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Is there a specific text that commands the New Testament Church to keep their children in the congregation on the Lord's Day? No there isn't. However, a survey of the Bible shows that the consistent patterns of God's people under both Covenants was one of age-integrated discipleship where families brought their children in to participate in the community of faith.

Tom Ascol tells the story of his mother's incredible example of submission to the Lord. He was struck as a young child seeing his mother pray. He was convinced that there was a God in heaven and that his mother knew Him.

The starting point in knowing God is coming to grips with the fact that this is God's world, that He is the Creator, and that you are the creature. He made you and everything for His own glory. If you want to know God, you are going to have to start listening to God and believing what God says about you, the world, and Himself. What God says about you is that He made you in His image. You are different from all the other creatures. This means that you have a responsibility to represent Him in this world.

Dr. Joel Beeke shares in this video that his father explained to him when he was younger that it was important to be regularly reading Scripture and godly, edifying books. It isn't enough to just attend church services once a week for a few, short hours. Now, years later, he realizes more and more just how valuable his father's wisdom was. Proverbs 22:6 (NKJV) - "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it."

What should parents be aware of before letting their children access social media? Dr. Carlton McLeod explains in this video that social media can be extremely dangerous and harmful, particularly for younger children. It can be so easy for one of our children to see something that they can never unsee. Parents must make an informed decision of what they allow their children to access. While social media is not evil in and of itself, we shouldn't necessarily be careless and just hastily let our children access it with no limits. Each parent will have to ultimately decide what to do for their own family. Colossians 2:8 (NKJV) - "Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ."

As our culture has embraced the culture of death, how should Christians respond? With such a tragic reality, is it enough to simply pray, or is there more Christians ought to be doing? What is the role of the Church in responding to the killing of babies in abortion mills?

The fatal flaw of the social justice movement is that it embraces words and ideas foreign to Scripture. This is nothing new. It is the Devil’s standard procedure in the war against the sufficiency of Scripture. Every skirmish over the sufficiency of Scripture has been fought over adding to or subtracting from the Word of God. And, we must be clear about how serious this is. Every addition or subtraction compromises the gospel and redefines the church. Further, the purity or the pollution of the gospel and the church are in play by the words which conform us. I’ve seen several of these skirmishes in my lifetime. All of them were fomented by importing foreign words provided by unbelievers. Luther stated it this way, “I have observed this, that all heresies and errors have originated, not from the simple words of Scripture, as is so universally asserted, but from neglecting the simple words of Scripture.”1 God gave us words to define things, but ungodly cultures always want us to stop using biblical words and replace them with their alternative language. This is syncretism. It has always been the greatest danger to the church. Today, alternative language regarding social justice and sexuality are the hottest public battlefronts in the church. Apostasy always shows up in the words we use to describe things. Periods of apostasy and revival have one single common hinge point. They hinge upon the answer to the question, “Will we use the words of God to preach the gospel and equip the saints?” The importance of this cannot be underestimated, for the sufficiency of Scripture is nothing less than the sufficiency of Christ. Here is a brief historical review of the skirmishes in the war against the sufficiency of Scripture in modern times. They have been engaged by intrusions from psychology, the social gospel, evolution, the seeker-sensitive church movement, the emergent church movement. Today, the skirmishes are being engaged through the modern social justice movement and recent battles associated with the sexual revolution. When the words of Sigmund Freud, Carl Rodgers, and Carl Jung began to be used in the church, she received pagan understandings of human personalities and cures. These words re-defined human nature and re-fashioned the ways people could be healed of their psychological maladies. It was a rejection of the suffici

Christianity is a words-based religion. The Word of God is foundational to the Christian faith and the right practice of it. Trusting that Word reflects our trust of God so that a denial of the sufficiency of the Word of God is ultimately a denial of the sufficiency of God himself. Christians must hold fast onto the Word of God in all aspect of life, because it is through the Word of God that we come to know God himself and hear him speaking to us today.

In Evangelicalism today, as in the broader culture, there are many issues being discussed that relate to human sexuality and racial relationships. How should Christians think through these things? As always, the Christian must examine all views and perspectives through the lens of the Word of God and discern what God intends for his people to do and believe. These issues are no different. The question is, as always, what has God said?

In the sermon 'Setting Unfinished Things in Order,' Scott Brown discusses the goal of promoting biblically ordered churches and families. The primary roles and functions of elders and deacons are to focus on the Word of God and prayer, helping to serve the needs of the congregation and spread God's Word. The means for their work is the Word of God, which helps guide and correct misunderstandings in the church. The main objective of their work is the sanctification of the church, a process that occurs over time and involves the growth of individuals and the congregation as a whole. This process is critical for the health and wellbeing of the church, and both elders and deacons play essential roles in fostering love, holiness, and unity within the church.

It isn't uncommon for some believers to have uneasiness when the concept of elder/pastoral authority comes up. Often this concern is fueled by a history of pastors assuming unbiblical authority and unjustly wielding his authority in the church. However, the abuse of this doctrine does not mean it is emptied of meaning or to be abandoned. God has delegated real authority to his under-shepherds and this authority must be understood and respected by the Christian.

The church of Christ has one Shepherd, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is over all and to whom all believers come for help and hope. But each church also has under-shepherds - elders - who have real authority and are meant to be gifts to the church for its good. Elders are to be men who have been called and equipped by God for this special work, and who are mature, godly men who can call the rest of the church to follow their example as they follow Christ.