sticky-faith

Notes from Session #1
Sticky Faith // Parent Curriculum DVD

40-50% of young adults will want to stick with their faith

Fuller Youth Institute did a study with 500 youth group graduates through 3 years of college.

Your kids are more connected to you (parent) than you might think. You (parent) are the most important influence in your student’s life. How you express and live out your faith may have a greater impact on your son or daughter than anything else. There is ALWAYS still time to start practicing sticky faith. It’s never too late, nor is it ever too early.

Fuller Youth Institute asked college juniors this question:

What is being a Christian all about?

One-third of the respondents did not mention Jesus. The most dominant answer was: LOVE. Conclusion: most answers were focused on behaviors in which to manage sin, what Dallas Willard calls the “Gospel of Sin Management.” Where do our students learn this sin management gospel? From us. Kids are like mirrors reflecting what we model–attitudes and beliefs.

  • When we distill the Gospel to behaviors, it’s like a jacket that we can take on and off
  • Jesus… the Gospel… is so much more than a jacket… more than a set of behaviors

The Gospel can be summed up in 4 words

  1. Good // God created a good world
  2. Guilt // Sin has separated us from God
  3. Grace // By God’s grace he sent His one and only son, Jesus
  4. Gratitude // Our lives become living “thank you notes” in gratitude for what he’s done

We obey God because we are so very grateful, not to make Him like us… HE ALREADY DOES! Our behavior is not the heart of the Gospel, God’s grace is: “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” Romans 5:8. We need to model and extend grace to our children when they mess up because the kindness and grace of God leads us to repentance, not shame and guilt. Our children often wonder:

How will my parents handle me when I fail?

One truth that author Kara Powell emphasizes with her family is:

Jesus is bigger than any mistake.

Sticky faith means that we can rest in the Jesus who likes us, loves us, and is bigger than any mistake. We can take great hope in this Gospel!

This is the first post in a series called Sticky Faith.

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1 COMMENT

  1. Ultimately, it is WHO YOU ARE, NOT WHAT YOU SAY. Children are very perceptive and Know us far better than we can imagine.

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