MissionWay Church Sunday Sermons

In the final sermon of this series, we are going to be discussing how to raise our children in the midst of a very dark and sinful world. How can we prepare them for the evil that they will face outside of our homes? How will they be prepared to face the evil that's in their own hearts?

Out of all the parenting books you can read, the Bible gives us the best, most foundational, and practical truths that we need. If we are going to know how to raise our children to know and love Jesus, then Ephesians 6:1-4 is a key passage for us to understand. It's a challenge to children and parents - fathers especially.

Let's face it: our families are under attack from the enemy. Satan is using every angle imaginable to lead us and our families away from knowing and serving the Lord. We live in an age of intense cultural influence and pressure from all sides. How do we know which way to go? How can we lead our families and raise our children in the ways of the Lord? One of the best tools we have to battle against all these attacks is what is called "Family Worship." It's a principle we see all throughout Scripture but maybe most clearly in this passage in Deuteronomy 6.

When Jesus prepared His disciples to go and preach the Gospel, He gave them instructions that prepared them for the persecution to come. Jesus taught that not everyone would receive the message of the Gospel. He also taught that He did not come to bring the kind of peace that the world expects. Rather, He says that He came to bring a "sword" and calls us to "take up our cross and follow Him."

After hearing Jesus prepare us to be "sheep in the midst of wolves," it's natural for fear to creep in as we think about persecution. Thankfully, Jesus doesn't leave us in our fear, but encourages us with truth to help us to "fear not." He does tell us there is One we should fear: The Lord Himself. We should be sure that we are confessing Him before men, and when we do, we have confidence that He will also confess us before the Father.

Do you believe that you are truly ready to face persecution for your belief in Christ? In this passage, Jesus prepares the apostles, and all who would believe in Him, to face the reality of persecution. He tells us we should be "wise as serpents, and innocent as doves." What does He mean by this? How can we have hope when it seems we are "hated by all for His Name's sake?" This passage tells us exactly how.

After Matthew lists for us each of the 12 apostles, he records Jesus' words to them as He sends them out to proclaim the Gospel of the Kingdom. In His instructions, we see words that we can apply to our own mission to make disciples, but we also learn about the uniqueness of the call of an apostle. Maybe the biggest takeaway from this passage of Scripture is Jesus' instruction on what they should do when people both accepted and rejected the Gospel.

Why do you believe the Resurrection happened? What grounds do you have for this hope? We know that Paul tells us if Christ has not been raised then we are still in our sins. Therefore, it's so important that we not only believe that Christ has been raised but also that we know why we believe it. This Easter, we look at one particular disciple who battled doubt and we find out how the Lord deals with our doubt and what He tells us to do instead. Do not disbelieve, but believe!

Jesus has established His authority through His teaching and miracles, and now it's time for Him to continue establishing His authority by sending out His disciples to preach and perform miracles as well! In this passage, we see Jesus officially ordaining His 12 disciples for Kingdom ministry. As He sends them out, we learn much about the apostles' ministry and can also gain principles for our own personal ministry and evangelism.