God intentionally designed humanity to work within a family system. And so when we talk about Christian discipleship, we must talk about discipleship in the family.

Did you grow up in a Christian home?… Would you say you were discipled at home?

So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s family. —Ephesians 2:19 (NLT)

What does it mean to be a member of “God’s family?”

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, 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. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. —Deuteronomy 6:4–9 (ESV)

What do you notice in this text?

There are 3 concentric circles of family discipleship. The first circle is your own personal relationship with God (verse 5).

Why is this first and foremost when it comes to family discipleship?

The second circle is teaching our kids to have a relationship with God (verses 6-8).

In what ways do you see from this text that we should teach our kids?

The third circle is putting the relationship your family has with God on display for the community to see (verse 9).

Why is this order of concentric circles important?

What happens if you start with the “outward facing” first?

“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs—beautiful on the outside but filled on the inside with dead people’s bones and all sorts of impurity. 28 Outwardly you look like righteous people, but inwardly your hearts are filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness. —Matthew 23:27–28 (NLT)

What are you modeling for the next generation?