...because you are CALLED to this. and He is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine according to his power

that is at work within us. (Eph 3:20)

...because YOU, more than anyone else, have the greatest opportunity to influence your child for the Kingdom of God.

...because a few hours a week of church programming cannot successfully compete for the heart of a child if they are not

being spiritually attended to at home.

...because if you begin to saturate your home with the gospel and teach your children basic Christian disciplines they will

develop habits and skills that will keep them rooted in the love and grace of Jesus while they navigate life in a postmodern

culture. (1 Timothy 4:8)

...because if every family in every church got serious about making disciples at home......

.IT WOULD CHANGE T HE WORLD

.......is Family Discipleship?dis·ci·ple: One who embraces and assists in spreading the teachings of another.

• Family Discipleship is a call for you, as a parent to embrace a lifestyle of devotion to Jesus and to teach your children to

do the same through word and action,

• Family Discipleship is consistently telling stories of God’s faithfulness and proclaiming the gospel into every sphere of life

so that your children will grow to love and worship God in response to His grace.

.....does the Bible say about it?• “So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them..

God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in

the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” Genesis 1:27-28

Family was God’s idea as a means to spread the knowledge of Him.

• “Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.” Proverbs 22:6

• “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy

Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20

You are called to make disciples; begin with you children.

• “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.  These commandments that

I give you today are to be on your hearts.  Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.  Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind

them on your foreheads. Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates.” Deuteronomy 6:5-9

• “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”

Ephesians 6:4

......is your role?

• Commit to being a disciple yourself, You cannot teach your children what you don’t know and you cannot model for your children what you are unwilling to do. God’s desire for you is to know Him and make Him known, especially to your

children.

• To create an environment where Christ is the center and the word of God is valued.

• To reveal to your children the Kingdom of Heaven

• To raise children that above all treasure Jesus.

What?

Why?

For Parents:

• Intentional Parenting :: Tad Thompson

• Shepherding a Child’s Heart :: Tedd Tripp

• Disciple Like Jesus for Parents :: Alan

Melton and Paul Dean

• Connecting Church and Home :: Dr. Tim

Kimmel

• Family Driven Faith :: Voddie Baucham Jr,

• Parenting is a Ministry :: Craig Caster

• Loving Our Kids on Purpose :: Danny Silk

• Big Truths for Young Hearts :: Bruce

Ware

• Praying Circles around Your Children ::

Mark Batterson

• Praying the Scriptures for Your

Children :: Jodie Berndt

• The Power of a Praying Parent :: Stormie

Omartian

• www.raisinggodlychildren.org

• http://www.parentingministry.org/

• www.orangeparents.org

For Parents and Children:

• The Jesus Storybook Bible :: Sally Lloyd-

Jones

• Long Story Short :: Marty Machowski

(ten minute devotions to draw your

family to God).

• Dinner Table Devotions :: Nancy Guthrie

• The Bg Picture Story Bible :: David Helm

and Gail Schoonmaker

• Training Hearts, Teaching Minds :: Starr

Meade

How? Resources

1.

Be a DiscipleYou cannot teach what you do not know or model what you do

not do. Make a radical commitment to love Jesus with your whole life. Your actions and lifestyle will speak louder then the

spiritual activities you participate in. Let your kids see you pray, worship, practically love others, honor your spouse. It will make

an eternal impact on them.

2. Pray for your children

all the time :: everyday :: every night

Prayer is the most powerful tool you have as a parent.

• Pray scriptures of life, character, and destiny over your child)

• Ask God to give you a vision for their life and then daily pray into that..

• Ask God for the salvation of your children and the continual filling of the Holy Spirit. .

You have the potential to shape the destinies of your children

3. Learn. Apply. Repeat

Every moment in your child’s life can be used as an opportunity for teaching them the heart of Jesus. Discipleship is most

effective when it is put into practice in the midst of daily routines. Don’t miss out on these times!

Maybe you don’t know when to find these times. Maybe when you find them you don’t know what to do with them.

Don’t fret, there is good news!

There are a wealth of parents that have gone before you. Parents that have walked through BIG mistakes and BIG

successes. Parents that have written down their stories of grace. READ T HIER STORIES!

Become a consistent learner. Try out new things. They may not all work because every child is different, but some of them will.

You’ll find your groove. And once you have---find it again. Read more, learn more, try different things. You have a lifetime to

invest into your kids. What worked well when they were 5, may not work when they are 15.

You were born to be a parent to your child, and God has made available all you need to succeed. GO F IND IT!

“If you will commit to nothing else, resolve in your heart today that you will do whatever it takes to saturate your home life with the message of the

gospel.” -Tad Thompson, Intentional Parenting

1. Bring A Child Along for ErrandsWith the constant chaos, it can be difficult to get the important one-on-one time you want to have with your children. One way to solve this is to bring one child along when running errands. You can turn that errand-running time into a discipleship moment–a time to better know, love, and train one of your kids. A trip to the pharmacy can turn into an important conversation about life, sickness, death, and the sovereignty of God.2. Eat Dinner TogetherWhen your kids are still young and wild, dinners may not be how you envision them several years from now: a long, festive, deep time of connecting around the table. But, even 10 chaotic minutes around the dinner table will be an important time for your children to learn how to articulate a story from their day, to ask questions about things they’re learning, and for you to love them and teach them something new.3. Learn What’s Unique About Each of Your Kids and Capitalize on itEvery kid is different, a unique creation from God. So, we shouldn’t parent/disciple generically, but specifically. Your job isn’t to raise/disciple a generic kid. Your job is to raise/disciple each of the uniquely wired children God has given you. While the general tenor of your parenting should look the same for all of our kids, you should treat and train each child a bit differently given their unique temperaments, personalities, strengths, and struggles. Regularly ask yourself this question about each of your kids: “What’s the key to understanding _____ and what makes him/her tick?” The more you explore that question the more you discover the most effective ways to love and train your kids.4. Pray for God to Save Your Kids/Lead Your Kids to ChristThe greatest gift I received as a child was my mom leading me to Jesus. Don’t farm this out to others. Your child certainly may come to faith in a different way, but praying for this and aiming for this ought to be at the core of our heartbeat as parents.5. Exercise With Your KidsExercise is not only critical for physical health, but also for mental and emotional health (sanity!). To fit in exercise in the day and disciple your kids at the same time you can do several things. You can bring you children to the gym with you and let them run around the track with you. You can teach them the importance of hard work while showing them how to do push-ups. Or you can simply get outside with a soccer ball and run around the yard with you kids. 6. Maximize BedtimeThis is a time of the day when children are uniquely receptive and impressionable. There are so many opportunities to make deep connections with your child’s heart at bedtime. Read them a bible story or excerpt from a devotional, let each child tell you a fun story from their day, pray together, pray over them, and always remind them that you love them and God does too (even more than you do!)7. Give Vision to Your KidsNobody can give vision to your kids like you can. From a young age start giving your kids a big vision of God and of how God could use them in this world. Child-like faith is something that we should never lose. Though adults often lose child-like faith and wonder in a big God who can do anything, I fear that in our generation kids never even develop a child-like faith. Our culture (and today’s parents) tend to squish wonder and a sense of the supernatural out of kids. This is terrible, don’t let that happen in your home. 8. Involve Others/Give Your Kids As Many Heroes as PossibleSeek to turn friends and babysitters into disciplers of your kids, heroes who your kids can look up to. Give vision to these people about the impact they could make on your kids. The church can be a great place to find people to surround your kids with. They will learn to love the body of Christ because it’s filled with people that care about them and have invested in their lives. 9. Go on Adventures TogetherIt seems that the two great secrets to Jesus’ ministry of discipleship was lots of long meals with his disciples and lots of adventures together. Don’t skip the adventures. These are the things your kids will be talking about years from now. 10. Enter Their WorldEnter your child’s world. Know the names of their friends/classmates/teammates, and why they like these friends. Learn what they’re most excited about right now and talk about this with them. Respond to their calls, “Hey daddy, come see what I made” or “Hey mommy, let me show this to you,” and celebrate these discoveries and creations that they are making. Put yourself in the shoes of your child, try to look at life the way they are looking at life. If you don’t enter into your kids’ worlds, as they age don’t expect them to show much interest in what you have to say. Your kids want to be known by you.

Adapted from http://www.justinbuzzard.net/2013/09/23/10-tips-for-discipling-your-kids/

10 Tips for Discipling Your Kids

www.ourcitychurch.org

Church

Dear Parents,

I am so honored to walk with you on this journey to see our children know and love Jesus! As City Church has grown, God has also been growing and deepening a burden in both mine and Ketlie’s hearts to empower parents to intentionally disciple their children.

No one can take the place of mom and dad in the life of a child. God has given us as parents a divine grace to daily display the realities of the gospel to our kids. These resources are the next step in City Church's commitment to inspire and equip you to spread the lifestyle of authentic Christianity in your home.

I hope that they are a blessing!

Your friend and Servant,

Justin KendrickLead Pastor, City Church