Message from Bobby McGraw on August 23, 2022
In this weekday podcast, Pastor Bobby McGraw of Sugar Hill Church shares insights on cultivating faith within families through everyday interactions with children. He highlights Deuteronomy 6, where Moses encourages using daily rhythms to instill God's truths in the next generation. Pastor Bobby suggests practical routines like mealtimes, travel, bedtime, and morning rituals as opportunities for meaningful conversations that reinforce faith in a natural, relatable way. He emphasizes the importance of consistency and authenticity in these interactions, encouraging parents to approach faith-building as a continuous practice rather than aiming for perfection.
Well hey friends, thanks so much for being on the weekday podcast today.
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And so thanks for being here today. Today I want to think about this idea of keeping it real with your kids.
Now I get that not everybody that listens to this podcast has kiddos at home, maybe you don't have kids of your own, but I believe these principles are super powerful as we think about being intentional with helping the next generation connect with the faith.
In Deuteronomy 6, Moses really does this amazing job of casting vision to the nation as a whole and he gives a lot of practical principles that I believe help them and their day but certainly helps us in our day. When he talks about loving God with all of our heart, soul, and mind, he goes on and says in verse 7, talking about the commands of God, he says repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you're at home and when you're on the road and when you're going to bed and when you're getting up. Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders. Write them on the doorpost of your house and on your gates.
What's interesting is what Moses essentially does is he identifies the rhythms that are part of their everyday life. These are things that when they heard them they're like, man I do that every single day. I do it in the morning. I do it late at night and everything in between.
What Moses is essentially doing is he's saying, man take those everyday rhythms that are already in your home and use them as a way to impress the truths of God into the hearts of your kids. He realized in the future there's gonna be a ton of things that distract you and it's gonna be easy to drift away and so there's something important about having an everyday kind of faith that your kids can connect with.
I just want to give you a few ways to think about these couple of verses as it applies in our day and age. Some of the examples of a daily rhythm.
One of the ways that we can keep it real is number one, by eating meals together.When you have meals together around the table that's a chance to have focused discussion. It gives you a chance to assume the role of a facilitator, even a teacher, and to target some truth that you want your next generation to grab a hold of.
Number two, think about when you're traveling together.Some people like to walk the neighborhood together or walk to the bus stop together. Sometimes it's in the car. Not every day is gonna be like this but there are gonna be times that you are traveling together that you can have this informal kind of dialogue that allows your kids to drive the agenda. These are great times to build a relationship in a non-threatening kind of environment.
Number three, when you tuck your kids in bed. When you have this evening ritual. This can be a meaningful time. I think a lot of times parents maybe underestimate the power of this time because they have the habit of sending their kids to bed instead of taking them. But there's something about when a kid allows you through the door of their room that they're allowing you through the door of their hearts and it's a powerful time.
Another one is when you get up in the morning. Every morning provides a blank slate for a family to start fresh relationally. No matter if you eat breakfast together or just interact for a moment, there's something powerful about those moments. Maybe the morning is a time to intentionally speak positive words into the life of your kids.
Man, I just want to encourage you to think about keeping it real when it comes to passing along faith to the next generation. You don't have to be perfect but you do need to practice at it. You don't have to have it all figured out but you do have to be consistent and as you do I believe God's gonna use it to make faith real not just to you but to your kids.
Have a great day. We'll see you back here soon.
