family. moms and dads – group study

Family: Covenant Relationships
Week 2 Title: Moms & Dads – The Covenant of Stewardship

Icebreaker

• What’s one funny or surprising thing you learned after becoming a parent (or watching a parent closely)?
• Example: “What’s a classic ‘first kid vs. fourth kid’ parenting story you’ve seen or lived?” (Pacifier story works great here for laughs.)

Discussion Questions

1. The Holiness of Intimacy
Read Genesis 2:24 (NLT): “This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.”

• How does seeing sex as covenant, not casual, change the way we think about family?
• In what ways has our culture cheapened intimacy, and how does that impact the way children are raised?

2. Children Are Gifts, Not Possessions
Read Psalm 127:3 (NLT): “Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from him.”

• Why do you think God calls children gifts instead of possessions?
• How does seeing children as arrows to prepare and release shift how we parent?

3. Transferring Dependence to God
Read Deuteronomy 6:5–7 (NLT): “And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength… Repeat them again and again to your children.”

• What are some practical ways you can transfer dependence from yourself to God in your parenting?
• For those without kids, what does it look like to model this principle in spiritual parenting or mentoring?

4. Discipline Is Covenant Care
Read Ephesians 6:4 (NLT): “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger by the way you treat them. Rather, bring them up with the discipline and instruction that comes from the Lord.”

• What’s the difference between punishment and covenant discipline?
• Share an example where discipline shaped you for the better, even if it was hard at the time.

5. Parenting by Presence
Read Mark 10:13–16 (NLT): “Then he took the children in his arms and placed his hands on their heads and blessed them.”

• Why is presence so powerful in parenting?
• What are some small, intentional ways we can show up for our kids daily (or for the next generation around us)?

Prayer Focus

• Pray for parents to see their children as God’s gifts, not their possessions.
• Pray for strength to discipline with love and consistency.
• Pray for homes to be marked by presence, laughter, and authentic faith.
• Pray blessing over single parents and blended families — that God would fill in the gaps and provide community support.

Leader Insights / Prompts

• Keep the tone hopeful: acknowledge parenting struggles without leaving people in guilt.
• Balance honesty with encouragement — let parents share frustrations and victories.
• Remind non-parents: these principles apply to mentoring, spiritual parenting, and influence in the next generation.
• Close by having everyone repeat one faith declaration from Sunday’s message (e.g., “My children will catch from me a faith worth living.”)