The Mission of Family Discipleship at Glory of Christ Baptist Church

The Vision of Family Discipleship at Glory of Christ Baptist Church

We envision parents of our church utilizing the strategic structure of the family unit for the biblical discipleship of their children which leads them to maturity in Christ, for the glory of Christ.

The reason that the family unit is a strategic structure is because the Bible considers it the best possible environment for true discipleship. Thus, the profoundly relational demands of discipleship can be most profoundly met within the context of family life. Perhaps this is why Scripture emphasizes the role of family in discipleship so much.

Deuteronomy 6:1-3 “Now this is the commandment, the statutes and the rules that the Lord your God commanded me to teach you, that you may do them in the land to which you are going over, to possess it, that you may fear the Lord your God, you and your son and your son's son, by keeping all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be long. Hear therefore, O Israel, and be careful to do them, that it may go well with you, and that you may multiply greatly, as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey.

Deuteronomy 6:4-9 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, 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. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

Ephesians 6:1-4 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.” Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

This command in Ephesians 6 is borrowed from a command originally given to the Israelites in Deuteronomy 6:1-3. In God’s order, parents are to follow the commands and statutes of the Lord first, and in turn are supposed to teach them to their children. This makes parents the mediators of God’s character and law to their children, and children who obey their parents in this are obeying God. Thus, [in the context of the family,] discipleship hangs on parents who obediently live by God's commands, and children who walk in obedience to their parents. Parents must be spiritually formed in order to spiritually form their children.

Furthermore, Deuteronomy 6:7-9 teaches that discipleship is more than information transfer. Theology is definitely a part of what must be taught but parents are instructed to teach it in the context of daily life. In this model, parents who are discipling their children are not only teaching them theological truths but teaching them how to live theological truths and apply them to their lives.

If children are going to grow up to treasure Jesus Christ we must invest in them spiritually. The goal of spiritual piety will not be achieved if not for faithful and diligent instruction of Godly mentors. The years of childhood and youth offer wonderful opportunities for parents to influence them towards loving God with all their heart and with all their soul and with all their might. Glory of Christ Baptist Church will seek to equip and support parents in this calling so that they can be most fruitful in raising a generation who sets their hope in God.