The lesson from the Dominican Republic this week focuses on children. What a joy to see the children who were in the church and in the school. The children were dressed well, were fairly well mannered, and very friendly.

What kind of future do these children have? Some of their families are Dominican or have moved to the Dominican for a few generations. Others are newer in the area. Several I talked with had parents who moved into that area from Haiti, making them the first generation born in the DR.

The question of their future is an interesting question, as it is with our own children. What kind of future do our children have? The answer to that question is tied closely with the kind of future you may be looking at.

One way of looking at the future is to look at the economic situation. Will your children be well off, able to live comfortably, in the future?

In the Dominican, as in the States, this is an important question. In the DR, the question is, “Will the children grow up to put food on their tables? Will they be able to get jobs?”

One answer for coming out of poverty is to become educated. The better paying jobs require people who can read and write. In the DR, they need to be able to do this in Spanish. Most Haitians know Creole and French. So the church started a Christian school to help raise the level of education for the children. This included the teaching of Spanish as well as English and other languages. This is to help the next generation to move out of poverty.

But the question of their future goes beyond education. Our future depends more on our quality of life than it does on our economic situation. How many people do you know who are well off financially who are dealing with broken homes, substance abuse problems, relationship issues, and other problems like these? Education is not the answer to all of our problems. If you think you will stop theft by educating the thief, think again. All you will get is a smart thief. Education is good, but it only goes so far.

The quality of life issue was addressed by Jesus when he said these words: I have come that you might have life and that you might have it more abundantly. The Bible’s picture of the human race is not pretty. It does not teach us that the major problem with people is a lack of education. The major problem, according to the Bible, is that we have walked away from God, our creator. All the things we do that show our separation from God, all the things that we say that are ungodly, all the thoughts we hold inside that we would be ashamed to come out, are called sin in the Bible. Sin separates us from God. Sin destroys the abundant life. Look behind the major problems you are facing and you will find greed, dishonesty, selfishness or some other sin is at the root of the problem. Sin is destroying your quality of life.

If your children are going to have a better quality of life, the Bible’s solution is for them to trust Jesus. The Bible teaches that Jesus was God who became man. If you want to know what heaven thinks, listen to Jesus. If you want to know God’s thoughts on a subject, listen to Jesus. He came to let us know what God expected of us. Trust Jesus. He came to bring you an abundant life.

The number one concern of any parent or grandparent is that their child not only believes in Jesus, but is committed to following him from the heart. This is why Pastor Tanis and his wife, Esther, started a Christian school. They not only wanted the children to be educated, but they wanted them to know Jesus as well.

Think of the advantage that children with a Christian faith and mindset will have. They will be loving people. They will be trustworthy. They will be responsible. They will be conscientious. They will be hard working. They will be ethical. Does that sound bad to you?

This kind of education, this kind of exposure to Jesus can take place in the school and the church, but the primary place is the home.

4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. 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. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the door-frames of your houses and on your gates. (Deuteronomy 6:4-9, NIV).

This church is trying to help you in the raising of your children. Our Sunday school and youth programs are geared around helping young people know Christ and live for him. But we don’t get far if the parents are using the church as the religious education center for the children. The religious education center should be the kitchen table, the bedroom where prayers are made, the car where discussions about Jesus and life are carried on.

I admire Pastor Tanis and his wife for the work they do. They saw a need and are meeting it, for the glory of God. Success is measured in faithfulness to God, not in numbers or outcomes. They are making a difference. They will not have a 100% success rate. But that will not be because they did not try.

And what about you? What about your home, your children, your grandchildren? Where do they stand with the Lord? What are you doing to put Jesus before them? What kind of life will they have?

We have a couple who have come to dedicate a child this morning. They want to be the kind of parents we are portraying this morning. They want their children to know Christ and grow in him. They are coming today to dedicate their child to God. This is not a service that results in the salvation of the child. The child will need their own faith to accomplish that. But this is a service in which they publically say, “This child belongs to God. We dedicate ourselves to bringing this boy up in the Christian faith.”