six14 Recap 10.17

Thanks to everyone who was able to make it to last Saturday’s corporate meeting; I hope you enjoyed our time together as much as I did!

Because we don’t record these meetings (just to keep the set up as simple as possible), I post my notes from the message. Click here to download those notes.

Also, below are the discussion questions and fellowship points from the meeting.  Thank you, parents, for discipling your teens in these ways.  It’s our privilege to support you in any way that we can!

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DISCUSS – with your discussion group

1. Let’s go around the circle so that everyone shares. What was most helpful to you from this message?  How was that helpful for you?
2. How should seeing the “character” of God’s word help you?  Are there ways that you could trust God’s word more?  Please explain.
3. How should seeing the “consequence” of God’s word help you?  How does seeing that motivate you to feed on God’s word?  What will be your plan to do so?

APPLY – in fellowship with your parent(s)

• The Encouragement Point (for parents to ask):  As your parent, the areas where I’m most encouraged about your intake of God’s word would be… (be as specific as you can)
• The Application Point (for parents to ask):  For your answer to question #2 above, how can I help?
• The Input Point (for youth to ask):  As my parent, how would you like to see me benefit more from God’s word in my life?

six14 this Saturday!

At our six14 parent + youth meeting this Saturday, we will begin a series on Scripture with a message from Psalm 19, “Savoring Scripture.”  Please plan to join us at Plank Jr. High at 6:14 p.m. (snacks will be available at 5:30 p.m.).

six14 Recap 09.19

It was great being together last Saturday night for our parent-youth corporate meeting!  Since we don’t record those meetings (just to keep our equipment set-up relatively simple), I am posting my manuscript from the message.  You can download it here.

Also, for the questions we handed out, you can find them here.

Parents, please consider how the Lord might have you use those questions.  They are intended merely as a tool to serve you as you pursue relational discipleship with your youth.

May our God richly bless all of your efforts as you pursue their hearts!

So grateful for you,

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six14 Year-End Recap

It was great being together last Sunday night to recount all of the grace in our midst.  I was asked if we recorded it, and I don’t believe we did.  However, I’m attaching my notes and the testimonies that were shared in case you missed our time together (click here to download).

It’s been a real privilege to serve and support all of the parents as you engage in this wonderful, God-given task of “gospel-centered discipleship.”  May the Lord bless and empower all of our efforts in this holy task!

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six14 Recap (5.16)

It was great being with you, youth and parents, this past Saturday!  I hope you found our time together helpful on this important, but sometimes difficult, topic of guy/gal relationships.    If you weren’t able to be there, or if you’d like to review this message, you can find my manuscript for the message here.

Here are a few other points we made from our meeting.  First, I would recommend that parents read and determine an appropriate time to discuss with your youth the book I Kissed Dating Goodbye.  It’s a very fine book, but I think it’s helpful to remember that Josh’s point in it is to address what we might call “worldly forms of dating” – patterns and habits of relating in which God’s word isn’t clearly obeyed or applied.

As we discussed, the issue here is not terminology – i.e., dating vs. courtship.  It really isn’t that important what we call a given relationship, but it’s absolutely crucial that we’re seeking to apply biblical principles in that relationship.  In leading and discipling our teens in this area, it’s vital that we seek to build biblical convictions in their lives for this area.  Specifically, we must build biblical convictions for at least the following categories:

• purpose (as in the purpose of relating being to discern if marriage is in the future)
• purity (a crucial arena for parental discipleship)
• parents (and their vital role in their authority and their wise counsel for the teen’s life)

To help us build those biblical convictions, I would highly recommend a parenting seminar recently given by our friend Kenneth Maresco at Covenant Life Church.  It’s called “Parenting Ages 15 to 18” and you can find it here.    Part 3 in particular addresses this issue of relationships, and you will hear many points that I gleaned from our good friend Kenneth.

I hope these brief thoughts are helpful; if you have any questions at all, please do let me know.  I’m happy to try to serve you in any way that I can.

Lastly, below you’ll find the discussion questions I provided.  Please consider using questions like these on a regular basis to care for and disciple your teen in this important area.

Grateful to walk alongside of you in this holy task of parenting!

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DISCUSS – discussion questions for parents and youth

1. What questions would you have about this area/topic?
2. What was unclear for you from this message?  What do you find you agree with?  What are you not sure about?
3. Do you feel comfortable in talking with me about this area?  How can I make it easier for you to talk with me about this?
4. How are you doing in this area of your life?  Are there “interests” you’re having or thinking about?
5. What truths or passages from God’s word could or should shape your thinking there?  Let’s talk together about that, and walk together in that!

six14 Recap (3.28) – Part 3

Here’s the last installment from our most recent corporate meeting…

(Part 1)

(Part 2)

Main point:  Out of a heart of love for the Savior, we seek to help others to grow in their love for the Savior.

We reach out, we encourage – and there is one more way we can be an influence on others for godliness.

3. CORRECT

six14 Recap (3.28) – Part 2

Here’s the second part of our recap from our most recent parent-youth corporate meeting.  (Click here for part 1.) I hope it’s helpful…

six14 Recap (3.28) – Part 1

It was great being with so many of you last Saturday night!  I hope you enjoyed our time together as parents and youth as much as I did.   I thought it might serve if I recapped our time by taking the message I gave and making three blog posts out of it.  I hope doing so serves you as you “continue the conversation” with your youth, helping them to understand and apply what we talked about.  Here are the fellowship points I suggested to continue the conversation:

• The Encouragement Point (for parents to ask):  As your parent, the ways in which I’m most encouraged about how you influence others for godliness would be…
• The Application Point (for parents to ask):  Which of these three areas (reach out, encourage, correct) is most difficult for you?  How can I help you with that area?  What do you think specific growth looks like that you might care for others more in the ways we’ve discussed?
• The Input Point (for youth to ask):  As my parent, what concerns or questions would you have about the ways I do or do not influence others for godliness?

Click below to continue reading the introduction and point one from Saturday night…

six14 recap (2.21)

It was great being with you last Saturday for another six14 parent-youth corporate meeting!  I hope you enjoyed our time as much as I did.  I always come away so encouraged by our youth and the grace of God in their lives.  Thank you, parents, for your faithful gospel-centered discipleship of your youth; God is using your faithfulness!

Since we don’t record these messages (just to keep things simple), I am posting my manuscript from the message.  You can download it here.    It’s a little rough, but it is essentially what I said on Saturday.  There are some things in it that I skipped over, including (to my regret) this great quote by John Newton, author of the hymn “Amazing Grace.”

Near the end of his life, Newton said:  “Two things I remember:  that I am a great sinner, and that Christ is a great Savior!”  That’s the take-away from our meeting:  we are great sinners, and Christ is a great, great Savior!  May all of us, parents and youth, see our need for Him and so grow in our love for Him.

Below are the questions and fellowship points we gave out as well, in case they serve you.

Thanks so very much!!

DISCUSS – with your discussion group

• What was most helpful to you personally from this message?
• Why does seeing our need for the Savior increase our love for the Savior?  To what degree do you currently see your need for the Savior?  Please explain.
• What might be hindering you from seeing your need for the Savior more clearly?   How might you, with the Spirit’s help, pursue seeing your need for Him more?  How can you involve your parents in that pursuit?
• What are some practical ways we could influence each other for a passion for God, as thermostats not thermometers?

APPLY – in fellowship with your parent(s)

Suggested fellowship points to continue the conversation…

• The Encouragement Point (for parents to ask):  As your parent, the ways in which I’m most encouraged about your current love for the Savior would be…
• The Application Point (for parents to ask):  What, at a heart-level, might hinder you from seeing more of your need for the Savior?  How can I help you see your need for Him more, that you might love Him more?
• The Input Point (for youth to ask):  As my parent, what concerns or questions would you have about my current level of love for the Savior?  Do you think that I should be confident that I know the Savior?  Please help me evaluate that area.

six14 re-recap (1.17) – “media companions”

Why not a little more follow up from our last six14 meeting?!?  As we talked about the reality of influence from Proverbs 13:20, we applied that not only to our personal companions but also to what we called our media companions.  If we spend a lot of time with a certain movie, radio or TV personality (through that particular media means), that person becomes a companion who inevitably influences us – for wisdom or folly.

The same is true of our music.  This isn’t an argument for certain kinds of music; I’m simply reminding us that the musical artists that we spend a lot of time with become media companions for us.  To that end, I thought this brief article by Bob Kauflin would be helpful.  Bob wrote an excellent chapter for the book Worldliness (which I highly recommend – see last week’s post); below are his thoughts summarized for the Next conference (formerly New Attitude) webzine.

Enjoy!

Listening to Music for the Glory of God

by Bob Kauflin

Have you ever noticed how people who know hardly anything about music can still be really opinionated about music?

You don’t have to have a music degree or play an instrument. In fact, you can be absolutely tone deaf and still know exactly what kind of music you prefer.

In fact, some of us find pleasure in putting down people who don’t like our music and hanging out with those who do.

But do you ever wonder what God thinks about the music we pump into our heads for hours each day? Does he even care?

Absolutely. As followers of Christ, everything we do is an opportunity to bring glory to the One who redeemed us from the wrath of God and this present evil age (Gal. 1:4). Whether we eat, drink, or listen to music, we’re to “do all to the glory of God” (1 Cor. 10:31).

So how do we listen to music for the glory of God? Do we restrict our music diet to worship choruses or only listen to songs written and sung by overtly Christian artists? No. Non-Christians can write songs that are good for us, expressing God’s common grace and his unlimited creativity. Christians can write songs that are bad for us, due to bad theology or inferior musicianship.

Here are six words I’ve found helpful for determining whether the music I’m listening to is “good” for me.

• Humility (Prov. 19:20)
  Humility in the area of music means being willing to invite the counsel of those around you who are mature into your music choices. If you’re living at home, that means involving your parents. If you’re an adult, that means getting input from those who are spiritually mature and know you best. Listening to music is a privilege to be stewarded.
• Content ( Phil. 4:8 )
  If we listen regularly to ungodly lyrics, it’s only a matter of time until we become dull to sin or drawn by sin. Some Christians say they don’t know what songs are saying. If we don’t listen to what’s being said, why don’t we find out? Christians, more than anyone, should know what the songs we listen to are communicating (James 3:8-10). It’s a blatant contradiction if we sing songs on Sunday that proclaim the Savior’s death for our sins and then fill our minds during the week with songs that idolize the sins that put him there.
• Associations (Prov. 22:3)
  Because music can’t be held, touched, or seen, it tends to associate itself with the things that surround it: friends, concerts, clubs, radio stations, videos, websites, other artists. Even “neutral” songs can lead us to contexts that tempt us in a variety of ways.
• Time (Prov. 13:20)
  Listening to music excessively can be a sign of idolatry–seeking to find satisfaction in something other than God. Also, the more time we spend listening to music, the more it becomes a friend that will affect us. Is your music a wise friend or a fool?
• Fruit (Prov. 14:14)
  What kind of emotions does the music you listen to produce in you? How does it affect your relationships with others? What effect does it have on your attitudes, perspectives, and appearance? Is there any attempt to deceive others about the music you listen to?
• Conversion (2 Cor. 13:5)
  An ongoing pattern of sin in the area of music could reveal that an individual has never been regenerated. Only a true worshiper of Jesus can appreciate music the way God intended it to be appreciated – not as an idol, but as a gift.

Music is not ours to use however we want. It never was. It’s a gift to be celebrated and received with gratefulness. Because the God who gave us music for our enjoyment ultimately gave it to us for his glory.

At the end of the day, God wants us to see that the highest purpose music for which music was given is to point us to the wonder and breathtaking beauty of the Savior who died in our place to purchase our forgiveness and to earn us a place among those who “no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised” (2 Cor. 5:15).

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Bob Kauflin is Director of Worship Development for Sovereign Grace Ministries.

You can download Bob’s message on this topic given to Covenant Life Church’s Parent/Youth ministry here.