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Amen okay so Proverbs chapter 29 and I just want to focus in on verse 15 for now Proverbs 29 and verse 15 which reads the rod and reproof give wisdom but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame and the title of my sermon today is the Christian helicopter parent the Christian helicopter parent let's go to the Lord in a word of prayer before we continue father thank you for your word thank you for the great lessons you give us in the Bible the great principles you give us including you know practical advice and things such as parenting help me to preach this clearly now help me to preach it boldly accurately help those to have attentive ears here and want to apply it to their lives in Jesus name pray all of this amen okay so we're in a world aren't we that seems to try to it's best pretty much to separate children from their parents yeah that we see that all over and and we as Christians should know better shouldn't we we should know better than to get get pulled into the fads of this wicked world that we live in the fads of the world when we're constantly being told by the Word of God to be separate yeah to come out from among them be separate but from very young the encouragement to separate parents and their children comes in life doesn't it from from the beginning with mums just being basically pushed and cajoled into going back to work and and whether or not that comes from from the government sort of systems with free childcare for a certain amount of free childcare hours which keeps going up and up to to just just people around mums that the the worldly mums when are you going back to work what are you when are you going to go back to your job when are you going to be you when are you going to blah blah blah and they get this a lot don't they that the mums out there the free childcare as I said that the nurseries that are being pushed for social interaction we used to get this a lot for people going well well they need the social interaction at nursery like somehow a two-year-old running around with another snotty two-year-old is is going to massively benefit them for their for their you know long life ahead of the workplace and being around adults because ultimately that's what we're training for them for aren't we we're training children to be successful to be well-rounded adults right but apparently being around a load of other two-year olds is going to help them with that so you hear that sort of stuff about the social interaction the mums get there you need some you time you know when are you gonna when are you gonna have your break when it and and you get that in advertising you see a lot of this sort of you know the mum having her time and everything else and the mums in their active wear ready to have you know their time and everything else and look don't get me wrong some people do need some time off now and again but it's pushed isn't it's pushed it's promoted that the school seems seems to start younger and younger here doesn't it I mean that the teaching seems start younger and younger I think more recently they started pushing and promoting you know maths and English on sort of two or three year olds in nursing the nurse we need to start teaching them earlier and earlier and it's not it's not just the schools is it with school you've got the preschool clubs you've got the after-school clubs you've got the holiday clubs you've got the half-term clubs you've got basically any sort of club you can to pull those kids away from their parents for those parents to not have to look after their kids for for parents to be able to just palm them off not just in the school hours but also any after school hours also in the weekend times and everything else and it's just any which way they can try and separate kids it seems from their parents now I was around this we've my oldest is 12 years old and we kind of had this pressure on us from early and many others have probably felt this pressure as well it can even go as far as when they're at school to school trips holidays even school where they actually take away young children on holidays with maybe two or three adults or whatever parents a penny on the age getting involved but when you kind of take a step back from it all and look it's nuts isn't it absolutely nuts but again that's the world that we live in and then even after school even after school and kids making their own way to school okay that's a big I mean I mean when I was young 10 11 even younger than that you know time to make your own way to school get on the bus on your own I mean the wickedness that goes on out there and there was constantly at our school love that you know there were reports only the police would come in because something relatively wicked had happened some sort of weird I would done this or that on this bus route or outside this park I mean just amazing isn't it yet still parents just get the bus get the bus get the bus get on the train walk your way to school 11 12 year old kids that can't look after themselves and then even after that then you've got University and that seemed to be that was like a rite of passage you didn't you know you weren't up for going to University what sort of failure were you and again 18 years old children yeah children says the word of God at 18 years old just off on their own living on their own I mean it used to be a running joke I mean they didn't know how to even cook a meal they'd be eating cold tin beans and stuff when I was young but but apparently that was that you know they needed to do that didn't they they needed to have a party get drunk and do all sorts of wickedness for three years to somehow make it as an adult again crazy isn't it crazy when you look at it with our lens of the Word of God on it and and look I'm not trying to say well we're all just so wise because a lot of people here would have been sucked into that had they not got saved and started getting in tune with what God thinks about life and and these sort of subjects but even when they're with their parents so it's not just the whole school system and all the clubs and all the University and all that going out on their own but even when they're with their parents again there's a push and an encouragement to plonk your child in front of the TV who's raising your kid then the TV who do you even know who those people are that making those shows do you know who any of those people are do you know what any of their standards are do you know anything about what they're trying to push and promoting your kids no so then you've got the TV you've got the iPad the iPad and all the different games makers and you know different video games whatever you want to call them now again do you even know half the content of that stuff the phones how many kids are just on the phones all sorts of stuff all sorts of just videos chats with people you don't even know who they are half the time the social media and then you've got this latest child-led fad as well you know what I mean by the child-led fad so this is sort of the latest thing where basically a child just knows best so a kid just automatically inherently knows what's best in life and you've just got to kind of encourage them to make that choice so you just leave your your baby your toddler they'll choose what to eat they would apparently choose a healthy diet according to some of these people they don't worry about them choking leave it you know just leave them to it yeah kids will just do it and and again that kind of continues where you've got kids doing pretty unsafe stuff a lot of time just leave them to it they know what's best and there's this sort of child-led learning child-led everything and again this is one of the latest New Age fads now if all that pressure on a mum and her motherly instincts and especially the mums here but also on dads as well but if all that pressure isn't enough then you've got the psychological attack and one of the more recent ones is you're a helicopter parent anyone heard this term before yeah most of the rumors heard the term you're a helicopter parent now the connotation is that you're somehow hovering over your children okay you're somehow some weird parent who even who won't give their child space who won't let their child learn for themselves this is a sort of this is what it is it's an insult it's an insult but isn't that quite amazing isn't it amazing that being called a helicopter parent is actually an insult caring about your kids to actually want to know and and keep them out of danger and be around them and not just leave them to it is actually an insult in this wicked world we live in now that's quite amazing isn't it and but for many of us here it's kind of not because we live in a world where Isaiah 5 20 just seems to fit more and more that's under and many people know this verse woe unto them that call evil goods and good evil that put darkness for light a light for darkness that put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter and woe unto them really because look at the result of that look at the result of everything just the opposite to how God teaches it through his word and look at the world doing all this weird opposite stuff and look at the result we see amongst the world amongst the children growing up and everything else because a more fitting insult would be you don't care about your kids wouldn't that be a fitting insult that be that would be pretty insulted someone said to me you don't care about your kids that for me would be a much bigger insult than someone saying you're a helicopter parent I mean it's bizarre isn't it absolutely bizarre I remember taking my my kids to soft play areas when I was a bit younger and and not so much anymore and obviously kind of covered stop that and you know some of the older kids maybe wouldn't enjoy it so much it doesn't really work so much now but we used to take them there and look I don't think I've ever seen what the world describes as an actual helicopter parent the connotation of someone who's just said what I saw was a complete opposite out in a world I saw mums having a coffee session and a tea session while their kids were smashing other kids around the head with things I saw dads taking their kids shoving them in this soft play area turning around and looking on their phone for about an hour while that kid is is causing mayhem is is you know beating up younger children and everything else and for me it was it was a pretty pretty rough place to take your kids you're kind of following them around there's all these other kids who are just doing all sorts of crazy stuff and no and you're looking around where's the parent where's the parent and they're just completely disinterested but apparently there's a lot of helicopter parents I haven't seen many of these now why am I preaching about this today so why am I preaching about it then well because we had a gang of wicked people in our church promoting this nonsense to our church members so we had a large group in our church who were promoting the ins the insult of being a helicopter parent and we're trying to encourage the rest of our church and mums and families in our church to basically not care about their kids to not be around their kids to leave their kids alone to not really want to be anywhere near them with fear of being called a helicopter in fact we were actually called helicopter parents behind our backs for caring about where our kids were and obviously the idea was to just constantly push and promote this sort of leaving your kids to and if you think about what eventually kind of was exposed over the last couple of weeks it's even more wicked isn't it isn't it wicked that you've got literal perverse stuff yeah going on in our church and people then promoting you to not care about where your kids are absolutely wicked so yeah something that was pushed and promoted and the sad thing is is that a little leaven does leaveneth the whole lump okay and what does a lot of leaven do when you have a lot of leaven you end up with a mold problem okay you end up with a big fat stinking mold problem and I want to make sure that we correct this mold problem that could have created in our church and was constantly being pushed and I will over the several weeks coming now and again I'll be preaching on certain topics which I saw being pushed and promoted by wicked people in our church praise God we don't have them here anymore and yes the Bible does teach helicopter parenting okay the Bible does teach caring about your kids the Bible does teach looking after your kids the Bible does teach to have a close eye on your children Proverbs 29 where you are verse 15 says the rod and reproof give wisdom but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame is bringing his mother to shame a good thing anyone want to be brought to shame I don't want to be brought to shame yeah and sometimes it's gonna be unavoidable we're gonna be brought to shame at times I like but I don't think you your goal should be bringing yourself to shame mums here well leaving a child to himself bringeth his mother to shame and a child left to himself is not a good thing is it okay the Bible's clear about that that verse alone spells it out clearly a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame now turn us on 46 because who's the ultimate parenting example do we go to men and women of God in the Bible or do we go to the Lord God we go to our Heavenly Father don't we the perfect father the perfect parent well did you know that he's a helicopter parent yeah God's a helicopter parent fancy that well you turn to Psalm 46 I'm gonna read Psalm 121 verse 5 which says the Lord is thy keeper the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand he's a shade upon your right hand Proverbs 15 3 says the eyes of the Lord are in every place beholding the evil and the good yeah God doesn't just shut his eyes off to certain of his children no his eyes are in every place beholding the evil and the good and Psalm 46 where you've just heard of verse 1 says well it's to the chief musician for the sons of Korah sung upon alamoth God is our refuge and strength a very present help in trouble he's a very present help in trouble because he's always there the Lord's always a is a very present help and a helicopter parent well a parent should be there shouldn't they they should be there to help their child and I want to help change the brainwash image of the helicopter parent okay because it's used by our wicked world and sadly by people professing to be Christians as well as an insult but I don't think it's an insult I think that being a helicopter parent can be something you can wear with as a badge with pride and I mean that in a good way now here our helicopter father is called our refuge and strength now I want you instead instead of picturing some panicky hovering a millimeter away rich guys helicopter destined for a kind of high-profile crash because that's the sort of connotation like hovering out of control in high winds when we think of a Christian helicopter parent made in his image I think we should be thinking of maybe some sort of army helicopter maybe some maybe you could say an attack helicopter but I think we should be a bit more versatile let's think of a Chinook everyone know what Chinook is yeah okay so a Chinook is is quite a famous army helicopter the RAF use them as well as the US Army Navy maybe as well and Air Forces basically it's a helicopter with the two propellers so it's quite long and they're very versatile helicopters so they can be mount they kind of mounted weapons on them as well and sometimes as Christian parents we need to use some of our weapons to protect our kids don't we as well but they can also lift heavy objects as well did you know that as well they can they can airlift people out of trouble sometimes we need to airlift our kids out of trouble don't we as well they can they can provide provisions as well sometimes we need to provide for our children as well so when you think of a helicopter parent I want you to think of some sort of Chinook or something similar okay something which is versatile something which is pretty cool as well yeah something which you look at and you think yeah that that helicopter could do some could do some damage it could do some business it could do some good stuff right so have a little think about that Chinook it can lift it can transport it can attack it can protect and turn to Psalm 91 I'm telling my sermon is a Christian helicopter parent and number one helicopter parents protect their kids helicopter parents protect their kids and it's hard to protect your kids if you're nowhere near them isn't it if you're nowhere near you've got no idea what's going on with your children you're you've got no idea what's happening you can't really protect them if you don't know where they are you can't protect them okay you need to know where your kids are to be able to protect them and kids need protect protection don't they often just from themselves often the kids need protection just from themselves yeah that's the truth of life isn't it but regardless of the fact that kids get themselves in a lot of grief and do a lot of foolish things sometimes no offense kids but that we were all there as well and we all look some of us adults still do foolish things all right so at least you've got the excuse of being kids okay but in the same hand on the same hand as well it is a wicked world out there okay does anyone look around and walk out on the streets to see the people going past and and think yeah you know they're not so bad I just let my kid just just run around and play with those sorts of people I don't need my kids nearby and look and the truth is like I've said it's not to concern you it's not to make you think well don't you want to be there because you're commanded to be in church being in church is a great blessing having a real church is a great blessing but just because you're in the house of God doesn't mean suddenly there's no wickedness and we've obviously learned that recently more than ever but look there is wickedness everywhere okay you need to protect your children okay that's pretty obvious isn't it yeah pretty clear when you look at a child and see a helpless child even teenagers even even to the point where they get into their 20 sometimes and you look at and you look at your offspring and you think they still need help they still need protection they still need my guidance they still need my support they still need many things don't they okay and to get sucked into this well they'll be fine on their own is madness isn't it it's folly but it's at every angle and because it's been it's at every angle outside the church we need to make sure that it doesn't go on in the church as well right okay so you're in Psalm 91 Psalm 91 of verse 1 we're looking at our helicopter parent God the Father here it says he that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty God you helicopter parent you under the shadow of the Almighty I will say of the Lord he is my refuge and my fortress my God in him will I trust surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler and from the noisome pestilence now that's basically the trap of the birdcatcher the snare of the fowler noisome is hurtful or destructive pestilence is plague disease he shall cover thee with his feathers and under his wings shalt thou trust his truth shall be thy shield and buckler he wants to cover us to keep us under his wings that gives images of a helicopter parent there doesn't it verse 5 thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night nor for the arrow that flieth by day nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness nor for the destruction that waseth at noonday a thousand shall fall at thy side and ten thousand at thy right hand but it shall not come nigh thee that's some protection there isn't it that's some protection that our God offers us he didn't say just deal with it yourself you won't learn if you don't smash your head open you so you won't learn if you don't shove your fingers in the plug sockets no he wants us to abide in him and then he'll look after us and our kids need our protection too don't they yeah kids need our protection look there's so many hazards out there some are just obvious hazards and your kids need your protection it should be obvious but kids you have to stay in formation as well okay kids here you have to make sure that you're you're able and willing to be protected verse 1 he said he that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty that's that's basically being under the shadow of him that's choosing choosing to have the protection of God choosing to dwell in his shadow okay and kids you need to choose to dwell in your in your parents shadow because look however big and bad and tough and everything you might think you are you haven't got a clue what's out there okay you it's worse than you think it's worse than you think you might think well I listen to some pretty truthful preaching here look we don't cover half the stuff that goes on out there okay because it's so disgusting and it's so wicked what goes on in that world that we all live in okay so your parents job is to protect you and that's from the household hazards to a one-year old up up to the psychological and sometimes physical as well hazards to an 18 plus year old okay look they're there there are hazards everywhere and and look some of us have been through some of those hazards and we are wiser for it yeah and that's why we're there to protect you that's why you're you're you're put under our protection children but like I said how can we protect you if we're not nearby how can we protect children if we're not nearby can you airlift that casualty if you're on a break somewhere with your feet up as a helicopter pilot you can't can you you need to be ready to spring into action you can't fire the mounted machine gun turrets if you're several miles away yeah there's only you need to be close enough to be able to do that or you might even be be hitting you know doing some friendly fire there well verse 8 says only with thine eyes shout thou behold and see the reward of the wicked and there are a lot of wicked people around aren't there there are a lot of wicked people around believe me verse 9 says because I has made the Lord which is my refuge even the most either habitation there shall no evil before thee neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling the condition is making the Lord thy habitation okay for anyone reads this Psalm and just thinks I'm saved automatic no you need to make the Lord your habitation he shall give his angels charge over thee to keep thee in all thy ways now that's kind of like multiple helicopters isn't it so you kind of got the big chinook and then you've got all the kind of attack craft nearby as well and that kind of makes me think of siblings it makes me think of families you need to be looking after your siblings as well because it's a hard enough job for parents sometimes they need those siblings to help as well they need them to keep an eye out to keep watch out but also the church family as well okay look you're we're a big family here right and I've already noticed just in the last couple of weeks that family getting closer and tighter and stronger and but we should be looking out for each other right we should be looking out for each other's kids and everything else and there's something I want to cover quickly with that because it's something as well that I noticed being pushed a bit so looking after looking out for each other's kids is one thing and of course we don't need to be overly weird about people anywhere near our children in a church so some people take this too far where someone says hi to their kids and they're like well some sort of weirdo you know and everything else okay okay but on the on the flip side we did have this strange new kind of trend being pushed in our church recently of giving newborn babies to just men in the church to hold yeah anyone notice that one going on okay very odd very odd okay and look I'm not having a go at the men that were kind of that had the newborn baby put in their hands and we're like okay I'll hold your baby for you thank you but that's not normal okay most mums don't really want a lot of the time other mums to hold their babies let alone random men in the church okay that's weird and look that's not a trend we're going to continue in the church okay so please don't think that if you kind of been a bit kind of had your head turned by that and thought yeah yeah I better find a man to give my precious newborn little baby to which by the way if they don't hold it right sometimes they can have injuries with their necks and things like that but don't worry you you've never had babies here you go you have a baby see look I don't want to hold other people's babies and I'm sure most men here feel the same yeah it's odd okay so just just just a quick heads up on that okay that wasn't that wasn't a normal thing to do okay and and what was that about probably to make you feel like you're just so close to them and everything else and then it's harder when they eventually get the okay so very odd and it was part of this whole you know just I don't care hey someone's got my baby I don't care I'm gonna be I'm just off having a chat and the baby I'm sure is fine yeah weird right let's carry on though verse 13 thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder the young lion and the dragon shout loud trample under feet because he has set his love upon me therefore will I deliver him I will set him on high because he had known my name he shall call upon me and I will answer him I will be with him in trouble I will deliver him and honor him with long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation and that should be our goal as parents to ready to answer the call right they're in trouble helping them achieve long life yeah okay how you train your child is going to have a big effect on whether or not they make it to a good ripe old age yeah and it is basic parenting instincts isn't it okay it's basic and look just just wanting to protect your children is not normal people just want to do that don't know and you kind of have to have it whipped and beaten out of you by this wicked world because the normal parent just has those instincts if you notice there's a lot of stuff in the bar and the Bible talks about every subject we need to know about right but there are certain things that the Bible does it because so much it's just instinctive isn't it exactly what you do at the newborn stage everything else is just instinctive isn't it and and some of it look some of it is things that that you know there's some leeway on right okay and you're gonna learn from other people and then the things which you need to know like for example chastise your children other things like that the Bible will talk about right okay but it is basic parenting instincts and look just in two in twelve and a half twelve and a half years of she's shaking her head twelve and three quarter years nearly okay sorry nearly missed out on a couple of months there of parenting I've lost count of the amount of times that we've between my wife and myself protected our kids from danger it from being nearby and things that we wouldn't have done had we not been nearby and whether that's being one of the only parents that stayed at some sort of sports club thing and actually bothered to stay and watch him which you would think would be normal in it but I mean it amazes me how many of these things they're just like drop your kids and go it's I don't even know you dropping your kids with yeah it's absolutely bizarre isn't it but from things like that I mean to serious serious situations sometimes as well I've lost count I'm not even going to start relaying stories because this will turn into a five-hour sermon if I do okay but I'm sure every parent here could pretty much say the same good and maybe everyone here could think of times when their parents if they're not parents think of times when their parents protected them from being nearby at the time yeah and we look I know you can't literally be hovering over them it would be quite cool if you could but you can't but you know what you should want to at least where possible be nearby your kids right and be able to protect them be able to help them be able to defend them against the wicked people around be able to protect them from themselves sometimes as well I mean kids do some funny stuff sometimes don't they okay so go back to Proverbs 29 and verse 15 like you know the title of my sermon is a Christian helicopter parent number one helicopter parents protect their kids number two helicopter parents punish their kids helicopter parents punish their kids now if that Christian parent is like an army Chinook protecting civilians sometimes those civilians do do silly things okay they start wandering towards the enemy don't they sometimes doing other dangerous things right they say they they do and kids do that don't they sometimes they need reproving with the loud halo yeah sometimes they need the water cannon out sometimes they even need to rubber bullets and don't start picturing all these wicked governments of past I'm sure they've been a couple that have done it for good reason right okay sometimes they need that and sometimes our kids do need punishing don't they because there is this sort of this picture of the you know again the connotation of a helicopter parent is sort of flustering mum who's just like oh little Johnny can never do anything wrong you know he's just so so these mean kids around him but that's not the truth is it again it's just it's just a lie it's a brainwash a helicopter parent a real parent needs to know what's going on to be able to punish their kids right Proverbs 29 15 says the rod and reproof give wisdom but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame so part of that negative stereotype is that that liberal mum who won't punish their child but like I said are you going to know what what behavior needs punishing if you're not nearby you can't know can you now if a child's left to themselves there's going to be a load of unwise behavior that's missed isn't there okay just just take away from even the evil and wicked around him just their own behavior because like we said that child-led thing is nonsense yeah your kid wouldn't last a week on their own well even from a year old two years three years the older they get they might get into the two-week mark look they're not going to last long okay and just themselves you need to be there to correct that don't you because we're training them because it's problems 22 15 says foolishness is bound in the heart of a child but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him that's what the rod and reproof are for to drive away the foolishness and replace it with wisdom that's our goal as parents isn't it we're there we're trying to drive out foolishness we're trying to backfill with wisdom and look you're you'll also benefit from that parent so look up look at verse 17 in Proverbs 29 it says correct thy son and he shall give thee rest yea he shall give the light unto thy soul correct thy son and he shall give thee rest yea he shall give delight unto thy soul so you benefit from that turn to Proverbs 13 there's no point watching your kids and then turning a blind eye when the bad behavior comes and look there are parents that do that okay there are those that have a close eye on their kids but when the bad behavior comes that's when they turn and look the other way that's when they pretend to have missed it why do they do that because it's easier because it's easier not to punish sometimes because some kids have tantrums when you do punish don't they some kids don't deal with punishment that well and some kids can be hard work when you start trying to punish them and some parents decide I'll just turn a blind eye there but the Bible describes that as hating your child look at verse 24 in Proverbs 13 he that spareth his rod rod this is Proverbs 13 24 he that spareth his rod hateth his son but he that loveth him chaseneth him betimes so betimes is early before it's too late don't spare that rod of correction okay parents don't spare it you're not doing them any good and you'll suffer in the long run right God describes early okay in good time punishment as a loving thing to do doesn't he okay that's a loving thing to do and again our world gives us a different different impression of physical chastisement doesn't it there somehow that's a hateful thing to do it's actually a loving thing to do and I'm gonna trust God on this rather than rather than the world and I hope everyone else trusts God on this now he says early in good time and because the world's version of love is completely the opposite the world's version of love is just kind of cover cuddles attorney a blind eye to everything but is that loving I mean if we if we if we did that in this church if we just turned a blind eye to every sort of wickedness and behavior and just try to get along and everything else can you imagine how bad this church would be yeah if I just didn't preach on anything that that might affect people in this church you imagine the rampant sin that would be going on can you imagine what we'd still be dealing with in this church and ten times worse if I if I wasn't constantly trying to fight against that and and look I'm not so I'm so loving but that's what the Bible commands us to do doesn't it yeah some some sometimes love is calling out wickedness sometimes love is correcting sometimes love is punishing isn't it and sometimes love can be punishing with a punishment that actually matters that actually is going to make a child think no I don't want to do that again okay but you do need to remember when you're punishing your child remember it's a punishment not a way of letting off steam because then there's people that go too far on this right tone of Proverbs 23 some can take this too far now Proverbs chapter 23 says in verse 13 Proverbs 23 13 withhold not correction from the child for if thou beatest him with the rod he shall not die thou shalt beat him with the rod and shout deliver his soul from hell now what's that about delivering his soul from hell well a child has to understand repercussions for behavior don't they and notice we're chastising them big times that's early because they may not they may end up not believing there is such thing as hell if they never get punished or chastised for anything okay a child has to understand that there are repercussions and then they're more likely to understand and believe the Word of God when the Word of God says that there's an eternal punishment for your sins right okay that's why you deliver their soul from hell but it's it's talking about beating in black or blue or black and blue or you know one of the two well a beating as we would describe it nowadays because sometimes when you think of a beater you think about someone getting a real hiding don't you someone getting beaten up maybe ribs nose everything else no it's to strike it's measured punishment okay don't forget that it's measured punishment turn of Ephesians chapter 6 while you turn I'm going to read just a couple of places where we see about beating being prescribed act 1622 and the multitude rose up together against him in a magistrates rent off their clothes and commanded to beat them okay these are these are people commanding a lawful theoretically beating here acts 1817 says then all the Greeks took Sosthenes the chief rule of the synagogue and beat him before the judgment seat and Galio cared for none of those things right this is measured punishment this is basically either a whipping or this is a beating with a rod it's not beating someone up it's prescribed punishment yeah now believe it or not and and and God prescribed lashes for certain for certain crimes and sins that's more likely to put people off then caging them like an animal for however many months or years or anything else where they just hang around with other criminals and learn criminal activity and then come out with much less chance of getting a job or anything else yeah no God's prescribed way was and and here these aren't even God's people are God's nations but they still thought that it was more effective to punish people they're wrongfully because he's punishing Christians for preaching the gospel but regardless with measured controlled punishment a strike somewhere where it's going to give a sting where it's going to hurt but you're not going to give them lasting damage right it's not beating someone up the point is that it's done in love not hate Ephesians 6 and verse 1 says children obey your parents in the Lord for this is right honor thy father and mother which is a first commandment with promise that it may be well with thee and that and now mayest live long on the earth and you father's provoke not your children to wrath but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord notice how it's nurture and admonition not cussing and savage thrash eggs yeah it's nurture and admonition and that's what we're that's what our goal is because there's a stereotype then that smacking your child's bottom is is somehow what some evil wicked angry you name the movies with anyone dishing out any corporal punishment as being some drunkard some sort of angry scary monster of a father that comes home or some sort of just angry frustrated mother again usually combined with drinking or something else but that's not how the word of God describes it but it should be done lovingly right and it's done look I'm not saying you have to be it's not it's not a stroke yeah it should be something that stings but it shouldn't be leaving long-lasting damage it should be something that that basically makes a child think yeah I don't want to do that sort of behavior look you know it's much more loving when your child tries to run across the road to grab them pull them back and give them a smack bottom so they know that trying to run across the road results in a sting and don't do that then it is to go now little journey you know you shouldn't be doing that little Johnny thinks running across the road gets smiles and cuddles and everything else right look it's pretty basic isn't it it's pretty basic stuff but again the world just distorts it all doesn't it and that could be the same with anything in life right that could be the same with anything that's dangerous in life a child needs to understand not to do that and the word of God it shows us how we should do that but it's done in love it's a loving thing to do it's not because I'm just so angry with my child I'm going to give them natural absolute hiding and get it out of my system okay that's what the world wants to paint it as that's not we don't want to prop up that stereotype it's nurture and admonition but but sometimes kids do need strong punishment but it should be measured yeah okay not not not some pounding so go back to Proverbs 29 we look at the Christian helicopter parent number one helicopter parents protect their kids number two helicopter parents punish their kids and number three helicopter parents prioritize their kids helicopter parents prioritize their kids if that Chinook keeps flying off and not doing its job it's a pilot that's getting blamed not the people on the ground right yeah if that Chinook was meant to provide air support and he just flies off somewhere else because he's a bit bored doesn't really fancy it anymore he's the one that's gonna get the grief yeah you're not gonna go all those stupid people on the ground well look let's we're gonna look at it just from a selfish point of view first if you don't hover nearby to those kids you're gonna be getting the blame they're gonna be bringing their mum to shame right look what it says Proverbs 29 15 the rod and reproof give wisdom but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame so you get what you put in and those that put the lease into the kids end up with the worst relationship I've noticed that in life that the parents that were never there of old school friends and things like that the ones especially you know if you ever came across those real rich kids that were sent off to some sort of boarding school or something else like that usually they didn't even call their mums and dads mum and dad usually it was you know it was by first name or you know father and it was always done with some sort of not much love there yeah and and that's just the truth that's just a clear truth you can see in life those that just didn't bother those that were just yeah whatever the mums that were you know career mum and everything else a lot of the time most of the time I thought in fact probably much all the time you could see a massive difference in those relationships couldn't you okay and you can see that in life so we don't want to leave our children to themselves you get what you put in right and it can be very tempting to drop your kids off with so and so okay if you've got someone that you do trust everything else you can be tempted I'm not saying look you've got to never never be you know anywhere near them some people are blessed with family that they trust and that they you know and you can make that judgment and that decision and sometimes that could be a useful thing right okay and sometimes that could be good but you've got to watch out with that as well okay because they won't raise them like you do look the grandparents a lot of the time will not give out that measured punishment will they okay they won't prioritize your child's long-term you know development against just having that good time grandparent fun with them okay and that's it that's the truth and look sometimes they could learn I'm not saying right that's it got a band of grandparents yeah I'm not saying I'm all I'm saying is you you got a you've got to get that right that balance right with that okay because they won't know well they'll be getting ice creams when they should be getting a smack bottom with the grandparents a lot of the time okay so you want to watch out for that but we should we do and we should be prioritizing our children because it's a mother that's going to suffer in the long run a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame so there's another one that can be pushed as well that I saw being pushed was leaving the older child to look after all the younger children okay that's that's gonna eventually bring the mother to shame now look now and again look older kids can help out okay that's great and and sometimes you're gonna get your older kids to help out with your younger kids but literally getting them to do the parenting role for big parts of the day and everything else that's basically leaving a child themselves in fact that's leaving the older child to themselves or even worse yeah and look that's not going to be good in the long run okay because is that is that 11 12 year old wise is that 13 14 15 year old wise no no and they're not going to be doing the punishment if they give you out the punishments as well that just gets weird right and ultimately they're not going to be giving out the punishments and then you can have this situation where they're claiming one thing you don't need to believe it's madness it's funny okay don't get pulled into that sort of stuff okay turn to Proverbs 22 turn to Proverbs chapter 22 you're in Proverbs 29 because what's our goal well Proverbs 22 and verse 6 says train up a child in a way he should go Proverbs 22 6 and when he is old he will not depart from it so we're training our kids for life and as an adult that can be for quite a long time can't it yeah I know what's the average age for a man here 70 odd now is it in this country yeah ladies maybe it's getting up to 80 I think it's maybe 70 and 75 might be wrong there but something around that okay okay well for me that's a good 50 years on average as an adult that's a lot longer than time as a child yeah okay and I know some of the older ones are getting annoyed here with me talking about those under 20 being a child but that's what I see in the Word of God yeah okay so for me look you know we're not interested in this country they're trying to make out like 16 year olds where we're adults no they're not the children they might be older children but they're still children okay and and look we're training them fat for adulthood okay that's what that's what our goal is as parents and we're training them in the way they should go so when they're old they don't depart from it and that's a long time isn't it so having those relaxing afternoons whilst the kids are dumped in front of the brainwash box or the kids are dumped in front of who knows what sort of video game and what's going on in that game and everything else might not seem so worth it when you think about that you're gonna have a lifetime of possible shame yeah and look I'm not saying that right they can never play a video game if you think that's the right look some people want to make those lines and draw those lines I'm not trying to go black and white with this but what I am saying is look we should know what our kids are doing we should know what our kids are getting taught by we should know what's educating our children we should know all of that because that's what the Bible calls us to do turn to Psalm 127 and look what I am saying is some of that stuff is wicked though okay let's just make that clear a lot of that stuff is wicked okay a lot of what's being pushed on children is wicked a lot of the cartoons a lot of the I mean let's be honest ninety nine point nine percent if not a hundred percent of what Disney pushes is wicked yeah all these companies all these firms all these big multinational corporations teaching your kids through their movies through their shows through their cartoons through their video games are wicked yeah they're they're bad people they're bad people and they have an agenda okay there's no doubt about that that's not you know I don't have to take off my tinfoil hat to preach this okay that's just clear as day and and the Bibles clear about that who the god of this world is and these people are all of this world and they're pretty high up in this world as well okay so look you need to be aware of that stuff make sure you're aware that stuff but regardless regardless when we talk about prioritizing our kids obviously we're not elevating them above God obviously not God comes first and we're not elevating them above our spouses remember not to do that either okay your spouse comes first yeah but but we should be recognizing their importance their value to God look at Psalm 127 in verse 3 low children are in heritage of the Lord and the fruit of the womb is his reward now you could gloss over that verse there and think oh yeah yeah they're in heritage given to you by the Lord and the fruit of the womb is a reward to you know the fruit of the womb is his reward his reward not his reward to you his reward for himself they're in heritage of the Lord and inheritance of his the his they're the Lord's yeah you're looking after them for him yeah get like register that for a second when you when you have children you're looking after those children for the Lord you have to give them back to God and now you might sit there going no no brother Ian I don't agree with the wording there okay well you want to get your kids saved don't you what happened when they got saved or when they do get saved they got purchased didn't they with the blood of Jesus Christ so either way yeah if you want oh well no no no well either way look once they're saved they're the Lord's all right but for me when I read that verse there low children heritage of the Lord the fruit of the womb is his reward not the fruit of the womb is your reward not the fruit of the womb is is the parents reward the fruit of the womb is his reward talking about the Lord here colon after the Lord okay so for me from young yeah they're the Lord's right okay they they're loaned to you by God that's serious business isn't it if you think about it that way that is serious business can you imagine then claiming to be a Christian and saying to someone they're a helicopter parent because they don't just leave their kid with random people in the church because they won't just just leave their kid and go off soul-winning with someone that they only met a year before that they see once a week on a Sunday can you like that is wicked isn't it how wicked is that when when they're the Lord's children and the chill and the Lord says that they're his heritage they're his reward think of someone really important in your life maybe your boss at work maybe your favorite relative your favorite person in the world maybe not maybe the scariest person you know maybe the toughest guy in your town came up to you and said I need you to look after my child for the day what are you just gonna leave them with someone else oh yeah whatever yeah just just just shove them off somewhere else I don't even know where they are would you just start get on the phone then and just yeah you're going go and do whatever you like yeah you would have would you would you you you're looking after them for the most important scariest favorite and he should be all of those right yeah person in the world and you bring them to church and you're just like yeah I don't even know where they are yeah who knows who cares everyone's alright here aren't they what could happen what could happen in a church building you wouldn't do that would you but yet we're looking after our children for the Lord yeah for God Almighty and how many people get pulled into that get pulled into that well they'll be alright well whatever look we should take it seriously shouldn't we okay so I turn the Deuteronomy 6 because it's not just keeping them out of trouble it's not just keeping them safe it's not just being ready to punish them and that ultimately is keeping keeping them out of trouble in the long run because it is prioritizing them and when you're doing that you're preparing them for life because eventually you know that helicopter parent can't always be there okay eventually that helicopter won't always be there as they get older that helicopter has to hover that little bit further away doesn't it sometimes areas that helicopter can't get into there are there are places of deep cover that those kids end up getting into aren't there and there are areas where you know that helicopter can't can't get okay and and as they get as they get to the point where they leave your home and everything else well you're not gonna be if you are hovering nearby that is gonna be a bit weird thing so if you're hovering over your sort of 30 year old and you know and kind of okay that might be a little bit strange and so maybe then you could you could be criticized for that but Deuteronomy chapter 6 and from verse 4 says Deuteronomy 6 for here are Israel the Lord our God is one Lord and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart with all thy soul and with all thy might and these words which I command thee this day shall be in thine heart and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children and shout talker then when thou sits in thine house and when thou walkest by the way when thou liest down and when thou risest up sounds like he expects us to be pretty hands-on with our kids right yeah that's pretty hands on that could be a helicopter parent couldn't it you can't do that when you don't know where they are what they're doing can you you can't talk about the the words that God commands us diligently to your children when you sit in your house when you walk by the way when you lie down and when you rise up if you're nowhere near them can you and that's prioritizing your kids isn't it okay that's preparing them for life prioritizing your kids that really are God's kids yeah so the point of this sermon is look don't let these wicked people shame you look it's expected on the outside it's sad when you get it on the inside okay don't let them shame you it's those without natural affection that should be shamed okay those without natural affection are the ones that should be shamed don't let them shame you okay we should care about our kids we should want to know where our kids are we should protect our kids there's nothing wrong with that you'll keep getting this attack from the world okay be strong about it yeah when you get it from the unsaved family when you get it sadly even from the safe family when you get it from from the friends when you get the people that are trying to constantly encourage you to just not give a damn to shove your kids off to do whatever don't don't let them yeah answer them stand strong and say but they're my kids we love our kids don't we we want what's best for kids and ultimately they're God's kids okay and we should protect those kids so if you're a Christian and a parent and you better be a helicopter parent number one helicopter parents protect their kids number two helicopter parents punish their kids and number three helicopter parents prioritize their kids and let's go to the Lord in the word of prayer to finish up Lord God Heavenly Father I thank you for you know that the clear instruction you give us in Scripture for the importance you put upon our children for how you want us to behave for how you want us to follow your example as a loving parent a loving father that's there in times of trouble that's a present help in times of trouble but that's a shade upon our right hand that a parent that is just always there always ready to protect us to help us to guide us to look after us and that you prioritize us that you you want what's best for us and you know for us we don't deserve anything and help us be like that with our with especially you know our innocent little children as they're born and obviously as they get older as well and and just knowing that that they're in heritage of the Lord and the fruit of the womb is your reward help us to look after our kids help us to prioritize our kids help us to protect our kids help us to to also punish our kids help us to to do all these things as you'd want us to do them help us to to do that from today going forwards and help us to just to not be swayed by the attacks on that by the wicked people around us in Jesus name pray all of this amen