Our children are precious to us, so naturally we want to protect them and guarantee their safety and happiness. We want to get it right, so our children will be all right. But we live in a broken world where things don't always (or ever?) go as planned. Children make mistakes, and, if they are honest, parents know they make mistakes too. So it's easy for parents to live in fear, regret, confusion, and sometimes hopelessness about parenting and the children they love. Is there a better way? Can you learn to live by faith, to trust the God who made you and your children with their past, present, and future? How can parents live by faith as they parent their children?
These are questions that are best answered in community. This ten-session small group resource will help parents apply the gospel of Jesus Christ to their families. Each lesson looks at parenting through the lens of God's grace for sinners (parents and children) and gives parents a gospel center to their parenting. Parents will learn how to live out the biblical principles of faith, repentance, and faithfulness to their calling as parents with their children. Each lesson is self-contained, featuring clear teaching from Scripture, and requires no extra work outside of the group setting. The self-explanatory Leader's Guide at the back of the book helps small group leaders with discussion questions and background material that clearly explain and apply the gospel truths from each lesson.
"The Gospel-Centered Parent is a resource to help you see your parenting in light of God's good news! Practical yet theological, simple yet deeply biblical, this text will provide helpful perspective for many parents."
Timothy Paul Jones, C. Edwin Gheens Professor of Christian Family Ministry at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary; author of Family Ministry Field Guide
"The Gospel-Centered Parent is an invaluable gift to the church. This ten-week group study will give parents the hope and courage they need as they learn how to give the gospel to their children and to themselves. The weekly lessons are easy to read and applicable to everyday life. The questions at the end of each lesson are thought provoking and will be helpful in creating good discussions. But what I love the most about this study was that when I was finished I found myself more in love with Christ. The gospel is good news for every single part of our lives."
Jessica Thompson, Coauthor of Give Them Grace
"The Gospel-Centered Parent small group study is the best small group resource I've seen for parents. It is much more than a parenting course; it is parent discipleship at its best. Buy this resource for your small group and watch worry and anxiety in the lives of your parents trying to find the right parenting technique be replaced with faith in God and a renewed trust in the life-transforming gospel."
Marty Machowski, Family Life Pastor at Covenant Fellowship Church, Glen Mills, PA; author of Long Story Short, Gospel Story for Kids curriculum, and the upcoming The Ology: Ancient Truths, Ever New
"I so wish I had this book forty years ago, before I became a parent. Want (need) some fresh reflection on the implications of the gospel for how we love our kids to the glory of God? Start here. Practical without being pragmatic; thoughtful without being clich; refreshingly honest and pregnant with hope. A parent as chief repenter and thirstiest person for grace in the family system? You betcha. Huge thanks, hugs, and kudos to Rose Marie Miller, Deborah Harrell, and Jack Klumpenhower for this extraordinary gift."
Dr. Scotty Ward Smith, Author; Teacher in Residence at West End Community Church, Nashville
"It's great to be a parent; but if you are one, it almost goes without saying that you're frustrated sometimes, confused sometimes, and fearful sometimes. Maybe even more than 'sometimes.' You're going to love this study. And, also, if you're a parent, the last thing you need is another guilt-producing book or study guide that will tell you how to do it right. You just don't need more frustration, confusion, and fear. What you need is Jesus and the gospel. Rose Marie, Debbie Harrell, and Jack Klumpenhower have given a major gift to parents and to the church. Use this guide, rejoice in its truth, then lighten up and take your kids for ice cream."
Steve Brown, Key Life radio broadcaster; author of Three Free Sins: God Isn't Mad at You
"What a liberating resource! Just reading the first paragraph will set you free. But don't stop there. Every chapter is full of honest insights into how the gospel can change both you and the way you parent."
Charles Morris, Speaker and President of the nationwide radio broadcast Haven Today
"If I'm honest, too often my parenting has a 'build-a-better-Pharisee' feel to it I'm sadly content to aim for external behavioral conformity and end up missing the heart. The Gospel-Centered Parent provides a much-needed antidote to this short-sighted approach. It provides thought-provoking, practical, biblically faithful instruction for parents who yearn to model a lifestyle of faith and repentance before their children. It has proved immediately beneficial in my own parenting."
Michael R. Emlet, MDiv, MD, Faculty member and counselor at CCEF; author of CrossTalk: Where Life and Scripture Meet.
"Having stumbled along through the joy and the mess of parenting for almost eighteen years, it has become clear to us that one thing is needed for this magnificent calling: deep roots in the gospel. We need a grace that gives us permission to fail, and to own where we have failed with our own children. Sometimes the parent who says to a child, 'I'm sorry, will you forgive me?' is parenting better and more beautifully than the parent who makes few if any mistakes. But we also need a grace that calls us to something more, to press in with our kids with a generosity, love, and vision that calls them to be and become the very best version of their unique selves. The Gospel-Centered Parent is an excellent resource for this endeavor."
Scott Sauls, Senior Pastor of Christ Presbyterian Church, Nashville, TN; author of Jesus Outside the Lines: A Way Forward for Those Who Are Tired of Taking Sides
"It was our privilege to live in community with Jack and Rose Marie as the Lord was teaching us all about being immersed in the gospel and letting go of the illusion of being 'perfect parents.' We had a front-row seat as Jack and Rose Marie modeled the humility of parents who were becoming transparent, sharing their weaknesses and inadequacies while being bold in prayer and faith that Jesus was ALL that they needed. We shared a rocky but beautiful journey and saw God's strength in their weakness. We are indebted to them, and trust that as you go through this study you will be able to let go of your desire to control your children and grow in your desire to run to your Father for forgiveness and grace."
Dick and Liz Kaufmann, Founding Pastor of New Life Presbyterian Church, Escondido, and Harbor, a church planning network in San Diego, CA; former Executive Pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church NYC
I read this book over the summer with a few other mothers and it was a really helpful and encouraging read. Perfect for a book study setting!
I read this book over the summer with a few other mothers and it was a really helpful and encouraging read. Perfect for a book study setting!
Continuing their Gospel-Centered series, New Growth Press, in conjunction with Serge (formerly World Harvest Mission) has recently published The Gospel-Centered Parent. The Gospel-Centered series seeks to apply the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ to various aspects of the life of the Church and the Christian. These studies are created for use in a small group setting with leader and participant guides. The Gospel-Centered Parent is grounded in the gospel and seeks to help moms and dads parent from a position of faith and not fear. As any parent will attest to, it is so easy to try to control how our children will turn out by weighing them down with rules and demands. We are afraid to lose them to Satan and the world. Our fear drives us to trust ourselves to determine our children’s futures, rather than trusting God. While we may be exercising faith in God for our own salvation, we can forget to put our faith in God when it comes to our parenting. When we trust God to lead our children, then it lightens our burden as parents, and frees us to parent our children the way God wants us to. In turn, our children are freed from the weights we put on them. When we put our faith in God for our parenting, we lighten our load and that of our children. To get a taste of the gospel saturated nature of this resource, here are the fifteen reasons why it is better to parent with the gospel rather than rules as outline at the back of the book: 1. Unless their hearts are in it, your kids won’t be obeying God’s most important law no matter what else they might manage to do. 2.Unless good works spring from belief in Jesus, they aren’t even actually good. 3.Obedience that’s grounded in love will help your kids overcome how they feel at the moment. 4.The worry that God’s people might use grace as an excuse to sin reflects a too-small view of salvation and grace. 5.The idea that grace might let us get away with sin is not how reborn people should think. 6.A strategy that starts with believing the gospel looks beyond surface sins to whole-self obedience. 7.You kids can’t be consistent about godly living without love for God. 8.Your kids can’t really obey God if they’re unsure of his pleasure toward them. 9.A focus on Jesus and his grace does not make God’s commands seem unnecessary; instead it shows how they’re both urgent and beautiful. 10.Only the confidence that comes from knowing they surely belong to Jesus will let your kids dare to face the full demands of God’s law. 11.Knowing grace lets your kids get serious about God’s commands without falling into despair. 12.Knowing grace makes your kids humble. 13.Knowing grace makes your kids confident. 14.Knowing grace lads your kids to worship. 15.God means for his kindness to motivate obedience. This is a solid parenting resource that I recommend for every parent to use. It will help you to understand the gospel message better and how it shapes your parenting. The gospel is not something we just believe to get saved. It is something we believe day by day as we grow into it more and more. The Gospel-Centered Parent shows parents how to grow into the gospel in their parenting.
Continuing their Gospel-Centered series, New Growth Press, in conjunction with Serge (formerly World Harvest Mission) has recently published The Gospel-Centered Parent. The Gospel-Centered series seeks to apply the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ to various aspects of the life of the Church and the Christian. These studies are created for use in a small group setting with leader and participant guides. The Gospel-Centered Parent is grounded in the gospel and seeks to help moms and dads parent from a position of faith and not fear. As any parent will attest to, it is so easy to try to control how our children will turn out by weighing them down with rules and demands. We are afraid to lose them to Satan and the world. Our fear drives us to trust ourselves to determine our children’s futures, rather than trusting God. While we may be exercising faith in God for our own salvation, we can forget to put our faith in God when it comes to our parenting. When we trust God to lead our children, then it lightens our burden as parents, and frees us to parent our children the way God wants us to. In turn, our children are freed from the weights we put on them. When we put our faith in God for our parenting, we lighten our load and that of our children. To get a taste of the gospel saturated nature of this resource, here are the fifteen reasons why it is better to parent with the gospel rather than rules as outline at the back of the book: 1. Unless their hearts are in it, your kids won’t be obeying God’s most important law no matter what else they might manage to do. 2.Unless good works spring from belief in Jesus, they aren’t even actually good. 3.Obedience that’s grounded in love will help your kids overcome how they feel at the moment. 4.The worry that God’s people might use grace as an excuse to sin reflects a too-small view of salvation and grace. 5.The idea that grace might let us get away with sin is not how reborn people should think. 6.A strategy that starts with believing the gospel looks beyond surface sins to whole-self obedience. 7.You kids can’t be consistent about godly living without love for God. 8.Your kids can’t really obey God if they’re unsure of his pleasure toward them. 9.A focus on Jesus and his grace does not make God’s commands seem unnecessary; instead it shows how they’re both urgent and beautiful. 10.Only the confidence that comes from knowing they surely belong to Jesus will let your kids dare to face the full demands of God’s law. 11.Knowing grace lets your kids get serious about God’s commands without falling into despair. 12.Knowing grace makes your kids humble. 13.Knowing grace makes your kids confident. 14.Knowing grace lads your kids to worship. 15.God means for his kindness to motivate obedience. This is a solid parenting resource that I recommend for every parent to use. It will help you to understand the gospel message better and how it shapes your parenting. The gospel is not something we just believe to get saved. It is something we believe day by day as we grow into it more and more. The Gospel-Centered Parent shows parents how to grow into the gospel in their parenting.
After reading Show Them Jesus, one of my favorite Christian books of all time, I searched on Goodreads to see if Jack Klumpenhower had written anything else I could snatch for myself. He's a contributor to this book, and once again, he proves to write about the Gospel in a way I personally find immediately heart-piercing. The Millers are also great Christian writers.
After reading Show Them Jesus, one of my favorite Christian books of all time, I searched on Goodreads to see if Jack Klumpenhower had written anything else I could snatch for myself. He's a contributor to this book, and once again, he proves to write about the Gospel in a way I personally find immediately heart-piercing. The Millers are also great Christian writers.
Practical and insightful, this book provides a helpful course correction for parents lost in the weeds of their daily responsibilities.
Practical and insightful, this book provides a helpful course correction for parents lost in the weeds of their daily responsibilities.
We started this book for a 9 week study with our church. It has deep rich truths that made me think and also made me dig deeper. Hopeful we can use these solid truths in raising our kiddos.
We started this book for a 9 week study with our church. It has deep rich truths that made me think and also made me dig deeper. Hopeful we can use these solid truths in raising our kiddos.