September 21, 2025
Jesus 'Bout My Kids
- Matt Nickoson
Sermon Notes
I used to talk to my kids about Jesus
The same way that my mom and daddy did
I used to talk to my kids about Jesus
Now I talk to Jesus 'bout my kids
When they're born, you dive right in
Trying to get 'em born again
Pull out them Bible stories, then you stumble your way through
You do your best to steer 'em straight
Tell 'em 'bout who He is and ain't
And answer all their questions
Even though you've got some too
I used to talk to my kids about Jesus
How He lived and died and rose again
I used to talk to my kids about Jesus
Now I talk to Jesus 'bout my kids
You lose your grip the more they grow
They won't listen 'cause they think they know
And you watch 'em going down a dead-end road
And you can't stop 'em
Lord, please watch 'em
- Luke Bryan, Jesus ‘Bout My Kids
How do I make sure healthy fruit grows on my kid’s tree?
Why did you do that?!!?
What in the world were you thinking?!!?
What is wrong with you?!!?
Careful words are like fresh water to a trunk, while harsh words are like an axe.
Joshua 24:14 NIV
“Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord.”
“An idol is whatever you look at and say, 'If I have that, then I'll feel my life has meaning, then I'll know I have value, then I'll feel significant and secure.'” – Timothy Keller, Counterfeit Gods
Parents, please teach your kids that: Getting what I want will not get me where I want.
How am I making God a priority in my life and in the life of my family?
Acts 2:38 NIV
Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
Acts 2:39 NIV
“The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”
Joshua 24:15 NIV
“But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”
"The human heart is an idol factory that takes good things like a successful career, love, material possessions, even family, and turns them into ultimate things.” – Timothy Keller, Counterfeit Gods
Before I can produce new fruit in my kids, I have to see the generational idols that were handed down to me.
John 3:20-21 NIV
Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.
Honesty heals. However, what you hide, you hand down.
Better fruit begins with new roots. If you want to grow differently, you have to sow differently.
Galatians 6:7-8 MSG
Don’t be misled: No one makes a fool of God. What a person plants, he will harvest. The person who plants selfishness, ignoring the needs of others—ignoring God!—harvests a crop of weeds. All he’ll have to show for his life is weeds! But the one who plants in response to God, letting God’s Spirit do the growth work in him, harvests a crop of real life, eternal life.
Own the rotten; grow the Godly.
Galatians 6:9-10 MSG
So let’s not allow ourselves to get fatigued doing good. At the right time we will harvest a good crop if we don’t give up, or quit. Right now, therefore, every time we get the chance, let us work for the benefit of all, starting with the people closest to us in the community of faith.
John 15:1-4 NIV
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.
You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine.
Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.”
The more connected to the life of Jesus you are, the easier it will be to cultivate the right fruit from your heart.
Train ‘til they’re taught.
Proverbs 22:6 NASB2020
Train up a child in the way he should go,
Even when he grows older he will not abandon it”
Repeat God’s truth ‘til it sticks, because truth takes time.
Jeremiah 32:38-39 NIV
“They will be my people, and I will be their God. I will give them singleness of heart and action, so that they will always fear me and that all will then go well for them and for their children after them.”
Jeremiah 32:40 NIV
“I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never stop doing good to them, and I will inspire them to fear me, so that they will never turn away from me.”
Jeremiah 32:41 NIV
“I will rejoice in doing them good and will assuredly plant them in this land with all my heart and soul."