Blog | Life Church St Louis

Influencing Your Children

Family, Message / By Pastor Dan Walker / February 27, 2007

This Sunday, I’m returning to our message series on parenting called “Parental Guidance Required”. In this series, we’re talking about the importance of relationships in raising your children. As a parent, you need to influence three relationships with your children. Their relationship with God. Their relationship with you as their parents and their relationship with others outside of your home. Each relationship is vital for you as a parent to work on with your children.

Today, my message title is “Influencing Your Children.” I want to talk about your relationship as a parent with your children. A parent’s relationship with their child is the most important factor in determining a child’s future. Through your relationship with your child, you can influence their relationship with God and with others outside of your home. A child raised without parents or without godly parents is at a great disadvantage. A parent’s relationship with their children is critical.

NIV Malachi 4:6 He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; God wants the hearts of fathers turned to their children and vice versa. In other words, God wants parents to build strong, godly relationships with their children. Just because parents are present in the home with a child, does not mean that their hearts are turned toward one another.

You as a parent can influence your children for God in such a way that the result is passed down through generations. NIV Psalm 103:17 But from everlasting to everlasting the LORD’s love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children’s children. If you fear the Lord and influence your children for Him, the results will be passed on to your children’s children. Of course, the reverse is true as well. If you do not raise your children well, then the negative results will also be passed down through the generations as well.

Today, I want to focus on the two major phases that each parent must understand to raise their children in a godly way.

To hear more about this topic, listen to my February 25, 2007 message entitled Influencing Your Children

Your Children And God

Family, Message / By Pastor Dan Walker / February 13, 2007

Currently, we’re in a message series on parenting called “Parental Guidance Required”. Children need parental guidance, it’s required not just recommended. Children don’t just need guidance from any source, they need their parent’s guidance. God has given each parent who depends on Him, the ability to guide their children.

Last Sunday, I spoke on the importance of relationships in raising your children. As a parent, you need to influence three relationships with your children. Their relationship with God. Their relationship with you as their parents and their relationship with others outside of your home. Each relationship is vital for you as a parent to work on with your children. Your children will eventually turn out in one of two ways. NIV Proverbs 10:1 A wise son brings joy to his father, but a foolish son grief to his mother. Your children can end up being wise, which will bring joy to your heart. Or they can end up being foolish which will bring grief into your life as a parent. Whether your children end up being wise or foolish is not a matter of their genes, it’s not a matter of chance, it’s simply a result of how they are parented.

Basically, the Bible teaches that all children begin by being foolish in life. It is the parent’s task, with God’s help, to transform a foolish child into a wise one. NIV Proverbs 22:15 Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline will drive it far from him. From little on, foolishness and rebelliousness is in a child’s heart, the Bible calls it sin. Parental guidance, discipline and training will produce a wise child.

I heard a story about a five year old boy who went on a walk with his father. After walking a number of blocks away from their home, the father asked the boy, “Son, how far are we from home?” The boy answered, “Dad, I don’t know.” The father asked, “Well, where are you?” Again, the boy answered, “I don’t know.” The father jokingly said, “Sounds to me like you’re lost, son.” The boy smiled, looked up at his Dad and said, “Nope, I can’t be lost. I’m with you.” As long as that father wasn’t lost, his son was OK. As long as a child’s parents are wise, their children will be also.

Where does wisdom come from? NIV Proverbs 9:10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. Wisdom comes only from God. If you want to raise wise children, you’ve got to get them connected to God.

Today, I’m going to talk about “Your Children and God.” Your child’s relationship with God is their most important relationship. Children who fear and know God will be wise. They will grow up into wise parents who raise wise children. I want to talk about how you as a parent can influence your child’s relationship with God and raise wise children.

To hear more about this topic, listen to my February 11, 2007 message entitled Your Children And God

Questions Parents Should Ask

Family, Message / By Pastor Dan Walker / February 5, 2007

Today, we’re beginning a new message series on parenting called “Parental Guidance Required”. Being a parent is a great joy, but it is also a great responsibility. My wife Carol and I are in the middle of learning how to parent. We have seven children with ages ranging from 2 through 11. With God’s help we have learned a few things that I believe will be helpful to you and your children.

Each of us of course had parents. When you look back on your own childhood, what do you remember?. You remember your relationship with your parents, whether good or bad. Looking back, it wasn’t such a big deal whether Dad got a promotion at work or not. What was important, was the time you spent together. Looking back, it really no longer matters whether you had the latest or greatest toys, what mattered was the fun times with Mom. Yet in today’s society, many parents seem most interested in how much they can buy for their children, how many activities they can get their children involved in. As a result, their relationship with their children takes a back seat.

NIV 1 Samuel 16:7 The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart. God wants you as a parent to look at your children as He does, by looking at their hearts. The cultural trend is exactly the opposite, looking at the outward appearance. Our culture has the tendency to make children experience rich and relationship poor. Just because your child has all the latest toys and is dressed in the in fashion, does not mean they are being prepared for life. Just because your child is doing well in all kinds of school activities does not mean their heart is being developed.

NIV Malachi 4:6 He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers. That’s God’s desire for families, to build relationships. The heart has to do with relationships. God wants you as a parent to help your children with their relationships. That means that you need to develop your own relationship with your children. If you do what everybody around you does with their children, your heart and your children’s hearts won’t be turned toward one another. Then when your children become teenagers and their lives disintegrate, you’ll say “I did what everybody else did, I gave them everything they wanted, I took them to every school activity, what went wrong?” What goes wrong in so many families is that relationships get low priority.

Today, my message is entitled “Questions Every Parent Should Ask. I’m going to introduce you to three questions that deal with the three most important relationships your child has. As you ask these questions, God will give you answers from the Bible.

To hear more about this topic, listen to my February 4, 2007 message entitled Questions Parents Should Ask

Living With A Grander Vision

Life, Message / By Pastor Dan Walker / January 29, 2007

Today, I’m concluding a message series called “Just Walk Across The Room.” If you missed some of the messages, you can listen to or download them from our website. This series is about reaching out to those around us who are not believers.

Many people who are not believers consider themselves Christians. In 2006, 80% of adults in the US claimed to be Christians. Yet, only about half of the people who claim to be Christian actually believe they will go to heaven because they have admitted their sins and accepted Jesus as their Savior. So, the majority of people in America are no longer believers by the simplest possible definition. That’s a lot of people, I’m sure you know some of them.

In this series, we’ve talked about some practical ways to reach those around us. Today, I want us to think about how what we’ve been talking about relates to your vision for your life. What is your vision for life? Maybe no one has every asked you that question. Vision has to do with goals, priorities and dreams. Vision has to do with your plans and hopes for the future. For the believer vision extends into eternity. NAS Proverbs 29:18 Where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained, But happy is he who keeps the law. If you have no vision for your life, you will have no direction and you’ll be unhappy. But with a vision from God comes happiness and hope.

God wants to give you visions and dreams of His plans for your life. NIV Acts 2:17 In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. In case you wondered, we are living in the last days. The Bible clearly teaches that the last days extend from Jesus’ resurrection until He comes again. In this time period, God wants to pour out His Spirit on you so that you will have His vision for your life.

What is the overriding vision of the Spirit? We only need to look back one chapter to NIV Acts 1:8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. God wants to give you a vision and the power to carry out His vision, a vision of being His witness, a vision of reaching out to those who don’t know Jesus. It’s God’s vision for every believer.

Today, my message is entitled “Living With A Grander Vision.” What is this grander vision? It’s a vision of reaching out to the lost, to those without hope, to those with no vision and bringing them to Jesus. Why do I call it a grander vision? Well, everyone has some kind of vision for their life. For some, it is a vision of making it in their job. For others, their vision is saving x number of dollars for retirement, for yet others it is paying off the mortgage. Nothing wrong with those visions, but they pale in light of the grander vision that God has for you, the vision of reaching a lost world. I want to live with grander vision, how about you?

To hear more about this topic, listen to my January 28, 2007 message entitled Living With A Grander Vision

Learning To Tell Two Stories

Life, Message / By Pastor Dan Walker / January 22, 2007

Currently we’re in a message series called “Just Walk Across The Room.” We’re talking about how easy it can be to share your faith with others. If you’re a believer this morning, someone, somewhere, somehow, shared their faith with you. God wants each of us to get better at sharing the greatest gift we have been given in life, the gift of Jesus with others.

Last week I talked about three steps to reaching out to those who don’t yet know God. The first step was simply to develop a friendship. Then you discover the stories of your friend as you get to know them. Finally, you meet a need of your friend, as you rely on the Holy Spirit to guide you. And then what, what comes next?

I had an interesting call from a member here at Life Church this week, Pat. He has a friend at work who is not a believer and doesn’t go to any church Over the past year, Pat has developed a friendship with Mike and gotten to know him. Well, this week, Mike walked into Pat’s office and wanted to talk. Pat said “Sure, what do you need?” Mike said, “I’d like to know what it means to be a born-again Christian?”

What would you say if someone came up to you at work and asked “What does it mean to be a born-again Christian?” Could you give a simple, yet accurate answer? Pat gave a good answer and the dialogue is continuing with his friend.

Today, I’m going to talk about “Learning To Tell Two Stories.” These two stories are stories that every believer knows or you wouldn’t be a believer. However, knowing these stories and being able to tell them effectively to another person are two different things. God wants you to be prepared to tell these two stories to people who are seeking to know him. As you put into practice the principles that we’ve been talking about in this series, you will have opportunities to answer questions, just like Pat. NIV 1 Peter 3:15 Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect. Are you prepared to give an answer to people who ask you about your hope in Christ?

Some people have answers, but they haven’t learned to give them with gentleness and respect and so the opportunity is lost You and I need both an answer and the ability to give the answer in a winsome way, in a way that draws the other person closer to God and doesn’t drive them further away. Some people think it’s enough to just live their lives in a godly way. That’s certainly important, but people need to know why you live like you do. Only your words can answer their questions about why you live a righteous life.

To hear more about this topic, listen to my January 21, 2007 message entitled Learning To Tell Two Stories

Three Steps To Reaching Out

Life, Message / By Pastor Dan Walker / January 15, 2007

Have you ever wondered what the most important thing in life is? Some people think the most important thing in life is being a nice person. Others think the most important thing is to raise your family well. Still others think that having fun is the most important thing. And I’m sure there are many other ideas about the most important thing in life.

How can we determine what the most important thing in life is? The most important thing is whatever has the greatest positive consequences if you have it and the most negative consequences if you don’t. There is only one right answer to the question. The most important thing in life is having a relationship with God.

Having a relationship with God is the only way that you’ll fulfill the purpose that God created you for. NIV Acts 17:27 God did this [creation] so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. You were created to seek and find God, that’s your most important purpose. Whether you find God in this life affects your eternal destiny. There is no greater loss than spending eternity without God in hell. There is no greater gain than spending eternity with God in heaven.

If the most important thing in life is finding God, than for those of us who have found Him, we must help others find Him. NIV Proverbs 11:30 The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise. Those who are righteous, those who have found God are to be a tree of life to those around them who are still seeking. The wisest thing that you can do with your life is to win souls, that is, to help people discover a relationship with their creator.

Currently, we’re in a message series entitled “Just Walk Across The Room.” In this series, we’re talking about how to help others find a relationship with Jesus. Last week, we saw how Jesus left His comfort zone in heaven to bring us to Himself. We too, must be willing to leave our comfort zones to reach out to others who are far from God. Reaching out doesn’t have to complicated, it can be as simple as just walking across the room to speak to someone.

Today, I’m going to speak about “Three Steps To Reaching Out.” We’re going to look at three practical ways that each of us can reach out. However, before we get to these steps, let’s think about why Jesus reached out to us. The reason that Jesus reached out to you was that He saw potential in you. The Bible says that Jesus died for us while we were yet sinners. Yet, He looked beyond our sin and saw what we could be as forgiven children of God.

When Jesus called his first disciples, they were just fishermen, but He saw greater potential in them. NIV Matthew 4:19 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” Jesus saw these simple fishermen with the potential to become fishers of men. Jesus saw that these fishermen had the potential to affect people’s eternal destinies by helping them find a relationship with God. This morning, Jesus sees the potential in you to become a fisher of men. This is not just for a select few, but every believer is to become a fisher of men.

When you become a fisher of men, you see the potential in every person, to become a child of God. No one is so far from God, no one is so deep in sin, that the power and love of God cannot reach them. With God nothing is impossible. So, this morning as I talk about three steps to reaching out, don’t be saying in your mind, “I could never do that.” Be saying, with God I can be a fisher of men, with God I can see lives changed forever.

To hear more about this topic, listen to my January 14, 2007 message entitled Three Steps To Reaching Out