The Impact of Family - Intentional Grand-Parenting
Sermon Notes
Grandchildren are the crown of old men,
And the glory of sons is their fathers
(Proverbs 17.6).
A good man leaves an inheritance to his
children’s children (Proverbs 13.22a).
(Jacob’s) sons and his grandsons with him, his daughters and his granddaughters, and all his descendants he brought with him to Egypt (Genesis 46.7).
And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
These words which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart.
You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.
And you shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead.
You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates
(Deuteronomy 6.5-9).
That they should teach them to their children,
That the generation to come might know, even the children yet to be born,
That they may arise and tell them to their children,
That they should put their confidence in God
And not forget the works of God,
But keep His commandments (Psalm 78.5-7).
Then the LORD passed by in front of him and proclaimed’ “The LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in loving kindness and truth;
Who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression, and sin; yet he will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations” (Exodus 34.6,7).
So while these nations feared the LORD, they also served their idols; their children likewise and their grandchildren, as their fathers did, so they do to this day (2 Kings 17.41).
Some Lessons
1. These truths are consistent for making disciples at any and every level in the life of the church.
2. In the Scriptures, the nuclear family, the extended family, and the community are woven together.
3. Intentional marriage - growing spiritually and growing martially is a life-long process which will have implications for generations to come.
4. Intentional parenting is a life-long process which will have implications for generations to come.
5. Intentional grand-parenting is a life-long process which will have implications for generations to come (It Starts at Home, pp.145-161).
• Affirm each child’s uniqueness
• Claim teachable moments
• Love their parents
• Provide a safe place to talk
6. The church must be committed to all the above along with intergenerational ministry if it is to be the lighthouse God calls us to be.