Sunday, May 10, 2009 
Scripture Reading:
Ephesians 6:1-4 / Deuteronomy 11:29
6Children, obey your parents in the Lord,* for this is right. 2‘Honour your father and mother’—this is the first commandment with a promise: 3‘so that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth.’
4 And, fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
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29 When the Lord your God has brought you into the land that you are entering to occupy, you shall set the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal.
Sermon Title: "THE WORLD'S GREATEST PARENTS" Sunday, May 10, 2009
PASTOR HUDSON: We pick up some rather iconic images of moms from
past generations by watching reruns on television
which gives the quintessential definition of what a
mom ought to be. There's Mickey Rooney's mom in the
Andy Hardy series, Harriet Nelson from Ozzy and
Harriet, and June Cleaver from Leave it to Beaver.
Here's some references about moms and parenting
in the Bible. In Ephesians, the 6th chapter, Paul has
a few recommendations to parents about their children.
Fathers, do not exasperate your children. Instead,
bring them up in the training and instruction of the
Lord. In Deuteronomy 11, verse 29 or so, it speaks
about imparting values and beliefs and faith onto the
new generation.
Passages like that are sprinkled throughout
scripture. It's important to distill them out and
here's why, I find in our culture the kind of day has
come and gone when it is a foregone conclusion
everybody does not have a June Cleaver or Harriet
Nelson kind of mother.
First, if you do not have good memories of your
mom, get over it. What I mean is there is always the
temptation you may live your life lamenting the
regrets of things that could have been and should have
been and find yourself paralyzed in your ability to
move forward.
The message “get over it”, is the affirmation that I
would say to myself. I cannot let my life be centered
around things that 40 years ago were realities for me.
I need to move beyond that. No matter which camp you
are in you can still understand the concept what a mom
and a dad ought to be. What you can do is decide the
best way to either honor Mom on the one hand or
remediate the reality for a new generation and simply
determine you're going to pass on the very best to the
next generation.
We need to be willing to pass it on by teaching,
number one, the message of God. Secondly, share your
values. How many of you now are the person you are
because your mom and your dad passed on their values
to you in such a way that you are now who you are
because of the gift of faith they gave you?
Thirdly, for Heaven's sake, live lives of
practicing your faith. Parents who send their kids to
church, so Mom and Dad can have a relaxed Sunday
morning out on the patio are often the type of parents who
make practicing their faith a low priority.
Then when the time comes for their children to be
independent, they make very poor choices to the alarm and lament of mom and
dad, and the parents wonder with desperation why their
kids are not more deeply spiritual.
As Leonard Sweet states, Don’t ask the question how do we get our kids
to go to church? That’s a flawed question. Ask the
question, how can we help our kids experience God?
Children catch their faith from us. Live the life of
faith. Be pro-active in the spiritual development of
your children. Don't disengage and expect somebody
else to do it.
I would encourage your to commit yourself to
knowing you will be the spiritual mom and dad the next
generation needs. In the name of the Father, Son
and Holy Spirit, amen.