Sunday 23 June 2019

Raising our children in the Faith – children of character, children of charity, children of the Church

Reading - Psalm 78

Today and on two further Sundays in July, I will be talking about ‘family life and faith’, and how we – and when I say ‘we’ I mean the whole church family - can be involved in bringing up the next generation of children in the faith of Jesus Christ. 

Are you a parent, a grandparent, an aunt, an uncle, a godparent? If so, then this little series of talks is for you in order to help you to play your God-ordained role – yes, just as Psalm 78 and God’s instructions to his people in the Book of Deuteronomy put it – in raising the next generation of Christians. How can we, both as individuals with blood ties, and as the church family with spiritual ties, involve ourselves effectively in bringing the next generation of children to know and love God as their Creator, Redeemer, Father, Friend?

Does it matter? Is it my responsibility, you might ask? Well yes, it jolly well is; and I intend, from presenting a blend of the biblical commands, some recent polls, and the horrors of what our children are facing today in terms of secular and atheist propaganda, to explain why.

As we start, a couple of really important things to say. First, this sermon series really is for everyone, whether you have children or teenagers at home or not. This is for the whole church and not just for parents and grandparents. One of the things that we will be exploring is how it takes a whole church to raise a child - a whole church - and how one of the really counter cultural things that we have to offer, as a church family, is a community of belonging in which everyone shares responsibility for each other, and in which children, in particular, belong to us all. And this in a society increasingly centred on the self, on the narcissistic god of ‘hyper-individualism’, fuelled and fed as he is by commercial opportunity and identity groups whose real agendas – however much they try to disguise their motives as equal rights, personal fulfilment, and even compassion - are truly terrible.

Secondly, talking about family life and faith risks the suggestion that there is some kind of ‘perfect’ way of doing this – raising children in the faith; and because none of us ever quite manage ‘perfect parenting’, the risk is that this series will just makes us all feel awful about ourselves.

So please hear this clearly. This series is about encouragement and about invitation – the encouragement to give it a go because it is never too late to start. This is not criticism or judgement – though I understand some will feel that is. But it’s not: what I want to encourage you to do is to take an honest look, a reality check, about the situation our children face today and the part we all need to play in raising children of faith. It’s about not falling between two stools: the one thinking that being a wonderful parent or grandparent means not ‘interfering’ in our children’s and grandchildren’s faith journeys; the other, thinking that it’s all too difficult or that I don’t have the skill-set or I’m not a good enough Christian. But if we don’t, if we abdicate, we will be letting our children, our grandchildren, our nephews and nieces, our godchildren down. 

Please put aside for the next ten minutes or so those false cultural imperatives that faith is private, that talking about it is taboo, and that children will somehow or other find their way. And if they don’t, well it doesn’t really matter because the God I believe in is merciful and loves everyone. Sadly, that last statement, though true, is only half the story: it is precisely because God loves all that he sent Jesus to save all and to offer them all life in all its fulness. And when adults refuse their God-ordained role to bring children up in the faith, we not only leave them in ignorance and darkness, we leave them prone to all kinds of terrible temptations and injurious consequences.

So, first I will lay out why this stuff matters - why intellectual and practical faith in the home matters, and why this is an issue for all of us. I’m going to share some research that has been done on the issue of faith and families. 

Secondly, I want to look at some things that our culture tells us about children and faith.

And thirdly I want to come back to the question of why this matters above all else in the world!

We will be looking at the bible, at what it has to say about families, and then some really practical stuff that we can do as families and as a whole church. 

So, what’s the issue and why does this stuff matter? There has been a lot of research done recently about how people come to faith, and about why churches grow or decline. Here are some figures for you.

When practising Christians were asked at what age they came to faith, this is what they said: 40% said before the age of 5; 16% between 5-10 and 20% between the ages of 11-18: that’s 76% of Christians who came to faith before they were 18.

And when young people who believe in God were asked who are the key influences on their faith, 72% said their family; not church, not their friends; but their family.

Indeed a very wide ranging survey of research in this area draws the same conclusion: the most important social influence in shaping young people’s religious lives is the religious life modelled and taught to them by their parents.

And that all makes sense doesn’t it - we know that in every area of life it is parents and families who have the greatest influence on the outlook, values and behaviours of their kids. Schools have a part to play, groups, friends too - but the home is the key place where children are nurtured and taught. That’s as true for faith as it is for manners, values and attitudes -WHICH IS WHY MANY CIVILSERVANTS,POLITICIANS, IDENTITY GROUPS AND OTHERS are trying to wrest it away! We surely would not leave our children ‘free’(!) to discover drugs sex, alcohol, etc; so why something so much more important and life-enhancing - faith!

Here’s another bit of research. The European Values Survey asks large numbers of people across Europe about their values and attitudes. One of the questions offers 11 ‘values’ and asks parents to choose the 5 most important. Of those who self identify as Anglicans, religious faith was the least mentioned value, and was included as a priority only by 11%. The most chosen value amongst Anglicans? ‘Good Manners’, picked by a whopping 93%! I nearly cried when I first read that: We all should; because it represents a victory for ‘cultural’, faith-less, Christianity; the kind that keeps us in the world and of it! 

One more statistic for you. Church of England attendance statistics show that 50% of the children of committed adult believers will stop going to church as adults. Putting together these facts and figures, what do we get?

  1. The most important factor in anyone coming to faith and growing up to be a practising Christian believer is their family. 
  2. Anglican families do not consider bringing their children up in the faith to be a priority.
  3. Half of the children of current believers will not go on to be adult Christians.
On current attendance figures, that would leave the Church of England with just over 100,000 attenders within 60 years…. were it not for the fact that whilst theologically and culturally so-called ‘liberal’ anglican churches the figures clearly show are declining – because they have shied away from the Gospel and tended to side with the world and the spirit of the age – those churches where the Gospel is preached and practised, and where not just children but children’s faith is fed and watered, are increasing.   So why is this happening? Why are so many of us so hesitant to share our faith with children? 

Three things seem particularly important. First, many people simply don’t believe in the core Christian offer. Scepticism, indifference and even mockery of Christianity are now the norm - and the constant drip, drip, of negativity has made us less confident in our own faith. It’s hard to be a public Christian: people laugh at you – or behind your back, or argue with you, or tell you you’re a ‘fool’? Is being on an atheist’s Christmas party list really more important? So we keep quiet about it- at work, at school, at the gym - even within our own families. It has been said to me, ‘But Campbell, this is a small village.’ So are we to sacrifice truth and integrity for safety and popularity?

Secondly, A culture of choice. We are surrounded by the promise that choice is everything. Our culture says, ‘you can choose anything and everything - and it is your right to do so. In fact, if you want to live a full and free life, you must do so. Don’t let anyone tell you who you are, what you should believe, or how you should live your life. ‘Be true to yourself’, ‘discover your own truth’, ‘be the person you want to be’; these are the phrases that shape our world. 

And that culture of choice has become part of our culture in church too. And so we feel that we have to let our children choose what they believe. We don’t want to ‘brainwash’ our children; they need to discover their own truth, or their own way. And so we’re happy for them to come to church and to do RE - because then they’ll have the facts they need to make a choice of their own one day. But we’re not going to tell them what to believe, because that might be indoctrinating them. 

Yet much of this choice is sheer illusion - everything children hear from the culture that we all live in says ‘don’t believe this stuff, find your own truth, religion is dull, church is for losers’. There is no such thing as a ‘free choice’. If we don't choose for them when they’re young, society will make the choice for them - and the choice will be for society’s view of things, the ‘world’s’ view. And that for certain won’t include God.

And anyway, there are loads of things we don’t let our children choose; we teach them to say please and thank you; we expect them to do their homework and to go to school. The question isn’t whether we’re imposing things on them - of course we’re doing that - the question is ‘are we sharing the things that matter most to us with our kids and grandchildren?’ And if God matters, if faith is important to us, then we should be really clear about passing it on to the next generation. 

We cannot simply contract out teaching the faith to the clergy, to Youth Workers, to Sunday groups, to ‘church’ – the ones who can do what we don’t feel confident to do. Talk to any teacher and they’ll tell you that education is a partnership, talk to doctors and they will tell you that good health starts at home, talk to a sports coach and they know that the kids who succeed are the ones where the parents- or another adult - are really involved and interested in the child’s development.

The same is true of faith. Of course church is crucial in the faith development of children; and that’s why children and families are so important to us at All Saints. I love our Baby and Toddler service; it’s my favourite service of the week. I don’t have to dress up in clothes modelled on late 3rd century Roman dignitaries attire or 17th century English Reformers. We have fun and dance, like King David did before the Lord – or rather we jump! – to show how grateful we are to him for blessing us in so many ways and for sending Jesus to teach us how to live and love. But all the evidence is that the vital journey of faith starts and is spent for the greater part at home; that what is modelled at home is the biggest single factor in children growing up with a living and robust faith of their own. 

So there’s the challenge. And it’s a challenge for all of us.

It’s not a new challenge. We heard Psalm 78 just now; it was written 3000 years ago but for every generation of God’s people. So for now let me finish with the real reason why this all matters so much. And it’s not about church numbers, and whether the Church of England has a future - which in God’s great plan for his creation, isn’t the most important thing. (And, yes, you can tell the Bishop or the Archdeacon that; and if they disagree then we’d all better watch out!) It’s to do with truth. If Christianity is true; if it’s true that there is a God, that he made this Universe, that he cares so passionately about every person and every life that he sent Jesus to live, die and live again for us. If it’s true that suffering won’t have the final word, that injustice matters, and that we can do something about it. If it’s true that the Holy Spirit is alive and active, that prayers are answered, that healing of body, mind and soul is possible. If this is true, then it matters more than anything else that we might ever know – anything else in the whole wide world! It’s more important than the 11+, than their career options, than their popularity or yours: because when these fail, to what or to whom do they turn? No: if it is true, then it really, really matters that our children and grandchildren, and the children that we share church life with, have the opportunity to know it too - and if we don’t tell them, and show them, and be ready to learn from them in turn – remember Jesus’ words, ’unless you become like a child you cannot enter the Kingdom of God’- nobody will.Society says - keep this God stuff to yourself. Faith says - this is the greatest gift you can give a child. Tell them, share it with them. Give them the gift of God’s presence in their lives.

After all, it we don’t tell them, chances are nobody will; but someone will be there to fill the void, and with something you will only deeply regret. Next time, the bible and some tips!  

Sunday 9 June 2019

Pentecost Acts 2 1 -21

So today is Pentecost when we remember and celebrate the person of the Holy Spirit coming upon the first disciples to empower them to carry on Jesus’ work.

And this morning I’d just like to say a few words about the Holy Spirit and Pentecost and why we also need to be filled with God’s power and his love - just as those first disciples were two thousand years ago.

The first thing to make clear is that the Holy Spirit is a person. He is the third person of the Trinity. He is referred to in scripture as the Spirit of God or the Spirit of Jesus and he has an absolutely vital role to play in our Christian lives.

The Holy Spirit is the one who initially brings us to faith in Jesus. He is the one who convicts us of our sin and makes us realise our need for forgiveness and to be put right with God.

The Holy Spirit is the one who comes to live in our hearts and lives, who fills us with God’s love and imparts eternal life to us.

He is the one who opens our spiritual eyes to recognise Jesus as Lord and God, who enables us to understand the bible and who empowers us to serve God.

Now in order to understand what happened at Pentecost we need to appreciate that the disciples had already received the Holy Spirit beforehand.

As we can see in today’s gospel reading from John, the risen Lord Jesus appears to his disciples, and he breathes on them and says “receive the Holy Spirit.”

He breathes his own spirit and the life that is in him - into them And as he does this, the Holy Spirit comes to reside in them and they become spiritually alive.

But before he sends them out into the world, Jesus has more to give them. So as Luke records at the end of his gospel, Jesus tells his disciples – to stay in the city until they have been clothed with power from on high.

The Holy Spirit is already living in them - but God wants to clothe them with His power. He wants to pour out His Spirit upon them abundantly and to pour spiritual gifts into their lives to equip them to serve Him.

And the same applies to us. We may be born again and the Holy Spirit may be living in us - but God has more to give us. He wants to fill us with his spirt – with his life and his love, in order to empower us to serve him.

Let me try and illustrate what I mean using this glass of water. The glass symbolises a Christian and the water the Holy Spirit.

When we become Christians, we receive the Holy Spirit – so the glass has water in - but God wants to fill us with his Spirit – to clothe us with power.

Imagine taking a big jug of water and filling the glass completely so it overflows.

As Peter explains in verse 17 of today’s reading from Acts – God wants to pour out his spirit abundantly upon all flesh – men and women, young and old, whatever their position in society.

And this is what we see happening for the first time at Pentecost in order to empower those first disciples to continue Jesus’ work and to build his church.

God fills them with his Spirit and pours new spiritual gifts into their lives and they start speaking in tongues.

And then as we read through Acts, we see these disciples doing just what Jesus did – preaching the gospel, healing the sick and casting out demons through the power of the spirit of Jesus who is living in them.

And this is what God wants his church to be doing today - but if we are to do this – like these first disciples we need to filled with and empowered by the Holy Spirit.

Of course we can serve God and bear fruit when we are born again, but we can serve him more effectively when are filled with or baptised with the Holy Spirit. And this is the experience of millions of Spirit-filled

Christians around the world.

I didn’t know anything about being filled with the Holy Spirit until a few years after I’d become a Christian.

But then at the Anglican church I was going to in Tunbridge Wells I came across some Christians who seemed to have a certain power – which was evident when they prayed or spoke about God.

I asked about this and they told me that God had filled them with his Holy Spirit and that he’d do the same for me if I asked Him.

So, I went along to a Christian meeting and asked someone to pray for me and God filled me with His Spirit.

I didn’t feel a huge amount when I was prayed for but over the coming days and weeks I noticed that there was a new power and vitality in my Christian life.

I also found that God started to communicate with me with little pictures in my mind’s eye – especially when I was praying with people or sometimes to clarify the meaning of scripture.

These weren’t amazing 3D visions but just little pictures in my mind’s eye. If I asked you now to picture a bowl of strawberries and cream – this is the type of picture I’m talking about.

I remember for instance praying with a guy who was a lorry driver who was convinced God was calling him to full time ministry - but he didn’t know where or when, and he was becoming increasingly frustrated.

As I prayed with him a picture came into my mind’s eye of a huge wheel which was slowly turning. And then I saw that this guy had his shoulder to the wheel and he was pushing it with all his might to try and make it go faster. But the wheel was going at its own steady pace – and his efforts were in vain.

I shared the picture with him – and explained to him that the wheel symbolised God’s plan for his life – which was slowly unfolding.

He needed to stop wearing himself out and to trust God. All would be revealed in good time. Sometime later he joined the Church Army and he’s now a vicar in Scotland.

The reason I found that God started to communicate through these little pictures was because God had imparted a new spiritual gift to me.

As God fills us with his spirit – as those first disciples found out he imparts new spiritual gifts to us.

What sort of spiritual gifts might we receive?

Well Paul deals with some of these in 1 Corinthians chapter 12 and judging by the book of Acts - two of the most common gifts seem to be the ability to speak in tongues and to prophesy.

A lot of people have weird ideas about tongues but it’s simply the God given ability to speak an unlearned human or angelic language.

And the thing to stress about tongues is that it is a gift that we can choose to exercise or not. It’s a gift that is subject to our own free will.

Just as we can choose when to speak in a foreign language – so we can choose when we want to speak in tongues.

The difference is that when we speak in tongues – we don’t understand the meaning of the words we’re saying, although of course God does.

Personally, I find that tongues is particularly useful when you’re unsure how to pray about something. If you pray in tongues first, I find that God will often give you an insight into how to pray for a particular person or situation.

Prophesy is simply the ability to deliver a message from God. This can be a message of encouragement for an individual or sometimes it may be a message for a church.

Other gifts include healing, messages of wisdom and knowledge, the ability to interpret a message given in tongues, and the ability to discern when evil spirits are at work – which is a gift my wife has.

This isn’t an exhaustive list. There are all sorts of gifts which God can impart to an individual – and the purpose of these gifts is to strengthen and encourage others and to build up the church.

I think that many Christians can be a bit wary and fearful of receiving spiritual gifts because they fear being overtaken by them. But God’s spirit is very gentle. He never forces us to do anything. He works with us as we are willing to co-operate with him. He doesn’t over-ride our free will.

Also, it’s immensely encouraging when God helps or encourages others through you.

I have no idea what gifts God might choose to impart to you – but God knows you perfectly and He knows exactly which gifts will be right for you – as you seek to serve Him. Whatever gifts he imparts to you will be exactly what you need.

God calls every Christian to be as fruitful as possible and in order to do this we need as much help as we can get. We each therefore need to be open to offering ourselves to God to fill and empower as He sees fit.

Our prayer should be - Lord I want to be as effective as I can in reaching others with your love. Please fill me with your Spirit and your love and pour into my life those gifts that you want me to have.

It’s important to stress that being filled with the Holy Spirit and receiving spiritual gifts isn’t a badge of honour – it’s for service, and our motivation for seeking to be empowered should be because we want to be as fruitful and effective Christians as we possibly can.

And once we have been filled with the Holy Spirit, we still need to put time and effort into our relationship with God. In order to experience

God’s spirit working through us we need to walk with God through life each day.

And of course, we need to go on being filled with the Holy Spirit because we will find that a bit like batteries we need to be continually re-charged.

So how can we be filled with the Holy Spirit? Well sometimes the Holy Spirit will come upon groups of Christians and empower them as He did at Pentecost – or we can simply ask a mature Christian that we know and trust to lay hands on us and pray for us.

We see both of these happening in the book of Acts as God continues to pour out his spirit on the early church.

So, as I tie up what I want to say this morning I’d like to ask you – if you’re a Christian - have you come to Jesus and invited Him to fill you with his spirit – and to pour new spiritual gifts into your life?

If you haven’t - I’d encourage you to do so. There are people all around you who desperately need to hear the gospel and to know God’s love – and you need to be open to everything God wants to give you in order to reach out to them.

Or perhaps you’ve been filled with the Holy Spirit in the past but you feel spiritually dry - like a lawn that needs rain. If that’s the case why not ask God to fill you again – to refresh and revive you.

Or perhaps you haven’t yet received the Holy Spirit into your life and you’d like to.

I’m going to close now with a time of quiet and the opportunity for you to share what is on your heart with God.

I’m going to introduce this quiet time with a brief prayer inviting God to come by his spirit to those of you who want to receive him.

If you would like Jesus to fill you with the Holy Spirit, I suggest you just say your own quiet prayer – Lord Jesus please come now and fill me to overflowing with your spirit.

And can I also gently suggest that if feel comfortable with it, why not open your hands slightly as a sign that you want to receive.

So, let’s pray. Lord Jesus thank you for your great love for each one of us. Thank you that you know us intimately and that you want to fill us to overflowing with your Holy Spirit and to impart new spiritual gifts to us.

Lord Jesus as we rest for a few moments in your presence - please come now to everyone here this morning who wants more of your love and your power in their lives. Pour out your spirit on us. Fill us with your love and empower us; refresh and revive us we pray.

QUIET>>>

Amen.

If there are some of you here who would prefer personal prayer after the service, Campbell or I will be very pleased to pray for you.