Sermon from Christmas Eve, 2006 – 5 p.m.
A line in one of our favorite Christmas carols goes like this: "Bless all the dear children in Thy tender care." That expresses the heart of our children's ministry at BVBC. That expresses the heart of the women and the men who invest their lives in children here. As a parent, you certainly care no less for the children God has given you. I have a serious question to ask you on this Christmas Eve, 2006.

Do you care for them enough?

Let me expand that question. Do you care for them enough to prepare them spiritually for the world they are going to face in the next 30 years?

Think, for a minute, how many hours parents spend taking their children to participate in: swimming, soccer, football, volleyball, baseball, basketball, ballet, band, biking, boating, roller blading, horseback riding, fishing, flute lessons, piano lessons, ice hockey, karate, theater, and after-school events.

You will spend prodigal amounts of time car-pooling, going to your children's events, and even coaching your children's sports teams. You will do it gladly and repeatedly. You are kind and sacrificial parents.

But are you doing enough to prepare them spiritually for the world they are going to face in the next 30 years?

For example, do you pray for them every day? Do you pray with them every day? Do you read the Bible to them and with them? Do you encourage them to memorize key Bible verses that will last a lifetime? Do you go with them to Sunday worship and Sunday school every week? Do you teach them Christian ideas with which they can counter the ideas that bombard them in our toxic youth culture? Do you know enough Christian ideas yourself to teach them?

Has Christianity failed to hold your interest, as you have moved through the stages of your life? Is that because your understanding of Christianity came to a screeching hald, when you left elementary school?

Childish faith is like childish behavior; it's cute in a child. It's hideous in an adult. Childish, desiccated faith is no match for the predatory people out there, who are lining up for access to your mind and your children's minds at every stage, from childhood to old age.

Give priority to the spiritual formation of your children. Put it ahead of anything in sports and the arts. In the language of the New Testament you would do well to be in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in your children (Galatians 4:19).

I think hard times lie ahead in this country. We have to help each other on the journey ahead. We have to help each other in cherishing and nourishing our children, so that they will be strong enough to engage the difficult world they inherit from us.