PARENTS: GOD'S REPRESENTATIVES (18)
Scripture: Ephesians 6:1-4
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Parents: God's Representatives (18)
Series: Ephesians
Robert Dawson
Ephesians 6: 1-4
James Boice said, ''It is a conviction of mine that no man has a right to tell other people how to raise their children until he has children of his own and has tried to raise them. As a corollary, I am convinced that no wise man will give advice even then until his own children have grown up and turned out well.''
I am of a similar conviction. That, however, puts me in an awkward position because as a pastor I don't have the privilege of staying silent on parent and child relationships until I see if my two turn out okay.
For me personally, this is one of the more difficult subjects to teach or preach. The reason is not because of the uncertainty about how my progeny will turn out, but my acute awareness of my many failures. I suppose, in some ways, this makes me eminently qualified to give advice...on what not to do. I could write a book on parenting based on what I've done wrong and what I wanted to do or should've done but didn't. (I say that not because I think my kids are horrible. I say that because I know my failures and the poor example I so often set for them. Those thoughts haunt me).
I'm afraid things may turn out like they did for Thomas Hanson's parents. Back in 1978, Thomas Hansen of Boulder Colorado, sued his parents for $350,000 on grounds of ''parental malpractice.'' He believed that his Mom and Dad botched his formative years so badly that he would need years of costly psychiatric treatment.
I'm just holding onto grace. So, I don't stand before you today, tasked with the responsibility of preaching on this topic/passage, as a perfect practitioner of parenting. I stand before you as one who struggles greatly but desperately wants to be faithful and pleasing to God in my role as a parent.
Today, as we move into Ephesians 6, we are going to spend some time looking at the responsibilities of both children and parents in the home.
Ephesians ...
Series: Ephesians
Robert Dawson
Ephesians 6: 1-4
James Boice said, ''It is a conviction of mine that no man has a right to tell other people how to raise their children until he has children of his own and has tried to raise them. As a corollary, I am convinced that no wise man will give advice even then until his own children have grown up and turned out well.''
I am of a similar conviction. That, however, puts me in an awkward position because as a pastor I don't have the privilege of staying silent on parent and child relationships until I see if my two turn out okay.
For me personally, this is one of the more difficult subjects to teach or preach. The reason is not because of the uncertainty about how my progeny will turn out, but my acute awareness of my many failures. I suppose, in some ways, this makes me eminently qualified to give advice...on what not to do. I could write a book on parenting based on what I've done wrong and what I wanted to do or should've done but didn't. (I say that not because I think my kids are horrible. I say that because I know my failures and the poor example I so often set for them. Those thoughts haunt me).
I'm afraid things may turn out like they did for Thomas Hanson's parents. Back in 1978, Thomas Hansen of Boulder Colorado, sued his parents for $350,000 on grounds of ''parental malpractice.'' He believed that his Mom and Dad botched his formative years so badly that he would need years of costly psychiatric treatment.
I'm just holding onto grace. So, I don't stand before you today, tasked with the responsibility of preaching on this topic/passage, as a perfect practitioner of parenting. I stand before you as one who struggles greatly but desperately wants to be faithful and pleasing to God in my role as a parent.
Today, as we move into Ephesians 6, we are going to spend some time looking at the responsibilities of both children and parents in the home.
Ephesians ...
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