By Dave Benner
In Ephesians 6:4 Paul advises husbands and wives about marriage and reveals that the church is the bride of Christ. The chapter is loaded with lessons for us today, but I want to focus on Ephesians 6:4 where Paul tells fathers to avoid exasperating their children “but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord” (NKJ).
The KJ version uses the word nurture which I think conveys the thought better. Both nurture and admonition have an element of gentile correction and, of course, direction in the way of righteousness. We see that the father, as the head of the household, is given the responsibility for this. This is the ideal, but the mother has a role and often must assume total responsibility. Many, and I think most of us, would not be worshiping today without the direction of a godly mother. The overall teaching here shows the parents are responsible for teaching their children the way of the Lord.
The church has a role in teaching children also. Paul tells us in I Corinthians 14:26 that when we meet, we should edify one another. The church supplements the parent’s instruction with Bible classes for all. Today the elders are excited that we can start face-to-face Bible classes for our children!
The elders thank those who made videos for our children since we suspended classes earlier in the year. Today we also thank those who made today’s classes possible. We particularly thank Bill Leeth, our deacon for youth education, Sherrye Woodall and Hollis Bauman for their work in this effort. Thanks to our many Bible class teachers for their time and efforts in educating our children in the most important subject of all! Thanks also to the parents who brought their children for these classes.