness that especially affects single parents and their children, but on divine adoption as sons and daughters in the kingdom of God.96. g). The church must value people as bearers of the image of God, not forgiving sin, but embracing and loving the broken to bring them back. 97.
The church must prepare parents to help their children in grief. i) Single parents must navigate their children's feelings of abandonment and portray God as a loving father when even the idea of a loving father (or parents) is completely foreign to them. ii) “The emotional trauma and pain of losing parents due to the breakdown of their marriage is undoubtedly one of the most important factors. The church needs a plan to counsel and equip single parents in the midst of their personal struggles. iv) Children and adolescents who experience the divorce of their parents "mourn the death of this marriage, just as they would mourn the death of their parents."99. v) Parents can help their children through this by guiding them through the stages of grief (denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance) and the church can equip them to do this.100 Les Parrott's book Helping the Struggling Adolescent has an excellent resource on this . The church must intentionally mentor the children of single parents. i) While all children need mentoring, children of single parents need additional support from traditional families to fill the gaps left by an absent parent. ii) Children after divorce are unlikely to trust all adults after their parents divorce. they wonder who they can rely on.101 Church leaders must be present in the lives of divorced children and give them reliable adults they can trust.102.
Keep It Going: Maintaining Family Worship When Life Gets Busy
106 “After 12 Years of Quarterly Church Attendance, Parents Shocked by Daughter's Lack of Faith,” The Babylon Bee, April 7, 2016, http://babylonbee.com/news/after-12-years-of-quarterly-church-attendance- parents-shocked-by-daughters-lack-of-faith/. That the coming generation may praise the Lord." In Trained in the Fear of God: Family Ministry in Theological, Historical, and Practical Perspective, edited by Randy Stinson and Timothy P. Introduction: The Problem with Family Ministry." In Trained in the Fear of God: Family Ministry in Theological, Historical, and Practical Perspective, edited by Randy Stinson and Timothy P.
Raise them in the discipline and guidance of God." In Trained in the Fear of the Lord: Theological, Historical, and Family Ministry. Habits of a Gospel-centered family." On Trained in the Fear of God: Family Service in Theological, Historical and Practical Perspective, edited by Randy Stinson and Timothy P. Building and Equipping Missional Families. In Trained in the Fear of God: Family Service in Theological, Historical and Practical Perspective, edited by Randy Stinson and Timothy P.
