Pastor Marvin spoke on "Raising the Next Generation for Jesus" and I think it is an important and timely message.
To working parents, I am sure this is quite hard to hear. We relegate the duty of caring for our children to the babysitters, and daycare centres. We let the televisions, computers and iPads babysit out kids these days.
I am not saying that it is wrong to do so. We are thankful for the availability of these services especially when working parents do not have family nearby to help. And televisions and gadgets have their own good uses.
But what is important though is how we relate to them everyday. Do we spend time listening and talking to them as the main activity of the moment? And do actually listen to them, rather than only spewing out instructions after instructions, order after order?
Instead, we need to both make time to actively teach them about God and His Word, and to live our lives according to God's way and truth so that we are good witness of Jesus to them. It must be clear in our mind that it matters to them how we relate to each other as husband and wife, how we relate to our own parents, how we perform our work, how we talk and communicate with others, how we manage our finances, how we spend our free time -- basically how we live our lives.
And what Pastor Marvin did at the close of his sermon was excellent. Back in those years when I was teaching in Sunday School, I found that it was, and still is, the most neglected ministry. Teachers were not trained, they themselves were not very serious about it and the way I see it, most, if not all, handled Sunday School lessons like kindergarten lessons, with what Pastor Marvin termed as handing out "morality lessons". I did what I could in teaching them about Jesus, but what was lacking was the support and the active push from the pastor, the shepherd of the church. And that was what Pastor Marvin did and I thought that was superb.
He made time to introduce materials that the church will use in 2012, and how parents will be supported by the church in providing them and their children the platform to be saturated in the Word of God. And I was also delighted that the materials used are those under John Piper's ministry, Children Desiring God.
I actually felt the excitement by just listening to him and what the church will be doing in 2012.
pearlie
Eh, you are attending First Baptist PJ now ? No longer Chinese Methodist ?
ReplyDeleteHi Chee Keat,
ReplyDeletePeople would put "Complicated" under the relationship category, right? I'd put that for my church category, "Complicated." haha...but yes, we are now attending Pantai Baptist Church.
Ok. Just wondering, that's all. Yala, as a methodist pastor, I would wish to gather good biblical minded members or teachers to change for the better in future. Sometimes, I feel it is so costly for us that we just lose good potential biblical teachers in Methodist. Anyway, whatever "complicated" it is, praying you haven't given up to consider the Methodist family in future to steer to a right way as we really in dire need to return to the true biblical spirituality. One day, should yum cha with you all before moving to Teluk Intan next year.
ReplyDelete