How we teach the whole counsel of God in the context of family-centered corporate worship.

Preaching Scripture with Mature Themes

At The Journey, we value both worshiping together as families and faithfully preaching the whole counsel of God (Acts 20:27) through verse-by-verse exposition.

We understand that parents may be concerned how we handle passages that contain mature themes. The Bible contains passages that describe cruel acts of violence or perverse acts of sexual sin. These passages are not intended to entertain the reader but to reveal humanity’s desperate need for a Savior.

To help ease any anxiety about how we will teach these passages, we have provided the following philosophy:

Philosophy of Preaching Mature Themes

  1. We will avoid graphic or explicit detail about graphic actions in the Bible.

  2. We will only emphasize what is necessary to communicate the message of the text. For instance, in passages about prostitutes we will emphasize the violation of God’s design for marriage, or in passages like the Defiling of Dinah (Gen 34) we will emphasize that sinful violence was committed. In passages about circumcision we will emphasize it as a sign of the covenant between Israel and God. Explaining the details of these passages will be the responsibility of the parent.

  3. We will use either Biblical language or similar indirect language to describe actions or events in the passage. (i.e. “he knew his wife…” “she lied with her husband…” “violated/attacked/humiliated”) This language may be unclear to a child who is unfamiliar with the reference.

A Word of Encouragement to Parents

Our church encourages parents to be proactive rather than passive in discussing mature themes in the Bible with their children. We recommend having discussions prior to and following sermons about mature themes, explaining what is happening in the text in age and child appropriate ways. We also recommend that parents begin having conversations with their children about sex from an early age. Foundation Worldview founder Elizabeth Urbanowicz recommends starting conversations as early as four years old. This does not mean having incredibly detailed conversations, but it does mean explaining enough to help children navigate an increasingly sexualized culture with knowledge of God’s good design.

Regarding early conversations with children she says,

The first reason is based on what my friend Hillary Ferrer from Mama Bear Apologetics calls the "Expert Theory." This theory suggests that whoever speaks to us about a topic first naturally becomes the expert on that topic in our minds. We want ourselves to be that expert for our kids—not their friends, the media, or the world.

The second reason is that we want to frame the topic of sex positively from the start. If we wait to talk to our children until after they’ve heard misinformation from other sources or encountered confusing situations—such as seeing a same-sex couple or someone presenting as the opposite gender—their first impression of sex may be negative. Since the biblical worldview presents sex as something good within God’s design, it’s important to set a positive foundation early on.

Here are some helpful resources for learning how to have conversations with your children.

A Word of Understanding

We also understand that for some of our youngest children, some issues are so grave that it may require the wisdom of Casper Ten Boom when his daughter Corrie asked him about topics that were too big for her:

"And so seated next to my father in the train compartment, I suddenly asked, "Father, what is sexsin?"

He turned to look at me, as he always did when answering a question, but to my surprise he said nothing. At last he stood up, lifted his traveling case off the floor and set it on the floor.

Will you carry it off the train, Corrie?" he said.

I stood up and tugged at it. It was crammed with the watches and spare parts he had purchased that morning.

It's too heavy," I said.

Yes," he said, "and it would be a pretty poor father who would ask his little girl to carry such a load. It's the same way, Corrie, with knowledge. Some knowledge is too heavy for children. When you are older and stronger, you can bear it. For now you must trust me to carry it for you."

If you have any questions or concerns about how we will preach certain passages or how you can have conversations about these passages at home, please feel free to contact Pastor Mace Perez or Pastor Steven Hiller at any time.