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The Biblical Call to Disciple Your Children · Equipped for Impact

• 0:08
  Nate: Welcome to Equipped for Impact, the podcast designed to assist Christian parents, leaders and educators to raise up the next generation to stand firm in their faith and influence their world.
• 0:19
  Nate: For Christ, we're your hosts.
• 0:21
  Nate: I'm Nate and I'm Luis, so let's get started.
• 0:25
  Nate: Today, here, in our first episode, we're diving into the question who is truly responsible for your child's spiritual growth?
• 0:33
  Nate: Is it the church, the Christian school, or is it you as the parents?
• 0:38
  Nate: So, Luis, where have you seen the answer to this question play out?
• 0:42
  Nate: In things you've seen.
• 0:43
  Luis: Well, I think, just having been in ministry for wow, I guess, almost 20 years, wow, I think it's a common question, right, like?
• 0:51
  Luis: I think it's something that parents are asking, churches are asking, working in the Christian school, and so what I know is that research shows that most parents don't have a specific plan for their children's spiritual growth.
• 1:04
  Luis: In fact, george Barna at the Arizona Research Center says that it's 90% over 90%, and so many parents are delegating that responsibility to all the external experts.
• 1:16
  Luis: So, whether it's the church, whether it's a school, whether it's YouTube or TikTok, and the truth is that it's leading to unsatisfactory outcomes.
• 1:27
  Nate: Man, that's crazy to think that that's only 10% that really are intentional, according to this, which, hopefully, if you're listening to this podcast, you are in that 10% or you want to be in that 10%, so that's great.
• 1:40
  Nate: So today we're diving into really what I think of is the core passage that has to do with parents discipling their children, and it's really the biblical mandate for discipleship and it's in the Old Testament, it's Deuteronomy 6.
• 1:54
  Nate: Really, think of verses 4 through 9.
• 1:57
  Nate: And so we're going to explore that today and then pull out some practical ideas and just really discuss the vital role that the home plays in discipling or raising up this next generation.
• 2:09
  Nate: So let's start.
• 2:10
  Nate: I'm just going to read this for us to kind of get started with our conversation here.
• 2:14
  Nate: In Deuteronomy 6.
• 2:14
  Nate: You know, the children of Israel are at the bottom of Mount Sinai and Moses is writing to them and he says this.
• 2:22
  Nate: He says Hear, o Israel, the Lord, our God.
• 2:25
  Nate: The Lord is one.
• 2:26
  Nate: You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your might, and these words that I command you today will be on your hearts.
• 2:36
  Nate: You shall teach them diligently to your children, shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, when you rise up, you shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.
• 2:49
  Nate: You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
• 3:01
  Nate: You know, I love in this passage.
• 3:02
  Nate: It starts off really with like a confession of faith more than anything right, it's just the who is God?
• 3:04
  Nate: God, he's your God.
• 3:05
  Nate: You should love the Lord, your God.
• 3:06
  Nate: He's one God.
• 3:07
  Nate: I love that.
• 3:07
  Nate: It starts there with the foundation is like a right view of God there and it's really just.
• 3:14
  Nate: You know, the parents being fully committed in their own personal relationship to Christ, like Luis, what do you see as you look at this passage?
• 3:23
  Luis: I think, nate's, there's probably a lot to unpack and I think, both of us being pastors, there's probably a lot we can go into yeah, yeah and and bore our audience with, but I think, if we look, I wouldn't be bored though.
• 3:34
  Luis: Well, that's I would be really excited about it yes, and I think there might be some of our audience that we're really excited, uh, but we promise not to bore you, uh, and we promise not to get preachy.
• 3:43
  Luis: But I think, nate, like you pointed out, it's the foundation of discipleship, starting right with the correct view of God.
• 3:52
  Luis: Like you can't disciple your children, you can't disciple anybody, unless you have a proper appreciation of God's role in your life.
• 4:03
  Luis: And so, when it starts off, hear O Israel, the Lord, our God, the Lord is one.
• 4:07
  Luis: Really it's the foundation of discipleship, starting with the correct view of God, because if God's not at the center of your life, if God's not the authority in your life, you can't say that, you can't declare that yeah, yeah, and I can't tell my kids that God should be important if it's not showing up in my own life that God is important to me.
• 4:30
  Nate: So there's kind of a hypocritical thing if I try and do that.
• 4:33
  Nate: Yeah, I see that there, and then it gets right to the heart of it, right?
• 4:38
  Nate: How many times does it say heart here in this passage it's love God with your heart, soul and strength, and these words that I command you today will be on your heart.
• 4:47
  Nate: And so really I think more than anything it's a heart issue of discipleship.
• 4:53
  Nate: You know me focusing on making sure I as a dad, like my heart is right and my heart is focused on God, and then really trying to point my children, their hearts to God as well, and so it's just kind of this discipleship is flowing out of my relationship with God and my heart for Him and then just seeing that my kids see a genuine joyful daily relationship with God on my part and just leading by example that way.
• 5:24
  Luis: And I know we said we weren't going to get preachy and we were going to get too technical, but I think it's important to point out when the Bible talks about love, right?
• 5:31
  Luis: So you and I have both had Hebrew, and so I'm going to butcher this, but I'm going to try to do my best to use biblical Hebrew here.
• 5:38
  Luis: But the word ahav is it's good.
• 5:41
  Luis: Good job with that in there you gotta add that it's, that's the, that's the word for biblical love, but that word isn't love like we talk about in our culture today.
• 5:51
  Luis: Right?
• 5:51
  Nate: we're recording this, like the week before valentine's.
• 5:53
  Nate: So there you go.
• 5:54
  Luis: There's a big deal so, like I love bonfires, tortilla bar, right, like like I love a burrito from there uh, cheap plug, by the way, and so but it's not the same type of love I have for my wife or for my children.
• 6:07
  Luis: It's not the same type of love that I have for my family.
• 6:10
  Luis: It's not even the same type of love that I have for God.
• 6:13
  Luis: And so when we use that word, which means biblical love, we're talking about a covenantal type of love.
• 6:19
  Luis: We're talking about an active love.
• 6:21
  Luis: It extends beyond the emotion, right.
• 6:24
  Luis: So a lot of people say they love God, right, but when Moses is declaring these words here, it's taking the people beyond the emotion of loving God.
• 6:36
  Luis: But it's truly a covenantal aspect of how you love God.
• 6:41
  Luis: And that's because true discipleship is going to flow from parents who love God, like you pointed out.
• 6:48
  Luis: Right, like it's not just saying I love God, but it's how do I love God, how do I show that I love God?
• 6:55
  Luis: And children they're going to see that, like your children are going to see if your love is genuine, do you have a genuine, joyful, daily relationship with God?
• 7:07
  Luis: If you're a mom, if you're a dad, and that's not flowing out of your heart, naturally, then you're not going to be able to disciple your children, because discipleship it's not just an occasional event, it's not just gathering around the table and saying a prayer before dinner.
• 7:25
  Nate: We had our family devotion, so we're good to go.
• 7:26
  Nate: I've discipled my kids.
• 7:29
  Luis: It's a lifestyle, and that's what it's talking about here.
• 7:32
  Nate: Yeah, and you see that really in the next kind of rest of this passage I love how clear that it is it says right there you shall teach them diligently to your children, not to overblow the Hebrew in that, but that Hebrew word of you know teaching diligently, it carries that idea of like sharpening or engraving or repeating.
• 7:53
  Nate: It kind of makes me think about, like you know, if you've got carpet in your house and you've got those paths that you always walk, like you walk in the house, you drop your keys, you drop your bag, you go wherever you're going and you kind of like see that path wear down over time in the carpet.
• 8:09
  Nate: It's that path that's been worn down over time of constant, everyday.
• 8:13
  Nate: You know repetition in the routines of life and that's exactly what this passage talks about.
• 8:19
  Nate: You know you're teaching it diligently to your children, this love for God with heart, soul, mind and strength, and you do that every single day.
• 8:27
  Nate: And it just lays it out.
• 8:29
  Nate: Right, your faith should be woven into daily life, right, it's not just Sunday, it's not just every night when we have family devotions which I think you should have family devotions frequently, if not every night but it's that you sit and talk of them when you sit, when you lie down, when you walk, by the way, when you rise, you know if we were to make that modern.
• 8:50
  Nate: You know, do it at breakfast, at you know at the table, do it while you're driving, on your way to church, on your way home from church, on your way to school, while you're going to ball games, whatever.
• 9:01
  Nate: All these times it's the rhythms of your life that really point our children's hearts to God, and so you're going to wear down over time that constant, repetitive motion of just wearing that groove of faith into their life.
• 9:17
  Nate: And it's just.
• 9:19
  Nate: Your home is going to be saturated with God's truth, and I just love that image of constant repetition there.
• 9:27
  Luis: Dr Glenn Schultz in his book Kingdom Education and also one of his books that just builds off of that.
• 9:34
  Luis: He uses that analogy there about sitting walking lying down and then rising.
• 9:40
  Luis: And really the way he summarizes is that it's simply just all the time right, like it's not a literal like when you sit down or when you walk or when you're lying down you're rising, but really it's the fabric of your life.
• 9:55
  Luis: And I think that goes really nicely into the next part of it, which says bind them as a sign.
• 10:02
  Luis: Write them on your house as a sign.
• 10:04
  Nate: Write them on your house.
• 10:04
  Nate: Now my mom would cross-stitch and she would have stuff you know, bible verses cross-stitched and hung in the house.
• 10:09
  Nate: Is that what this is talking about?
• 10:11
  Luis: Well, yeah, no, but I think it does serve a really good example.
• 10:16
  Luis: So, like in the fall, we decorate our house.
• 10:20
  Luis: My wife is one of those wives that decorates like for the season we have our fall, we have our winter, we have our spring and we used to have this sign that we would put out at the beginning of football season every year, of football season every year, and she would hang it on the door and it said Florida State Seminole fans live here, or something like that.
• 10:43
  Luis: It was something that we would put out and everybody that drove by no Gators allowed.
• 10:47
  Nate: No Gators allowed, that's right.
• 10:48
  Luis: No Gators, no Hurricane, no Wolfpack.
• 10:50
  Luis: It was Florida State fans.
• 10:51
  Luis: But everybody that drove by or that came over saw that sign and it was obvious to them, like they knew going in, that that house was filled with people who love Florida State, and so I think that when it talks about buying them as a sign, riding them on your house and gates, really it's like it should just be a natural outflow of who you are Like.
• 11:13
  Luis: When people meet me, it doesn't take long for them to find out things that are important to me my family, florida State, football, christian education, ministry, bonfire, bonfires.
• 11:24
  Luis: Yeah absolutely yes, and so when you have a five-minute conversation with me, you're going to learn those things, because it's just a natural outflow, and so what this is talking about is that our homes should be saturated with God's truth.
• 11:38
  Luis: Now, if that means that you're cross-stitching and putting signs on your wall, that's fine.
• 11:42
  Luis: If that helps, right, but I think it really extends beyond what people are seeing in your life.
• 11:49
  Luis: That's a natural outflow of who you are, because even in those things that we don't think of as teaching moments for our children, they begin to shape our children's hearts.
• 12:01
  Luis: So how we react to negativity, how we discipline our children, what we listen to, what we watch, what we read all of those things are assigned to our children of what's important.
• 12:16
  Luis: I know this sounds cliche and I've heard it several times, but it's very true.
• 12:21
  Luis: People know what you love by what you spend your money on and what you spend your time on.
• 12:27
  Nate: Yep, yep.
• 12:28
  Nate: And I think just all of that goes to dispel the myth that you can outsource.
• 12:32
  Nate: I like that, you use that term right.
• 12:34
  Nate: You can outsource discipleship Like I'm going to live, however, and I'll leave it to the experts.
• 12:38
  Nate: I send them to Christian school, that youth pastor, that church.
• 12:41
  Nate: You know they're going to take care of my kids and so you know, parents, we can't outsource discipleship to these other institutions.
• 12:49
  Nate: Having been a youth pastor and currently a middle school principal, I love the church, I love the Christian school, but ultimately it's the parent's job to take the lead there, and I think that's just a really important thing that we come away from this conversation with is that idea that it is the parent's primary job to disciple their children.
• 13:11
  Nate: They're the primary disciples and of course, research shows that a child's worldview starts taking shape between 15 to 18 months, which is hard to think about just a year and a half and it's largely in place by age 13.
• 13:26
  Nate: And after that period it's just significant.
• 13:28
  Nate: Changes in worldview are uncommon, unless there's a major event, like maybe somebody grew up unsaved and God miraculously saves them later in life, and obviously that's going to trigger some major worldview shifts.
• 13:42
  Nate: But on the whole, after 13,.
• 13:44
  Nate: That worldview is fairly established.
• 13:48
  Nate: It's mostly established.
• 13:49
  Nate: So, parents, we've got a big responsibility to disciple our children there.
• 13:56
  Nate: So what are some?
• 13:57
  Nate: You know, Luis, some practical ways you can.
• 13:59
  Nate: You know parents can lead at home as they want to disciple their children.
• 14:06
  Luis: It's important for people to know that this isn't some sort of like super spiritual reserve for the pastor.
• 14:11
  Luis: You don't need special training.
• 14:13
  Luis: I mean, there are simple things that Christian parents can do, and I think it just starts with daily conversations about your faith and it's making the Bible a part of every day in your life.
• 14:26
  Luis: And so when you are having conversations with your children, when you're reading the Bible together, right, how many families gather around a table and just read scripture together and how many parents are asking their children what did you talk about in Bible class today?
• 14:45
  Luis: What did you learn in Sunday school?
• 14:46
  Nate: today.
• 14:47
  Luis: What do you think about the preacher's message on Sunday morning?
• 14:50
  Luis: Or maybe even just parents talking about their own faith, right, Like just expressing to their children, maybe, what they're reading?
• 14:57
  Luis: Hey, in my devotion today I read this.
• 15:00
  Luis: Or in my quiet time I read this.
• 15:04
  Luis: Or what are you reading in your quiet time?
• 15:07
  Nate: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 15:08
  Nate: I think that comes back to this just modeling the faith too.
• 15:10
  Nate: Right, it's the classic saying more is caught than taught, and so just modeling that for our children.
• 15:17
  Nate: We already said that it starts with me and the outflow of my love for God, and so that needs to flow out.
• 15:22
  Nate: So just modeling that your kids see you taking notes in church, you are having those conversations and they recognize you're paying attention too, and that's really big.
• 15:34
  Nate: I think another thing is family devotions and family worship.
• 15:39
  Nate: You know we've mentioned that several times already, but there's a reason.
• 15:44
  Nate: It's such a common thing that people think about devotions when they think about discipling at home is because that is big.
• 15:50
  Nate: You know, have those family moments at home where you're reading the Bible, where you're praying together, asking each other, hey, what can I pray for you for?
• 15:57
  Nate: And worshiping together.
• 16:00
  Nate: That could be, you know, like the family worship at home where you're just maybe singing songs while you're, you know, cleaning up the kitchen or something or the actual like let's sit down and have a devotion together.
• 16:10
  Nate: But even worshiping at church, families that sit together and worship together, like your kids see you and you may not be able to sing on tune, but you're singing with the praise team you know, and so I think that that's a big thing.
• 16:26
  Nate: Is there anything else, liz, you can think of with practical ways to lead at home?
• 16:30
  Luis: You know, nate, I just want to add to the family worship and devotions.
• 16:33
  Luis: Yeah, yeah, go for it.
• 16:34
  Luis: Dr Josh Mulvihill from Renew a Nation yeah, go for it.
• 16:58
  Luis: Service throughout the year.
• 16:59
  Luis: And so one thing we've tried to do over the years is find a way to worship as a family in our home.
• 17:01
  Luis: And it gets harder as our girls get older, because they think it's cheesy, they think, you know, obviously I can't sing really well and so we used to listen to a song, we used to talk about that.
• 17:12
  Luis: But it's one of those things where you don't have to start big, like maybe it just means listening to your favorite hymn, listening to your favorite worship song as a family and just talking about it.
• 17:24
  Luis: But, josh Mulvihill, he says, make it a priority.
• 17:28
  Luis: And I think also when we talk about discipline, so when we are disciplining our children, we are discipling through discipline.
• 17:37
  Luis: And so using correction as an opportunity to point children to Christ.
• 17:43
  Luis: So I grew up in a very different era.
• 17:46
  Luis: My parents were very different.
• 17:48
  Luis: I wish my parents would have had some of this information as I was growing up, because I didn't get it, and so one of the things I've tried to do in my family as the father is, when I correct my daughters, that I connect it back to discipling their heart so that they understand that if there's a time that we need to use correction, that we need to discipline them, it's not just coming from willy nilly, or I'm just doing it because I'm a strict dad or because this is.
• 18:14
  Luis: You know, it's not just punitive.
• 18:15
  Luis: Like you know, you offended me, so now I'm willy-nilly, or I'm just doing it because I'm a strict dad or because this is my role.
• 18:18
  Nate: It's not just punitive, like you offended me.
• 18:20
  Nate: So now I'm getting back at you in discipline.
• 18:22
  Nate: No, it's corrective.
• 18:23
  Nate: Yeah, it sounds a lot like Ted Tripp when he his book Shepherding a Child's Heart.
• 18:29
  Nate: Right, he talks a lot about the correction and the discipline, but that's ultimately, as a shepherd, to point our children's hearts back to Christ there.
• 18:40
  Nate: So obviously we've mentioned the role of the church and the school as well, and obviously neither of us are against that.
• 18:50
  Nate: And I think the next couple of weeks we're going to hit those in our podcasts as well, the next couple of episodes.
• 18:56
  Nate: But it's important We've mentioned that You're there, you're discipling your children, but that's in connection with the church, who's going to support and equip you as parents.
• 19:07
  Nate: They'll equip us as parents and provide biblical teaching, the opportunities for worship, youth groups where they get to interact with other teenagers whose parents are also hopefully shepherding their children's hearts, and even the Christian school right, the reinforcing the biblical values that you teach at home, providing an education where everything points back to Christ and a biblical worldview.
• 19:31
  Nate: You know, but ultimately it's the church and the school are walking alongside the home and it's not a replacement there for what you're doing, what we're doing as parents.
• 19:44
  Nate: So, just as we wrap up here, let's run through some of these practical things that we've already hit on.
• 19:51
  Nate: I think the first obviously prioritizing that personal worship and discipleship.
• 19:57
  Nate: Right, that's got to be a priority in our lives if we're going to disciple our children.
• 20:02
  Nate: What else did we hit on today, Luis?
• 20:05
  Luis: You know we didn't really hit on this too much, but I think it's important to connect back to it is finding a church that equips parents.
• 20:12
  Luis: So, parents, as you're listening to this, is your church making discipleship at home a priority?
• 20:19
  Luis: Is your pastor, is your youth pastor?
• 20:22
  Luis: Are they talking about discipleship in the home?
• 20:25
  Luis: Because you see, churches, they're going to be powerful tools in discipling your children, but they have to support what you're doing as a parent.
• 20:34
  Luis: They can't be the substitute, and so make sure that you find a church that is strengthening family discipleship.
• 20:42
  Luis: Are they creating intentional opportunities for you and your family to disciple the parents, to disciple the children, for mom to disciple the daughter, for the father to disciple the son and to spend time in that?
• 20:58
  Luis: Because that's important, because if you don't have a church that's equipping you, then it's not being reinforced in the church.
• 21:07
  Luis: What you're doing.
• 21:07
  Luis: Then a lot of this is probably going to be for naught, because we know that God has ordained the local church as an important role when it comes to guiding the Christian family, and then I think that the next thing would be to commit to intentional discipleship.
• 21:23
  Luis: So don't feel guilty if you're listening to this and you're thinking to yourself, I've done a terrible job.
• 21:28
  Luis: We don't read the Bible together, we don't prioritize discipleship.
• 21:34
  Luis: That's okay, in full transparency.
• 21:37
  Luis: Discipleship that's okay, in full transparency.
• 21:41
  Luis: I've been in ministry for 20 years.
• 21:42
  Luis: It didn't really become a priority for me until probably about five years ago, and I was a pastor.
• 21:46
  Luis: I thought, hey, I'm a pastor, I'm discipling my children, we're going to church, I'm preaching messages, I don't need to do anything extra in the home.
• 21:55
  Luis: And the Lord really convicted me in that, probably about five years ago.
• 21:59
  Luis: And it took me stepping out of a pastor role to really begin to prioritize discipleship in our home.
• 22:07
  Luis: And so, don't feel guilty, start simple, make it easy.
• 22:12
  Luis: Set a daily or maybe even a weekly.
• 22:15
  Luis: So you have to crawl before you walk, you have to walk before you run right.
• 22:20
  Luis: And so if you're not doing anything right now, just set a weekly time for faith conversations at home.
• 22:26
  Luis: Maybe that means it's on Sunday evenings before you start your week, maybe it's on Friday evenings after you finished up the school week.
• 22:34
  Luis: But just set aside a time and if you can't do it daily right now, start with weekly time for faith conversations at home.
• 22:44
  Nate: Yeah, yeah, I think John Acuff is an author who says some is better than none, right.
• 22:48
  Nate: So something's better than nothing there, and I guess that's a commitment, right.
• 22:53
  Nate: And integrating it into daily life, right, we talked about those rhythms.
• 22:57
  Nate: So even just the car ride home from church, you know, hey, kids, what did you learn about?
• 23:02
  Nate: What did you say?
• 23:03
  Nate: What stuck out to you?
• 23:04
  Nate: Something like that Mealtime, bedtime, whatever it happens to be just integrating it into the rhythms of daily life, because if you're trying to do something big, that's like a huge goal.
• 23:15
  Nate: You know it's going to be hard to keep that up, but just let's start small.
• 23:18
  Nate: Uh, I like the, the encouragement there, Luis, um, and just being consistent and persistent with it right, over and over again.
• 23:26
  Nate: Don't expect one big family devotion to have a huge impact, but it's the culmination of all of them over time.
• 23:33
  Nate: And um, I think in all of that we keep coming back to this idea that Scripture is central.
• 23:39
  Nate: Right, scripture is central.
• 23:42
  Nate: So keep coming back to the idea of just Get in the Word, read it together, memorize it, discuss it, something, and even just being real with your kids in all of that, being real with things you're struggling with so they can see how you're working through it and you don't have all the answers, but you're looking to Scripture for those answers.
• 24:03
  Nate: So here any final ideas or thoughts, Luis, as we close today.
• 24:10
  Luis: Let me close with this.
• 24:11
  Luis: So discipleship, it's not about being perfect parents, it's about being faithful parents.
• 24:17
  Luis: So please don't listen to this and sell yourself short and think well, I'm not a pastor, I'm not a Bible teacher, I'm not.
• 24:27
  Nate: I can't pronounce those Hebrew words.
• 24:28
  Luis: I can't pronounce those Hebrew words Don't sell yourself short, just'm not.
• 24:31
  Luis: I can't pronounce those Hebrew words.
• 24:31
  Luis: I can't pronounce those Hebrew words right, like don't sell yourself short, just be faithful.
• 24:33
  Luis: Because God isn't calling you to have all of the answers, to be perfect, to never make mistakes.
• 24:39
  Luis: He's calling you to be faithful in pointing your children to Christ.
• 24:43
  Luis: And so, as we looked at Deuteronomy 6, verses 4 through 9, we're reminded here that everyday moments are opportunities for discipleship.
• 24:52
  Luis: So, just like Nate mentioned, whether it's the car ride home from school or the car ride to school, whether it's the car ride to church or to other activities, whether it's bedtime, whether it's just praying together when your children are laying down to go to bed, or simply just modeling a love for God in your daily life, parents, you are shaping the next generation for Christ.
• 25:18
  Luis: And let me give you a very sobering statistic that I read about two weeks ago.
• 25:22
  Luis: I read it on the Internet, so I don't know how true it is Everything you read on the Internet is true.
• 25:27
  Luis: Isn't that what Abraham Lincoln?
• 25:28
  Nate: said.
• 25:28
  Nate: I'm pretty sure he said that.
• 25:28
  Nate: Yes, it is.
• 25:28
  Nate: Everything you read on the internet is true, isn't?
• 25:29
  Luis: that what Abraham Lincoln said?
• 25:30
  Luis: I'm pretty sure he said that, and so now that we know that, when I read this a couple of weeks ago it really stung.
• 25:35
  Luis: But it said this.
• 25:37
  Luis: It said 90% of the time that you will spin with your children will be completed by the time they're 18.
• 25:44
  Luis: And I was like there's no way.
• 25:47
  Luis: That's true, because if the average lifespan is into the 80s but then it hit me, after your children are 18, like once they hit 18, 19 years old, you may spend time with them, but it's going to be limited.
• 25:59
  Luis: They move out, they go to college, they get married, and so 90% of the time that you're going to spend with your children is between the time they're born and the time they're 18.
• 26:09
  Luis: And I was like, wow.
• 26:12
  Luis: And so even small, consistent steps are going to make a lasting impact.
• 26:18
  Luis: So lean into God's grace, trust his word and disciple your children with faithfulness, knowing that he's going to work through you.
• 26:27
  Luis: He's not calling you to be perfect.
• 26:29
  Nate: He's calling you to be faithful Awesome.
• 26:31
  Nate: Well, thank you for that.
• 26:33
  Nate: And discipling your kids doesn't have to be overwhelming.
• 26:36
  Nate: So the challenge here is just start small.
• 26:40
  Nate: If you've not done anything, choose one simple way this week to be intentional in pointing your children to Christ.
• 26:45
  Nate: And if this episode encouraged you, I just encourage you to share it with another parent who needs to hear it.
• 26:52
  Nate: Be sure you subscribe so you don't miss our next episode, where we'll dive into the importance of building strong partnerships between parents, churches and schools.
• 27:02
  Nate: We'll start with the role of the church.
• 27:05
  Nate: Thanks for joining us today and until next time, keep leading the next generation to stand firm in their faith and impact the world for Christ.