1. Year of the Family

2. “Equip Them With Stability and Strength!”
1 Kings 7:21; James 1:5

3. … One of the thick pillars, the one on the right was given the name Jachin, and the other was given the name Boaz…

4. In the 1950’s, a psychologist by the name of Stanton Samenow, and a psychiatrist by the name of Samuel Yochelson, shared the conclusion that crime is caused by environment. These two set out to prove this point…

5. Those who call themselves “Christians” aren’t all that receptive and open to what the Bible says concerning raising kids. The Barna Research Group says a small percentage of those who call themselves Christians surveyed said their church or faith has been a dominant influence in the way they parent… “Of all born again parents 33% practice Biblical principles in parenting.”

6. Purpose:
to better understand the need to rely on the wisdom of God in raising kids

7. “The thing that impresses me most about America is the way parents obey their children.”
Duke of Windsor

8. “More than not, children are learning major value systems in life from the horizontal peer-culture. The vertical structure is not there in adequate increments of time or intensity to do the job.”
Gordon MacDonald

9. “When peers have dialogue primarily with peers, they fail to be exposed to those with more advanced insights and more highly developed faculties… Our children, who are constantly engrossed in peer-centered activities, interact minimally with those more mature than themselves.”

10. I IDENTIFY Teachable Moments
A. Key Moments in the Day

11. Deuteronomy 6:6-9
“And these words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart; and you shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and while lie down and when you rise up. And you shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”

12. I IDENTIFY Teachable Moments
A. Key Moments in the Day
B. A Biblical Worldview

13. Genesis 8:22
“While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.”

14. Proverbs 2:1-6
“My son, if you will receive my sayings, and treasure my commandments within you, make your ear attentive to wisdom, incline your heart to understanding; for if you cry for discernment, lift your voice for understanding. If you seek her as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures; then you will discern the fear of the Lord, and discover the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding.”

15. I IDENTIFY Teachable Moments
A. Key Moments in the Day
B. A Biblical Worldview
C. Created With Purpose

16. II EXCEL in Equipping A. Consider the Whole Picture
B. Be an Equipper Not a Transformer

17. “I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth.”
1 Corinthians 3:6
“I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth.”

18. Transforming parents produce a measure of short lived compliance but never the deep consistent commitment that makes a child stable and secure in a topsy turvy world.

19. In A.D. 155, Polycarp, the aged leader of the church at Smyrna, was dragged to a post where he would be burned all because of his service to Christ. He was given the opportunity to renounce the Lord. His reply is as follows:

20. “Eighty-six years I have served Him (Christ), and He has never done me wrong. How, then, should I be able to blaspheme my King who has saved me?!”

21. Summary and Conclusion:
A less known fact is that Polycarp grew up in a home under equipper parents… Polycarp’s parents produced a man of such commitment he could be steady as a rock under the most severe threats and temptations…