Sermon Notes:
What is a family? A ridiculous question? When I was a kid the answer was simple: A husband and wife with kids. Today in our postmodern age things are so complicated that the supreme court might have to decide. Princeton University word net says this: “A social unit living together”.
This could include two men or two women with or without some kids. To me, a family is a system made up of a man and his wife and usually children, and even a few animals, and occasionally the common cold. Ogden Nash
We have drifted a long way from God’s original plan. The first family which was founded by God was made up of Adam and Eve, one man and one woman. Genesis 1:27. A man and a woman is what God joined together and Scripture says: Matthew 19:6 What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. Neither State government nor federal government must put asunder what God has established. No human being has the right to try to join anything else together and call it a family.
A happy family is a foretaste of heaven. Families, in God’s devising, last a long time. John 8:35 A slave is not a permanent member of the family, but a son is part of the family forever.
Some families are as small as just two: a wife and her husband. Others are very large: Acts 7:14 Joseph sent for his father Jacob and his whole family, seventy-five in all.
Gal 6:10 refers to the family of believers. In our denomination this is now close to 15 million brothers and sisters. Numerically, In our local church this is near 975. We are family. That is why we don’t throw a lawsuit against another fellow believer. To do so would be like suing your own sister or brother.
The Family is enacted by God as the first school of human instruction. All well behaved youngsters were homeschoolers. Parents take small, self-centered monsters, who spend much of their time screaming defiantly, hurling peas on the carpet, pulling each others hair, fighting over Legos, and they teach them to share, to wait their turn, to respect others' property and behave like civilized people. These lessons translate into honor for others, self-restraint, obedience to law, in short, into the virtues that are vital to the very survival of society. Charles Colson
God’s plan is for us to be a part of a family. God detests lonesomeness. Psalm 68:6 LB says: “God gives Families to the Lonely.” The family is the antidote of loneliness. A zero isn’t worth a flitter until it connects to another number. One extra Zero can make a billion dollars into a Trillion dollars. When you are joined to a vibrant family your worth jumps a thousand percent.
A family supports and helps each other. Many a time over the course of my long ministry I’ve walked up the sidewalk of a home to make a visit. Occasionally before I can ring the door bell I have heard loud arguing and shouting inside. The button of the door bell instantly stops the clamor and I am greeted by apparently smiling faces. They want their “Family” to look good to the outsider. That desire is stronger than whatever caused the controversy in the first place. Nothing stops a family quarrel faster than the doorbell.
The husband is the protector of the family. Ephesians 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, a good husband will give his life to help his wife. He is her protector. Let’s suppose a deranged next door neighbor comes over and pounds on your door. He shouts that your kids broke a picket in the fence he put up between your house and his house. He is ludicrous. All you have to do is say: I’ll tell my husband about it.
A wife is the protector of the children. A sweater is a knitted garment worn by a child when his mother feels cold. She is protecting him. The wife is meant to be largely free from the outside pressures of the world. The husband is the house band that stands between his family and worldly headaches. But what about the widow? She is in a quandary. Who protects her? Notice God’s answer:
1 Tim 5:4 But if a widow has children or grandchildren, these should learn first of all to put their religion into practice by caring for their own family and so repaying their parents and grandparents, for this is pleasing to God.
Widows are to be cared for by their family. Their kids and grandkids. You grandkids go over and mow your grandmothers grass. Care for her. When you rake her leaves you repay a debt. You see, you were born in debt. I am not referring to the national debt. You owe your grandmother. You owe your mother and you owe your daddy. Verse 4 says you repay that debt by caring for them when you grow up. But if a widow lives alone and has no family in town then what? God has this all organized...
1 Tim 5:5 The widow who is really in need and left all alone puts her hope in God and continues night and day to pray and to ask God for help.
Where does God send help from? The Deacons:
Acts 6:1 There arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected...
Verse three says 7 Deacons were appointed to care for the Widows. I think today this also means deaconesses. The church must become like a husband or the family to single ladies who might be struggling along. The church family is your family. As a church member, you who are able, have a duty to assist those needing help.
Paul said: Acts 15:36 Let us go again and visit our brethren... and see how they do. Check up on them. Minister to their needs. Help them. Sit with the shut-ins. Take them to the grocery store. Drive them to the Doctors office. Provide help or food or funds to the needy and hurting.
Given the fact that families are so important, you would expect the Devil to attack them. Especially just before the great day of the Lord. Mal 4:5-6 promises God will send help for last day families.
I received a letter from the U.S. Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation last week. It shocked me. Did you know that every year over 800,000 American Children are missing. This is one child every 40 seconds! This number is up over 400% just in the last 25 years. Every year over 400,000 children run away from home. Every year 350,000 are abducted. This tragedy is increasing fast. I hate to tell where they end up.... I won’t. Parents, please protect your children. Get them fingerprinted. Satan is out to destroy our families. Pray for your children. Ask God to Surround your children with holy angels.
The Family was created by God to make life full and happy. Contrast this to what is happening today. Drive through a nearby subdivision. Look at all those houses each 30 feet or so from the next one. What is going on inside those boxes? I am sorry to say that we have slipped far from the divine model. Many houses contain LIVERS instead of FAMILIES. A LIVER is someone who eats, sleeps and watches TV in the same enclosure with others. The about the only thing that many modern people have in common is that they all sleep under the same roof.
They each operate on different schedules. 1 Cor 11:21 as you eat, each of you goes ahead without waiting for anybody else. It is rare today that the whole family will sit down together at the kitchen table and eat over two meals together in any given week. They use the kitchen as if it were a pasture, each one at separate times grazing on the fastest food possible... nibbling... looking in the refrigerator for quick left-overs. Too many homes are like roadside filling stations. Did you know... Currently, consumers spend more than 46 percent of their food dollar on freshly prepared food away from home—up from 25 percent in 1955," - Hudson Riehle, senior vice president of the National Restaurant Association.
Within 8 years, consumers will be directing more than 53 percent of their food spending to meals prepared commercially. Science News Online, Week of Dec. 7, 2002; Vol. 162, No. 23
Perhaps only in the earth made new will we truly live again as real Families. Let’s try to get back to the ideal Family that God had in mind..... As close to it as we possibly can.
5 places in the Bible husbands are told: LOVE YOUR WIFE. Col 3:19 Husbands, love your wives,
Have you ever found in the Bible a command for the Wife to love her husband? Why not? Because a wife is like the old fashioned pump with a handle on it. Remember that kind? My Grandmother used to have one near her kitchen. You could pump that handle up and down for a long time and get nothing. Nothing, that is, until you primed the pump by pouring some water into the top of it and wetting the leather inside. The Bible says: Husbands, love your wives! The wife must be primed by her husband before the flow of love will come forth. You will not get love out until you put love in! Then the response is automatic as long as you keep at the pump. Each little stroke will result in a large flow of love.
Eph 5:25 love your wife.
Spend time with your wife. I like to shop with my wife - as strange as that might seem. It is fun to go and do something with her. I do have a motive – I want to find out what she likes so I can plan my gift buying for her. Over the years I’ve encouraged her to buy certain pretty dresses we have seen. She has asked my opinion and she knows what I might like to see her wear. It is a win - win situation.
Eph 5:28 love your wife! Verse 33 Love your wife! That is the man’s duty. What is woman’s duty? The woman was created to be a "helpmate" of the man "because it was not good that man should be alone" (Gen. 2:18).
But in the original language the meaning goes further than what is translated "helpmate". Eve was not created to help do the physical things Adam might have a hard time doing. The word here probably means "counselor". The help she could provide was wonderful, but it also included wise Counsel. Most women have a wonderful snap judgement. Listen to the wise Christian wisdom of your Godly wife.
The truth is we are to be helpmates for each other. So...help your wife. A four-year study of couples found that men who help do housework are healthier than those who don't. * Homemade, Aug. 1991 Helping out around the house is a way to love your wife and be healthier at the same time.
Be agreeable. If your father and mother, your sister and brother, if the very cat and dog in your house, are not happier for your being Christian, then you probably are not. James Hudson Taylor
Be Forgiving. Romans 3:23- All have sinned and come short. What this means is that every marriage is composed of two sinners. A good marriage is made up of two good forgivers. Stop blaming each other.
Make Jesus the center of your home. The greatest God-given gifts that we humans have ever been given on this earth are life, work, family, children and home. But if Jesus is not in each one they will become our biggest torment.
The miracle of life is not that adults can produce children but that children can produce adults. This miracle happens best in the Christian home Psa 127:1 Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it.
If you Love your Saviour more dearly
you will love your wife more affectionately
you will love your children more deeply And....
you will love your neighbor more completely
Do you love Jesus? Is He your saviour?
If you have not accepted Jesus or you would like to be baptized please raise your hand.
Fill out this card and hand it to a pastor.
Check Baptism.
Let us sing our closing Hymn: 652 Love at Home
Hymn of Praise: #171, Thine is the Glory Scripture: Psalms 68:4-6 Hymn of Response: #652, Love at Home
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last updated 2/13/07 by Dean Saunders.