Monday, November 19, 2007

Gospel-Centered Mothering

Ever hear a sermon so good that you listen to it twice? Or more? I heard just such a sermon a couple of weeks ago. So this week I want to pass along quotes from a John Piper sermon on gospel-centered mothering. Mamas, you NEED to hear this sermon. I have listened to it at least three times already. It is so powerful. I am going to quote from it liberally over the next few days, because I can't just pick one quote, and because if I put them all in one post you won't read it.

But it's so much better to listen. I read the edited transcript, and it's edited a lot--the sermon is tons more powerful. Reading Piper is good, but hearing Piper is wonderful. He has this gentle, firm, fatherly passion and conviction that don't come across in the same way in print. Download it for free here, and then listen in the car, or while you're doing dishes, or while you're nursing. Put it on your iPod for when you take a walk. Just listen to it!

Here's the first quote that struck me:

To make it more pointed, mothers – and all those charged with training up the younger ones in the family and the church – are we teaching the Old Testament and the New Testament to make our children wise unto salvation through faith in Jesus Christ? Or are we turning the Scriptures into a little collection of morality plays? Do the stories of the Bible point again and again to the need for a Savior, or do they point to the children's need to get their act together morally? Are the children getting the impression under our teaching that Christianity is mainly a list of do’s and don’ts, or mainly a story about how God justifies the ungodly--by grace alone, through faith alone, on the basis of the blood and righteousness of Christ alone, to the glory of God alone?
This quote reminds me of what I love about The Jesus Storybook Bible. As Al Mohler recently said in recommending this book (he shares both my children's Bible endorsements :), "I am concerned that many Bible story books treat the stories as nothing more than disconnected morality tales. Children need to be told about the "big story" of the Bible -- of God's purpose to save His people from their sins through the atonement of Christ. They need to learn to understand the individual stories of the Bible within the big picture and to know that these stories are not disconnected, but part of a pattern of promise and fulfillment."

Oh, how this is my passion as a mother! I don't want my children to learn morality tales. I want them to see all over Scripture the promise of a Savior and the fulfillment of that promise. How I pray that the Old Testament and the New Testament will make Elijah "wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus" (2 Timothy 3:14-15).

3 comments:

Bethany said...

My boys love the Jesus storybook bible.

Anonymous said...

He is truly blessed to have a mother with that focus!

faith ann raider said...

We LOVE the Jesus Storybook Bible. I especially love the story of Rachel & Leah