Family

(enjoying Family Night at Chili's and Books-A-Million with my family)

"And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates." (Deut. 6:5-9)

As parents we have the responsibility of teaching and training our children to know, love, and serve God. For so long families have often times seem to have put the responsibility of their kids spiritual well-being when in fact it is theirs. The churches responsibility is to equip the parents (or partner) with the parents in assisting them in their childrens spiritual well-being.

Ephesians 4:11-12 says, "Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God's people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ."

Simply put, when the church equips the saints (or families) to do the work of the ministry it will help build up the church. Strong families build strong churches.