THE CHURCH IN NEW YORK CITYCHILDREN’S MEETING LESSON

DATE: September 16, 2018SUBJECT: HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS: Parents and Children (2) —Honoring Your ParentsSCRIPTURE: Exodus 20:12; Ephesians 6:1-3; Colossians 3:20; Luke 2:51AIM: To help the children see that they must honor their parents in their heart and obey them in their actions.MEMORY VERSES TO CHOOSE FROM: Ephesians 6:1 (Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.); Ephesians 6:2-3 (2 “Honor your father and mother,” which is the first commandment with a promise, 3 “That it may be well with you and that you may live long on the earth.”); Exodus 20:12 (Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be extended upon the land which Jehovah your God is giving you.)

APPROACH: Discuss the Ten Commandments with the children. Do they know what they are? Where can we find them? Can they recite them? Is there one that tells us about our parents? (Exo. 20:12a “Honor your father and your mother,”) Then ask them: What does honor mean? What does obey mean? Is there a difference between honoring and obeying?

CONTENT: What does honor mean? Honor means to respect, esteem, to show high regard for someone. The Bible tells us to honor a king or ruler (1 Peter 2:17). This means we not only obey his decrees and laws and keep them; we also highly regard him and in our heart have an attitude of great respect for him because he is the highest authority.

The Bible also tells us that people honored a prophet (someone who spoke God’s word to them). This means that they recognized that the prophet’s word was God’s word; they paid close attention to what he said, believing it was true and obeying what was spoken. But also, in their heart, they held the prophet in great respect because he represented God.

Children honor their parents, of course, when they obey them and listen to what they say. But honoring is a matter of our heart. For example, when children realize that their parents have lived longer than they have, have already passed through what they are now passing through and have learned much more than they have, respect for the parents grows in the children’s hearts.

Can children obey their parents without honoring them? It is possible. When children obey begrudgingly, or when they need to be coerced, or threatened in order to obey, they may be obeying but they are not honoring their parents. To really honor their parents, children must obey with a proper attitude, one of respect and cooperation.

The examples we see in the Bible show godly children honoring their parents by obeying in a joyful, cooperative way.

SUGGESTED SONGS: 3115 (How Do You Obey God’s Word?); 2825 (God’s Word Gives us Commands to Obey); 2829 (Honor and Respect for Authority); 9558 Bible Story Songs Eight Great Men in Genesis Vol. 1, Song #8 (Open up to Your Parents click here to hear 9558); 7602 (We Have Come – stanza three “Teach us Lord, how to have more respect each day…” click here to hear 7602); 8317 Bible Story Songs Moses Vol. 2, Song #17 (In the Ten Commandments God Gave Us); 9204 Bible Story Songs David, Song #4 (Honor, Honor)

CRAFT IDEAS: Make a paper plate pocket with rope handles. We can write the memory verse on the front face.

Note: Serving ones can choose one or two stories and develop them in more detail to show how parents or authority were honored. We do not need to mention all of the stories below.

Samuel: As a young child he was brought to the temple to learn to serve the Lord. There is no record of him complaining; he obeyed and honored his parent’s wishes. He also honored Eli—his parents’ representative. (1 Samuel 2:18-19; 1 Samuel 3:1-10)

Joseph: Obeyed his father’s request to look for his brothers, even though he knew his brothers were jealous of him and hated him. (Genesis 37:3-24)

Esther: Obeyed and honored Mordecai—her parents’ representative. Eventually, the Jewish people were saved because of her. (Book of Esther)

The Lord Jesus: When He was 12 years old, Jesus had remained in the temple at Jerusalem after his family had started home. When His parents went back to look for Him they found Him there in the temple discussing the law with the teachers. Jesus returned with His parents and submitted Himself to them. (Luke 2:40-49)

SUGGESTED APPLICATIONS TO CHOOSE FROM: Please pray and fellowship over which applications to cover. Covering one or two applications may be sufficient depending on the age group.

• We should not only obey, but honor our parents. God desires that children not only obey their parents but even more to honor them. When we realize how much our parents love us and care for us, it will cause us to honor them in our heart. What are some ways we can honor our parents? Examples:o When our parents call us to come do homework or to help with chores, we should come right

away with a good attitude. o When our parents are on the phone or in a conversation with other adults, we should not

interrupt them unless there is an emergency. We should find something quiet to do.o We can help bring our parents at home before being asked. For example, bringing a glass of

water for them, or helping set the table for a meal.o We can come to the door and greet our parents warmly when they come home from work,

rather than keep playing or doing whatever we are occupied with.

• We should never belittle or look down on our parents. Parents may have varying levels of education, or as immigrants, English may not be their primary language and communication may be more difficult in some situations. Parents may be in between jobs or have a good job. Some look one way in their appearance, some look another way. Our parents were sovereignly given to us by God. We must love and honor them; by honoring them we honor God.

• We should not publicize our parents’ mistakes and shortcomings. Though we might speak of our own mistakes and shortcomings, we should not talk about our parents in a way that embarrasses them. When we speak about our parents, it should be in a way that honors them. (For the serving ones: Genesis 9 – two sons of Noah were blessed because they covered their father’s shame, while the other was cursed because he exposed his father’s nakedness).

Adapted from Bringing Children from Adam to Christ–Human Relationships, Vol. 3, Lesson 3, the Church in New York City Children’s Meeting lessons: 10/5/86; 9/14/97; 9/16/01; 9/16/07; 9/22/13; Last edited 9/16/2018