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Chasing Bigfoot | Part 3 · Rewind

Rock Point Church

68 min

Pastor Scott Rodgers · May 12, 2019 · 4 min read · 68 min listen

The big idea

Since our kids' hearts, not their happiness, are the parenting priority, we're called to shepherd their hearts by trusting God is at work, responding instead of reacting, and pursuing our own emotional and spiritual health.

In this message

The big idea
Point 1 of 7Children are a gift from God, and God is the one who invented parenting.
Point 2 of 7God's goal in parenting is to help kids grow up on the inside, not just the outside.

Point 3 of 7The myth to debunk: our kids' happiness is the priority. The truth: their heart is.
Point 4 of 7Shepherding a child's heart means wearing three hats: encourager, comforter, and the one who urges them on.
Point 5 of 7Recognize that God is always at work in your child, and give Him room to move.
Point 6 of 7Respond more than you react — let kids sample the bad and savor the good instead of rescuing them from everything.
Point 7 of 7The key to healthy parenting is a healthy parent.
Take it into your week
Transcript

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Scripture in this message

Psalm 127
Psalm 127:3
Genesis 2:24
Proverbs 4:23
Proverbs 27:19
Matthew 12:35

Rewind AI drafted the Big Idea and some point headings shown here from the sermon transcript. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI

Pastor Scott Rodgers · May 12, 2019 · 68 min watch · 2 min read

Chasing Bigfoot | Part 3

In this message

Big Idea
Key points
Application

Scripture in this message

Psalm 127
Psalm 127:3
Genesis 2:24
Proverbs 4:23
Proverbs 27:19
Matthew 12:35

Big Idea Key points Application

Big Idea

Since our kids' hearts, not their happiness, are the parenting priority, we're called to shepherd their hearts by trusting God is at work, responding instead of reacting, and pursuing our own emotional and spiritual health.

Parenting is hard and no parent gets it perfect, but God, the only perfect parent, never leaves us to figure it out alone. Scripture points us to make our children's hearts, not their happiness, the priority, and reminds us that the best gift we can give our kids is a healthy parent who trusts God is always at work in them.

Key points

1
1Children are a gift from God, and God is the one who invented parenting.
Pastor Scott reads Psalm 127:3-5, which calls children a gift and reward from the Lord, and notes that God designed parenting and walks with parents through it rather than abandoning them to figure it out alone.
2
2God's goal in parenting is to help kids grow up on the inside, not just the outside.
Using Genesis 2:24 about leaving father and mother, Pastor Scott jokes about a 40-year-old still living in the basement to make the point that God wants children to mature internally into responsible adults, not just grow up physically with little help.
3
3The myth to debunk: our kids' happiness is the priority. The truth: their heart is.
Pastor Scott names the common trap of making a child's happiness the goal, which leads to exhausted, manipulative parenting, and argues from Proverbs 4:23, Proverbs 27:19, and Matthew 12:35 that the heart determines the course and reflects the real person, so happiness flows out of a healthy heart, not the other way around.
4
4Shepherding a child's heart means wearing three hats: encourager, comforter, and the one who urges them on.
Drawing on 1 Thessalonians 2:11-12, where Paul deals with the Thessalonians as a father dealing with his own children, Pastor Scott describes discerning in each moment whether a child needs encouragement, comfort, or a push toward what God is calling them to.
5
5Recognize that God is always at work in your child, and give Him room to move.
Pastor Scott tells the extended story of his daughter Morgan's Mozambique marine biology internship, the travel and visa fiasco, her nearly backing out, and the moment she swam with a humpback whale, showing how giving God space let her dependence shift from her parents to God.
6
6Respond more than you react — let kids sample the bad and savor the good instead of rescuing them from everything.
Using the story of flying in a 1943 stunt plane and wanting to grab the joystick during a turn, Pastor Scott illustrates the instinct to rescue kids from every hard moment, and instead urges parents to sit with kids in pain long enough for them to process it, and to celebrate their wins.
7
7The key to healthy parenting is a healthy parent.
Pastor Scott points to Philippians 4:9, where Paul tells believers to put into practice what they've seen in him, to argue that caring for our own souls, becoming emotionally healthy, and pursuing a healthy marriage matters more than any parenting technique because kids learn by watching.

don't you stare at me, woman. You don't know what I've gone through

There is no judging of one another here today in this conversation

A story from life

Scott's story of a meltdown at a grocery store checkout with his ten-month-old daughter Ashley

Application

Pastor Scott frames the charge as shepherding your child's heart the way a pastor would, by wearing the right hat and getting your own soul healthy first.

Make your child's heart the priority
Instead of chasing your kid's happiness, ask what's happening in their heart, since Proverbs says the heart determines the course of life.
Recognize God is always at work
When your child faces a big decision or opportunity, give God room to move rather than assuming you have to control the outcome.
Respond instead of react
Resist the urge to grab the joystick and rescue your kids from every hard moment; instead coach them to process the situation and make their own wise decision.
Let them sample the bad and savor the good
Sit with your kids in pain long enough for them to process it instead of rescuing them from it, and be their biggest cheerleader when they win.
Care for your own soul
Pursue emotional and spiritual health and a healthy marriage this week, since kids learn parenting and life by watching you, not just by hearing advice.

Take it into your week

Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI

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Scripture in this message

From the transcript
“If you have a Bible with you, go to the Old Testament, Psalms chapter one twenty seven. Psalm 127 and a lot of the verses I'm going to read here in a few moments are coming from the New Living Translation”
From the transcript
“go to verse three and here's what it says, children are a gift from the lord. Now, just let that sink in for a moment because it doesn't always feel that way, does it”
From the transcript
“It's in Genesis two and verse 24. It's kinda coming out of the whole creation stuff and Adam and Eve and all that kinda thing and he says this, this explains why a man leaves”
From the transcript
“Let me show you in Proverbs chapter four. Here's what the Bible says. Proverbs four verse 23. It says, guard your heart above all else for it determines the course of your life”
From the transcript
“Proverbs 27 verse 19 says, as a face is reflected in water, so the heart reflects the real person. What we see on the outside is simply a reflection of what's on the inside”
From the transcript
“Jesus teaches this in a few different ways in the New Testament. One of which is Matthew twelve thirty five where he says, a good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart”
From the transcript
“He says in this, in chapter two verse 11, for you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children”
From the transcript
“He says this, I've dealt with you as a father deals with his children. How's that? Verse 12, encouraging, comforting, and urging you to live lives worthy of god”
From the transcript
“Let me show you this. Philippians two thirteen says it in this way, for god is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him”
From the transcript
“Here's what it says in again, the apostle Paul, Philippians four nineteen. Again, speaking kind of like a spiritual father. He says, whatever you've learned or received or heard from me and then he says the big one or seen in me, put it into practice”

Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI

7-day devotional

A personal reading plan from this message — scripture, reflection, and prayer for each day.

Sign in to track your progress through this devotional.

Day 1

Pastor Scott opened with a truth that is easy to say and hard to live: children are a gift from God, and God Himself invented parenting. That means you didn't get handed an impossible job without any backup. The One who designed the whole thing is still involved in it. Psalm 127 is a short psalm, but it carries enormous weight. It reminds us that if God isn't in the middle of what we're building — a house, a family, a life — our striving amounts to very little. Children described as arrows in the hand of a warrior aren't trophies to display or projects to perfect. They are entrusted to us for a season, shaped with care, and ultimately released. That framing matters because so much parenting anxiety comes from believing the whole outcome rests on us. It doesn't. God was parenting long before you arrived on the scene, and He hasn't stepped back now that you're in the mix. The pressure you feel to get everything right may be real, but it isn't the whole story. There is a God who is at work in your child's life — not as a distant supervisor, but as a deeply involved Father who loves your child even more than you do. That's not a platitude. It's the ground you can stand on when the job feels too big.

For reflection

Where have you been carrying the weight of your child's outcome as if it were entirely yours to carry — and what might it look like to set some of that down today?

Pray

Pray for a renewed sense of partnership with God in the work of parenting — that His involvement would feel real, not just theoretical.

Day 2

It might seem strange to anchor a parenting devotional in a verse about marriage and leaving home. But Pastor Scott pointed to Genesis 2:24 for a specific reason: God's design for parenting has always had an endpoint in view. The goal isn't a child who needs you forever — it's a child who is ready to leave and build something of their own. That destination shapes everything about the journey. If you know where you're headed, you can make better decisions along the way. Choices that feel protective in the short term — rescuing your child from every hard moment, managing every conflict, smoothing every rough road — can quietly work against the very independence you're trying to cultivate. This doesn't mean pulling away too soon or being hands-off when your child genuinely needs you. It means holding the long view in one hand even while you're fully present in the short view with the other. Every hard conversation, every boundary held, every time you let your child feel the natural weight of a decision they made — those are deposits toward the adult they are becoming. Parenting with the end in mind isn't cold or detached. It's actually one of the most loving things you can do, because it takes your child's future seriously rather than just managing their present comfort.

For reflection

Thinking about the adult you hope your child becomes — what is one habit or pattern in your current parenting that is moving toward that, and one that might be working against it?

Pray

Pray for wisdom to hold both the present moment and the long-term goal at the same time — and for courage when those two things feel like they're pulling in opposite directions.

Day 3

Pastor Scott made a distinction that is worth sitting with: chasing your child's happiness and shepherding your child's heart are not the same thing — and confusing them can quietly pull you off course. Proverbs 4:23 is direct: guard your heart, because everything in your life flows from it. The writer of Proverbs understood that the heart isn't just the seat of emotion — it's the wellspring of direction, desire, and decision. What a person loves shapes what a person does. So the most important question about your child isn't whether they're happy right now, but what kind of heart is forming in them. A child can be happy in the short term through choices that are quietly damaging their character. And a child can be unhappy in the short term through hard moments that are actually building something durable in them. That's why happiness makes a poor compass. It's real-time feedback on how things feel, not on where things are going. Shepherding the heart doesn't mean controlling your child's inner life — you can't do that, and trying to will backfire. It means staying curious about what your child loves, fears, values, and leans toward. It means asking questions more than delivering verdicts. It means being someone your child can bring their real self to, because they trust that you care about them and not just their behavior.

For reflection

In a recent situation with your child, were you more focused on managing their behavior or understanding the heart behind it — and what might the difference have looked like?

Pray

Pray for the kind of attentiveness that sees past behavior to what is forming underneath — and for your child's heart to be genuinely protected and guided.

Day 4

Paul's description of his own ministry in 1 Thessalonians 2 reads like a parenting manual. He says he dealt with the Thessalonians the way a father deals with his own children — encouraging, comforting, and urging them forward. Pastor Scott called these three things "hats" that parents wear, and the key insight is that you don't wear all three at the same time. Sometimes your child needs encouragement — someone to call out what is true and good in them, to say "I see you, and I believe in who you're becoming." Sometimes they need comfort — someone to sit in the hard thing with them without rushing to fix it or minimize it. And sometimes they need to be urged forward — gently pushed toward responsibility, growth, or the hard thing they're tempted to avoid. The wisdom is in knowing which hat fits the moment. Reading the room well is itself a form of love. A child who needs comfort but gets a push forward feels unseen. A child who needs to be urged on but only gets comfort never learns to move through difficulty. Neither approach is wrong in itself — the mismatch is the problem. This takes paying attention. It takes slowing down enough to ask, "What does my child actually need from me right now?" That question, asked honestly and often, can quietly transform the way you show up.

For reflection

Think of a recent moment with your child — which hat did you reach for, and in hindsight, was it the right one for what they needed?

Pray

Pray for the discernment to read your child well in ordinary moments — and for the flexibility to respond to what they actually need rather than what is easiest to give.

Day 5

Philippians 2:13 is a quiet but powerful anchor: God is the one at work in people, producing both the desire and the ability to do what pleases Him. That verse isn't just about adults in a church — it applies to the child sitting across the dinner table from you tonight. Pastor Scott's challenge here was gentle but pointed: if God is already at work in your child, your job isn't to be the primary force of change in their life. It's to recognize where He's already moving and give Him room to move further. That means resisting the urge to jump in and solve every problem, fix every struggle, or engineer every outcome. Sometimes the most spiritual thing a parent can do is wait and watch. This doesn't mean being passive or absent. Recognizing God at work doesn't mean doing nothing — it means doing what's yours to do and trusting Him with what isn't. The hard moments your child is sitting in may be exactly the space where God is doing something you couldn't manufacture on your best day. Letting go of the joystick — as Pastor Scott put it — isn't a failure of parenting. It's an act of faith. It's saying, "I trust that You are working in my child in ways I can't fully see, and I'm going to give You space rather than crowd You out with my anxiety."

For reflection

Where might you be unintentionally crowding out what God is trying to do in your child by stepping in too quickly?

Pray

Pray for the faith to trust God's work in your child even when you can't see it clearly — and for the patience to wait instead of grabbing back control.

Day 6

"As a face is reflected in water, so the heart reflects the real person." Proverbs 27:19 is one of those verses that doesn't explain itself — it just holds up a mirror. And Pastor Scott drew on this kind of wisdom to make a point about how deeply the condition of a person's inner life shapes everything visible on the outside. This works in two directions for parents. First, your child's behavior is often a reflection of what's happening in their heart — which is why behavior management alone never gets to the root. Second, and maybe more uncomfortably, how you parent often reflects what's happening in your own heart. The way you react when you're tired, scared, or stressed tells your child something true about who you are — and those moments are instructive in ways you didn't plan. That's not meant to pile on guilt. Every parent has moments they'd like to have back. The point is that the inner work matters — not just for your own sake, but because your child is watching and learning from what they see in you. When you respond thoughtfully instead of reacting reflexively, when you apologize after a hard moment, when you stay curious instead of going straight to judgment — those things get absorbed. The most honest thing you can give your child isn't a perfect performance. It's a real person who is genuinely trying to grow.

For reflection

What does your typical reaction in a hard parenting moment reveal about what's going on in your own heart — and what might you want to bring to God about that?

Pray

Pray for honesty about your own inner life — and for the courage to let what God is doing in you become something your child can actually see.

Day 7

Paul closes with something that sounds almost too simple: put into practice what you've learned, received, heard, and seen — and the God of peace will be with you. Pastor Scott anchored his final challenge in this same idea: the healthiest thing you can give your children is a healthy you. This week has circled around a single sermon's worth of truth, but the through-line is consistent. Parenting isn't a performance to perfect — it's a relationship to tend. And the quality of that relationship is inseparable from the quality of your own walk with Jesus, the health of your own soul, and the honesty with which you face your own growth edges. Philippians 4:9 is an invitation to integration — not just hearing truth, but living it out in your time, your relationships, your daily habits, and the way you treat the people closest to you. Your children don't need a parent who has it all together. They need one who is genuinely moving toward Jesus, who is honest about the hard parts, who loves them enough to do their own inner work. If this week has stirred something in you — questions, convictions, a desire to go deeper — that's worth following. Talk to someone at Rock Point. Bring it to God. Let the conversation continue beyond the page.

For reflection

Looking back at this week, what one shift — in perspective, habit, or posture — do you most want to carry forward into how you parent?

Pray

Pray for the God of peace to be present with you in the ordinary, imperfect, ongoing work of parenting — and for what you've reflected on this week to take real root in your life.

Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI

Small-group discussion guide

For leading a group conversation about this message.

Open

Parenting is one of the most humbling things a person can take on — and this message lands right in the middle of that tension, starting with a simple but freeing idea: the myth of perfect parenting was never the goal to begin with.

Discussion questions

1
Psalm 127:3-5 describes children as a gift and a reward from God. What do you think it means, in practical day-to-day life, to treat a child as a gift rather than a project to manage?
2
Pastor Scott pointed to Proverbs 4:23 — 'Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life' — and argued that the heart, not happiness, is the real priority in raising kids. What's the difference between a parent who is focused on their child's heart versus one who is focused on their child's happiness? What might that look like in real situations?
3
In 1 Thessalonians 2:11-12, Paul describes himself as a father who encouraged, comforted, and urged on the believers in his care. Pastor Scott used those three roles — encourager, comforter, and the one who urges forward — as a framework for shepherding a child's heart. How might knowing which 'hat' is needed in a given moment change the way a parent shows up for their kid?
4
Pastor Scott drew on Philippians 2:13 to make the point that God is already at work in our children's lives — and that one of the hardest things for parents to do is give Him room to move rather than jumping in to fix everything. What do you think makes it so difficult to step back and let a child sit in a hard moment?
5
Pastor Scott made a distinction between reacting and responding — reacting out of fear versus coming alongside a child to help them process, see the bigger picture, and find a wise path forward. What do you think tends to pull people toward reaction rather than response?
6
Philippians 4:9 closes out the message with the idea that a healthy parent is the greatest gift a child can receive — that modeling a real walk with Jesus matters more than performing perfect parenting. What does it look like for someone to actually invest in their own soul, not just for their own sake but as an act of love toward the people watching them?

Pray together

Ask God to shift our focus from the myth of perfect parenting to the health of the hearts in our care — including our own

Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI

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Go deeper

Continue the series

Chasing Bigfoot

Week 3 · 3 messages

Where these passages are preached

Psalm 127 Genesis 2 Proverbs 4 Proverbs 27

Explore related topics

Letting God Work Parental Self-Care Parenting Responding vs. Reacting Shepherd Your Child's Heart

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