The Bridge Church
The Struggle is Real: Parenting
May 15, 2022
Locations & Times
Englewood SKY Academy
871 S River Rd, Englewood, FL 34223, USA
Sunday 9:00 AM
Sunday 10:30 AM
Core Value: We Build Healthy Families
1. Children are to obey and honor their parents
“Obey” is an action and “honor” is an attitude
A life of honoring God begins with honoring your parents
2. Parents are responsible to bring up their children in the Lord
“Rules without relationship lead to rebellion.” Josh McDowell
“Bring them up” means “to feed or nourish.”
3. Parents: Be faithful to your calling as a parent, but place your hope in Jesus
“It is from God that parents receive children, and it is to God that they in turn ought to lead them.”—Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Every family matters to God - We all need healing and grace
MY NEXT STEP TODAY IS:
I need to receive Jesus Christ as my personal Savior for the first time
I need to be baptized
https://www.thebridgevenice.com/baptism
I need to attend Starting Point
https://www.thebridgevenice.com/starting-point
I need to join a small group
https://www.thebridgevenice.com/small-groups
I need to join a serve team
https://www.thebridgevenice.com/serve
I need to receive Jesus Christ as my personal Savior for the first time
I need to be baptized
https://www.thebridgevenice.com/baptism
I need to attend Starting Point
https://www.thebridgevenice.com/starting-point
I need to join a small group
https://www.thebridgevenice.com/small-groups
I need to join a serve team
https://www.thebridgevenice.com/serve
Dig Deeper:
1. Growing up, how good of a kid were you? On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being “perfectly holy” and 1 being a “holy terror,” how would you rate your obedience?
2. Did this change over time? Or were you always this way?
3. Do you recall a specific time when you were disobedient to your parents? What was the outcome?
4. When you think of all of the commandments in the Bible, why do you think “Honor your Father and Mother” made it in the Ten Commandments?
5. Why is it so important for us to be purposeful and intentional in our parenting?
6. Children are given two promises if they honor and obey parents? What are they? What do they mean?
7. Does obedience always lead to a longer life? What is this “promise” really saying?
8. Read verse 4. Are parents supposed to walk on eggshells around their children so not to provoke them? According to this verse, what should parents do instead? How would that help?
9. We learned that obedience is an action and honor is an attitude. Can you be obedient without honoring? Can you honor without obedience? Why is it necessary to do both?
10. Can you think of ways your father (or mother) “stirred up anger” or provoked you? Are there ways you might be tempted to do this as a parent? Explain.
11. Why are fathers singled out in verse 4? Do you think it reflected the culture of that time, or do you think it is timeless? Are fathers generally more likely to provoke their children? Explain.
12. Do you think fathers struggle to carry out this verse? If so, why? How can the struggle be made easier?
13. As parents, we are to be good stewards of what God has given into our care. What does this look like regarding our children?
14. What area of parenting would you say you are doing a good job in so far?
15. Can you think of an area that perhaps needs more consistency and work?
16. Culturally, why does discipline have such a negative undertone? How is this discipline the opposite of the way God disciplines us? Does the root or the source of the disciplining matter? See Proverbs 22:6 and Proverbs 29:17. What is the motive for discipline: love or control? What is the goal: a changed heart or bitterness?
17. What does your home reflect about you? Your family? How do you honor God through your parenting?
18. Read Philippians 2:3. How would memorizing this verse be a very helpful guide for your family relationships?
19. After instilling a love and reverence for God in the heart of your child, what is the most important quality you desire to see in your child more and more with each year?
20. What challenges you or inspires you the most from this passage and message?
Live It Out:
1. Pray: Take time this week to specifically pray for your child or children. Let love fill your prayers. Ask God to search your own heart to change so that you may “bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.”
2. Quality Time: If you have kids, schedule some one-on-one time to ask them how their lives are going. Deepen your relationship with them. This can be a great way to get beyond the “stirring up anger” of rules and expectations. Ask them how you can pray for them.
3. Read: Proverbs is a book of wisdom. There are actually 31 chapters! Begin reading a chapter a day, as a family, and discuss the passage together.
4. Ask: Find someone close to you that you respect as a parent; someone who is honoring God through their parenting. Ask them for advice or guidance. Set up an ongoing conversation with them so that others may support you as you parent.
Reading Plan:
Monday: Deuteronomy 6
Tuesday: Exodus 20
Wednesday: Proverbs 3:1-12; 22:6
Thursday: Colossians 3
Friday: 2 Timothy 3
Saturday: Philippians 2:1-18
Recommended Resources:
“The Power of a Praying Parent” by Stormie Omartian
“Parenting Collection” by Dr. James Dobson
“Families where Grace is in Place” by Jeff Vanvonderen
“Parenting” by Paul David Tripp
“Five Love Language of Children” by Gary Chapman
“Raising Kingdom Kids” by Tony Evans
1. Growing up, how good of a kid were you? On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being “perfectly holy” and 1 being a “holy terror,” how would you rate your obedience?
2. Did this change over time? Or were you always this way?
3. Do you recall a specific time when you were disobedient to your parents? What was the outcome?
4. When you think of all of the commandments in the Bible, why do you think “Honor your Father and Mother” made it in the Ten Commandments?
5. Why is it so important for us to be purposeful and intentional in our parenting?
6. Children are given two promises if they honor and obey parents? What are they? What do they mean?
7. Does obedience always lead to a longer life? What is this “promise” really saying?
8. Read verse 4. Are parents supposed to walk on eggshells around their children so not to provoke them? According to this verse, what should parents do instead? How would that help?
9. We learned that obedience is an action and honor is an attitude. Can you be obedient without honoring? Can you honor without obedience? Why is it necessary to do both?
10. Can you think of ways your father (or mother) “stirred up anger” or provoked you? Are there ways you might be tempted to do this as a parent? Explain.
11. Why are fathers singled out in verse 4? Do you think it reflected the culture of that time, or do you think it is timeless? Are fathers generally more likely to provoke their children? Explain.
12. Do you think fathers struggle to carry out this verse? If so, why? How can the struggle be made easier?
13. As parents, we are to be good stewards of what God has given into our care. What does this look like regarding our children?
14. What area of parenting would you say you are doing a good job in so far?
15. Can you think of an area that perhaps needs more consistency and work?
16. Culturally, why does discipline have such a negative undertone? How is this discipline the opposite of the way God disciplines us? Does the root or the source of the disciplining matter? See Proverbs 22:6 and Proverbs 29:17. What is the motive for discipline: love or control? What is the goal: a changed heart or bitterness?
17. What does your home reflect about you? Your family? How do you honor God through your parenting?
18. Read Philippians 2:3. How would memorizing this verse be a very helpful guide for your family relationships?
19. After instilling a love and reverence for God in the heart of your child, what is the most important quality you desire to see in your child more and more with each year?
20. What challenges you or inspires you the most from this passage and message?
Live It Out:
1. Pray: Take time this week to specifically pray for your child or children. Let love fill your prayers. Ask God to search your own heart to change so that you may “bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.”
2. Quality Time: If you have kids, schedule some one-on-one time to ask them how their lives are going. Deepen your relationship with them. This can be a great way to get beyond the “stirring up anger” of rules and expectations. Ask them how you can pray for them.
3. Read: Proverbs is a book of wisdom. There are actually 31 chapters! Begin reading a chapter a day, as a family, and discuss the passage together.
4. Ask: Find someone close to you that you respect as a parent; someone who is honoring God through their parenting. Ask them for advice or guidance. Set up an ongoing conversation with them so that others may support you as you parent.
Reading Plan:
Monday: Deuteronomy 6
Tuesday: Exodus 20
Wednesday: Proverbs 3:1-12; 22:6
Thursday: Colossians 3
Friday: 2 Timothy 3
Saturday: Philippians 2:1-18
Recommended Resources:
“The Power of a Praying Parent” by Stormie Omartian
“Parenting Collection” by Dr. James Dobson
“Families where Grace is in Place” by Jeff Vanvonderen
“Parenting” by Paul David Tripp
“Five Love Language of Children” by Gary Chapman
“Raising Kingdom Kids” by Tony Evans
Discover Your Love Language
https://www.5lovelanguages.com/Leading "Ephesians" Bible Study Featuring J.D. Greear
Right Now Media
https://app.rightnowmedia.org/en/interactive-content/528913/details