Dear BPCWA worshipper, Last month, we had our Sunday School Promotion, where some children were promoted to the next level of class, and some out of the Sunday School program. It is always a joy to see the eager and enthusiastic children God has blessed BPCWA with. Training children requires considerable dedication and commitment, especially in the lives of parents. Hence, I exhorted both children and parents from Proverbs 22:6, “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” This is a familiar verse to those in the Sunday School ministry, but it is also very applicable to all parents and children even beyond Sunday School age.

To the children.1) I must want to be trained. Training is not just the responsibility of the parents or teachers. You, dear child, must do your part in the training. You must be willing to be trained by listening and paying attention to what is being taught. Also, if you distract those around you, you will be affecting their learning. As you go through every lesson, your heart must be right. You must want to be clean and pure and have a humble heart that wants to change when something in the lesson tells you that what you are doing is disobedient before God. 2) I must obey God’s way. “In the way” means God’s way according to His Word. Listening to the lesson is not enough. You must live in God’s way, i.e., according to God’s Word, all the time and everywhere. Your Sunday School, church, school, public, and home life must all be changed by God’s Word. You must do things God’s way, even if others do not like you, because you are following God. 3) I must grow up to be godly. The purpose of the training is that even when you are old, you will still be walking in God’s way. There will be many temptations. For example, at school, people may want you to be ungodly and join them to do naughty things. You may want your friends to like you, and so you change to please them instead of God. When you face these temptations, you must remember, “I must grow up to be godly and not change to be like the world.” Some of you were promoted to the next stage of Sunday School. You must strive to grow spiritually and not just physically. As each year passes, always ask yourself, “Have I grown to be more godly this year or more worldly?” You must ask yourself this question honestly, because you may be promoted to the next level but are not growing in godliness. Finally, the “it” in Proverbs 22:6 refers to God’s ways according to God’s Word. You must read God’s Word every day, consistently. One of the tests of whether you are growing in godliness is whether you desire to learn God’s Word and obey Him yourself from your heart, or you must be pushed and reminded constantly to do it. Don’t grow up to be a worldly person when you reach your teenage years. Continue in God’s ways instead.

To the parents.1) I must train my children myself. Attending Sunday School is only part of their training. God has placed you as parents to train up children for Him. Train means you must teach them God’s Word and ways and correct them even if they get angry at you. You cannot just leave the training to the church to do so. Remember the “it” is God’s Word, not the philosophies of the world, not your own thinking, and not according to how you were brought up. Your training must be according to God’s Word. This means that you must know God’s Word yourself. If you don’t know God’s Word, you’ve already departed from “it”. If so, do you not think your child will likewise depart too? Your child is constantly growing through natural growth. When they go through the next phase, ask yourself, “How well have I trained this child, or have I just let the child grow with the flow? Or has my child grown spiritually compared to last year because of my training?” Is your child far behind the other children e.g. in even knowing how to flip the Bible or understand parts of the sermons preached in church? Knowing the books of the Bible does not mean they are growing spiritually, but it is the minimum expected to follow the Sunday School classes and not be lost. Review their memory verses with them, stir interest in them. You must train their attitude towards God’s Word.  It is not going to be easy. 2) I must tell my child the way. As a parent, you are placed in your children’s lives by God to train them to be ready for the next stage of their spiritual life as they grow.  Growing into the different groups is part of this. You are not placed in the child’s life to allow the child to live the way he/ she likes. Conversely, modern philosophies say, “Let the child tell me what he likes; it is his choice”. Your child is born sinful. They will not naturally like God’s ways. Don’t wait for the child to grow to “like” God’s ways. You are to train them by telling them, “This is the way you must walk.” The church has planned in some phases to help your child grow. a) Prayer meeting groups. Prayer is integral to the Christian life, not just the Word. When they reach the age to join the children’s prayer group in church, tell them, “You must learn and look forward to praying independently on your own with the children.” If they don’t want to, ask yourself, “Why?” Is it because there is no prayer at home? When they pray with their groups, train them first at home to be still and set a good example, and not to distract other children. b) Y180 fellowship. If you have trained them early, they should be able to take notes by the time they join Y180. Train them to be excited to attend and answer the questions that will be asked of them, so they will grow to be a thinking Christian. c) DHW groups. Train them at home by preparing and teaching them how to answer the DHW questions as they join you. Don’t foster an attitude of “I won’t go because I don’t know, and I don’t know because Idon’t want to do my homework”. You, parent, must do your part to train them to study God’s Word in-depth themselves. DHW is there to aid you in doing this. Training is difficult, and it requires the parent to be enthusiastically and fully involved. Ask yourself, “The next phase of my child’s growth is coming; is my child ready to be godly in this phase?” 3) I must keep my wedding promises to God. We believe, as is also stated in the Westminster Confession of Faith, that one of the purposes of marriage God ordained is for “the increase . . . of the Church with an holy seed” (WCF XXIV:II). A parent’s purpose is to bring up their child to be godly for the kingdom of God. Ask yourself if you are fulfilling this. Training is preparing the child for God’s kingdom work when they are older. The child is a borrowed life that God has put me in charge of. The children are covenantal seed. The infant baptism covenantal sign and seal is for them to live the covenantal life. They must love the covenantal family. Don’t let them “switch off” or go home during the Annual Congregational Meeting because it is an “adult thing”. This is a church family meeting and a family gathering that they must learn to actively listen and be part of from young, if they are to be godly seed for the church when they grow up. Train them to read the pastorals and the church reports. These are part of the updates to the church family that they are to be part of from young.

For parents who have children moving through the different phases of growth in the church, the church is doing its part to help you fulfil the covenantal work in God’s covenantal family. But the church can only make these available. Children and parents, you have an active part in all these trainings. People say that teachers mould future generations. God puts that moulding of that child in your family for you to train. God tells us the goal we must all work towards: “when he is old, he will not depart from it” (Pro 22:6). One day, we will be called to account. May we have parents in BPCWA whose hearts will echo with the psalmist,

“Now also when I am old and grayheaded, O God, forsake me not; until I have shewed thy strength unto this generation, and thy power to every one that is to come.” (Psa 71:18)

Yours in our Lord’s service,
Pastor