Memory Text: Isaiah 54:13 NKJV “All your children [shall be] taught by the LORD, And great [shall be] the peace of your children.”

Sunday, January 29 Parent Disciples
How do Christ’s teachings about making disciples help us see our home mission?
Matthew 28:18-19 NKJV “18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,”
John 8:31 NRSV "Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, "If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples;”
John 13:35 NRSV “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."”
John 13:35 COMMENTARY BY ADAM CLARKE The disciples of different teachers were known by their habits, or some particular creed or rite, or point of austerity, which they had adopted; but the disciples of Christ were known by this love which they bore to each other. The primitive Christians were particularly known by this among the Gentiles. Tertullian, in his Apology, gives us their very words: Vide, inquiunt, ut se diligunt; et pro alterutro mori parati sunt. "See, said they, how they love one another, and are ready to lay down their lives for each other."
Deuteronomy 6:6-9 Holman “6 These words that I am giving you today are to be in your heart. 7 Repeat them to your children. Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them be a symbol on your forehead. 9 Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”
Deuteronomy 6:6 COMMENTARY BY MATTHEW HENRY Thou shalt talk of these things with due reverence and seriousness, for the benefit not only of thy children, but of thy servants, thy friends and companions. Take all occasions to discourse with those about thee, not of matters of doubtful disputation, but of the plain truths and laws of God, and the things that belong to our peace.
What must parents do before attempting to guide children spiritually?
Deuteronomy 6:5-6 NIV “5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts.”
Deuteronomy 6:18 NIV “Do what is right and good in the LORD’s sight, so that it may go well with you and you may go in and take over the good land that the LORD promised on oath to your forefathers,”

Monday, January 30 Spiritual Education at Home
How focused should parents be on their children’s education?
Deuteronomy 6:7 MKJV “And you shall carefully teach them to your sons, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up.”
Deuteronomy 6:7 COMMENTARY BY ADAM CLARKE God's testimonies must be taught to our children, and the utmost diligence must be used to make them understand them. This is a most difficult task; and it requires much patience, much prudence, much judgment, and much piety in the parents, to enable them to do this good, this most important work, in the best and most effectual manner.
What is the intent of Solomon’s instruction?
Proverbs 2:1-9 MKJV “1 ¶ My son, if you will receive My words and hide My commandments with you, 2 so that you attend to wisdom, you shall extend your heart to understanding; 3 yea, if you cry after knowledge [and] lift up your voice for understanding; 4 if you seek her as silver, and search [for] her as for hidden treasures, 5 then you shall understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God. 6 For the LORD gives wisdom; out of His mouth [come] knowledge and understanding. 7 He lays up sound wisdom for the righteous; [He is] a shield to those who walk uprightly. 8 He keeps the paths of judgment, and guards the way of His saints. 9 Then you shall understand righteousness and judgment and honesty, every good path.”
Proverbs 2:4 COMMENTARY BY ADAM CLARKE Hid treasures] The original word signifies property of any kind concealed in the earth, in caves or such like; and may also mean treasures, such as the precious metals or precious stones, which are presumptively known to exist in such and such mines. And how are these sought? Learn from the following circumstance: In the Brazils slaves are employed to scrape up the soil from the bed of the Rio Janeiro, and wash it carefully, in order to find particles of gold and diamonds; and it is a law of the state, that he who finds a diamond of so many carats shall have his freedom. This causes the greatest ardour and diligence in searching, washing out the soil, picking, &c., in order to find such diamonds, and the greatest anxiety for success; so precious is liberty to the human heart. This method of searching for gold and precious stones is alluded to in Pr 3:13-15. In this way Solomon wishes men to seek for wisdom, knowledge, and understanding; and he who succeeds finds the liberty of the children of God, and is saved from the slavery of sin and the empire of death.
Proverbs 3:5-8 NLT “5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. 6 Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take. 7 ¶ Don’t be impressed with your own wisdom. Instead, fear the LORD and turn away from evil. 8 Then you will have healing for your body and strength for your bones.”
Proverbs 3:6 COMMENTARY BY ADAM CLARKE Begin, continue, and end every work, purpose, and device, with God. Earnestly pray for his direction at the commencement; look for his continual support in the progress; and so begin and continue that all may terminate in his glory: and then it will certainly be to thy good; for we never honour God, without serving ourselves. This passage is well rendered in my old MS. Bible: Have trost in the Lord of all thin herte and ne lene thou to thi prudence: in all thi weys think hym, and he shal right rulen thi goynges; ne be thou wiis anentis thiself. Self-sufficiency and self-dependence have been the ruin of mankind ever since the fall of Adam. The grand sin of the human race is their continual endeavour to live independently of God, i.e., to be without God in the world. True religion consists in considering God the fountain of all good, and expecting all good from him.

Tuesday, January 31 Family Worship
How did God’s people in the Old Testament have morning and evening worship?
Exodus 29:38-42 Holman “38 ¶ “This is what you are to offer regularly on the altar every day: two year–old lambs. 39 In the morning offer one lamb, and at twilight offer the other lamb. 40 With the first lamb offer two quarts of fine flour mixed with one quart of crushed olive oil, and a drink offering of one quart of wine. 41 You are to offer the second lamb at twilight. Offer a grain offering and a drink offering with it, like the one in the morning, as a pleasing aroma, a fire offering to the LORD. 42 This will be a regular burnt offering throughout your generations at the entrance to the tent of meeting before the LORD, where I will meet you to speak with you.”
Exodus 29:39 COMMENTARY BY ADAM CLARKE These two lambs, one in the morning, and the other in the evening, were generally termed the morning and evening daily sacrifices, and were offered from the time of their settlement in the promised land to the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans. The use of these sacrifices according to the Jews was this: "The morning sacrifice made atonement for the sins committed in the night, and the evening sacrifice expiated the sins committed during the day."

Wednesday, February 1 Winsome Witness to Your Child
Proverbs 22:6 Holman “Teach a youth about the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.”
Proverbs 22:6 COMMENTARY BY ADAM CLARKE When he comes to the opening of the way of life, being able to walk alone, and to choose; stop at this entrance, and begin a series of instructions, how he is to conduct himself in every step he takes. Show him the duties, the dangers, and the blessings of the path; give him directions how to perform the duties, how to escape the dangers, and how to secure the blessings, which all lie before him. Fix these on his mind by daily inculcation, till their impression is become indelible; then lead him to practice by slow and almost imperceptible degrees, till each indelible impression becomes a strongly radicated habit. Beg incessantly the blessing of God on all this teaching and discipline; and then you have obeyed the injunction of the wisest of men.
What about parents whose children have wandered away from God?
Luke 15:11-22 Holman “11 ¶ He also said: “A man had two sons. 12 The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the estate I have coming to me.’ So he distributed the assets to them. 13 Not many days later, the younger son gathered together all he had and traveled to a distant country, where he squandered his estate in foolish living. 14 After he had spent everything, a severe famine struck that country, and he had nothing. 15 Then he went to work for one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. 16 He longed to eat his fill from the carob pods the pigs were eating, but no one would give him any. 17 When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired hands have more than enough food, and here I am dying of hunger! 18 I’ll get up, go to my father, and say to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight. 19 I’m no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired hands.’ 20 So he got up and went to his father. But while the son was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion. He ran, threw his arms around his neck, and kissed him. 21 The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight. I’m no longer worthy to be called your son.’ 22 “But the father told his slaves, ‘Quick! Bring out the best robe and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.”
Romans 8:28 Holman “We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God: those who are called according to His purpose.”
Romans 8:28 COMMENTARY BY MATTHEW HENRY That is good for the saints which does their souls good. Every providence tends to the spiritual good of those that love God; in breaking them off from sin, bringing them nearer to God, weaning them from the world, and fitting them for heaven. When the saints act out of character, corrections will be employed to bring them back again.
2 Peter 3:9 God’s Word “The Lord isn’t slow to do what he promised, as some people think. Rather, he is patient for your sake. He doesn’t want to destroy anyone but wants all people to have an opportunity to turn to him and change the way they think and act.”
Revelation 16:7 ESV “And I heard the altar saying, “Yes, Lord God the Almighty, true and just are your judgments!””

Thursday, February 2 A Service of Love
Ephesians 6:1-4 ESV “1 ¶ Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), 3 “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.” 4 Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”
Ephesians 6:1 COMMENTARY BY ALBERT BARNES This is the first great duty which God has enjoined on children. It is to do what their parents command them to do. The God of nature indicates that this is duty, for he has impressed it on the minds of all in every age; and the Author of revelation confines it. It is particularly important, (1.) because the good order of a family, and hence of the community, depends on it; no community or family being prosperous where there is not due subordination in the household. (2.) Because the welfare of the child depends on it; it being of the highest importance that a child should be early taught obedience to law, as no one can be prosperous or happy who is not thus obedient. (3.) Because the child is not competent, as yet, to reasons on what is right, or qualified to direct himself; and, while that is the case, he must be subject to the will of some other person. (4.) Because the parent, by his age and experience, is to be presumed to be qualified to direct and guide a child.
Ephesians 6:3 COMMENTARY FAMILY BIBLE NOTES The gospel inculcates perfect fidelity in the discharge of all the relative duties of life; and children who are kind, respectful, and obedient to parents, take the way to become blessings to themselves, their parents, the church of God, and the world.
Ephesians 6:4 COMMENTARY BY ADAM CLARKE Avoid all severity; this will hurt your own souls, and do them no good; on the contrary, if punished with severity or cruelty, they will be only hardened and made desperate in their sins. Cruel parents generally have bad children. He who corrects his children according to God and reason will feel every blow on his own heart more sensibly than his child feels it on his body. Parents are called to correct; not to punish, their children. Those who punish them do it from a principle of revenge; those who correct them do it from a principle of affectionate concern.