March 31, 2025 • 23 mins
Every Christian father carries a divine mandate to disciple their children, passing down not just traditions but a living faith. Drawing from Psalm 78:4, this episode explores the profound responsibility we have to share God's praiseworthy deeds and wonders with the next generation. Your children pay attention to more than your words—they're watching how you live your faith. When you share personal stories of God's faithfulness in your life, you transform abstract biblical concepts into tangible realities they can grasp and remember. The faith that sticks isn't found in occasional religious conversations but in the daily rhythm of life—bedtime prayers, dinner discussions, car rides, and walking together.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Chris Grainger (00:03):
Welcome to the Lion Within Us, a podcast
serving Christian men who arehungry to be the leaders God
intends you to be.
I'm your host, chris Granger.
Let's jump in.
All right, fellas, this is yourspiritual kickoff episode.
I'm excited to be here with you.
Let's go All right.
So there we go.
Psalm 78 today.
Psalm 78, verse 4.
We will not hide them fromtheir descendants.
We will tell the nextgeneration the praiseworthy
(00:26):
deeds of the Lord, his power andthe wonders he has done.
So just a beautiful, beautifullittle verse there, fellas.
This whole week we're going tobe really talking about
discipleship, parenting, being afather.
It's going to be a great one.
I think you're going to reallyenjoy the dive we're going to
take into it this week, andwe're going to start right here
(00:47):
today by digging into Psalms.
So first thing we need to knowis where is Psalms?
You need to know this in yourBible.
So this is your Old Testament,okay, so go, old Testament after
Job, before Proverbs.
So usually you can open up yourBible about midway, maybe a
little bit to the left, just atouch, and you'll come right to
Psalms.
Okay, and the whole idea again,this week we're going to be
(01:07):
talking about is discipleship,and we need to remember at least
I need to remember thatdiscipleship often starts at
home and this scripture righthere tells us that we, as a
father for me in particular, asa father for me in particular
(01:28):
I'm called.
It is my duty to pass down myfaith and the things that I've
learned and God's revealed to meto my children.
Okay, it's not just aboutteaching and traditions or some
things like that.
It's about really taking thestory of God's greatness and
faithfulness and just puttingthat on the heart of the kids
and letting them see it.
And you know what?
We need to remember something,fellas God's deeds are worth
(01:53):
sharing.
They just are.
Because the psalmist right here, he just lays out that we
should tell the next generationabout the praiseworthy deeds
right, his power, his wonders.
And as parents, we need toremember our kids pay attention.
My kids love it when I tellthem stories.
I don't know about you, but weare the primary storytellers of
(02:16):
God's goodness, particularlyinside our family.
So what does this mean?
That means for me and when Itry to help other guys as well?
We must start sharing somepersonal stories of how God has
worked in our lives, becausethat makes the faith real to our
kids, because the scripture canbe very abstract, it can be
(02:37):
hard, it can be hard to makethose connections, but you know
what?
You give a kid a good example.
Hey, here's what happened toDad and here's how I know it was
God.
They're going to remember that.
They just are.
They're so impressionable,fellas, and it's such a big deal
for us to do this.
And we have to take thisdiscipleship mandate as a
(02:58):
responsibility.
And if we're responsible for it, that means we need to be
intentional about it, becausethis can't just be like a
camping trip when your boy turns13 or something.
No, it doesn't work like this.
It's not a one-time event, oroccasionally you'll talk about
it.
No, it's just got to be a wayof life Every day.
(03:18):
Every day, it means yourbedtime, your prayer time, your
dinner time, conversations, carrides, when you're walking
together, when you're sitting up, when you're laying down all
that stuff.
No-transcript who he is, hischaracter.
And it's our job, fellas, itjust really is.
(03:39):
We need to model the life offaith so that they can see it.
I tell my kids all the time,like you, better read your Bible
, better read your Bible, betterread your Bible, and they never
see me read my Bible Like bro.
At some point my oldest will belike you don't do it, why
should I?
So that means we have to liveit out, because I say this a lot
(04:03):
in the past there's more caughtthan taught, do I think it's
important for us to teach ourkids?
Yes, don't mishear me, but ifif we're just hoping that they
can go and learn directly justoff the words, we say we are
totally missing the boat.
No, they're watching.
So if you start living yourlife in alignment with what
(04:24):
God's word says and you starttrying to do this in the most
effective way that you can, atthat point your kids are
starting to say, oh, that's whatthat means, that's what they
mean.
They also start seeing that youtrust God, particularly through
the trials in life.
Right, when they see that, theysee you know what you're going
(04:48):
through a difficult season andthey've watched you walk through
this season and they've watchedyou just cling closer and
tighter and tighter to God, thatright there is going to start
turning some heads, fellas.
It's going to really startturning some heads Now as we
start doing this.
Really what we're doing, when wethink embracing this whole idea
(05:08):
of discipleship, is that we'reempowering that next generation,
because it's not just aboutpreserving traditions.
I don't really care about that.
I'm talking about equipping ourkids to know God and to live as
disciples themselves.
Now it has to be their decision.
My children can't earn theirsalvation off of my salvation.
(05:30):
It doesn't work that way.
They have to do it themselves.
But we can teach them to relyon God.
We can try to help themunderstand His Word.
We can try to show them how wewalk and we do.
We can try to help themunderstand His Word.
We can try to show them how wewalk.
We are empowering them and inturn, this becomes the light for
their generation.
This psalm is beautifullywritten because it makes us
(05:51):
think past the challenges thatwe're facing right now, the
lifetime that we have, maybe ifyou get, let's say, 70, 80, 90,
100 years I don't know that'sstill a blip.
But if we disciple our children, we're building that legacy,
(06:12):
and that legacy is not ourlegacy, it's a faith-filled
legacy that extends so far tothe future generations.
Fellas, it's such a big deal.
And the stories of God'sgoodness that you tell today,
just like what God's done foryou, do you realize you'll never
know the ripple effect on yourgrandchildren, your
(06:33):
great-great-great-grandchildren,and further and further and
further.
It's crazy, right?
So, as we kind of wrap this ideaup, maybe think about, are you
creating a space in your homefor your kids to encounter God
in a personal way?
Because it's never too late tostart, and I get it, man, a few
years ago, this has been atouchy subject for me.
(06:53):
What are you talking about?
We go to church twice a week.
It's their job.
No, no, no, this can't beoutsourced.
No, it has to be you.
It has to be you, because ifwe're relying on our kids to
learn and to grow, particularlyabout things, about God, just
from things that they see inthis world, that's a dangerous
precedent to put in place.
(07:14):
Fellas, we can't have that.
We have to embrace thisresponsibility.
We just do.
It's our responsibility todisciple our children.
And if we do it and we do it tothe best of our abilities, I'll
tell you what God's showing ussome great things, some great
things.
So I want you to think aboutsomething as we kind of get to
our question of the week thisweek what's a lesson out there
(07:37):
about God?
We know so many lessons, butwhat's one lesson about God that
you wish someone had taught youearlier in life, maybe earlier
in your own discipleship journey.
And then I want you to flip thequestion.
Okay, now that you have thatframework in mind of what that
question is, okay, have youtaught that yet to your children
(07:57):
or to people that you'rementoring?
Because if you haven't, whatare you waiting on?
You just said that this wassomething that made you wish
someone told you about thisearly back on.
There's somebody out thereright now who doesn't know that,
doesn't have that foundation.
Go tell them.
Tell them today.
Buy them a cup of coffee.
(08:18):
If it's your kids, sit downwith.
Your kids Probably not want acup of coffee.
If you've got little kids, right, but talk to them about it,
explain it and also, asdisciples, as we're trying to
build disciples.
As for parents, the first thingwe're trying to do, really,
ultimately, what we're trying todo is get them to have the
faith to be their own.
It has to be their faith.
They we're trying to do is getthem to have the faith to be
(08:41):
their own.
It has to be their faith.
They can't get to heaventhrough the coattails on us.
No, it has to be theirsdirectly.
That means we have to be sharingthe truth and at some point
when we're teaching our kids, weneed to be constantly going
over the gospel over and overand over, because you never know
you may have to go through it10,000 times, but finally on
that 10,000th time it clicksthey get it.
(09:03):
And one reason we take timeevery week on the Lion Within us
to share the gospel is because,for me, I never know how this
podcast and things we're doinghere on the show, how God's
going to use that.
I'll never see that.
I'll find out in heaven one day, but sitting right here behind
(09:24):
the mic right now, I'll neverknow.
So I want to be superintentional and precise with my
words each and every week, as wetry to.
Really, we disciple leaders.
That's what the Lionel Dennisis all about.
But before you can discipleleaders, they need to be
disciples of Christ.
That's what it's all about.
So if you're listening to theLion life and you never smear
your life to the Lordship ofJesus Christ, I just need you to
(09:45):
know you are made in his image.
You are.
You may think you're all jackedup and flawed and you got so
many of these things wrong inyour life, like Chris, you don't
know how many bad things I'vedone.
Like bro, it is not good, good,it's really bad.
I'm like man, I get it, bro, Iget it.
But you need to remember thatthose things don't define you.
You are made in the image ofGod.
(10:06):
Think about when God formed Adam, the very first man.
He spoke all these other thingsinto existence, but when it
came to Adam, what did he do?
He formed him with his hands.
There's a personal relationshipthere.
Then he breathed the breath oflife into Adam's nostrils and
Adam's face to face with hiscreator, and it was awesome.
Just think about how awesomethat was for Adam Before the
(10:27):
fall.
I know it was short-lived, likea page and a half, two pages in
your Bibles, but still, forthat page and a half or two
pages, it was baller Right.
And then Adam made his image,made a mistake and he let the
not a little, but the majorissue of sin enter the world
(10:49):
right.
And that sin separated Adam andEve from God.
Literally, the separation isthe issue and it created this
chasm, this gap between a holyand righteous God and us.
And for most guys listening, wetry to close this gap on the
stuff that we do, and some ofthese things are inherently good
(11:12):
things Reading our Bible,praying, going to church,
leading a men's group orteaching Sunday school, giving
donations and helping avolunteer and stuff like that
those things are good things.
They just can't earn oursalvation.
(11:33):
Because when we try to do itourselves and really when we're
telling God it's like God, I cando this, I will get to you
Eventually.
God, I can do this, I'm goingto get to you Eventually.
I'm going to get there.
I just got to be good enough.
And that is a fearful, fearfulway to live, because the whole
(11:55):
question of how good is good isvery, very subjective.
How good do you have to be?
And then one day, when somebodypisses you off and you just go
off to deep end like, does thatset you back?
And now you have to come backthere.
You see, you see how this thingis.
Just, it's never fulfilling.
You know, the problem is wedon't really need a coach to
come in and do for us what wecan do right to make us better.
(12:17):
No, we need a Savior to step inand do for us what we can't do
for ourselves.
That's the fundamentaldifference.
Coaches come along, they help,equip and build us up.
Saviors step in and say I wantto do this for you.
That's what we have in Jesus.
We recognize that we can'tclose this gap because we have a
holy and righteous God and anunholy us.
(12:37):
We're all sinners and we fallshort of the glory of God.
Jesus says I got this, I'mcoming.
He left heaven on a rescuemission for you, for me, for the
entire world.
He was born of the Virgin,fulfilled all the prophecies,
(13:01):
did all the teachings, did allthe miracles.
The greatest of all time, thegoat Jesus right, did it all.
Then he chose to go to thecross for you, for me, for the
entire world.
He went to the cross.
He willingly went there.
He wasn't going there kickingand screaming.
No, he willingly went therebecause he knew he had to pay
the penalty for sin.
That was what he was sent for.
Again, he was on a rescuemission.
He had to pay the penalty andthey crucified him right there
(13:24):
on the cross.
His blood ran and paid thepenalty for our sins and he died
.
He didn't pass out or faint orgo to sleep.
No, he had died on the cross.
Which pass out or faint or goto sleep?
No, he had died on the cross.
Which makes you wonder well, ifJesus died, why in the world
would people worship him?
Because he's dead.
They laid him in a tomb onlyfor three days.
Three days after he was laid ina tomb, he rose.
(13:46):
He overcame death.
So no, we're not going to somestinking funeral.
We don't worship a dead guy.
We worship a living Savior whoovercame death.
This is the Jesus that we serve.
This is Jesus and the Matthew,mark, luke and John Gospels.
This is the Jesus that we putour faith, our hope and our
trust in.
And then he came out.
(14:06):
He did some more teaching.
He actually went to a beach andhad a little charcoal breakfast
with the boys.
I mean, he had a really good,just really good final message
to them.
Then he went to heaven.
He told us that he is the way,the truth and the life, and no
one comes to follow exceptthrough him.
Jesus is it.
He is the name above all names.
We have to put our faith andour confidence and our trust in
(14:26):
him.
This is a justification ofgrace through faith.
It all comes down to what areyou putting your faith in?
You're going to put your faithin something.
Maybe it's going to be inanother's world, or maybe not,
but my encouragement to you isput your faith in something
greater, because you got here.
(14:47):
You got to earth.
You're hearing my voice rightnow.
You're here for a reason.
The question is, how are yougoing to get out of here?
I'm just here to tell you.
I really encourage you.
If you've never put your faithand your hope in Jesus as your
Lord and Savior, today is theday.
Confess it.
First of all, just admit.
Hey, doggone it, I'm prettyjacked up.
Yeah, he's right, I am a sinner.
(15:11):
I've got a lot of things goingon in my heart here, right?
So you admit that.
Then you need to do a little bitof repentance.
You got to turn, you got tobelieve.
You got to put your faith andhope in Jesus as your Lord and
Savior.
Believe that he is the Son ofGod, that he is the Messiah,
nothing else.
There's just one.
Then you have to confess him asLord, and I mean Lord over
(15:35):
everything.
Lord over your finances, yourfitness, your career, your
family, your marriage, yourchildren, everything.
He has to be Lord over it all.
You can't go under baptismwater and holding up your wallet
or something like that.
No, it doesn't work like thatway.
He's got to be Lord overeverything.
And once you confess him asLord and Savior of your life,
the Holy Spirit is going to come.
(15:55):
It's going to give you a newheart, you'll have a new vision,
you'll have a new way of lifeand you'll be a son or daughter
of the king.
At that point, a royalpriesthood, it says in Scripture
.
That's kind of crazy to thinkabout, isn't that just
unbelievable?
Just think about how good he is, how good he is, how good he is
(16:16):
.
I'm just here to tell you you'venever taken that step.
You've never confessed Jesus asyour Lord.
And you just heard me for thelast.
What three or four minutes?
Go through this presentationToday's today, today's today, to
confess Jesus as your Lord andSavior.
And I just highly encourage youdon't put off to tomorrow If the
(16:36):
Lord's calling you to do somebusiness today.
I'm not trying to scare you.
I'm just trying to tell youlook, you're listening.
You have questions.
Maybe you're just at that point, you're ready to move forward.
Let's go, let's just put it ingear and go together.
So I'm going to pray for youright now.
Let's go, let's just put it ingear and go together.
So I'm going to pray for youright now and I pray that, if
you haven't accepted Christ asyour Lord and Savior, that you
(16:59):
make that ever so crucialdecision right now.
So, father, thank you for today, thank you for this chance just
to share the good news of thegospel with others.
Never know how this is going toland or who's going to listen.
Father, I just pray for thatone listener who's finally to
that point of realization thatthey recognize that they need a
Savior and that you are it.
I pray you hear them.
I pray you comfort them.
I'm just so thankful for themfor listening this far and for
(17:22):
making this ever-important stepto move forward with their faith
.
We just love you, lord.
We pray everything according toyour will in Christ's name,
amen, all right, so look, if youjust accepted Christ as your
Savior.
I want to hear from you, chrisat thelionwithinus.
So shoot me an email becauseI'm going to hook you up with
some free Bible study resources,some scriptures you need to
consider adding to yourrepertoire.
I also want to find out whereyou're at in the country and see
(17:44):
if we can help you get pluggedinto a good, bible-believing,
gospel-preaching church.
It's so important to get youplugged in there.
We've got guys all over the USso we may be able to help you in
that area of life.
Okay, so love to hear from you.
And then I highly encourage youalso to come back on Friday.
We'll have not Friday.
On Wednesday we'll have areally good conversation about
discipling our kids, why it's soimportant, how this can't be
(18:04):
outsourced, some tips that willhelp us actually lean in and do
this more effectively asChristian in today.
So, again, if you're a dad outthere, this week's going to be
all about for you.
So hopefully you guys get achance to check that out.
Come back on Wednesday.
Again, thelionwithinus is howyou connect with us and all our
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That's thelionwithinus.
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(18:25):
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So if you have the Bible app onyour phone, like the Bible app,
like the one from YouVersion,friend me, let's be a friend on
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Go through those, I start thoseplans and we put a schedule out
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If you want to be part of itand just engage in the
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So again, the lionwithinus ifyou click on free tools, you'll
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So lots and lots and lots ofways to get connected, get
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Fellows, again, all that can befound at the lion, within
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within, dot us, notcom, dot usAll right.
So, guys, thank you guys, somuch for for listening and and
for just for spending some timewith us today.
Again, I think this this weekis super important because
fatherhood, um, just that isunder attack so much in this
(19:54):
country and we've really turnedaway.
And for you guys that want tolean in and do what God's
calling you to do, I knowwithout a shadow of a doubt that
this week is going to help you.
It's going to at least give youa little bit of encouragement
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Okay, if you do feel likeyou're alone, please, please, go
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Appreciate all the support,ratings, reviews, all that stuff
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If you haven't done a rating orreview yet, this is maybe just
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So have a great day, get afterit and just keep unleashing the
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today.
Welcome to the Lion Within Us, a podcast
serving Christian men who arehungry to be the leaders God
intends you to be.
I'm your host, chris Granger.
Let's jump in.
All right, fellas, this is yourspiritual kickoff episode.
I'm excited to be here with you.
Let's go All right.
So there we go.
Psalm 78 today.
Psalm 78, verse 4.
We will not hide them fromtheir descendants.
We will tell the nextgeneration the praiseworthy
(00:26):
deeds of the Lord, his power andthe wonders he has done.
So just a beautiful, beautifullittle verse there, fellas.
This whole week we're going tobe really talking about
discipleship, parenting, being afather.
It's going to be a great one.
I think you're going to reallyenjoy the dive we're going to
take into it this week, andwe're going to start right here
(00:47):
today by digging into Psalms.
So first thing we need to knowis where is Psalms?
You need to know this in yourBible.
So this is your Old Testament,okay, so go, old Testament after
Job, before Proverbs.
So usually you can open up yourBible about midway, maybe a
little bit to the left, just atouch, and you'll come right to
Psalms.
Okay, and the whole idea again,this week we're going to be
(01:07):
talking about is discipleship,and we need to remember at least
I need to remember thatdiscipleship often starts at
home and this scripture righthere tells us that we, as a
father for me in particular, asa father for me in particular
(01:28):
I'm called.
It is my duty to pass down myfaith and the things that I've
learned and God's revealed to meto my children.
Okay, it's not just aboutteaching and traditions or some
things like that.
It's about really taking thestory of God's greatness and
faithfulness and just puttingthat on the heart of the kids
and letting them see it.
And you know what?
We need to remember something,fellas God's deeds are worth
(01:53):
sharing.
They just are.
Because the psalmist right here, he just lays out that we
should tell the next generationabout the praiseworthy deeds
right, his power, his wonders.
And as parents, we need toremember our kids pay attention.
My kids love it when I tellthem stories.
I don't know about you, but weare the primary storytellers of
(02:16):
God's goodness, particularlyinside our family.
So what does this mean?
That means for me and when Itry to help other guys as well?
We must start sharing somepersonal stories of how God has
worked in our lives, becausethat makes the faith real to our
kids, because the scripture canbe very abstract, it can be
(02:37):
hard, it can be hard to makethose connections, but you know
what?
You give a kid a good example.
Hey, here's what happened toDad and here's how I know it was
God.
They're going to remember that.
They just are.
They're so impressionable,fellas, and it's such a big deal
for us to do this.
And we have to take thisdiscipleship mandate as a
(02:58):
responsibility.
And if we're responsible for it, that means we need to be
intentional about it, becausethis can't just be like a
camping trip when your boy turns13 or something.
No, it doesn't work like this.
It's not a one-time event, oroccasionally you'll talk about
it.
No, it's just got to be a wayof life Every day.
(03:18):
Every day, it means yourbedtime, your prayer time, your
dinner time, conversations, carrides, when you're walking
together, when you're sitting up, when you're laying down all
that stuff.
No-transcript who he is, hischaracter.
And it's our job, fellas, itjust really is.
(03:39):
We need to model the life offaith so that they can see it.
I tell my kids all the time,like you, better read your Bible
, better read your Bible, betterread your Bible, and they never
see me read my Bible Like bro.
At some point my oldest will belike you don't do it, why
should I?
So that means we have to liveit out, because I say this a lot
(04:03):
in the past there's more caughtthan taught, do I think it's
important for us to teach ourkids?
Yes, don't mishear me, but ifif we're just hoping that they
can go and learn directly justoff the words, we say we are
totally missing the boat.
No, they're watching.
So if you start living yourlife in alignment with what
(04:24):
God's word says and you starttrying to do this in the most
effective way that you can, atthat point your kids are
starting to say, oh, that's whatthat means, that's what they
mean.
They also start seeing that youtrust God, particularly through
the trials in life.
Right, when they see that, theysee you know what you're going
(04:48):
through a difficult season andthey've watched you walk through
this season and they've watchedyou just cling closer and
tighter and tighter to God, thatright there is going to start
turning some heads, fellas.
It's going to really startturning some heads Now as we
start doing this.
Really what we're doing, when wethink embracing this whole idea
(05:08):
of discipleship, is that we'reempowering that next generation,
because it's not just aboutpreserving traditions.
I don't really care about that.
I'm talking about equipping ourkids to know God and to live as
disciples themselves.
Now it has to be their decision.
My children can't earn theirsalvation off of my salvation.
(05:30):
It doesn't work that way.
They have to do it themselves.
But we can teach them to relyon God.
We can try to help themunderstand His Word.
We can try to show them how wewalk and we do.
We can try to help themunderstand His Word.
We can try to show them how wewalk.
We are empowering them and inturn, this becomes the light for
their generation.
This psalm is beautifullywritten because it makes us
(05:51):
think past the challenges thatwe're facing right now, the
lifetime that we have, maybe ifyou get, let's say, 70, 80, 90,
100 years I don't know that'sstill a blip.
But if we disciple our children, we're building that legacy,
(06:12):
and that legacy is not ourlegacy, it's a faith-filled
legacy that extends so far tothe future generations.
Fellas, it's such a big deal.
And the stories of God'sgoodness that you tell today,
just like what God's done foryou, do you realize you'll never
know the ripple effect on yourgrandchildren, your
(06:33):
great-great-great-grandchildren,and further and further and
further.
It's crazy, right?
So, as we kind of wrap this ideaup, maybe think about, are you
creating a space in your homefor your kids to encounter God
in a personal way?
Because it's never too late tostart, and I get it, man, a few
years ago, this has been atouchy subject for me.
(06:53):
What are you talking about?
We go to church twice a week.
It's their job.
No, no, no, this can't beoutsourced.
No, it has to be you.
It has to be you, because ifwe're relying on our kids to
learn and to grow, particularlyabout things, about God, just
from things that they see inthis world, that's a dangerous
precedent to put in place.
(07:14):
Fellas, we can't have that.
We have to embrace thisresponsibility.
We just do.
It's our responsibility todisciple our children.
And if we do it and we do it tothe best of our abilities, I'll
tell you what God's showing ussome great things, some great
things.
So I want you to think aboutsomething as we kind of get to
our question of the week thisweek what's a lesson out there
(07:37):
about God?
We know so many lessons, butwhat's one lesson about God that
you wish someone had taught youearlier in life, maybe earlier
in your own discipleship journey.
And then I want you to flip thequestion.
Okay, now that you have thatframework in mind of what that
question is, okay, have youtaught that yet to your children
(07:57):
or to people that you'rementoring?
Because if you haven't, whatare you waiting on?
You just said that this wassomething that made you wish
someone told you about thisearly back on.
There's somebody out thereright now who doesn't know that,
doesn't have that foundation.
Go tell them.
Tell them today.
Buy them a cup of coffee.
(08:18):
If it's your kids, sit downwith.
Your kids Probably not want acup of coffee.
If you've got little kids, right, but talk to them about it,
explain it and also, asdisciples, as we're trying to
build disciples.
As for parents, the first thingwe're trying to do, really,
ultimately, what we're trying todo is get them to have the
faith to be their own.
It has to be their faith.
They we're trying to do is getthem to have the faith to be
(08:41):
their own.
It has to be their faith.
They can't get to heaventhrough the coattails on us.
No, it has to be theirsdirectly.
That means we have to be sharingthe truth and at some point
when we're teaching our kids, weneed to be constantly going
over the gospel over and overand over, because you never know
you may have to go through it10,000 times, but finally on
that 10,000th time it clicksthey get it.
(09:03):
And one reason we take timeevery week on the Lion Within us
to share the gospel is because,for me, I never know how this
podcast and things we're doinghere on the show, how God's
going to use that.
I'll never see that.
I'll find out in heaven one day, but sitting right here behind
(09:24):
the mic right now, I'll neverknow.
So I want to be superintentional and precise with my
words each and every week, as wetry to.
Really, we disciple leaders.
That's what the Lionel Dennisis all about.
But before you can discipleleaders, they need to be
disciples of Christ.
That's what it's all about.
So if you're listening to theLion life and you never smear
your life to the Lordship ofJesus Christ, I just need you to
(09:45):
know you are made in his image.
You are.
You may think you're all jackedup and flawed and you got so
many of these things wrong inyour life, like Chris, you don't
know how many bad things I'vedone.
Like bro, it is not good, good,it's really bad.
I'm like man, I get it, bro, Iget it.
But you need to remember thatthose things don't define you.
You are made in the image ofGod.
(10:06):
Think about when God formed Adam, the very first man.
He spoke all these other thingsinto existence, but when it
came to Adam, what did he do?
He formed him with his hands.
There's a personal relationshipthere.
Then he breathed the breath oflife into Adam's nostrils and
Adam's face to face with hiscreator, and it was awesome.
Just think about how awesomethat was for Adam Before the
(10:27):
fall.
I know it was short-lived, likea page and a half, two pages in
your Bibles, but still, forthat page and a half or two
pages, it was baller Right.
And then Adam made his image,made a mistake and he let the
not a little, but the majorissue of sin enter the world
(10:49):
right.
And that sin separated Adam andEve from God.
Literally, the separation isthe issue and it created this
chasm, this gap between a holyand righteous God and us.
And for most guys listening, wetry to close this gap on the
stuff that we do, and some ofthese things are inherently good
(11:12):
things Reading our Bible,praying, going to church,
leading a men's group orteaching Sunday school, giving
donations and helping avolunteer and stuff like that
those things are good things.
They just can't earn oursalvation.
(11:33):
Because when we try to do itourselves and really when we're
telling God it's like God, I cando this, I will get to you
Eventually.
God, I can do this, I'm goingto get to you Eventually.
I'm going to get there.
I just got to be good enough.
And that is a fearful, fearfulway to live, because the whole
(11:55):
question of how good is good isvery, very subjective.
How good do you have to be?
And then one day, when somebodypisses you off and you just go
off to deep end like, does thatset you back?
And now you have to come backthere.
You see, you see how this thingis.
Just, it's never fulfilling.
You know, the problem is wedon't really need a coach to
come in and do for us what wecan do right to make us better.
(12:17):
No, we need a Savior to step inand do for us what we can't do
for ourselves.
That's the fundamentaldifference.
Coaches come along, they help,equip and build us up.
Saviors step in and say I wantto do this for you.
That's what we have in Jesus.
We recognize that we can'tclose this gap because we have a
holy and righteous God and anunholy us.
(12:37):
We're all sinners and we fallshort of the glory of God.
Jesus says I got this, I'mcoming.
He left heaven on a rescuemission for you, for me, for the
entire world.
He was born of the Virgin,fulfilled all the prophecies,
(13:01):
did all the teachings, did allthe miracles.
The greatest of all time, thegoat Jesus right, did it all.
Then he chose to go to thecross for you, for me, for the
entire world.
He went to the cross.
He willingly went there.
He wasn't going there kickingand screaming.
No, he willingly went therebecause he knew he had to pay
the penalty for sin.
That was what he was sent for.
Again, he was on a rescuemission.
He had to pay the penalty andthey crucified him right there
(13:24):
on the cross.
His blood ran and paid thepenalty for our sins and he died
.
He didn't pass out or faint orgo to sleep.
No, he had died on the cross.
Which pass out or faint or goto sleep?
No, he had died on the cross.
Which makes you wonder well, ifJesus died, why in the world
would people worship him?
Because he's dead.
They laid him in a tomb onlyfor three days.
Three days after he was laid ina tomb, he rose.
(13:46):
He overcame death.
So no, we're not going to somestinking funeral.
We don't worship a dead guy.
We worship a living Savior whoovercame death.
This is the Jesus that we serve.
This is Jesus and the Matthew,mark, luke and John Gospels.
This is the Jesus that we putour faith, our hope and our
trust in.
And then he came out.
(14:06):
He did some more teaching.
He actually went to a beach andhad a little charcoal breakfast
with the boys.
I mean, he had a really good,just really good final message
to them.
Then he went to heaven.
He told us that he is the way,the truth and the life, and no
one comes to follow exceptthrough him.
Jesus is it.
He is the name above all names.
We have to put our faith andour confidence and our trust in
(14:26):
him.
This is a justification ofgrace through faith.
It all comes down to what areyou putting your faith in?
You're going to put your faithin something.
Maybe it's going to be inanother's world, or maybe not,
but my encouragement to you isput your faith in something
greater, because you got here.
(14:47):
You got to earth.
You're hearing my voice rightnow.
You're here for a reason.
The question is, how are yougoing to get out of here?
I'm just here to tell you.
I really encourage you.
If you've never put your faithand your hope in Jesus as your
Lord and Savior, today is theday.
Confess it.
First of all, just admit.
Hey, doggone it, I'm prettyjacked up.
Yeah, he's right, I am a sinner.
(15:11):
I've got a lot of things goingon in my heart here, right?
So you admit that.
Then you need to do a little bitof repentance.
You got to turn, you got tobelieve.
You got to put your faith andhope in Jesus as your Lord and
Savior.
Believe that he is the Son ofGod, that he is the Messiah,
nothing else.
There's just one.
Then you have to confess him asLord, and I mean Lord over
(15:35):
everything.
Lord over your finances, yourfitness, your career, your
family, your marriage, yourchildren, everything.
He has to be Lord over it all.
You can't go under baptismwater and holding up your wallet
or something like that.
No, it doesn't work like thatway.
He's got to be Lord overeverything.
And once you confess him asLord and Savior of your life,
the Holy Spirit is going to come.
(15:55):
It's going to give you a newheart, you'll have a new vision,
you'll have a new way of lifeand you'll be a son or daughter
of the king.
At that point, a royalpriesthood, it says in Scripture
.
That's kind of crazy to thinkabout, isn't that just
unbelievable?
Just think about how good he is, how good he is, how good he is
(16:16):
.
I'm just here to tell you you'venever taken that step.
You've never confessed Jesus asyour Lord.
And you just heard me for thelast.
What three or four minutes?
Go through this presentationToday's today, today's today, to
confess Jesus as your Lord andSavior.
And I just highly encourage youdon't put off to tomorrow If the
(16:36):
Lord's calling you to do somebusiness today.
I'm not trying to scare you.
I'm just trying to tell youlook, you're listening.
You have questions.
Maybe you're just at that point, you're ready to move forward.
Let's go, let's just put it ingear and go together.
So I'm going to pray for youright now.
Let's go, let's just put it ingear and go together.
So I'm going to pray for youright now and I pray that, if
you haven't accepted Christ asyour Lord and Savior, that you
(16:59):
make that ever so crucialdecision right now.
So, father, thank you for today, thank you for this chance just
to share the good news of thegospel with others.
Never know how this is going toland or who's going to listen.
Father, I just pray for thatone listener who's finally to
that point of realization thatthey recognize that they need a
Savior and that you are it.
I pray you hear them.
I pray you comfort them.
I'm just so thankful for themfor listening this far and for
(17:22):
making this ever-important stepto move forward with their faith
.
We just love you, lord.
We pray everything according toyour will in Christ's name,
amen, all right, so look, if youjust accepted Christ as your
Savior.
I want to hear from you, chrisat thelionwithinus.
So shoot me an email becauseI'm going to hook you up with
some free Bible study resources,some scriptures you need to
consider adding to yourrepertoire.
I also want to find out whereyou're at in the country and see
(17:44):
if we can help you get pluggedinto a good, bible-believing,
gospel-preaching church.
It's so important to get youplugged in there.
We've got guys all over the USso we may be able to help you in
that area of life.
Okay, so love to hear from you.
And then I highly encourage youalso to come back on Friday.
We'll have not Friday.
On Wednesday we'll have areally good conversation about
discipling our kids, why it's soimportant, how this can't be
(18:04):
outsourced, some tips that willhelp us actually lean in and do
this more effectively asChristian in today.
So, again, if you're a dad outthere, this week's going to be
all about for you.
So hopefully you guys get achance to check that out.
Come back on Wednesday.
Again, thelionwithinus is howyou connect with us and all our
different resources.
That's thelionwithinus.
We have our free tools.
(18:25):
We have our weekly roar, ourassessment, our Bible studies on
YouVersion.
I highly encourage you guys togo check those out.
We do usually one or two Biblestudies every month inside the
Bible study app, the Bible app,rather.
So if you have the Bible app onyour phone, like the Bible app,
like the one from YouVersion,friend me, let's be a friend on
(18:48):
YouVersion and when I go throughthose, I start those plans and
we put a schedule out on theline with them.
Go through those, I start thoseplans and we put a schedule out
on the lionwithinus.
If you want to be part of itand just engage in the
conversations, I would love,love, love to hear from you and
have you come along, all right.
So again, the lionwithinus ifyou click on free tools, you'll
find those Bible studies there.
Then, next to free tools,you'll see offerings.
(19:09):
Check on that, Check out theways we try to serve others with
our community, with our summitleadership development, with our
daily spiritual kickoff, withour live events.
All those are different tools,different avenues that you have
to plug in with us to help yougrow, be a leader that God
intends you to be, all right.
So lots and lots and lots ofways to get connected, get
(19:29):
started with this.
Fellows, again, all that can befound at the lion, within
that's, don't forget, to theFellas again, all that can be
found at the lion within that's,don't forget, to the, the lion
within, dot us, notcom, dot usAll right.
So, guys, thank you guys, somuch for for listening and and
for just for spending some timewith us today.
Again, I think this this weekis super important because
fatherhood, um, just that isunder attack so much in this
(19:54):
country and we've really turnedaway.
And for you guys that want tolean in and do what God's
calling you to do, I knowwithout a shadow of a doubt that
this week is going to help you.
It's going to at least give youa little bit of encouragement
and let you know that, doggoneit, you're not alone.
Okay, if you do feel likeyou're alone, please, please, go
join our community.
(20:15):
I'm just going to be straightup join the community, because
that's where we can come in, wecan help you the most.
All right, so thank you, guysfor listening.
We'll see you here next time.
On the lion within us.
Appreciate all the support,ratings, reviews, all that stuff
helps, please.
If you haven't done a rating orreview yet, this is maybe just
a good reminder for you to dothat.
And thank you so much forlistening.
So have a great day, get afterit and just keep unleashing the
(20:36):
lion within.
I don't know about you, but Iused to find Mondays really
rough.
I would find myself trying toreset for work, trying to get my
bearing on the family calendar,trying to find time for my own
spiritual growth and development, and often I found myself
(20:58):
overwhelmed or just flatlyignoring aspects of my life that
I know are meaningful to me.
What I learned was that if I hadimmediate access to important
and impactful spiritual topicsand reflections to start my week
well after the allure of aSunday sermon has passed, I
would set my whole week up to bemore meaningful and for the
(21:20):
opportunity to make a trueimpact.
If you think that getting sucha boost would help your week to
get started on the right foot,we would love for you to sign up
for the Weekly Roar roar, whichis our newsletter that is
produced by the lion within us.
Each week, we'll deliver apowerful reflection and
practical steps to help youapply scripture with clarity and
(21:43):
purpose, all being rooted inlight and truth.
So in just a few minutes, wehope to arm you with insights
for living out biblicalleadership with confidence and
strength, and maybe even have alittle extra bounce in your step
.
If that sounds useful, headover to thelionwithinus slash
(22:05):
ROAR to sign up today.
That's thelionwithinus slashROAR to get your weekly ROAR
today.
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