Into Maturity - A New Free Resource for Training up Children in the Faith

Faith like a child. That’s what Christians are supposed to aspire to, right? Well, yes and no. It’s true that God’s Word encourages us to receive the Kingdom of God like a child (Mark 10:15). And Jesus encourages adults to humble themselves like children (Matthew 18:4). However, God’s Word also exhorts us to grow and mature. Peter encourages those he writes to “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” (2 Peter 3:18). Paul says that the ministry he and other conducted included “warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom,” that they might “present everyone mature in Christ.” (Colossians 1:28).

This new series of resources which we call Into Maturity we are offering to you now was put together with that very truth in mind – God wants us to grow and mature in wisdom, in knowledge, and in Christ. That’s something that all of God’s children can and should strive for, and so these bible studies can be used by Christians of various ages.

However, these studies were especially created for those seeking to train in the faith young people who are familiar with Luther’s Small Catechism but want to grow in their thinking, especially as it relates to the world’s influence on one’s thinking in comparison to how God’s Word shapes our thinking and faith.

These resources can be used in any order or even individually, but it is recommended that the series be done in the following order: 1) Our Questions; 2) God’s Answers; 3) Words Matter; 4) Living Planted. If this order is followed, participants will see how questions that are quite common among people are answered by God’s Truth. Then they will further consider God’s Truth compared to the confusing messages and definitions that our world gives today. Lastly, they will explore how the truth of God not only shapes and informs one’s thinking, but also what we say and do each day.

We pray that this series will be a blessing for you and your family, for you and the members of your youth group, or for you as you study with other Christians, seeking to grow “Into Maturity” in Christ Jesus our Lord.

While the entire series is available now to download individually on our resources page, or here as one large zip file, we plan to blog over the comings weeks about each part of this resource so you understand them better.

If you would consider sharing this information on social media or in person with others, we would appreciate it. Stay up with all of our work by following us on our Facebook Page at https://www.facebook.com/livingplanted.

Into Maturity is coming - Subscribe now! Resources to thoughtfully train your child in the faith.

Truth be told, a lot of life happens without much thought. Things happen and we respond. But when we have time to reflect, we must admit usually those random responses are not helpful in achieving goals that we might have in life. No one ever builds a barn through random responses. No one becomes a doctor through random responses. And no one trains up their child in the faith well through random responses.

Certainly, there is value to what is learned as children watch their parents respond to life as it comes at them. But to believe that this alone will well prepare their child to live as a child of God right in the midst of a world so well-aligned against the truth of God would be foolish.

We at LivingPlanted.com believe a thoughtful approach to Christian life at home is the best way to prepare our children to live that same life both inside of the homes they will lead one day and out in the world as well. This belief is based on God's insistence that letting His word dwell richly within us is critical to how the Spirit sustains us in the faith. We also know that finding time to be thoughtful about these things can be challenging. We hope to serve you by producing resources thoughtfully crafted to help you in your work of training up your children.

We believe that daily devotions are the most important thing you can do with your children in your home. If you have not been doing this, please check out our core resource which will help you get started right away. Families should read together, pray together, memorize together, and sing together each day. But we also believe that training up children must go beyond the things we suggest in that resource.

We are currently in the process of working on some resources that will help you do just that in a thoughtful way. We are working on resources we call “Into Maturity.” These are resources meant to help engage your child with the Word in a way that prepares them for real life interaction with the world they are and will be experiencing. A resource on the book of Job will help us think about how we deal with the questions we and others have about life in this world. A resource that is filled with the Scriptures will help us be reminded of God's truth, His answers, to the challenges the devil, the world, and the flesh constantly throw at us Christians. A resource looking at particular words from the Scriptures will remind us to speak about those words in the ways the Spirit does in his Word.

Our first resource based on the book of Job will be ready for you in the next two weeks. The best way to make sure you do not miss it is to subscribe to this blog or like our Facebook page. If you are using any of our resources, we would love to hear any feedback you might have. May God bless you as you live out the Christian Life At Home.