Sunday School Begins At Home:

Helpful tips on children’s salvation, baptism age

accountability, and sexuality

By: Michael Gomulka

4 "Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one!
5 "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and
with all your soul and with all your might. 6 "These words,
which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart.
7 "You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk
of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the
way and when you lie down and when you rise up. 8 "You shall
bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals
on your forehead. 9 "You shall write them on the doorposts of
your house and on your gates.
Deut 6:4-9 (NASB)
What does “Schema” Deut. 6:4-9 teach
us?

 LORD is our God

 LORD is One
Implications

 It is important from early childhood to drill

into our children that LORD is our God and
that He is One.
 There is One God and besides Him there are
no others.
Cont.

 Love the LORD with all heart, soul and might

 Worship takes the whole of a man, it involves
the heart, soul and might.
Talk& Walk

 Parents are the primary religious educators

of their children, worship starts at home.
What about Sunday School?

 Sunday school was invented in England

during 18th century for orphans and
homeless children who had nobody to take
care of them!
 ”Train up a child in the way he should go,
Even when he is old he will not depart from it.” Prov 22:6
(NASB)

 Christian education starts at an early age, it

starts at home and continues at home
Really???

 It is not a responsibility of the Sunday school

teacher to teach my kids. Children should
come to Sunday school already being taught
by their parents.
 “Mrs. Jones” is not the primary educator of
your children, YOU ARE!
“How can I do it?

 It requires discipline and time management.

Things to consider…

 In Ephesians 5:22-32 we have a key

passage that deals between a husband and
a wife. The reason for bringing it up here has
to do with a fact that when there is a proper
“subjections” of a husband and a wife to
each other, there is a proper order and
peace in a family
Ephesians 5:22-24

 Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as

to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head
of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the
church, He Himself being the Savior of the
body. 24 But as the church is subject to
Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their
husbands in everything. Eph 5:22-24 (NASB)
Ephesians 5:25-27

 25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ

also loved the church and gave Himself up
for her, 26 so that He might sanctify her,
having cleansed her by the washing of water
with the word, 27 that He might present to
Himself the church in all her glory, having no
spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she
would be holy and blameless Eph 5:25-27
(NASB)
Ephesians 5:28-32

 28 So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own

bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; 29 for no one
ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as
Christ also does the church, 30 because we are members of
His body. 31 FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS
FATHER AND MOTHER AND SHALL BE JOINED TO HIS
WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH. 32 This
mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and
the church. 33 Nevertheless, each individual among you also is
to love his own wife even as himself, and the wife must see to it
that she respects her husband.
 Eph 5:28-33 (NASB)
Main Point

 Husbands ought to love their wives as

themselves, and ought to give their lives up
for their wives. Wives in the same way ought
to respect their husbands. Marriage is an
illustration that God gave us of the
relationship Jesus Christ has with the church.
What does it have to do with my
children?

 Parents are the examples to their kids.

Children will mimic their parents. If parent
model a Christ like behavior that will
influence the kids as well. If parents model
an ungodly behavior that will be what the
children will mimic.
Outcome

 A healthy/ God centered marriage will not

only glorify God but will give your children a
firm foundation of what marriage is and what
a true family looks like. Many Christian
families look no different than the ones of the
world, thus we as Christians must take a
stand.
As to salvation…

 Theology (Theos=God, Logy= study of)

Theology is a study of God, or a discourse on
God. We must start with a solid Biblical
emphasis of what salvation is.
Jonah 2:9

 …Salvation is from the LORD.

 It is God almighty who saves and brings
about salvation. It is the LORD who saves
and no other, God of Abraham, Isaac and
Jacob.
Ezekiel 37

 This is a chapter which portrays a valley filled

with bones. Suddenly God starts to make
men out of the bones, he puts skin and
muscles on them. Finally God sends the
“breath” also could be translated as Spirit
and an “exceedingly great army stood”
John 14:6

 "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no

one comes to the Father but through Me.
John 14:6 (NASB)
What’s the big deal?

 The big deal is that God saves, we are just

privileged messengers who are given the
honor to proclaim the unfathomable riches
that are in Christ.
A Christian home…

 Just because your children are born in a

Christian home it does not guarantee that
they will be saved.
 WHAT!!!!! Yes this is true…
Psalm 51:5

 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,

And in sin my mother conceived me. Psalms
51:5 (NASB)
Sinfulness of Sin

 We are born in sin, thus we are not sinners

because we sin but we sin because we are
sinners.
A change?

 In order to change your children, and

influence them “positively” we must address
the “core” which is sin
Romans 10:9-10

 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as

Lord, and believe in your heart that God
raised Him from the dead, you will be
saved; for with the heart a person believes,
resulting in righteousness, and with the
mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.
Romans 10:9-10 (NASB)
Exegesis that has gone wrong…

 We have taken the passage from Romans

10:9-10 and turned it into a “magical formula”
What’s the meaning…

 It means exactly what it says..

 Yet the background of it is totally different
from ours
 During first century to confess someone else
as lord instead of Cesar would be considered
of putting a death sentence on yourself
Cost

 There was a cost that early Christians had to

pay in order to follow Christ
What can we do as parents…

 DO NOT HURRY!
 WAIT ON THE LORD!
“I’ll make him/her a Christian”

 As parents, it is not your responsibility to

bring about “salvation” upon your kids but to
model a Christ like life, talk about Jesus
(gospel) and most important live it out in front
of your kids.
Actions speak louder than words

 Children have a tendency to observe rather

than listen. As Craig Jutila says that children
remember what we do, not what we say.
What’s the appropriate time for a child
to understand the Gospel message?

 Obviously little babies, infants cannot

understand nor speak so they are out of the
question. (It does not mean that they are
doomed to hell, Scripture does not clearly
address this issue so we must trust that they
are in the hands of a righteous God who did
not spare His own son but gave Him over for
our sins.
Is there an appropriate age?

 Wait for your children to ask you questions.

The Holy Spirit will convict them of sin, be
ready and listen to them.
Baptism

 Baptism does not save, it is a public

profession of a Christian who already has
faith, and baptism is a result of that faith that
the Christian already possessed before
baptism.
Do not dip them if they don’t initiate!

 Wait for your children until they ask you if

they can be baptized, do not dunk them just
because you want to make sure they are
“safe”.
 Baptism will not save them, only Jesus.
This is hard to accept…

 This is what the Bible teaches, and if we

want to be obedient we must follow it and not
our own pathetic strategies and plans that we
“have” for our children. Waiting on God is not
easy which brings me to my second
point…PRAYER
Pray for your kids

 Make it a habit to pray regularly with your

spouse for your children, pleading with God
for their salvation.
So I’m the teacher?

 Yes, you are the primary teacher of your

children, it is a parents responsibility not Mrs.
Jones’.
To the fathers

 It is your responsibility to educate your boys

on sexuality not the playboy magazine or
Bobby who happened to hear stories from
his older cousin Slash. When your son
reaches 12 or even earlier now be ready to
have a “sex-talk” with your sons based on
the Biblical principles.
To the mother’s

 It is your responsibility to have a sex-talk with

your daughters, the husband should be
present for this one. Father is the head of the
house and should add helpful and useful
content to the conversation
Proverbs

 Hear, my son, your father's instruction

And do not forsake your mother's teaching;
9 Indeed, they are a graceful wreath to your
head
And ornaments about your neck. Prov 1:8-9
(NASB)
Read?

 Read the Word to your kids and encourage

them to read it as well, there are many
children Bible’s these days, get them a
translation that suites them
True Wisdom

 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of

knowledge;
Fools despise wisdom and instruction. Prov
1:7 (NASB)
IMPORTANT

 For Children time=love

 You need to make time for them!
What’s next

 We must reconsidered what grandma Jenny

taught us, and we must stand firmly on god’s
word and bring it into practice in our daily
lives especially at home.
Principles…

 1) Walk…we must model Christ like lives for

our children
 2) Talk… after we walk we must talk and
proclaim God’s message to our children as
Deuteronomy 6:4-9 teaches.
 3) Pray…again prayer is a necessary plea for
the salvation of your children, pray often,
pray without ceasing.
 Works Cited

 Essentials for Children’s ministry by Craig

Jutila