Title: House Rules: God’s Kids and Their Kids

Main Text: Matthew 19:13-15 (ESV) 13 Then children were brought to him that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples rebuked the people, 14 but Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.” 15 And he laid his hands on them and went away.

Preaching Point: God’s kids must value and welcome children, in part, because their humility and trust display the very qualities God expects from everyone who belongs to His Kingdom.

Teaching Points:

1. Parents: Make Jesus Your Kids’ Number One Priority (V. 13a)
2. Church: Seize Every Opportunity to Teach Our Kids More About Jesus (VV. 13b-15)
3. Grasp The Childlike Nature of Saving Faith (VV. 13b-15)

Application Questions:

1. Write down one observation or application you found helpful from this week’s sermon.
2. Read Deuteronomy 6:4-9. If you are a parent with kids at home, what practical steps can you take to ensure that, as far as it depends on you, Jesus truly becomes your children’s number-one priority?
3. In what situations might you say that Jesus is your top priority, while your daily decisions and habits reveal that He is not?
4. Read Psalm 78:1-8; 2 Timothy 3:14-15; and Proverbs 22:6. Why must we as a church seize every opportunity to teach our kids more about Jesus?
5. What wrong attitudes could you adopt toward children that resemble the disciples in Matthew 19:13 rather than Jesus’ attitude in 19:14-15?
6. Read Matthew 18:1-4 and 1 Corinthians 3:18-19. How does thinking about the nature of children help clarify your understanding of the humility and dependence involved in saving faith?
7. How does being part of a church filled with children help you see aspects of the gospel and saving faith that might be harder to grasp in a congregation without many kids?

Main Text: Matthew 19:1–12 (ESV) 1 Now when Jesus had finished these sayings, he went away from Galilee and entered the region of Judea beyond the Jordan. 2 And large crowds followed him, and he healed them there. 3 And Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful to divorce one’s wife for any cause?” 4 He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, 5 and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? 6 So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” 7 They said to him, “Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away?” 8 He said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. 9 And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery.” 10 The disciples said to him, “If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry.” 11 But he said to them, “Not everyone can receive this saying, but only those to whom it is given. 12For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let the one who is able to receive this receive it.”

Preaching Point: God’s kids must align their thinking with God’s Word by honoring marriage as a lifelong covenant and confronting the hardheartedness that leads to divorce, while embracing singleness as a valid calling for those who are uniquely gifted for it.

Teaching Points:

1. Focus on Marriage not Divorce (VV. 1-6)
2. Deal with the Hard Heart Surrounding Divorce Talk (VV. 7-9)
3. Value Singleness as a Valid Biblical Option (VV. 10-12)

Application Questions:

1. Write down one observation or application you found helpful in this week’s sermon.
2. Read Matthew 19:3-6 What should you take away from Jesus’ tactic to focus on marriage and define it biblically when the Pharisees bring up the topic of “any cause” divorce?
3. What does your commitment toward biblical marriage look like practically in a world that inundates you with the convenience of divorce when marriage gets hard?
4. Read Ezekiel 36:25-27 and Matthew 19:7-9. How can you guard yourself against cultivating a hard heart against your spouse? If you’re not married, how can you guard yourself against cultivating a hard heart against your family?
5. Why should recognizing that hard hearts are at the bottom of every divorce give genuine hope that as the heart is redeemed so the marriage can be redeemed?
6. Read Ephesians 5:22-33 and 2 Corinthians 11:2-3. What changes in your commitment to the marriage covenant once you recognize that our earthly marriage is designed to reflect Jesus’ permanent love for the church and the church’s eternal commitment and obedience to Jesus?
7. Read Genesis 2:18-25 and Hebrews 13:4. What are some priority shifts you can make to better guard and honor your marriage? If you are single, what are some priority shifts you can make to better guard and honor your future marriage?
8. Read Matthew 19:10-12 and 1 Corinthians 7:32-35. How do Jesus and Paul’s word show you the validity and even the benefit of singleness for the sake of gospel advancement?

Title: House Rules: Forgiving God’s Kids

Main Text: Matthew 18:21–35 (ESV) 21 Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” 22 Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times. 23 “Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. 24 When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. 25 And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. 26 So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ 27 And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt. 28 But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay what you owe.’ 29 So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ 30 He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt. 31 When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place. 32Then his master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. 33 And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ 34And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt. 35So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.”

Preaching Point: As God’s kids, we must consistently reflect our Heavenly Father’s character by extending the same extravagant forgiveness toward his children that he extends to us.

Teaching Point:

1. Get Serious About Extending Abundant Forgiveness (VV. 21-22)
2. Grasp the Unpayable Debt You Were Released From (VV. 23-27)
3. Confess the Hypocrisy of Your Unforgiveness (VV. 28-30)
4. Fear the Implications of an Unforgiving Heart (VV. 31-35)