1. Fortification Ephesians 6:1-4 2 Timothy 3:14-17

2. What Now? Much soul-searching in light of the election Many evangelicals are sounding down in the mouth People are wringing their hands over the change in the direction of our country

3. What Now? People speak of God judging our land We are no longer a “Christian” nation, they say All of this says more about the weakness of the church in our culture than the weakness of the republic

4. What Now? We are perhaps seeing how our eyes have become too focused on the kingdom of this world We perhaps have wrongly come to depend on the culture to be the carrier of our values

5. What Now? Perhaps we need to focus upon recapturing the Church and our homes as opposed to recapturing the culture and political power

6. Early Church The documents of the early church, our New Testament, are documents of a minority movement They were not living in a “Christian” nation They were not insiders in positions of power

7. Early Church They were:  Maligned  Misunderstood  Resisted

8. Early Church Yet they, within a few hundred years, revolutionized their world In large part, that revolution began in their HOMES

9. A. Teaching Units These texts were radical in their time They still are today These people sought to live in distinctive communities (Titus 3:14)

10. A. Teaching Units They focused upon teaching their distinctives to their children  Scripture Based  The primary responsibility lay with the parents

11. A. Teaching Units 1.Scripture Based  They made sure their children knew the story  The made sure they knew the Word of God was their source of authority

12. A. Teaching Units 2.Verbally Reinforced  Ephesians 6:4  Refers primarily to verbal education  Dt. 6:6-7; 20ff

13. B. Nurturing Units Paul specifically speaks to fathers In the Roman world his words were radical Children in the ancient Roman world were not necessarily valued

14. B. Nurturing Units 1.Patria Potestas  Father had absolute power  It extended all of life

15. B. Nurturing Units 2.Custom of child exposure 3.Mercilessness to sickly or deformed children Seneca: “Children who are born weakly and deformed we drown.”

16. B. Nurturing Units Paul acknowledges need for discipline  Eph. 6:4 training or paideia  Discipline with accent on correction  Always to be done in a spirit of loving self-control (ektrepho)

17. C. Vision Units In the nurture of the Lord Not simply Christian vs. Secular It is coming to submit to His vision and plan Matthew 6:9-10