“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.” -Deuteronomy 6:4-7 (ESV)
Family is both the goal of evangelism and the means of evangelism.
When it comes to spiritual matters, God gives the primary responsibility of biblical instruction and training of children to parents, as outlined in Scripture (Deut. 6, Ps. 78, Ps. 145, Eph. 6). The parent-child dynamic is meant to be a representation of the love God has for us as His children, and it should be a great testimony tool to the world to demonstrate that relationship. Our goal is to be an encouragement and resource to parents as they do the difficult work of ministering within the home and provide proper care and training to children and students who are spiritual orphans.
The aim of our family discipleship plan is to partner with and equip parents in training the next generation to be missionaries of Jesus Christ everywhere they go. We do that by encouraging parents to be living examples to their children and by providing helpful resources to raise kids to know who God is and why He created us. Our family plan is progressive and reflects the mission and core values of the entire church body. It is fit for each stage of adolescence, so that our children and students may grow in the knowledge of Jesus Christ and be equipped to share the Gospel with the world. The goal of this plan is to help disciple the next generation by coming alongside parents and caregivers with love, support, accountability, purpose, and prayer. The church family can be a great encouragement and provide wonderful partnership with parents and caregivers that supplements and strengthens the journey of parenthood.
The family discipleship plan at Risen Life is an ongoing pursuit. We do not take the responsibility of training the next generation lightly and expect the development of this plan to take time, but our kids are worth it.