Parenting a child is filled with unique milestones that can be a beautiful source of joy. We also understand they have the potential to feel overwhelming. Below are biblical parenting foundations that can help you navigate each milestone in your child’s life, from birth to graduation. You’ll never be ready, but you can be prepared!
In Scripture, we see that God has an important role for the parent. God instructs us to bring our children up in the Lord, to teach “these words” diligently to our children (Deut. 6:5-9; Eph. 6:1-4). Our church holds the central belief that parents are designed and called by God to be the primary disciple-makers in their children’s lives. We want to support, complement and help you as you raise kids who love Jesus, but we have no interest in replacing you as the primary disciple-maker in your child’s life. For one thing, we can’t. For another, It’s not God’s design.
LINKS & RESOURCES
Don’t Miss It: Parent Like Every Week Counts by Reggie Joiner & Kristen Ivy
Parenting: 14 Gospel Principles that can Radically Change Your Family by Paul David Tripp
Authority is a reality that God hard-wired into the universe. God is in charge in the universe. He has placed parents in charge of the home. Authority is not something you need to establish for yourself as a parent. It is established by God, entrusted to you as a parent, and your job as a parent is to walk in it faithfully, helping your kids understand and align themselves with reality in the universe. Discipline as God designed it is a loving tool to help shape your kids to become responsible adults who will thrive because you’ve steered them and prepared them to align with reality instead of fighting against it.
LINKS & RESOURCES
Do Hard Things: A Teenage Rebellion Against Low Expectations by Alex and Brett Harris
Screens and tech are one of the biggest cultural realities that we have to navigate as parents. And the big ideas for us to remember here are that the real power of screens and tech are twofold: 1. Their addictive nature and 2. the stories they are telling our kids about how life and the world works. So we have to be careful as parents how we are modeling our own interaction with screens and tech… and we have to be giving our kids both healthy restrictions along with better stories to fill their hearts and minds and ultimately give their lives to.
LINKS & RESOURCES
The Tech-wise Family: Everyday Steps for Putting Technology in It’s Proper Place by Andy Crouch
Social Media Pressure: Devotions for Teenagers by John Perritt
12 Ways Your Phone is Changing You by Tony Reinke
Milestones Family Night: Screens & Tech by Midtown Fellowship
1 Corinthians 15 reminds us that the gospel is of first importance. So when it comes to faith and formation, our goal as parents is to build our family rhythms in such a way that our kids get as much gospel kindling stacked around their hearts as possible. And all along the way we’re hoping and praying for God’s Spirit to light that kindling on fire for His kingdom and His glory.
LINKS & RESOURCES
Family Worship: In the Bible, In History, and In Your Home by Donald S. Whitney
Habits of the Household: Practicing the Story of God in Everyday Family Rhythms by Justin Whitmel Earley
10 Questions Every Teen Should Ask (And Answer) about Christianity by Rebecca McLaughlin
This Changes Everything: How the Gospel Transforms the Teen Years by Jaquelle Crowe
So whereas screens and tech are one of the most pervasive cultural issues we have to handle as parents, but at least everyone is kind of united in knowing “yeah our addiction to screens and social media isn’t great…” Gender and Sexuality is a cultural issue where there is rampant confusion and disagreement. Like all cultural issues, as Christian parents we are looking to raise our kids in truth and love. So when it comes to gender and sexuality, we are going to stand firm on the reality that God created gender. God created sex and sexuality. He gets to define the terms and life flourishes when we operate within His design.
LINKS & RESOURCES
God Made All of Me: A Book to Help Children Protect Their Bodies by Justin S. Holcomb and Lindsey A. Holcomb
God Made Boys and Girls: Helping Children Understand the Gift of Gender by Marty Wachowski
“Embodied” Sermon Series by Midtown Fellowship (Downtown) (Lexington) (Two Notch)
Along with our screens and tech issues and and our gender and sexuality issues -- and likely intertwined with them -- our kids and teens are facing more rampant mental health issues than any generation that has come before them. The great news for us as parents is that Jesus remains stable and grounded no matter what roller coaster ride our kids are going through… or we are going through with them. He gives us rock solid identity in God’s love that can never be shaken or taken away from us. So what does our role look like as parents in helping our children understand their identity and walk in mental health specifically in this stage?
LINKS & RESOURCES
Seen: Despair and Anxiety in Kids and Teenagers and the Power of Connection by Will Hutcherson and Chinwe Williams
Why is my Teenager Feeling Like This?: A Guide for Helping Teenagers Through Anxiety and Depression by David Murray
Why am I Feeling Like This?: A Teen’s Guide to Freedom from Anxiety & Depression by David Murray
The Jesus I Wish I Knew in High School Edited by Cameron Cole & Charlotte Getz
Anxiety: Finding the Better Story (31-Day Devotionals for Teenagers) by Liz Edrington