1. Sermon Eph 6:4 Parenting by Grace pt.3 Raising Children who Hope in God Introduction

2. Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. (Ephesians 6:4 ) Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged. (Colossians 3:21 ESV)

3. WHAT THEN SHOULD WE DO TO RAISE CHILDREN WHO ARE NOT DISCOURAGED BUT WHO HAVE GREAT HOPE AND JOY IN GOD? The first thing parents need to do to raise children who hope in God is to make all of life God-saturated.

4. What is your only comfort in life and death? That I am not my own, but belong with body and soul, both in life and in death, to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ. He has fully paid for all my sins with His precious blood, and has set me free from all the power of the devil.

5. He also preserves me in such a way that without the will of my heavenly Father not a hair can fall from my head; indeed, all things must work together for my salvation.

6. Therefore, by His Holy Spirit, He also assures me of eternal life and makes me heartily willing and ready from now on to live for Him. - Heidelberg Catechism Q #1

7. We should saturate all our daily life with God. He should be the source and goal of all our acts. "Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." (1 Cor. 10:31)

8. This Joy and Hope in God come only by grace and only in answer to prayer. IF YOU CAN TALK, YOU CAN PRAY.

9. The third thing we must do to raise up children who hope in God is make the Bible the most important book in their lives.

10. The FOURTH THING to raise children who hope in God, is to show them how to live in community with other believers.

11. “A local church is a group of Christians who regularly gather in Christ's name to officially affirm and oversee one another's membership in Jesus Christ and his kingdom through gospel preaching and gospel ordinances." Jonathan Leeman

12. New Testament "one another” commands or characteristics for believers. Love one another. Serve one another. Accept one another. Strengthen one another. Help one another. Encourage one another. Care for one another. Forgive one another. Submit to one another.

13. Commit to one another. Build trust with one another. Be devoted to one another. Be patient with one another. Be interested in one another. Be accountable to one another. Confess to one another. Live in harmony with one another. Do not pass judgment on one another.

14. Do not slander one another. Instruct one another. Greet one another. Admonish one another. Spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Meet with one another. Agree with one another. Be concerned for one another. Be humbled to one another in love. Be compassionate to one another.

15. Do not anger one another, which I might have just broken for some of you. Do not lie to one another. Do not grumble to one another. Give preference to one another. Be at peace with one another. Be of the same mind to one another.

16. Comfort one another. Be kind to one another. Live in peace with one another. Carry one another's burdens

17. Our kids will not learn to hope in God above all things if they don’t see what it means to be connected with God’s people. IF YOUR RELATIONSHIP TO THE CHURCH WERE TO BE MIRRORED IN YOUR MARRIAGE, HOW STRONG WOULD YOUR FAMILY BE?

18. Being a God saturated, prayerful person of the Book, who is connected with other believers, is not a form of LAW when it comes from an overflow of great joy in God.

19. WAS JESUS A LEGALIST? If He needed those traits in his life, then how much more do we?

20. That same Holy Spirit is given to empower you and me to draw on the grace that comes from a life that is rooted in God, relying through prayer, built on the Word, and deeply connected with others.