Sticky Families of Faith

“When it comes to kids’ faith, parents get what they are.”
-Christian Smith, quoted in Sticky Faith: Youth Worker Edition, pg 117.

The teacher in Ecclesiastes famously wrote, “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9).  Several thousand years ago, Moses relayed a vision from God in which the family was given the primary role in passing the faith on to the next generations.  Over the past decade, more and more research has come out that repeatedly emphasizes that no societal group has more impact on the faith of children than the parents.  
But in practice over the past 30-40 years, the church and society has fragmented what was supposed to be the responsibility of parents and families.  With the best of intentions, families have been told that Hollywood can entertain their children better, McDonalds can feed them better, schools can educate them better, and the church can pass the faith to them better.  None of this is true.
This sermon series hopes to reconnect us to the biblical vision for “Sticky Families of Faith” first given by God through Moses in Deuteronomy 6.  The first three sermons are grounded in that passage and explore that ancient call to families.  Then, we look at an often assumed but rarely emphasized aspect of sticky faith - the power and work of the Holy Spirit (a sermon preached on Pentecost).  The next six sermons explore various issues, challenges and questions that inevitably come up when we begin talking about equipping parents as the primary ministers to their children.
These sermons compose the 2nd part of a year-long series on Sticky Faith, and ran through the summer of 2012.  The first series is Epiphany: The King Jesus Gospel.  The final part of the series is From Generation to Generation.