The greatest hope and prayer that most, if not all, Christian parents have for their child/children is that they would grow up knowing Jesus. To be able to share the same faith is a wonderful blessing for families. To know that you will spend eternity together with God brings such peace and hope. And when this does not take place, it brings much heartache and many tears.
While the salvation and faith of our young people are not things we can 100% guarantee or bring about, there are definitely steps we can take to help them understand who God is and what he has done for them, in the hope that they will respond favourably to him.
We can bring kids to church and have them go to Sunday school. We can put them into a Christian school. We can send them along to Kids Club or Youth Group. Involving others in helping kids learn about God and what Christians believe is really important.
However, what happens at home is just as important, if not even more important. Modelling Christ-like character in the home, reading the Bible and praying together, modelling personal prayer and devotions, and singing songs of praise and worship together can be formative experiences that significantly impact a child's faith.
One tool families can use to help their children learn and understand what Christians believe is catechism, which is a question-and-answer approach to remembering core truths about what we believe. We have been using this approach in D&Ms fortnightly on Sunday mornings for those in Years 7-9. However, we believe that it would be much more effective if parents were to do this at home on a weekly, and even daily, basis.
One of the best resources available is the New City Catechism. This has been put together by The Gospel Coalition and Redeemer Presbyterian Church (where Tim Keller pastored for many years). There is an app available so that you can have it on your phone or tablet device. There are 52 questions, and each question has an answer, a supporting Scripture, some short commentary, a prayer, and a song (in Kids Mode) to help remember what we believe. The songs are also available on YouTube via The Gospel Coalition.
There are also books available to help your kids grow or to help shape family devotions:
- Comforting Hearts, Teaching Minds (this one is based on the Heidelberg Catechism, which is one of our denomination's core doctrinal documents)
- Gospel Way Catechism for Kids (not yet published, but available for pre-order)
Perhaps you are reading this, and you are not a parent of young kids. Maybe you are not even a parent. You still have a vital part to play in raising kids to know Jesus. One way you can help raise kids to know Jesus is to gift one of the above resources to your Christian friends with kids. Or, if you have friends who are using these resources with their kids, you can help reinforce what the kids are learning by asking them questions, which will help them cement what they have been learning with their parents.
May we continue to prayerfully consider and implement ways to better help the kids around us grow up to know Jesus. May we support one another in this endeavour. This is part of who we are called to be as the church.
Keep trusting Jesus,
Stephen
