Christ for Disciplers

There are good programs and intentional ways to carry out God's work and train the next generation of disciples. But most discipleship and perhaps the best happens in normal everyday activities. Jesus disciples on the road and interacting at a toll booth. Listen to each weekday's podcast to apply it to your own discipleship.

Our children need to be assured that what God says is true and he will do it. God’s power and healing is real. Jesus teaches that as he heals the servant of the Centurion.

Ever talk to a young child and they amaze you with their answers? The Centurion amazed Jesus with his faith and surpassed all the children of Israel he had interacted with. We train our children not to stereotype people and assume that some will be more spiritual than others.

What are your words worth? Does what you do follow from what you say? Jesus' words are true and powerful words that we can count on and our children can count on.

Do your children ever say, "That's not fair!" or do they say that they have a right to something? It's easy to feel entitled but we are to train ourselves and our children not to feel entitled -- instead to be something better, loved and blessed.  Jesus teaches us as he heals the centurion's son.

Parents do need to protect their children and give them safety.  But children also need to build real relationships with those who are suffering so they can have empathy and build lives that act to help others. On the day of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr remembrance, we can reflect with the next generation and look to Jesus to see what he would have us do for those who are suffering.

Being forgiven and being forgiving go together. Jesus teaches us so we can teach our children we can be content with our relationship with God so we can keep our relationships with others.  Grudges can be tough to get rid of and even tougher to live with.

Usually when we train the next generation to pray, we help them pray for others' needs and not just our own. Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount goes surprisingly further and tells us not to pray first for anyone human - instead to pray for God.  What is good for God is good for us.

Many religions have prayer and encourage people to pray. They address God as a boss or judge or ruler or force or grandfather. But Jesus makes a bold encouragement to us that we can use the sweet term, "daddy" and talk to God as dearly loved children.

Christian parents often teach their children to say memorized prayers at night or at mealtimes. Is this a good idea? A bad idea? Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount gives those discipling the next generations some guidelines to think about.