One of the greatest challenges and joys in life is parenting. One moment, you’re having a blast playing with hot wheels and then a second later, you’re trying to explain why you can’t throw hot wheels at your little sister.

We spend countless hours teaching our kids necessary lessons they need for life, like not throwing things at people when they aggravate you. However, the great thing we can teach our kids is the Gospel.

During our Vision Sunday at Grace Life, I introduced a focal point for our church: family discipleship. As followers of Jesus, we are called to make disciples and what greater way to follow this command then at home with our kids. In fact, I believe our children should be our primary disciples.

The idea of family discipleship is not a new program at home; it is being intentional in sharing the Gospel and the story of God’s grace through Jesus through your normal conversations with your kids. A lesson on growing hot wheels can be turned into a conversation on sin and our need for Jesus.

“Your greatest contribution to The Kingdom of God may not be something you do, but someone you raise”. – Andy Stanley

I want to share a helpful resource that we try to implement at our home. I first found this resource from The Village Church in Dallas, Texas and have since discovered other churches using them as well. Take some time and read through their Family Discipleship Guide. I’ll briefly cover the main ideas below, but their guide includes in depth understanding of each topic, examples to follow, and practical questions and applications for you to think through.

Try implementing these ideas while we walk through and study Genesis. Your kids will also be learning about Genesis in KidLife. The stories will capture the hearts of your children while you show them how the Gospel is interwoven throughout them.

Modeling – Serve as a godly example for your family, living out your genuine walk with God and demonstrating true repentance where and when you fall short.

Family Discipleship Time – Create intentional time built into the rhythm of the family’s life for the purpose of thinking about, talking about and living out the gospel.

Family Discipleship Moments – Capture and leverage opportunities in the course of everyday life for the purpose of gospel-centered conversations.

Family Discipleship Milestones – Mark and make occasions to celebrate and commemorate significant spiritual milestones of God’s work in the life of the family and child.

I pray that throughout our time in Genesis, our kids will not only learn about these incredible stories, but that they will see their incredible need for Jesus. May we all be parents who see our children’s need for Jesus and take advantage of every opportunity to share the Gospel with them.