Sermon: Stewarding the Gift of Children

Well, it's good to be together as we turn the calendar over one more year. Hard to believe. 2026 is upon us, and we are thinking of stewardship for this month of January, thinking about all of life to the glory of God. Uh, certainly a big part of life for us, uh, here as a covenant community, um, but even in our own personal families is children. We have a lot of kids in this church. It's wonderful to have so many children

and kids in this church. So we have a, a wonderful opportunity to think about this, uh, in terms of stewardship. So we're gonna do so tonight by looking at Psalm 127. So if you would grab a Bible, turn there with me. Page 518, Psalm 127.

Let me pray for us as we read and hear from the Lord. Father in heaven, the unfolding of your words gives light indeed your word imparts understanding to the simple. So would you shine the light of your truth into our hearts this evening that we might have a greater knowledge and a greater love for you? Pray this in Jesus name. Amen. Follow along as I read from Psalm 127, A song of a sense of Solomon. Unless the Lord builds the house, those

who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest. Eating the bread of anxious toil for he gives to his beloved sleep. Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord. The fruit of the of the womb. A reward like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one's youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them.

He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gates. Amen. Well, this psalm, as you see in the heading, is a song of a sense. What that means is this is one of 15 songs that pilgrims would have sung as they journeyed up to the city of Jerusalem. That's the city that we see in verse one. Unless the Lord watches over the city, it's Jerusalem. This is the place that God chose to establish his name. And the house also referenced in verse one

is a common reference to the temple in the Old Testament, even in Judaism today, it's simply referred to as the house. And so these two things, the city and, and the house or the temple filled their minds as they journeyed up to this city of Jerusalem. These two things defined for these pilgrims, their purpose, their direction, even their mission. Their mission was to establish Jerusalem as a kingly city. And from this city, justice would go forth, justice would be

administered, and in the midst of this city was the temple they were to build and then keep this temple as a representative place for God's relational presence upon the earth. God's people as a blessed people were to shine as a light in the midst of chaos and the vanity of the world. And they did so both as builders and also overseers. That's the word in verse one. Watchmen. They built this city and they watched over it.

Another way to think of that is they were stewards of these two great gifts. And these gifts, the city and the temple were means through which the entire world was to be blessed. But as we see in verse one, there's a conditional aspect here in this text. And that's because it's a reminder for us that the curse is in our midst just as it was in their midst. And so to receive and to enjoy God's blessing, they had to exercise faith.

It wasn't automatically theirs. They needed to depend upon the Lord. And so unless the Lord builds the house, unless the Lord watches over the city, no matter how creative, no matter how technologically advanced, no matter how hard they worked, if the Lord was not at work in their midst, then all of their effort would be in vain. You hear that word vain or vanity and it immediately calls your attention back. It it, it's a callback to the very beginning

where the source of vanity flows. We're reminded here of Genesis one through three, when Adam was cursed because of his sin and because of his rebellion against God. And remember the fruit of Adam's sin, he was cursed with anxious toil. That's what we see here in verse two. And just like Adam Soto, our world is marked by anxious toil and it's marked by vanity as a result of Adam's sin. We see it everywhere and we feel it deeply.

Anxiety, fear, hard work that's constantly frustrated and goes awry. Sleepless nights worry about tomorrow and the problems in the coming weeks. We know what this is like. We, we feel it all the time. Work becomes pointless. All the toys we collect are useless. All the plans we make are just provisional. Time is tenuous under the curse of vanity. The operative principle is fear, anxious toil. The tragedy of Adam's fall was his exchange of blessing

for vanity. He handed over rest for anxious toil. And so this psalm, as we begin to to consider it tonight, it's a good reminder for us, even as we enter into a new year, that we live in a world of curse and vanity. But as we see in verse two, we're also reminded that we have access to a God who delights to bless his people. The word there in verse two is, beloved, that's that's, that's us. We are God's beloved. And as his beloved, God delights to give us good gifts.

The structure of verse two, if you look at it again, is meant to ask us a question. So here's the question, beloved, why would you rise up early? Why would you go late to rest? Why would you eat the bread of anxious toil when with God you are given the gift of rest. In other words, if you've been given this incredible gift from God, why would you not use it? Why would you not steward it? Enjoy the fruits of its reward.

And like rest, as we see in our text, there's an even greater gift that God gives to his beloved. So verse three begins with an exclamatory word. It's this word, behold. It's used often throughout the Old Testament. It's meant to grab your attention, it's meant to, to focus you in on something that's most important. Pay attention to this. God gives us a gift which gives us purpose, which gives us direction, which even shapes our mission in life.

And stewarding this gift will take effort even more than building a house, even more than watching over a city. Stewarding this gift will take faith. It will take great dependence upon the Lord. This gift though is more precious, more valuable, more enduring, more rewarding than an impressive house or a extravagant mega city. Indeed, without this gift, houses in cities would be pointless. Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord.

That's what I want us to see tonight and consider together this, this theme that children though a common grace gift to all of mankind should be for the Christian uniquely cherished, uniquely nurtured, and uniquely mobilized for God's mission in this world. That's what I want us to see in this text. That's the outline. We'll follow together as we think about stewarding the gift of children. So lemme give you the three main headings.

First, children are a blessing, so cherish them deeply. Second, children are a legacy, so nurture them carefully. And third, children are part of God's mission. So mobilize them effectively. And let me give you two questions for application right here at the beginning. These two questions will flow through each of these points. Two questions are these, how and where. So how can you, how can I grow in stewarding this gift that God has given to us?

And where, where can I pursue this gift in my life? Where can I get involved to be part of stewarding this great gift? So first, children are a blessing. So cherish them deeply. You see, part of what happens when the curse is lifted is that we are given new eyes to see eternal realities. And we're given new hearts to value what is good. That's why the psalmist, I think, structures it like this. Behold, see, see this more important than a temple,

more important than a city, is this great gift of children. Children are a unique blessing from the Lord. How important is it in our day to hear this? When kids are not valued? Many would rather murder children instead of having them impede upon our life goals. Many choose to neglect or even abuse children because they cannot control their own addictions and appetites to often kids are bypassed or avoided so that we can accomplish our own personal ambitions.

The secular mind does not see what we see with the eyes of faith. That children are a blessing and a reward. Now let me pause here as an aside and acknowledge not everyone is able to have children of their own. Some want to but haven't yet found a spouse. Some of you have struggled with infertility, some have lost children, perhaps in the womb or maybe even later in life. Well notice here how this text points us to dependence upon the Lord.

Unless the Lord builds the house, unless the Lord watches over the city. The cry of faith looks to God and says, I trust you. I'm waiting upon you. I am relying upon you. I'm trusting in you to meet whatever void, whatever lack, whatever deficiency may come my way. And friends, that's a, that's a great thing to pray. That's a good posture to have as you experience the remnants of the curse pressing in upon you. Now, notice the words in our text here of re reward

and fruit in verse three. Then in verse five, we see it said this way, blessed is the man whose quiver is filled with them. Children are a unique blessing. They are a reward and a fruit in our lives. Now, there's lots of ways that you can explore this theme throughout scripture. Let me just give you three ways that children are a means of blessing to us. So three, three ways that children are a blessing to us. First, children are a source of great joy.

We understand this even from common grace, that children bring joy to our lives. And notice again verse five, this idea of being blessed. Think about how that takes us back to Psalm one, where we see in Psalm one, the blessed man, the blessed woman, the one who is truly happy, is the one who delights in the law of the Lord. Well, this same joy, this same delight found by knowing God and delighting in his ways, comes to us

through this gift of children. This is one of the means by which God intends to bring blessing and joy into our life. In kids, this is a great thing for you to hear kids. You are a blessing to your parents and kids. The greatest way that you can be a blessing to your parents is by loving the truth of who God is and following him with your life. That's what the apostle John tells us in third John, verse four, I have no greater joy he writes

than to hear that my children are walking in the truth. So kids, how can you be a blessing to your parents? Know the truth and walk in it. There's no greater joy than a, a parent can have than to know that their children know the truth and walk in it. Now, this doesn't mean that children make every minute of every day easy and happy. No, it's far from that. So here's a second way that children are a blessing to us. Children remind us of the gospel.

Children remind us of the gospel. We have a, a family member who actually became a Christian. Part of her testimony is she became a Christian after having kids. And one of the things she says is, kids opened her eyes to see the reality of original sin. Sin that doesn't come just by nurture, but by nature itself. Kids remind us of that. It points us to our need for a savior. Sin is something that is in us by nature. It reminds us of that.

There's also a sanctifying blessing that comes to us through children. We are reminded daily, perhaps hourly, maybe you can boil it down to by the minute, that we need to grow in patience and kindness, in love, in humility and service. You know, one of the things is we're on campus sharing the gospel. Uh, one of the things is it's always hard to get across sometimes this idea of sin. Uh, many, many internationals that I work with think

of sin simply as crime. And they say, I've never committed a crime. So, so how could I be sinful? And I say, well, if, if you think of sin in a different way, think of sin as as selfishness. Uh, are you a selfish person? I say, well, yeah, a little bit. I say, well, once you get married, then you'll know if you're truly a, a selfish person. Uh, but then once you have kids, you realize you're an even more selfish person than you

thought originally. That's what sin is. Sin reminds us of our selfishness. And and often that's what our kids help us to see. That, that in us, we have all of these vices that we need to put to death. Our children not only remind us of the gospel, they remind us of our daily need for repentance and for faith that we need to grow in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ on a daily basis. Here's the third way our kids, bless us, children remind us

of God's eternal kingdom. Recall in Matthew 18, when the disciples came to Jesus and they asked him this question, who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? And here's Jesus's response. Truly I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. You see, the disciples wanted to know who was the greatest,

which of the disciples, which one of us is the greatest. And Jesus responds by, by reminding them of the operative principle within God's kingdom, heaven is not a place of power and prestige, but rather humility and dependence, children remind us of God's kingdom. Now, we could go on and on, think of so many different ways children bless us, but let me just give you the, the stewardship principle to draw from this. The starting point for Christians in stewarding their

children well is by viewing them as god's means of blessing his people. And so let me ask you the question. How can you grow in cherishing children? Perhaps your own children? Perhaps it's the children of this church, this, this church with so many covenant children, how can you better cherish children in our midst? And second question, where can you be a better steward of this blessing within your own life right now?

Where can you get involved? Where can you serve?

Second children are a legacy. So nurture them carefully. Children are a legacy, so nurture them carefully. The idea of legacy here, I'm drawing from the word heritage in verse three, children are a heritage from the Lord. This, this idea of heritage has the idea of inheritance within it through children. God not only passes something down to us, but he passes something on from us to the next generation. There's a legacy that we are receiving

and also passing down to the next generations. Proverbs describes heritage like this. Proverbs 17 verse six, grandchildren are the crown of the aged and the glory of children is their fathers. You see, there's this, this legacy, this enduring influence that can be traced up from children to parents, to grandchildren, and even beyond. Now some of you can look at your family and you see a long Christian, godly legacy. And for that you ought to be grateful, thankful for that.

And it should remind you that you need to steward this carefully. Some of you, this might be new for you and your family. Perhaps you are the first believers in your family. But what an opportunity you have to start a new legacy that will impact generations to come. Let me give three principles we see in scripture to help us think about stewarding a legacy. Principle number one, legacy is formed through heavenly mindedness.

Heavenly mindedness. We often think, think about legacy simply in passive terms. You sort of look back and see what has transpired over the years. But I think legacy has just as much of an active pursuit to it. We could say a godly legacy is the fruit of heavenly mindedness. In other words, it's forward thinking. Here's one way that this shows up again from the book of Proverbs. Proverbs 13 verse 22. A good man leaves an inheritance to his children's

children, but the sinner's wealth is laid up for the righteous. You see this proverb is pointing out that, that the good man, Christians work hard. They plan, they save for the future, not for their own selfish ambitions, but rather as a stewardship for what is to come for future generations. And being fixed on heaven, having having a heavenly mindedness also constrains us. And that's a good thing. It keeps the Christian from allowing their cravings

or their ego or their ambition to trample upon others as we go through life and especially upon children. Whether that's through neglect or abuse or misuse. A good man thinks about his children's children as he focuses his eyes upon heaven. So there's a heavenly mindedness to legacy. Here's the second principle. Legacy is shaped through godly instruction. Now, there's lots of places, lots of texts to explore this. Ephesians six, four, well-known fathers,

do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up, train them, bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. Or again, Proverbs, Proverbs 22, 6, train up a child in the way he should go even when he is old, he will not depart from it. JC Ri in his little book on, uh, parenting, it's called, I think the Duties of Parenting or Christian Parenting, something like that. Great little book. Look it up.

Uh, he points out here on this text, the word here is, should not, could or want, but should. There's a way that seems right to us. There's a way that seems right to our children, but in the end it leads to death. We train them up in the way they should go. Now, this is where the fellowship of the church is so important, the church and the ministries of this church. We heard about some of that earlier up here, whether it's

dig or Sunday school or small groups or youth retreats. We could go on and on. We as a community are taking upon ourselves the responsibility to instruct our youth in the ways of the Lord. And this is a good thing. This is a thing that we should all want to be involved in as Pastor Dave would tell you, we're not seeking to entertain, but we're seeking to instruct to pass on this legacy, to tell the next generation of the ways of the Lord.

So let me just give this as a plug. If you are looking for a way to serve within the church, go talk to Pastor Dave. Think he would love to help you find a place to serve. Here's a third principle. Legacy is best caught by example, training, instruction. These are all good, but legacy is best caught by example. Here's one way we see this again from Proverbs chapter 20, verse seven, the righteous who walks in his integrity.

Blessed are the children after him in JC Riles says it this way. Imitation is a far stronger principle with children than memory. What they see has a much stronger effect on their minds than what they are told. And so Riel says, be an example of reverence for the word of God. Reverence in prayer, reverence for the means of grace, reverence for the Lord's day. You can think of those as as commitments. What are you committed to?

What are your commitments showing? Revealing by example to your children. Ryle goes on to say this, be an example in words in temper, in diligence and temperance. That word means a sober mindedness in faith, in charity, in kindness, in humility, your personal commitments, your personal piety. This is what kids see. This is what they see from us as parents. This is what they see from us as a covenant community. Riel says this, you are their model picture

and they will copy what you are, your reasoning and your lecturing, your wise commands and your good advice. All this they may not understand, but they can understand your life. Think about legacy as being caught by your example. The greatest legacy you can leave to your kids, to your grandkids, to your great grandkids is your own personal holiness. And so here's the principle, children are a legacy. So nurture them carefully.

And the two questions, how can you better nurture the children within your life? How can you better nurture the children in your life? And where can you serve? Where can you get involved to help pass on a godly legacy?

Our third point is we're thinking about stewarding children. Number three, children are part of God's mission. So mobilize them effectively. If you look back at our text, verse four, you'll see children are compared to arrows in the hands of a warrior. Godly offspring carry out the original creation mandate to fill the earth, to fill the earth with the glory of God. That's what Malachi too tells us through marriage. God is seeking godly offspring,

but it's not just filling the earth. It's also waging spiritual warfare against the curse, against the vanity that we see all around us to the next generation. Thomas Smythe was a pastor in Charleston, South Carolina in the mid 18 hundreds. He was zealous for the great commission. He saw one of his his goals. One of his aims in life is to raise people up for the great commission. And he makes this case about children.

He says this, children are designed to constitute an important agency in the furtherance of God's glory and the extension of his kingdom. The agency of the young is designed to be an efficient and powerful instrumentality in in the conversion of the world. See, SM looked at his own congregation and saw all these kids, all these children, and he understood from texts like what we're looking at here, that one of the means God uses

to spread this gospel to the ends of the earth is our children. And that's what we see here. Children are arrows in the hands of a warrior and they're meant to be shot out to, to go out to wage, spiritual warfare. That's what we see in verse five. Now, just a a quick note. The ESV has a footnote where there it notes the pronouns being plural. I think that makes sense of this text instead of a he. You can read it as they, they shall not be put to shame

when they speak with their enemies in the gates. What we see here in verse five is the man standing with his own children. And here presumably these are grown children at this point. They're standing in the gate, they're engaged in this spiritual battle together. They together are speaking with their enemies in the gate. Friends, this psalm reminds us that children, as they are raised and discipled within a Christian home,

within a church context like ours, that they are an integral part of God's mission. So again, listen to what Thomas Smy says. He says, it is incumbent upon every Christian, every parent, every teacher, and every church. So that covers all of us, every Christian, every parent, every teacher, every church to see to it that the children of their charge are brought up as the lords, as Christians, as members of his visible church.

And therefore, not only as those who ought to believe in him and to know the doctrines that are of God, but as those who are bound to love him, to serve him, to honor him, and to cooperate in the promotion of his glory and the advancement of his cause.

Sm summarize this by saying it is therefore our manifest duty to bring up our children in a missionary spirit and in missionary practice. Now, let me just caveat here and say this doesn't mean that we view our four year olds as frontline evangelists. It doesn't mean, and this I think sometimes people do. It doesn't mean we place the burden of evangelism upon our kids instead of us being the front lines of evangelism, right?

Before our kids can evangelize and witness to Christ, they need to first know Christ. And so we pray, we labor, we teach, we instruct to that end. But, but here's the principle. Christians steward their children well by preparing them to be engaged with the mission of the church. And so as they grow up, as our covenant children grow up and mature, there should be an ever increasing reality within their minds and hearts that the mission of the church is as much

theirs as it is their parents. And so parents lead your kids in thinking and feeling rightly, thinking rightly about God's mission. You could summarize it with a text like Second Corinthians five, proclaiming the gospel of reconciliation to all the nations. Right? Think about God's mission rightly. And also feel the weight of it upon your own soul. All of us parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends, what whatever you are,

whatever relationship you have, we ought to set an example to the covenant children within this church and indeed to, to everyone, to all of us that we think rightly and we feel deeply about the most important thing. And that thing as S Smith would say, is the conversion of the world. So here's the stewardship principle. Children are part of God's mission. So mobilize them effectively. How can you grow in mobilizing your own kids,

your own children in the great commission? And where can you serve? Where can you apply this in your own life right now?

Now there are of course lots of other things to say, to think about as we think about stewarding children. Certainly this is not meant to be exhaustive. Uh, as I thought about all of this and prepared for this sermon, I think it's probably easy for some of us to feel discouraged, perhaps disappointed, maybe feeling like I haven't been the best parent. I haven't stewarded this well. Or maybe your parents didn't steward

the gospel well in your own life. I think there's lots of ways to feel discouraged hearing messages like this. But in closing, let me highlight the beauty of this psalm. Let me show you and point you to the power that rests not in us, but in the one to whom this Psalm points. And so listen, as I read from Isaiah chapter 49 verses one through six, these are the words of the Messiah himself. Listen to me O coast lens and give attention you peoples from afar.

The Lord called me from the womb, from the body of my mother. He named my name. He made my mouth like a sharp sword. And in the shadow of his hand, he hid me. He made me a polished arrow and his quiver, he hid me away. And he said to me, you are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified. But I said, I have labored in vain. I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity. Yet surely my right is with the Lord and my recompense with my God.

And now the Lord says, he who formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring back Jacob to him and that Israel might be gathered to him. For I am honored in the eyes of the Lord and my God has become my strength. He says, it is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserve of Israel. I will make you as a light for the nations that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.

Friends, this Psalm is not merely about parenting or about raising children. This Psalm points us to Christ as we see here, Christ the Messiah. He is the polished arrow. He was hidden away, he says in his father's quiver. And this Messiah was shot forth, we might say from the father's bow, when he came as a servant, the fruit of Mary's womb, truly God and truly man, he knows the vanity of this world. He humbled himself under it so that he can truly sympathize

with us and our weaknesses. He knows what it's like to have imperfect parents. He understands the futility of this cursed world. But this arrow, this messiah, this Jesus as it was, as he was shot out, he hit the mark, he hit it dead center. And we know that he killed the ancient serpent so that this salvation, his salvation, would reach to the ends of the earth. And how does this happen? Well, it happens through his children.

It happens through us. And so as we seek to steward our children, we do it in the confidence and the strength that he himself gives. You see, our Lord, it doesn't just say, go out and fight. Go. Go out and be the warriors on the front lines. No, he says, come follow me. Follow me as I spread my salvation here to the ends of the earth. All of us here tonight are children. We're arrows. We're arrows that have been shot out.

And by God's grace, he's given us hundreds more arrows. All of these covenant children within our midst, he's given them to us as a gift, as a blessing, as an inheritance. And so the encouragement for us is this, continue working, continue laboring. Continue building in great dependence upon the Lord, with the aim to see his arrow of salvation reach to the ends of the earth. Amen. Join me as I pray.

Lord, would you help us? Would you empower us by your spirit to steward the gift of children that you've given to us? That through us as families and and as a church, we might truly leave a godly legacy to the next generation in order that we might see more and more places in this world and even beginning with our own children, know the saving and loving grace of God and Christ Jesus. And so we ask this and pray in his great name. Amen.