The scripture reading comes from Deuteronomy chapter 5. You can find the passage in your bulletin.
Verse 1, And Moses summoned all Israel and said to them,
Hear, O Israel, the statues and the ruse I speak in your hearing today, and you shall learn them and be careful to do them.
Then in verse 6,
Observe the Sabbath day to keep it holy.
As the Lord your God commanded you.
Six days you shall labor and do all your work.
But the seventh day is the Sabbath to the Lord your God.
On it you shall not do any work.
You or your son or your daughter or your male servant or your female servant or your ox or your donkey or any of your livestock or the sojourner who is within your gates that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you.
You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt.
And the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm.
Therefore, the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.
Honor your father and your mother as the Lord your God commanded you that your days may be long and that it may go well with you in the land that the Lord your God has given you.
You shall not murder.
Great.
Thank you so much, Sherman.
It is so exciting to be back.
It's so great to be here together.
What I'd love us to do is just before I begin to share from this passage, I'd love us just to pray and ask God to really speak to us through this.
Father, we just thank you that when you speak, you call us to listen because you desire to love us through your word.
And you desire to change us through your word.
And you desire to make us into the people that you have created us to be through your word.
And I pray you would speak this morning.
Pray that you'd open our hearts to hear what you want us to hear.
Lord, remove anything that is not from you.
But I pray you'll come with power.
Take these simple words and let them just drive, be driven right into our hearts, Lord.
That we may love you more.
That we may truly worship you with every area of our lives, I pray.
In Jesus' name.
Amen.
Great.
So, we have been going through the Ten Commandments online.
Okay, who's been following online?
Okay, most of you.
So, you should know we've already gone through four of the commandments already.
And so, we're going to come to commandment number five, which is honor your father and mother.
So, before we start, what I'd like you to do is I'm going to do a poll.
Okay.
So, I want you to stand up if someone has experienced childbirth to bring you into the world.
Okay, there's a few people who clearly have not experienced, that didn't have any parents.
So, if you didn't stand up, then this sermon is completely irrelevant to you.
You can walk out right now.
You can sit down.
If you did stand up, then this sermon has great relevance to you.
Okay.
So, you just have to decide right now whether this is relevant or not.
Okay.
So, this command, I'm going to dive straight into looking at this command because I think
this has a real weight for all of us in where we are 2020 in Hong Kong.
Honor your father and mother.
First of all, what does that mean?
Well, the word honor literally means to be heavy or to give weight to someone.
So, it's saying you take treating your parents seriously.
It means giving your parents profound respect.
The opposite is to treat your parents lightly or to disrespect them as if they don't really
matter in your life.
And so, commentators have looked at this commandment and seen that it's actually a hinge commandment
between the first four commandments, which are really about your duty towards God, worshiping
him alone, having no other idols, honoring his name above all other names, and keeping the
Sabbath of worship to him.
The hinge and then moving on to the commands which really focus on duty towards your neighbor
and how you love your neighbor.
But this one comes in between them.
It's the way that you move from that upward focus to that horizontal focus.
And so, what you'll see is we move from loving God to loving other people through honoring
our parents.
Now, why does he do that?
Because your parents are the first and probably some of the most influential people that you've
encountered in your life.
And so, what you need to remember is God gave you your parents as a gift.
Okay?
Some of you, whether you like that or not, your parents didn't choose you.
Do you know that?
And you didn't choose your parents either.
And so, what that means is both ways, you are a gift to each other, but you are a broken
gift in different ways.
But God is in the redemption business.
So, what I want us to look at is the fact that this command is saying we don't honor our
parents because they deserve it.
They don't honor their parents because they deserve it.
Nowhere in scripture says you can only honor your parents if they've treated you really
well or if they've been so sacrificially loving to you.
It never says that anywhere.
Because what the parents, what the Bible says is, frankly, we live in a broken world where
some parents are not like that at all.
But the command comes to us even if you've been hurt by your parents.
And God takes that really seriously.
And we'll talk about that in a little bit.
But the command comes to us not to honor our parents because they merited it in some way,
but to honor them because in doing so we honor God who has given them to us as our parents,
as a gift.
And so, that is what we are called to do.
We're called to honor our parents.
But why should we have this command?
We honor them as we're honoring God.
And I'm going to stand up here as it's easier for me to, rather than looking over.
Why does God give us this command?
Well, there's three reasons.
Okay?
Three reasons that I think God gives this command.
The first reason is for our blessing.
You see what he says in the passage here.
He says,
Honor your father and mother, as the Lord commanded you,
that your days may be long and that it may go well with you in the land that your Lord,
your God, is giving you.
You see what he says?
That it may go well with you.
Another way of saying it is that you may prosper in the land.
The Israelites are on the edge of the promised land.
They're about to go into this place of incredible blessing.
And God says, if you want to enjoy this land as I really want you to, then take this command seriously.
That actually the path of blessing for you is actually goes through this obedience to this commandment.
And it's not saying, hey, like everyone's going to live to 102 or something.
That's not the point of it.
The point is, this is for your blessing.
Paul says in Ephesians, this is the first command with a promise.
It's a promise of blessing for us.
Now, I don't know how many Disney movies you've watched,
but so many Disney movies have this idea that there is this kind of princess or this prince,
and the way that they're to get freedom and blessing in their life
is to get out of the restrictions of their controlling parents.
You know, think of like Snow White or Tangled or Little Mermaid or Cinderella.
All of them have that narrative.
This command is saying, no, the way to blessing isn't to get out from your parents.
It's actually to honor your parents.
And so what this means is you can be singing in church every Sunday.
You can be serving all you like.
You can be evangelizing out in the world.
But if you are not doing this commandment well, there's going to be a hole inside of your heart.
There's going to be a wound there where you are not going to experience the blessing that God wants for you.
There's going to be a spiritual stuntedness in your growth until this command is taken seriously.
And we know that just from psychology and sociology,
we know research shows that actually the parent-child relationship is essential for emotional health,
for mental health, for your own sense of identity.
It's also for wisdom and guidance.
Like, I would have made so many stupid mistakes if I hadn't listened to some things my parents had said.
And also for social support networks, you know, for like the elderly particularly.
Family is essential for creating a healthy, prospering society.
And God knows that.
That's why he gives us this command.
And if we don't take this command seriously, there's always going to be a shadow hanging over your life,
even if everything else is going well with you.
And you know that if you have a difficult relationship with your parents.
So he says it's for your blessing.
But also, he says, actually, secondly,
it's also dishonoring your parents brings curse or judgment.
Now, this is a bit harder.
But Deuteronomy 22 says that there's a rebellious son who is not listening to his parents.
And he's basically going off the rails.
And God says in Deuteronomy, he says,
listen, the punishment for that son, for the harm that he's doing on the community,
is death.
Now, that sounds pretty harsh.
But what he's saying on the point of it is,
willful disobedience against your parents not only destroys your own blessing,
but it can harm society and harm the relationships around you.
You know that.
If there is relational breakdown,
you know it affects the poverty levels of both young and old.
You know that?
It affects the burden on hospitals and on the welfare system is totally different.
Just think about the, you know, the cultural revolution.
Do you know when sons and daughters denounce their parents?
And you see the devastation it just brought in the whole of society.
God takes this really seriously.
In fact, in Romans 1, there's this passage where God goes through this list of things
where people are under his judgment.
And he goes, you know, people who are liars, people who are envious,
people who are gossips, people who are haters of God.
And you go, yeah, that sounds about right for people who are under God's judgment.
And then he goes, and those who are disobedient to their parents.
And you go, wow, God really takes this seriously.
So why is he giving the command?
He's giving it for our blessing.
But he's also giving it so that we avoid his judgment
and avoid harm and curse in our lives individually and as a society.
But thirdly, and more important, even more importantly than those,
is because it actually is a way that we worship and please God.
We worship and please God.
Colossians 3 verse 20 says this.
Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.
I don't know, if you realize this, God gave the gift of your parents,
or gift of parents to teach us how to listen and how to respond to authority,
including God himself.
Because all of us are natural rebels.
Anyone not a rebel in any way?
All of us are in some ways.
And primarily we're rebels against God, naturally.
And where's the first place that you learn how to listen?
Because you know the true saying that you don't have to teach a child to disobey you.
They just do it naturally, right?
I've got an eight-month-old.
I know how it works.
But our parents were given to us so that they would be the first place we learn how to listen,
the first place we learn how to submit,
the first place we learn how to lay down our will and say yes to an authority figure over us.
And if you don't get to learn that,
just think what misery your kids are going to grow up with every teacher,
with every boss, everything the rest of their lives.
It would be miserable if you don't learn that.
And so what that means, if you are a parent,
it's actually really important that you know that God has given you your role,
not just to kind of get your kids a great education and get them a great start in life.
He's given you a role that your kids will learn to listen to God through listening to you.
Now that's not a stick to beat your kids up with,
but there is a responsibility that God gives to you
so that your kids will experience the goodness of God's rule
and the grace of listening and obedience to him through you.
It's serious.
I mean, in honoring our parents,
what we're doing is we are seeking to honor God
and honor the authority that he has placed over us,
and we want to please him above all else.
God's serious about families.
He wants us to honor him.
He wants our blessing.
He doesn't want our curse,
and he wants us to learn how to please him.
That's the why.
But what I want to go on to is how do we keep this?
And I'm going to spend more time on this section
because when we look at this,
I'm sure there's a thousand questions that just raise up in our minds as we hear this.
But we've got to listen first of all and see how Jesus actually treats this command.
So there's a couple of things that Jesus shows us of how he keeps us.
The first thing he shows us is how he holds this command in high regard.
I don't know if you know, Matthew 15,
there's this scenario where the Pharisees, the religious leaders,
are criticizing Jesus' disciples for not washing their hands.
And Jesus comes to them and says,
why do you break the commandment of God to honor your father and mother?
By what you do is you say,
hey, the money that you should give to your parents for supporting them,
you can give to us or you can give to the temple.
You don't have to support your parents,
and God will accept it.
It's fine.
And Jesus says, no way.
Your heart is far away from God's heart, he says.
And what he says is this.
He says, your support for your parents,
and Jesus is showing us this,
your support for your parents in their old age,
whether it's financially or in other ways,
is a key way that you honor God in that.
And in Hong Kong,
I think they actually do this much better than where I'm from.
So you see that Jesus takes it seriously.
At the cross,
Jesus' mission has reached its climax.
He is in utter agony.
He is emotionally exhausted.
He is taking the sins of the whole world on his shoulders.
This is the greatest moment in history.
And do you know what is right at the front of Jesus' mind?
At that moment,
his mother.
Because he looks and he sees his mother,
and he says to John, his disciple,
please take care of my mother.
Isn't that incredible?
At that ultimate moment,
he cares for his mother.
And John takes her in and looks after her.
You see,
Jesus is saying,
this is not just a cultural duty that you should do.
It is an act of worship to God,
because God is pleased with this.
And Jesus shows you that right in the hardest moment.
God has designed things so that the parents who looked after you
and took care of you when you were young,
that when they get old,
that we are to take care of them.
We're not meant to outsource all the care for our parents
just to elderly homes.
God designs it so that we have a responsibility.
And if I'm honest,
I really wrestle with this,
because my parents are in the UK,
and they're getting older.
And so we have to really wrestle with what that looks like in our situation.
I know many of you probably have similar wrestles.
But I want you to see Jesus take this seriously.
So he honors it.
But then I also want you to see a second thing that Jesus does.
This is really interesting.
He shows that honoring does not always mean obeying.
Here we go.
Some of you are going,
hmm, what's that about?
Some of you are going, yes.
Before you're getting too excited, Jillian,
we'll hear what the Bible says.
Jesus goes to celebrate the Passover in Jerusalem
when he's 12 years old with his whole family.
The whole village is going along.
And then Mary and Joseph are on their way back,
and they turn around,
and they realize, where's Jesus?
We've lost him.
And then they spend three days,
and they're stressed out of their minds,
trying to find Jesus.
And eventually, they come to the temple,
and there is Jesus.
And Mary goes to Jesus,
why are you treating us like this?
Didn't you know we've been looking for you everywhere?
We're so stressed.
How can you do this to us?
And Jesus, calm as you like, says,
didn't you know I had to be in my father's house?
He's going,
don't you realize that actually,
the worship of my heavenly father
has a priority,
even over following your wishes
in this moment.
But before you think Jesus is just being
a kind of rebellious,
not even a teenager yet,
he's 12,
he then,
the next line Luke says is,
and Jesus went to Nazareth with his parents
and was submissive to them.
Do you see that tension there?
You see,
his heart attitude as a child
is an attitude of submission,
but where there is a clash
between the ultimate allegiance
to his heavenly father
and the wishes of his parents,
he says,
no,
my heavenly father comes first.
Let me give you one more example.
Luke 8.
Jesus is teaching to the crowds
and his mother and his brother turn up
and they go,
hey,
we want to see you.
I think food's getting cold
or whatever it was.
And they say,
and Jesus says to them
and to the crowd
and everyone watching,
who are my mother and brothers?
Which is actually
totally culturally offensive.
Okay,
your mother and brothers are there.
He says,
no,
who are my mother and brothers?
The person who hears my word
and does it,
that's my mother and brothers.
Imagine the parents hearing that.
But Jesus is making a point.
He's saying
that your family identity,
your blood family ties
are important and significant,
but they are temporary.
But your spiritual family ties
are even more significant
because they're eternal.
and they're with me.
And so,
what Jesus is doing here,
he's showing you
that this tension,
that he is to honor your parents,
but also,
we are to allow God
to be the one
that we are honoring ultimately.
Now,
why is that significant?
significant?
It's significant
because
it's a challenge
both to Eastern culture
where we often idolize our parents,
and it's a challenge
to Western culture
where we idolize
our independence.
So,
I'll just give you
an example of this.
When Fiona and I
were dating,
and we'd known each other
a long time,
so we were looking to get married
actually quite early on
because we'd been together
for a long time
as friends.
And Fiona told her
her parents this,
and they flipped out.
For 10 months,
her dad didn't speak to her.
Her mom would ring up
very emotional
at 2 a.m. in the morning
saying,
you cannot marry Chris.
And
me as an independent
Westerner,
I was going,
well,
we're trying to honor God
in this.
We're not going to let
your parents control us
in this.
We
mustn't be slaves
to the kind of
idolatrous,
sinful expectations
of your parents.
Let's just go ahead
and do it anyway.
But then the
Eastern kind of side
goes,
but actually,
your parents
have given you everything.
Like,
you owe them
your life.
Like,
they've invested in you,
so you've got to
actually almost
pay them back.
So you can't rebel
against them.
You've just got to,
honoring them
means you do what
they want
and what they wish.
And so there was
this tension
that we felt.
And so,
how do we get
through this?
Well,
we're wrestling.
What does it mean
to honor our parents
without just being
independent,
but also not being a
slave to their
expectations?
And so,
what do we do?
We asked a lot of
people for advice.
And then,
we decided
we'd be patient.
So,
I moved to Hong Kong
and I spent
every week
for one year
going to Delhi,
France in Tune 1,
meeting my future
mother-in-law
and her speaking
Cantonese to me
and me just
nodding and smiling,
not understanding
anything that she
was talking about,
but because
I wanted her
to see that
actually I was
investing in her
and she was
important.
I wanted to
honor her
by trying to
listen to her
and engage
with her.
But after about
a year or so
of this,
we came to the
point where we
really felt God
actually saying,
actually,
you've been waiting
long enough
and I feel like
you're actually
more a slave
to what your
parents are
thinking.
So,
we ended up
after a lot
of discussion,
we then went
back and
Fiona went to
her mom
and asked her
if we could
get married.
And if they
had said no
at that point,
I think in our
hearts we would
have prayed about
it,
but we would
probably have
said,
actually,
I think we've
honored you
and really been
trying to do
what's right,
but we will
go ahead anyway
because we believe
that honors God
first.
but we didn't
do that lightly
because we need
to see that in
our own hearts,
I can be
idolatrous in
both ways,
independent or
in slavery,
but God calls
us to take this
command seriously
and actually,
by the way,
as you may well
know,
they said yes
and we've got a
great relationship
with them.
But here's the
crucial thing,
you place your
parents and their
wishes first and
you will idolize
them.
And you know,
if you ever get
married,
and that's still
the case,
you will destroy
your marriage
because your
spouse will
always know that
your parents have
a greater voice
than your spouse
has in your
marriage and
they'll feel
that.
But also,
if you honor
God first,
it will humble
your independence
and it will make
you seek to love
and honor them
when even at
times that may
lead to conflict,
but you don't do
that lightly.
So how do we
honor our parents
well without
idolizing them?
How do you get
that tension
right?
Because actually,
there's so many
emotions with our
parents,
aren't there?
I think the
key to this
is to realize
one very important
thing.
Your parents
are not God.
your parents
can never
fulfill
what God
has said
that he will
fulfill.
You see,
your parents
will always
disappoint you
in some way,
but God
will never
disappoint you.
You know,
when you're a kid,
you think your
parents can do
nothing wrong.
When you're a
teenager,
you wonder if
they can ever
do anything
right.
But actually,
you know that
as you go
through life,
some of us
wanted our
parents to
accept us
and they
rejected us
or they were
absent.
Some of us
wanted our
parents to
listen to us
and understand
us and they
just didn't
get you.
Or they were
too busy for
you.
Some of us
have been
disappointed
because they
broke promises.
And even
if you have
amazing parents,
like I've got
pretty good
parents,
here's a truth,
your parents
are sinners.
And so are
you, by the
way.
But God
gave you
your parents
to make you
long for
the perfect
parent,
your heavenly
father.
You see,
John chapter
13,
there's this
beautiful verse
which says,
Jesus says,
I will not
leave you
as orphans,
but I will
come to you.
If your
parents have
abandoned you,
God says,
I will never
leave you
alone.
Today,
I want to
come to
you,
whatever your
circumstance.
Romans 8
says this,
we do not
have a spirit
that makes us
a slave
again to
fear,
but we have
the spirit
of adoption
as sons
and daughters
by whom
we cry
Abba,
Father.
You know,
when my
eight-year-old
son cries,
doesn't matter
where he is
in the room,
my ears
prick up
and I'm
going to run
to where he
is straight
away to see
what's wrong.
Your heavenly
father is a
billion times
more attentive
to your cry
than I could
ever be.
he hears
you,
he knows
you,
and he
cares for
you.
Parents may
disappoint,
but your
heavenly father
will always
be faithful
to you.
You know,
the thing
that gives
God the
greatest
happiness,
the thing
that he
thinks is
the most
amazing thing
that he
can do,
that he
gets excited
about,
isn't to
point out
all your
mistakes.
It isn't
to go,
oh,
I've got to
love you
because I'm
God,
but,
you know,
if you keep
doing what
you're doing,
then maybe
that might
be in doubt
in a few
weeks'
time.
That's not
what excites
him.
What excites
him is to
pour out
his compassion
and his
love and
his mercy
on rebellious
children like
you and
me,
again and
he gets
excited about
it.
You know
the prodigal
son story?
You know
that story
where the
son has
rebelled
against his
family and
then he
comes back
and he
prepares this
little speech
because he
thinks,
okay,
maybe I
can get
my father
to accept
me if I
just kind
of make
an
explanation.
And he
gets back
and while
he's a
long way
off,
the father
sees him
and doesn't
go,
oh,
what have I
got to
say to him
now?
He
runs
with his
arms open
and the
guy starts
preparing his
little speech
and he cuts
him short
and he wraps
his arms
around and
says,
let's have
a party.
That's what
your heavenly
father is
like.
That's the
heart of
God.
That's who
we have to
find our
rest and
our security
and our
hope in
because if
we do
not,
then we
will look
for it in
other places
and even
look for it
in our
parents.
And that
will always
hurt you.
Some of us,
our view of
God as
father has
been colored
by our
own
parents.
But what
God wants
to do is
to let your
view of who
God is
reshape the
way that you
relate to
your parents
out of a
security and
a love.
And so I'm
going to give
you some
practical steps
in how we
honor our
parents in a
minute.
But all
of these
are useless.
Maybe not
useless, but
they're going
to be so
less effective
unless you
know that
God doesn't
love you
because he
has to.
That God
loves you
because he
loves to.
And out
of that
knowledge,
that's the
security with
which you can
do these
things that I'm
going to share
with you right
now.
when you
are a kid,
honoring
fundamentally
means obeying
what your
parents tell
you, even
if you don't
like it.
Unless they're
telling you to
do something
that God has
told you not
to do.
But as you
grow through
the teenage
years and
become an
adult,
honoring your
parents begins
to look a
little bit
different in
different ways.
And so here
are some
ways that I
want to just
give you four
or five ways
that we can
actually learn
how to honor
our parents.
Here's some
practical things.
The first
one, and
this is huge,
forgive our
parents.
Do you know,
I think one
of the biggest
reasons we
struggle with
this command
is because
all of us
in some way
have been
wounded by our
parents.
Some of it
may be a
scratch,
some of it
may be a
very deep
wound in our
hearts.
But the
thing is,
like, I
hardly meet a
person in
Hong Kong
who hasn't
got some
family hurt
in their
life.
It was
emotional
absence,
they never
said I
love you,
there was
all this
kind of
expectations
placed on
you,
you never
felt that
you could
meet up to
the requirements
that were
expected,
a whole
load of
things,
even abuse
and harshness
and criticalness.
God doesn't
take those
wounds lightly.
That's why
he died for
you.
Because he
wants to
die for
you,
he died
for you
so he
can heal
you.
But some
of us
have been
masking over
those wounds
inside with
busyness,
with a whole
load of
things we've
been trying
to do in
our lives
just to
cover over
the fact
that we
actually have
deep wounds
from our
parents in
our hearts.
And we're
I think
God wants
today to
say to
some of
you,
stop
pretending
it's
fine.
I want
to take
off that
band-aid,
that plaster,
that bandage,
and I want
to bring
healing to
you.
But the
way I
want to
do that
is through
forgiveness.
You see,
forgiveness
is a
release from
the cage
of idolizing
our parents.
Do you
know,
what I mean
by that is
you idolize
your parents
when you
put too
much weight
on their
words or
their actions,
more weight
than you
put on what
Jesus says
about you
and what
Jesus has
done for
you.
And so
today we're
going to
have some
people who
will be up
to pray
with you.
If you
know that
actually there's
areas in
your life
where you
need to
work through
some forgiveness
with your
parents,
I want you
to come up
afterwards for
prayer.
Don't run
away,
don't go
another day
without dealing
with it.
Because this
is so serious
because God
wants your
blessing in
life.
And some
of those
wounds may
be very
deep.
And it's
not going to
be a quick
fix.
You need
some people
to journey
with you.
And I
want you to
come up and
talk to me
or talk to
Kevin or
Sylvie or a
CG leader or
one of the
other elders.
But don't go
away with a
festering wound
because that's
only going to
infect for
longer.
Yeah.
God wants
to bless
us.
He wants
to do it
through forgiving
our parents.
Secondly,
he wants
us to
honor our
parents through
saying sorry.
This is a
hard one.
You know,
I was talking
to someone the
other day who
said they
still had just
some real
issues with
their dad.
And God
just kind of
convicted them
in their own
heart of how
they've been
disrespecting their
father even
though there's
just been a
lot of tension.
And so they
went to their
father.
They rang him
up and said
dad I just
want to say
I'm really
sorry that I've
actually disrespected
you in different
ways in life.
And normally
the dad would
kind of just
brush it off or
do something like
that but he
didn't this time.
He actually
responded by
saying yeah
and I'm sorry
for some of
the things I've
done.
And there was
a beginning of
a healing process
which is what
God loves to do
in our family.
Do you see
saying sorry
is such a
powerful way
of honoring
God and
honoring our
parents.
Some of you
may need to do
that through
writing a letter
to them.
Some of you
may need to do
that personally.
And even if
you don't get a
great response
do it anyway
to honor Jesus.
Say sorry.
Third thing
say thank you.
You know
every birthday
every mother's
or father's
day
I write
well I've
actually
I've written
songs for my
parents.
I've written
letters to my
parents.
Poems to my
parents.
But often
one of the
things I'll do
is I'll write a
card and I'll
just say I
will detail the
things that
actually I really
appreciate about
them.
Make a list
of them.
You know I've
actually run out
of things because
I've done it so
often I've actually
I'm trying to
search my memory
for like more
things I can say.
Like mom I
thank you so
much that you
actually when we
had meals you
always served
everybody else
first before
yourself even
when we were
ungrateful.
Thank you.
Do you know
how powerful that
is?
And what you
can do is
father's day
coming up soon.
Write something
down and you
can even read
it out to
them.
I guarantee
God will use
that in a
powerful way.
Say thank
you.
Forgive.
Say sorry.
Say thank
you.
Ask them for
advice.
You know if
you're a youth
here even if
you've got the
most messed up
parents in the
world they
probably still
have quite a lot
of insight into
you.
So don't think
that your parents
actually are just
kind of annoying
old whatevers
fill in the
blank.
Your parents
actually know
you better than
you think they
do.
That doesn't
mean you have
to agree with
everything they
say.
But ask them
for advice.
That's a way to
honour them.
Finally pray for
them and look to
bless them.
How often do you
pray for your
parents?
Really how often
do you pray for
them?
Because when you
begin to pray
then you begin to
look for opportunities
to bless them.
Because some of us
actually we can be
dutiful children.
We've been dutiful
for a long time.
God doesn't just
want us to be
dutiful children.
He wants us to be
loving children who
are actively looking
to bless our
parents.
And I don't know
what that looks
like for you.
It's not just going
through the motions
of family meals.
It's actually looking
how can I show
the kindness
that God has
shown to me
to my parents.
Honour your
father and mother
that it may go
well with you.
That your days
may be long.
Because we have
a great heavenly
father who loves
us and he wants
us to be a conduit
of his blessing
to our families.
Let me just pray
for us.
And we're going
to come and take
communion in a
minute.
I want to invite
the communion
stewards to come
up.
But right now I
want you just to
think of what is
God saying to you?
How are you doing
with your own
parents?
Even as you think
about some of the
things that have
happened in the
past, where's your
heart towards them?
Maybe you need to
repent of the way
you've treated them
or ignored them.
Maybe you need to
repent of idolizing
them.
Maybe you just need
to come honestly
before God and just
to be real about how
you feel about them.
Maybe you need to
be more active in
just saying thank
you.
Just ask the Holy
Spirit just to work
in your heart and
just respond in prayer
to him right now.
Möglichkeit he
just had to
oppose
a
man
who
you
in
and
who
have
this
We're going to come to take communion in a minute.
But communion is a time for rebellious children.
For those of us who have treated our heavenly father badly, we haven't honored him.
But there's a time where he shows you that your parents may have sacrificed a lot for you.
They may be willing to give their lives for you.
But they've never given their life like Christ has given his life for you.
So that he can pour his love and his healing and his blessing into your life.
To draw you back to himself.
Your parents' love does not define you.
If you're a Christian and you put your faith in Christ, his love, his father heart for you defines you.
Father, we just pray that you would speak into our hearts.
Heal our hearts where we are wounded.
Encourage our hearts where we are indifferent.
Fill our hearts with your love and your forgiveness that we can forgive with your grace.
And as we take communion, I pray, Lord, that you would just minister again your kindness to us.
That we are not orphans.
But we are sons and daughters of the King.
In Jesus' name.
Amen.