Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Welcome to the May 10th Mother's Day sermon from Clifford Baptist Church, 6:35 Fletcher's Level Road in Amherst. Today's sermon is entitled It Takes Dedication, delivered by Pastor Jeffrey Campbell. Pastor Campbell will be using various scriptures.
[00:00:13] Speaker B: I must be careful to say this. I acknowledge that this day of the Lord is celebrated in so many ways. But this day can be hard for many families. And today, if you have lost a mother, or maybe you have wayward children, or maybe you have issues with infertility, I know that these days like this can be hard. And I want to acknowledge that in front of you, that as we celebrate moms today, we celebrate the fact that the Lord will lead you even through those seasons. And so lean into him and lean onto him. That is my prayer. Well, today is a devotional message. What that means for you is it's not four pages, it's three pages. And so it's not gonna be as long, long. But my prayer, as we think about, what does it mean to be dedicated?
My prayer is, I don't care if you're a mom or your dad or you're a sibling or you're a Christian. We are called to dedication. In the 1700s, there was a mother who had 19 children.
The house was a constant noise and responsibility and pressure.
But she was committed among all of that to spend time with the Lord every day. And she had a simple signal to her children, not just to leave her alone, but she was spending time with the Lord. And that simple signal was this. When she sat down in her chair and she had an apron. Now, remember, this is the 1700s, she had an apron. She would slip that apron up and pull it over her head.
And if she was underneath that apron, you were to leave her alone.
She was spending time with the Lord. You see, it wasn't long hours, and it was nothing fancy or perfect about this time. But here's what it was. It was consistent.
She also took time each day to spend time to talk to each one of those 19 children about faith in Jesus. Two of her sons, John and Charles Wesley, in turn, impacted millions for the name of Jesus Christ.
And so today, we honor families who dedicate their little ones to the Lord. But we are reminded that dedication and investment and the leading of the Lord in our family's lives continue to lead families today.
Continue to change the world for Jesus today.
And so, very quickly, I want to share four separate scriptures, four different points, very quickly. Now, those of you that are here normally, you know, this is not something I normally do. You're Going to get your Bible work out today. Okay. Psalm 127, verse number 3. Psalm 127, verse number three.
Here's what that verse says.
Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord, and the fruit of the womb is his reward.
The first thing that we've got to talk about or think about when it takes dedication is our children.
And it's amazing when we think about our children. I look at our church and we are a blessed church.
Church. You need to understand there are families flocking to Clifford, Virginia, but because they want their children to know about Jesus.
Praise the Lord.
But what a responsibility on our part. What a responsibility on the church's part. But they want their precious children to learn about Jesus. But when we think about children being a gift from the Lord, there are really three things I need you to understand very quickly about that. Number one, they are not just a product reproduction.
Some people in this world view children as a consequence, as an accident.
But the Bible clearly teaches this, that children are an inheritance, a gift from God. Every child is a gift from the Lord. And Jeremiah says this, before I formed you, I knew you. It's no surprise. It may be a surprise to your family, but a child is not a surprise to God. It is a gift.
When we understand that children are a gift from the Lord, we need to understand they're more than a product of reproduction and they're more than representation.
We have a saying in our house when our children leave our home. We just have this little saying.
Remember who you represent.
That little saying is, they are representatives of our family, but they are also representatives of the Lord Jesus Christ. Children carry on names and they carry on genealogies. They carry on the generations. But today we understand that even though they carry on family names and responsibilities, they are more than representatives of of you.
They're representatives of God.
The third part of this I need you to understand is this. Children are ultimately a great reward.
What the Bible says in Psalm 127, verse number three is simply this.
Children are a heritage of the Lord and the fruit of the womb is his reward.
Children come with responsibility, but they also are a reward for from God. Now, I say that knowing this, some of your families have struggled in this area and I pray God will lead you. But that's going to jump to our next point after we understand that it takes dedication to raise children. Children are entrusted to us from a holy God.
Look at First Samuel, chapter number one. Go there real quickly in your Old Testament, or you can just follow along on the screen. Two, verses 1st Samuel, chapter number one, verses 27 and 28.
Here's what these verses say. For this child, I prayed. And the Lord hath given me petition which I ask of him. Therefore also I have lent him to the Lord. As long as he liveth, he shall be lent to the Lord. And he worship the Lord there.
The second point today is we must be dedicated to pray for our children.
We think about dedicating families, dedicating children. As parents and as a church, we need to be dedicated to pray for our children. Hannah was a bitter woman.
She deeply and desperately wanted a child, and she was unable to have one. Many families can relate to that.
She fasted, she prayed, and she never had a child.
But here's what I want you to understand about Hannah. Excuse me. That she never stopped praying.
When we think about praying, Hannah was praying out loud. Hannah prayed in tears. Hannah prayed in her heart. When no words could be understood, Hannah was found praying. She. She desperately wanted a child. What does that teach you and me today about dedication? Here's what it teaches us. Today she petitioned God.
What does it mean to petition God? It carries with it begging.
She was begging God for a child.
We must petition God on the behalf of our children, parents, grandparents, extended family.
Don't you close your eyes on one day without begging God to protect and look after your children.
Hannah petitioned God. But what Hannah also did is she poured out her soul to God in verse number 15 of 1st Samuel, chapter number one. And it says this. Hannah answered and said, no, my Lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I have poured out my soul before the Lord.
Have you ever prayed pouring out your soul to God? I hope I see some nods of yes, I have. Because when we pray and when we're dedicated to pray, there's nothing that stands in the way. But between our hearts and God's heart. We tell him exactly how we feel, what our emotions have been like, what our hurts and our desires are. We lay them out before a holy God. We empty ourselves knowing that God will hear every single word.
Hannah petitioned God.
And through her pain and grief and. And fasting, she not only prayed, but she was able to bring herself to worship a holy God. When we think about that prayer and that worship, she gave it right back to the Lord. And the Lord heard her prayer.
I'm grateful that God brings down and God lifts up.
I'm grateful that he raises beggars up, grateful that we inherit the throne of glory.
But it takes Moms and dads and grandparents and family members praying for children.
That God would lead them, that God would protect them, that God would watch over them, and that God would ultimately save them.
Our county, our church, our families could be different if we were dedicated to pray like Hannah.
She petitioned God. She poured out her soul, and then she pledged her child to the Lord. God. Samuel would be entrusted right back to God. She asked God for a child.
God gave her a child. And then she gave that child back over to Eli to raise in the service of the Lord.
Ultimately, we do the same thing with our children.
We desire them to grow up, we desire them to live. But ultimately, as our children are growing, we've got to be careful to pledge our children, to give them back to the Lord. And so you can only do that through prayer.
I can't let go of my two boys without whispering a prayer. God, you better protect them.
God, you watch over them. God, keep them from their own crazy ideas.
God, keep them in your will.
God, would you protect them?
Those two boys don't hear their daddy saying that.
But how many times do we petition and do we pray and do we pledge God? Here's my child. Please take care of them.
Give your children back over to God. We need to be dedicated to pray for our children.
We need to also be dedicated to teach our children.
Look in your Old Testament book of Deuteronomy, chapter number six. Deuteronomy, chapter number six. Listen to these words, verses four through seven.
Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord.
And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy might. And these words which I command thee this day shall be in thine heart. And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children. Thou shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house. And when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down and when thou risest up.
When we understand these verses are the basis of faith and family. And here's what I want you to understand. And I say this as gently as I can and with as much love as I can. Here's what I tell you. It's not the church's job to teach your children about Jesus.
It's your job, it's the family's job to teach their children. Now the church is able to come beside it. But many times families bring their child to the pastor or the youth pastor and say, help me fix my child.
But what we really need to do is hit our knees And Lord, start with me, Fix me, fix me so that I can help my child. What does it mean to be dedicated, to teach your children? We have a responsibility, families, to teach our children to love the Lord thy God.
You've got to love the Lord thy God. You can love him with all your heart, your soul, your might, your mind and your strength. But it doesn't start in Sunday school when they learn that. It starts in your home. Mom and dads who truly love the Lord are called to pass that love of God on to the next generation.
Your child's faith starts by you loving God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.
And so when we teach our children, we need to teach them to love the Lord thy God. We also need to teach children to love the Word of God.
As we see here, Deuteronomy. That Word should be in our heart. Psalm 119 says this. Hide the Word in our hearts. That. That I might not sin against God. One of the safest places. The Word of God in this world is not in your hand, it's in your heart.
And in that heart, the Word of God is able to lead you and lead your family.
We're reminded Colossians chapter 3, verse 16, that the word of Christ dwells in you richly. It is about loving, meditating on the Word of God, but it's also about teaching it to our children, talking about it, letting it be a reminder to them day in and day out, have a commitment to learn and to teach and to love the Word of God. So when we talk about being dedicated to teach, you need to teach your children to love the Lord thy God, love the Word of the God. And we need to teach them to live for, for the Lord God.
When you lay down and when you get up, when you're home and when you go away, God is in your heart. The Lord goes with you. Do you realize that, Christian, everywhere you go, the Lord goes with you?
Praise God for that.
I'm thankful for that. But when we are thinking about teaching them to live for the Lord, Galatians 2:20 says this.
I'm crucified with Christ.
Nevertheless, I live. Yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.
Teach your children to love God, to love His Word and to live for Jesus.
Not only do we have to recognize children are a blessing from the Lord, a gift from God.
Not only are we called to be dedicated, to pray for them and Dedicated to teach them. But we are called to be dedicated to serve.
Dedicated to serve. You know these very familiar words. If you want to turn there, you can.
Joshua, chapter number 24, verse number 15.
This will kind of be our ending anthem today as we walk out of here together.
If it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom you will serve. Whether the gods which your father served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord today. That is our sending and the sounding anthem of the Christian. But what does it mean to be dedicated to serve the Lord?
Number one, you will be dedicated to serve something or someone.
Can I tell you a legitimate fact?
Here's a legitimate fact. If you look at your time and your energy and your finances, you can learn very quickly who you serve.
And here's what Joshua says. You're going to serve something. You're going to serve someone.
That's your choice.
When we think about what we're going to serve or who we're going to serve, Joshua calls those leaders together. He has reminded them what God has done in the past and what God is going to do in the future. And he says simply, this. Me and my house, we will serve God families.
I'm not talking about coming to church at 11 o'. Clock.
That's a wonderful thing.
I'm not talking about reading your kids a bedtime story. That's a wonderful thing.
But when you get your kids in the trenches of ministry with you and say, we're going to serve our Lord together, the kids are going to go kicking and screaming sometimes.
But here's the truth. They will learn to serve Jesus.
They're going to serve something.
They're going to serve themselves. They're going to serve some other God. They're going to serve something.
But then there's a choice, you see.
You can serve the God of your fathers, the false gods, the failed gods, the foreign gods.
Joshua says, you can serve the one true God.
When I talk about serving, what do I mean? Here's what I mean. What do we love?
What do we reverently fear?
Who will we obey?
Who will we worship?
Here's the ultimate question. Who will you? You choose.
And Joshua put these leaders.
And on a moment's notice, they had to make a choice. And I'm not Joshua. But today, standing in Clifford Baptist Church, I'm gonna charge everybody to make a choice. When you leave this room today, when you leave this building today, you are making a choice who you will serve.
You gotta serve someone and you gotta make a choice. And that ultimate question comes down to this. Who will it be?
Parents today, families today, church today. Who's it going to be? Joshua said, as for me, and not only me, everyone under my care, everyone in my house, we will serve the Lord our God today.
We have watched families come across this stage and we have watched families say that we're going to raise our kids to know Jesus and we're going to pray, partner with the church to do that. And we're committing ourselves and the rest of our lives to do that.
They have said our children are gifts, that we're going to pray for them and we're going to teach them about Jesus.
My prayer, that as they serve the Lord together the Lord will give the increase it takes. Dedication Today, church.
I'm not talking about just the families that were up here.
I'm talking about your family.
Maybe you're a mom or dad today and you look in that mirror and somewhere deep down in your side you feel this little voice telling you you weren't good enough or you did a horrible job, or even you failed.
Don't believe the voice of a lie of an enemy.
Don't believe that.
But you can leave here today making a choice from this moment forward that I'm going to be determined to raise my child, to teach my child, to pray for my child, to serve with my child in the name of the Lord Jesus.
Today you can do that. Maybe you're a dad here today and maybe you've provided very well for your family. They don't want for anything.
You've done your job right well. Men, listen.
The greatest responsibility that we have as men is to lead our families to love Jesus Christ.
And so men don't look in the mirror as a failure. Maybe you want to come before a holy God and you want to make a commitment. From now on, I'm going to lead my family. I'm not going to tag along to what my wife wants me to do. I'm going to lead in. In serving and living for Jesus church.
It's not just about 10 families making a decision.
It's about every person making a choice.
Who will you serve today?
Don't leave this room thinking I've made my choice. I'm good.
Maybe there's somebody you want to kneel and pray for earnestly. Come do it today.
Ultimately, I'm thankful for the family of God.
And the family of God extends beyond denomination and church. Name, but it involves the name of Jesus Christ.
Today, I'm thankful for your families. But more importantly, I'm thankful to be a part of the family of God that's bigger than Clifford Baptist Church.
That goes worldwide and it goes on for eternity. And today, if you've never committed your life to love and to serve the Lord Jesus, today can be your day to join the family of God. Praise God that he took our sin to a cross and he rose on the third day to give us life and hope and relationship with the risen Savior. Today is, if you need Jesus as your savior, don't you leave this room without making that choice to give your life to him.
Church, family, we've got our work cut out for us, don't we?
We've got a lot of praying to do.
We've got a lot of teaching to do.
We've got a lot of serving to do. And praise God. We don't do it in the name of Clifford Baptist Church. We do it in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Today, what will you bring before the Lord?
It's a moment of invitation.
Whether you're part of this family, part of this community, whether it's your first time, you respond to what the Holy Spirit is leading you to do. And we'll be careful to give God the glory for it. Let's pray together. Father, thank you for a charge today.
Somewhat quick, somewhat firm, but, God, I pray that you use every word of this charge, Lord, that you will strike the hearts of men and women, boys and girls in this room. Maybe there's a wayward child out there in the world, but there's a mom or dad here today that just simply wants to pray. God, protect my child.
Lord, I pray that they can do that from a pew, but maybe they want to take a few steps and kneel at an altar and pray over their family.
Maybe there's relationships that have been strained. Oh, God, I pray that you go before and in forgiveness and restoration, you heal families in the name of Jesus.
God, today the greatest need in the room is the need of salvation.
God, I pray that your Holy Spirit will move across these aisles that will charge families and remind them that they need to be committed to you to pray, teach, to serve as they look deep, deep down inside. Lord, I pray that every man and every woman in this room knows they have a relationship with Jesus.
Holy Spirit, work on that heart that needs you. Today, I pray and we do it all in the name of Jesus. Amen.
[00:25:22] Speaker A: Clifford Baptist Church invites you to join us for worship every Sunday morning at 11am for more information about our church, please call our church office at 434-946-0555.
