Passing on the baton

 
Psalm 145:4 calls us to “commend God’s works to the next generation.”  This must be a big priority for us at the Tab.  God is sovereign over whether children take up the baton but we need to do all we can to pass it on.  

Here are three things from our recent sermon series that we hope to take forward - 
 
1) Parents are pastors in the home (Eph. 6:4).  Though our children and youth work is great, God has given parents the main role.  As adults we need to listen to God’s word each day, pray about what’s hard or worries us, say sorry to God when we do wrong, seek God’s guidance, and thank and praise God.  So do children but obviously parents need to help them.  If that feels daunting (which it does for me) we want to support, pray for you, and provide resources like:

• The lending library at the Tab
• The seminars for parents  
• The weekly activity sheets

Please let us know anything else we can do to help you.

2) Children can be disciples trusting God from birth (Ps. 22:9).  Not all are, and we won’t know.  But this means that rather than waiting for a dramatic conversion as a late teenager we want to be teaching children to be disciples, e.g. to pray out loud, know the Bible, sing, and be involved in church.  This is part of why we’re seeking to involve children in the first part of the service (without dumbing church down) rather then expecting them to just switch off and sit quietly.  For example we’re including a weekly children’s song so that there’s at least one song the youngest can join in with.  We’ve also started to involve children occasionally in prayer meetings.

3) We want our children to have Christian friends (Prov. 13:20).  If you are an older church member, please know God has a part for you to play passing on the baton, by praying for, and taking an interest in our young people.  It will also mean families very deliberately spending time together so that our young people grow up together.  Seeing each other every Sunday at church won’t be enough for that (just as it isn’t for adult friendships).  So whenever we go to the beach, take a walk, play in on a rainy day, watch tv, eat a meal, think about inviting a few others over to join you.