Parenting Teens - Influencing Them for Eternity

Joe Botti

Matthew 25:19-21

The teenage years are when our children are trying to form their own values and worldview. If we want to influence our teens for Christ, we must have a quality relationship with them. In order to foster healthy independence, it is important to set key goals and focus almost completely on them, learning to avoid unnecessary conflicts and adapt our parenting style to help them transition into and through the teenage years.

Serving Christ through Life's Stages and Shifting Priorities

Mary Barnum

Colossians 1:3-12

The key to serving Christ through life's stages it to develop a "gospel-rooted, mission-driven, community-based" lifestyle. This focus will effect how we interact with the core areas of our lives and our faith: evangelism, marriage & family, discipleship, school/work, and Biblical teaching. In this breakout we see how all of these areas are interdependent.

Being a Good Steward of Your Family

Ben Foust

Ephesians 6:1-4

Being good stewards of the families God has entrusted to us requires a humble understanding that God is the ultimate owner and we are caring for people who belong to Him. When we view our spouses and children with a proper eternal perspective, it is clear that they deserve our utmost effort in caring for them. By examining four different kinds of stewardship, we see both the benefit to biblical stewardship and the problems that arise when we are not keeping an eternal perspective in these relationships.

Parenting a Prodigal in Light of Eternity

Jim Fulford

Susan Fulford

2 Corinthians 4:1

Despite teaching children about the Lord and what it looks like to follow him, many parents watch their children turn away from God and pursue the world instead. Parents of a prodigal child are often left sad, confused, and feeling helpless. However, there is a way to persevere through this trial and effectively represent Christ to your prodigal, focusing on God's eternal promises.

The New Self and Marriage

Ryan Lowery

Ephesians 5:22-30

This passage speaks to the roles set out by God for a good marriage. Men and women are prescribed different roles according to Paul. This teaching examines those roles, primarily leadership and respect, and what impact those have on the family when played out as God intended.

Living the Life of Faith (Part 2)

Dennis McCallum

Matthew 19:4-6

The author of Hebrews instructs the church to maintain the honor of marriage. Contextually, this serves as another expression of faith for the Christian believer. This instruction serves as a counter-cultural perspective leading to thriving marriages as a witness to the watching world.

Sex and Marriage

Conrad Hilario

Matthew 19:4-6

God values marriage and sexuality immensely, and He desires for them to be honored by all. The Biblical view of sex and marriage, however, is incredibly different from the modern perspective in its definition, norms, and preparation for marriage and sex, and yet modern research demonstrates that the Biblical perspective is the only method that brings true fulfillment. Single Christians should seek to develop the skills necessary for a good marriage, and those that are married should work hard to maintain the health of their marriages as well.

Sex and Marriage

Scott Risley

Hebrews 13:4

We learn about God's design for sex and marriage, and why His design is superior to the world's views of sex and marriage. According to our culture, sex is a chemical reaction that gives humans the urge to mate?simply a bodily function that means nothing. Under this perspective, sex is a means for expressing ourselves and is an unpredictable feeling; there is no basis for morality. And thinking this way has only served to create emptiness, loneliness, disease, lower sexual satisfaction, the inability to form healthy families, and damaged children. God places great value and honor on sex; He says marriage is the only safe place for something as powerful as sex. In the marriage context, sex enhances unity, which, in turn, allows for pleasure, procreation (provides a safe place for children to be born and raised), and the ability to resist the temptation of infidelity.

Husbands and Wives

Ryan Lowery

1 Peter 3:1-7

At times, the Bible has been accused of promoting misogyny. But with correct interpretation, Scripture actually presents a compelling case for equality and an overwhelmingly positive stance on marriage that stands apart from its culture. When understood correctly, we are presented with a framework that allows for unity and love between spouses.