Behold, Children Are a Gift of the LORD; the Fruit of the Womb a Reward (Psalm 127:3)

"Behold, children are a gift of the Lord, the fruit of the womb is a reward," writes Solomon in Psalm 127:3. My desire with this sermon is for people to view children as they're described in the Bible, which is to say view children as God views them. https://youtu.be/WhenX1JvKGA "Behold, children are a gift of the Lord, the fruit of the womb is a reward," (Psalm 127:3). Children and barrenness are sensitive issues. Table of ContentsLessons for Children Are a Gift of the LORD; the Fruit of the Womb a RewardFamily Worship Guide for Children Are a Gift of the LORD; the Fruit of the Womb a RewardSermon Notes for Lessons for Children Are a Gift of the LORD; the Fruit of the Womb a RewardLesson 1: God commands people to, “Be fruitful and multiply.”Lesson 2: children are (part 1) a gift, reward, and blessing.Lesson 2: children are (part 2) great causes of maturity.Lesson 3: barrenness (part 1) is a theme in Scripture.Lesson 3: barrenness (part 2) shouldn’t be chosen.Lesson 4: apply what God's Word says about children. Lessons for Children Are a Gift of the LORD; the Fruit of the Womb a Reward Lesson 1: God ________________ ____________ to, “be fruitful and multiply” (Gen 1:28, 2:18; Pro 14:28). Lesson 2: Children are: (Part I) A ________, ____________, and ________________ (Psa 127:3-5, 128:1-4; Deut 7:13, 28:4). (Part II) __________ ____________ of maturity (Eph 6:4; 1 Tim 2:15). Lesson 3: Barrenness: • (Part I) Is __ __________ ____ Scripture (Gen 11:30, 25:21, 29:31; Judg 13:2; 1 Sam 1:5; Luke 1:7 • (Part II) Shouldn’t ____ ____________. Lesson 4: __________ ________ God’s Word says about children (Pro 14:4). Family Worship Guide for Children Are a Gift of the LORD; the Fruit of the Womb a Reward Memory Verses: Psalm 127:3 1. Day 1—Read Genesis 1:28 and discuss: Why did God give this command? What benefits are there associated with this command being obeyed/fulfilled? What problems are associated with it being disobeyed? Are we seeing some of those problems today? Day 2—Read Psalms 127 and 128 and discuss: How are children described? How should parents view their children? How should Christians respond when God provides a couple with a child? Day 3—Read Ephesians 6:4 and 1 Timothy 2:15 and discuss: How do children help parents mature spiritually? What does it mean that women “will be saved in childbearing”? Day 4—Read some of the accounts of barren women (Gen 11:30, 25:21, 29:31; Judg 13:2; 1 Sam 1:15, Luke 1:7) and discuss: What are some of the similarities in these accounts? What can we learn from them? How should Christians view barrenness? Why shouldn’t barrenness be chosen? Day 5—Read Pro 14:4 and discuss: What application does this verse have to families? Since families can’t do everything they might want, discuss those activities that are most important and least important to your family. Sermon Notes for Lessons for Children Are a Gift of the LORD; the Fruit of the Womb a Reward I probably don’t have to tell you children are a very sensitive issue in the church for a number of reasons: First, you have some people who haven’t been able to have any children, and they feel judged or misunderstood by others. Second, some people have a lot of children and they feel…judged or misunderstood by others. Finally, you have some people who only have a few children and they feel…judged or misunderstood by others. As we begin let me tell you my desires for this message… First, I want to share what God’s Word says about children… If you have no children, 15 children, or any number in between, by the end of this message I hope you’ll see children as they’re described in God’s Word. And this applies to all of us: Obviously, it applies to people who have children It also applies to people who are younger and will children in the future It applies to people who are older who might not be able to have children anymore, but are in the position to teach younger people about children. My second desire is to hopefully prevent you from having one of the most common regrets as a pastor that I have heard express “I wish we would’ve had more children.” I’ll feel blessed if any of you are prevented from saying as a result of this message! By knowing what God’s Word says about children you can take that into consideration when making decisions, and hopefully avoid any painful regrets in the future. Now let’s look at the second command God gave man. The first command was not to eat from the tree of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The second command is in Genesis 1:28… Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” And this brings us to Lesson 1 on your inserts… Lesson 1: God commands people to, “Be fruitful and multiply.” My desire isn’t to condemn anyone… I’m not trying to make anyone feel bad. I don’t have an ax to grind. But I do have a responsibility to tell you what God’s Word says, and God clearly commanded people to “Be fruitful and multiply.” I think some people want to ignore this command, or alter it in some way so it doesn’t say what it says, but you can read it a thousand times and it still says the same thing clearly. In Genesis 2:18 God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.” There are a few reasons it’s not good for man to be alone, and one of those reasons is man can’t fulfill God’s command to be fruitful and multiply. Something interesting about this second command is God gave it to both Adam and Eve, as opposed to the first command, which He gave only to Adam. Then Adam had to take that command and pass it along to Eve, and Eve had to choose to obey her husband. It helped establish Adam’s headship in the marriage relationship. But with the second command it says, “God said to them.” God wanted both man and woman to hear this command from Him. The obvious question is: “Why did God give the first command to Adam, but the second command to Adam and Eve? Why didn’t God give both commands to Adam, or why didn’t He give both commands to both of them?” We’re not told specifically – so I admit I’m being a little speculative – but my suspicion is b/c of Eve’s greater involvement in obeying this command: The children that are going to be ruling over the earth and subduing it and going to grow in her womb. She’s the one who’s going to experience the pain of childbirth. One argument I’ve heard from people regarding this command is, “The earth is filled and subdued now, so there’s no reason for people to feel like this is a continuing command.” The problem w/ this argument is there’s nothing in Scripture to support it! There’s nothing in Scripture to support that this command would ever cease… There’s nothing in the NT to make believers think they shouldn’t have children. We’ve all heard about overpopulation, so I’ll briefly address that… Has anyone driven through Montana? North Dakota? Most of Nevada? If you’ve ever driven through Canada you can drive hours and hours and hours of land w/o seeing any houses, so there are definitely plenty of un-subdued areas. It amazes me that anyone mentions overpopulation considering the real threat is low birthrates. Please listen to this quote from the Washington Times…this is a secular, non-Christian organization…no Christian bias… The title is, “U.S. Fertility Plummets to record low.” “America’s total fertility rate fell to just 1.86 births per woman, [which] puts the U.S. on the same course with many Western European nations and Japan, where the birth rate has fallen below the ‘replacement rate,’ [which is] usually around 2.1 births per woman, [and which] is needed to keep a country’s population from falling.” With 1.86 births per woman this puts the US behind countries like: The United Kingdom 1.9 Sweden 1.91 Australia 1.92 France 2.01 The sad part is since the United States is supposed to be the world’s leading Christian nation: You’d expect us to be producing the most children that can grow up and serve the Lord… You’d expect us to be the most obedient to God’s second command. Proverbs 14:28 In a multitude of people is a king’s honor, But IN THE LACK OF PEOPLE IS THE DOWNFALL OF A PRINCE. This verse is describing the problem it is for a nation to survive with a declining birth rate. CNBC – another secular, non-Christian organization - posted an article titled, “We need more babies! Seriously, this is a problem.” Here’s a quote from the article… “We just learned that the US birthrate fell for the 6th straight year in 2013 to an all-time low. Pardon me for sounding a bit alarmist, but this is really bad news for our economy, our society, and all of civilization.” God’s commands are always for our benefit. When we as a society disobey God’s commands there are consequences, and that article discussed a number of those consequences. The articled discussed why the low birth rates are bad for each of these areas. Now even though Americans aren’t having children, any idea who IS having children? Muslims! Please listen to this… As of 2011 it’s predicted the world’s Muslim population will grow twice as fast as the rest of the world over the next 20 yrs. An article on CNN from January 2011 said, “The [growth] will primarily [take place] because of their relatively high birth rate…Conversion [to Islam] will play relatively little part in the increase. High birth rates were cited as the reason for [Islam’s] growth.” According to the World Christian Database in 2007: Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world, w/ a growth rate of 1.84%. Christianity isn’t 2nd…or 3rd…or 4th…or 5th....