Church On The Rock-Abilene
Sunday Morning Service - 8/16/2026
  • My Feet Are On The Rock
  • Graves Into Gardens
  • Abide
  • REVELATION SONG
  • Gratitude
  • The Lord Will Provide

  • Back To School Sunday 2026-27

    Text:
    Psalm 127:3–5 NKJV
    3 Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, The fruit of the womb is a reward. 4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, So are the children of one’s youth. 5 Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them; They shall not be ashamed, But shall speak with their enemies in the gate.
    Introduction:
    As another school year begins, we are reminded that our children are growing, learning, changing, and becoming. They are learning mathematics and reading, but they are also learning who they are, where they fit, what they value, and what kind of people they will become.
    Psalm 127 reminds us that children are not accidents, interruptions, or burdens. They are a heritage from the Lord. They are a reward, and they are compared to arrows placed into the hands of a warrior.
    That means there is something intentional about their lives, and there must also be something intentional about the way we raise, teach, pray for, and guide them.
    Today, as we pray over our students, I want us to remember that God has already been at work in them. He created each child with purpose. He formed them with personality. He gave them gifts. And our prayer is that one day they will come to know Christ for themselves and have a testimony of their own.

    God created each child with purpose. He formed them with personality, He gave them gifts, and it is our prayer and hope that one day they will have a testimony of their own.

    Each child has a purpose.

    As people submitted to Christ, we do not believe that any life is wasted or random. We believe that when the Lord created each of us, He did so with intention and purpose in mind.
    These school years are some of the years when children begin to grow into the people they will become. Each child will develop differently. Each child will struggle with different parts of that development. Each child will have strengths, weaknesses, questions, fears, victories, and setbacks.
    But none of their lives are random, and none of their lives are without meaning.
    Each child has purpose.
    And during the years when our students may feel awkward, different, insecure, or unsure of themselves, it is our responsibility to keep pointing them back to this truth: You were created on purpose, and you were created for a purpose.
    Sure, they may roll their eyes. They may think we are corny. And maybe we are corny.
    But being corny does not change the truth.
    Nothing God creates is without purpose—and that includes every child sitting in this room.

    Each child has a personality.

    We were not all made the same. God created us with differences in temperament, disposition, strengths, and the ways we respond to life.
    The Apostle Paul was highly educated and intellectually disciplined. Peter was a working man—a fisherman—who often spoke or acted before he had fully thought things through. John seems to have carried a quieter kind of strength. He was trusted by Jesus with the care of Mary, the mother of Jesus, and later became the writer of the Gospel of John, three epistles, and Revelation. Thomas was an inquirer. He wanted to understand, and he was not afraid to ask questions.
    These men were all different. They had different personalities, different strengths, and different ways of responding to the world around them.
    Yet God used every one of them.
    Their personalities were different, but when those personalities were surrendered to Christ, God used each of them for His glory.

    God gave each child or person gifts.

    God has given every person abilities, strengths, and gifts. Some are spiritual gifts, and some are natural or practical abilities that help us function in everyday life.
    We all have to make a living. We are all called to be productive. We are all called to bear fruit.
    God never calls us to become something He has not equipped us to become. The gifts and abilities He has placed within us are part of the unfolding of who we are called to be.
    What we are called to do matters because our lives are meant to reflect the power and grace of God. The gifts He has placed in us may become the very thing someone else needs.
    We were not created merely to exist. We were created to function, to contribute, and to do our part in building the Kingdom of God.

    Our prayer and hope is that they will all come to know Christ for themselves. We call that a testimony.

    Revelation 12:11 NKJV
    11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.
    It is important that the way we live, and the way we function as a church, points these students toward Jesus.
    We have to be careful that we do not take our own faith for granted. It is easy to become comfortable with the truths we know: I am loved by God. I am forgiven of my sin. I am being used by God. I can find some relief in that.
    But every one of us still has areas that must be yielded to the Lord. There may be persistent sins, stubborn attitudes, habits, fears, or weaknesses that keep us from becoming everything He is calling us to become.
    And this is what we want these students to learn: Christianity is not simply inheriting the faith of your parents or attending the church your family attends. At some point, you have to know Jesus for yourself.
    We can teach them Scripture. We can bring them to church. We can pray over them. We can model faith in front of them.
    But our prayer is that one day they will be able to say:
    “I know what the Lord has done for me.”
    That is when faith becomes more than something they were taught.
    It becomes their testimony.

    We are called to train our children.

    The Lord has rewarded us with children. Of course, we want them to be educated. We want them to be literate, prepared, and given the best opportunity possible to succeed in the world. That is one of the reasons we send them to school.
    But most children do not go to school thinking about their great potential. Some may, but many are trying to figure out where they fit, who they are, and how they are seen by the people around them.
    In other words, they are developing socially as well as academically.
    They are learning how to see themselves, how to relate to others, and how they want others to see them. Those things matter because these years help shape the people they will become.
    Whether we realize it or not, our children are beginning to make choices about identity, friendships, values, behavior, and direction.
    That is why prayer and engagement with our children are so important.
    Proverbs 22:6 NKJV
    6 Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it.
    Notice what the Scripture says: “in the way he should go.”
    Not necessarily the way I wanted to go. Not simply the direction a parent wishes they had taken before life got in the way. Our responsibility is to discern the way the Lord has designed that child to go.
    And for most of us, that will not always be obvious.
    That is where prayer and reflection come in.
    Prayer and reflection run contrary to the pace of our modern world. They require time. They require attention. They require us to slow down long enough to actually see the child in front of us.
    Training a child requires more than giving instructions. It requires knowing the child we are training.
    We have to pay attention to their purpose, their personality, their gifts, their struggles, and the direction in which God may be developing them.
    And then, with prayer, patience, and wisdom, we help point them in the way they should go.

    It is the job of parents to point children in the right direction.

    Psalm 127:4 NKJV
    4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, So are the children of one’s youth.
    Today we mark the beginning of another school year. Some school systems have already started, and others are preparing to begin. We take this Sunday to thank God for the children He has placed in our lives and to celebrate the opportunities that are in front of them.
    We thank God for our quiver full.
    And we are asking the Lord for a good year for every one of our students.
    We are asking the Lord to shine His light on the direction He has designed for them and on the people He is calling them to become.
    We are agreeing together to pray for our students.
    We are asking the Lord to give strength, patience, and wisdom to every parent, teacher, administrator, coach, and leader who will have influence in their lives this year.
    We are asking the Lord to give our students an appetite for knowledge and a willingness to learn.
    We are praying that the Lord will protect them, guide them, strengthen them, and give them a good year.
    Pastor Deadra has a gift for each of our students because we want them to know that their church is standing with them. We want them to know that they are loved, prayed for, and supported as they walk through these important years of growth and training.
    But Psalm 127 gives us an important picture. It says that children are like arrows in the hand of a warrior.
    An arrow does not determine its own direction. The person holding the bow has the responsibility of pointing it.
    That does not mean parents control every decision their children will ever make. Eventually, every child must make choices for themselves. But while they are in our hands, we have a responsibility to give them direction.
    As this year progresses, parents and teachers will have opportunities, through gentle instruction, encouragement, correction, and example, to help shape their hearts.
    Our job is not simply to point them toward good grades, good careers, or worldly success.
    Our responsibility is to point them toward the direction the Lord is calling them to go.
    We pray that as they grow, they will learn to recognize His voice, follow His direction, and eventually be able to say for themselves:
    “The Lord has directed my life.”
    Conclusion:
    As we begin this school year, we are not simply sending children back into classrooms. We are sending young lives into another season of formation.
    They will learn lessons from books, but they will also learn lessons from friendships, disappointments, victories, mistakes, teachers, parents, and the examples they see around them.
    That is why we must remain involved.
    We must pray for them. We must listen to them. We must correct them when correction is needed. We must encourage the gifts God has placed within them. We must remind them of their purpose when they forget it. And above all, we must continually point them toward Jesus.
    Psalm 127 says they are like arrows in the hand of a warrior. For a season, God places those arrows in our hands. We cannot control every place their lives will take them, but while they are in our hands, we can help point them in the right direction.
    So today we pray for more than good grades.
    We pray that God will protect them.
    We pray that God will give them wisdom.
    We pray that God will develop their gifts.
    We pray that God will strengthen their character.
    We pray that they will discover the purpose for which they were created.
    And more than anything else, we pray that one day every child we are praying over will be able to say for themselves:
    “I know Jesus. I know what the Lord has done for me. I have a testimony of my own.”
    May the Lord help us faithfully prepare the arrows He has placed in our hands, point them toward His purpose, and trust Him with where He sends them.

      • Psalm 127:3–5NKJV

      • Revelation 12:11NKJV

      • Proverbs 22:6NKJV

      • Psalm 127:4NKJV

Church On The Rock-Abilene
churchontherockabilene@gmail.com
3256725446
https://church-on-the-rock-abilene-tx.faithlifesites.com
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