Teaching Children the Way They Should Go
VBC Albuquerque · Jun 16, 2024
This sermon explores the responsibility of parents and the church community to teach children to walk in the path of righteousness. Based on Proverbs 22:6, the pastor outlines four essential elements: content (what to teach), audience (who teaches whom), purpose (why we teach), and method (how to teach). The sermon emphasizes that proper instruction when children are young will help them remain faithful to God when they grow old.
The first section presents the main theme of the responsibility to teach children the way they should go, based on Proverbs 22:6 with three different Bible translations. The pastor clarifies that foolishness is bound in the heart of a child, but through proper instruction and appropriate discipline, we can help children depart from this foolishness. The sermon employs a systematic structure comprising four fundamental components: content, audience, purpose, and method.
The second section develops the theological argument about teaching from Scripture. The pastor quotes Proverbs 4:3-4 to illustrate how a godly father teaches his son to remember words of wisdom. The sermon also emphasizes two different paths: the broad way leading to destruction (Matthew 7:13-14) and the narrow way leading to life. Teaching children is a process of helping them recognize the difference between these two ways and choose the path of righteousness. The Scripture passages cited demonstrate the importance of continuously transmitting God's Word, not only when sitting but also when walking, lying down, or rising up.
The third section applies the message to practical life through the principle of imitation. The pastor emphasizes that parents and adults must become models for children to imitate, as taught in Ephesians 5:1-2 and 1 Corinthians 11:1. Rather than allowing children to imitate evil things, we must teach them to imitate what is good and follow the path of Christ. The message concludes that effective teaching requires long-term commitment from adults and the church community to help the younger generation build a solid foundation for their faith.