THEME:
CHRISTIAN HOME AND FAMILY
FAMILY THAT SERVES THE LORD
JOSHUA 24:14-15
“Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness.
14
Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the
Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD.
But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you,
15
then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve,
whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates,
or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living.
But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.”
The word family means something different to everyone.
Some define family as relatives sharing one home.
Others views their beloved brethren in church as family.
The dictionary defines family as
"a fundamental social group in society consisting of one or two
parents and their children."
But they all have commonality: love and commitment.
Biblical Definition Of The Family
The FAMILY is the God-ordained basic unit of society
having parental headship and discipline
which is established for the purpose of
enjoying common life together
through working, caring, sharing, serving and
ministering to God and others.
Today, family life is changing and traditional families
(parents and children living together) are now on decline.
There are fewer marriages and more live-ins.
More are born to mothers outside of marriage and
many children are product of broken home.
Also today, many families have
both parents working for economic reasons.
This has resulted in the neglect of their children,
who in turn grow up distant from their parents.
Causing Increase incidences of violence and child abuse,
and of children getting involved in drugs and crimes.
Christ must be the center of the family.
The foundation of a good family life is the personal
commitment of the parents to live a life that is
centered on Christ.
If Christ is not Lord and Saviour to the parents,
they will never be able to make Him Lord and Saviour
to their children
The Bible gives us all the basic principles about
how families should function
and
the role of each family member.
Husbands are commanded to love their wives, and
the wives are commanded to submit to their husbands
(Ephesians 5:22,25).
Parents are commanded to love, instruct, and
discipline their children, while children are
commanded to honor and obey their parents (
Ephesians 6:1-4).
A Christian family can be described as a family where Christ
is honored, obeyed and served as Lord and Master.
It is a home where the father, mother, sons and daughters are
all growing in their commitment to Christ,
looking to Him for help to deal with problems and
praising Him for His daily blessings.
Every Christian home is to be a place where
we offer ourselves to the purposes of God,
setting ourselves apart to the service of the Lord and
the exaltation of His kingdom.
In some homes however, family members may not all share
the same commitment to Christ.
Sometimes the children are deeply committed
to Christ, but the parents are not.
Sometimes it is the parents who are deeply
committed to Christ, but the children are not.
Some of us may have loved ones in our family who do not
believe in Christ.
Let us make every effort to bring every family
member to commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ.
That means praying for them, reaching out to them
with the Word of God, and if we are parents, by
teaching our children to love and obey the Lord.
This is the way to build a Christian family.
No matter what our neighbors or our culture are following,
our homes should model the Christian home -
built within the family of God.
Our house, not just physical, but our families,
Should be an examples to the world of the Love of Christ.
JOSHUA made a declaration about what matters most
to him and his household.
It didn’t matter to him what the other Israelites and their
families wanted to do
He clearly say and without any doubt
that he will serve only the Lord.
Whoever God has brought you to be with,
in whatever household you live,
you have an opportunity to be a light to those who
see you on a daily basis.
Families are ministries.
If a pastor spends all of his time ministering to everyone
outside of his home and completely neglects his own family,
what good is his ministry?
We are called to raise up our children in the way that
they should go (Proverbs 22:6).
We can do this through being present when we can,
praying for and with each other,
doing devotions as a family,
and reminding each other of the Gospel regularly.
Deuteronomy 6:6-7
“These commandments that I give you today
are to be on your hearts.
Impress them on your children.
Talk about them when you sit at home
and when you walk along the road,
when you lie down and when you get up.”
A family that serves the Lord inside of their home
needs to also serve Him outside of the home.
By doing this we are modeling that we love each other,
and we love the world.
When the apostle Paul wrote to Timothy about what kind of
persons the church should appoint as its elders and deacons,
he say that they must be proven to be good governors of their
own families first,
and he said,
" If anyone does not know how to manage his own family,
how can he take care of God’s church?“ 1 Timothy 3:5
No home is perfect because we are all sinners.
However, when we invite Jesus to lead us,
we can love beyond our capacity.
John 15:12
“This is my commandment, that you love one another
as I have loved you.
God has a definite purpose and goal in all of His dealings with us
as individuals and as families.
God deals with us to bring us to maturity so that we might in turn
reach out to others.
God shapes our lives so that we can become effective instruments
in sharing Christ to the world.
God operates on a very simple principle.
He blesses us to be a blessing to others.
Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty,
nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us
richly all things to enjoy. Let them do good, that they be rich in good
works, ready to give, willing to share, storing up for themselves a
good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on
eternal life.
I Timothy 6:17-19
So how can a family be of good service
to the Lord?
1. Family must first come into right relationship with God.
a. This means repenting of our sins against God.
b. This means receiving Christ as the Lord of our lives and
our family life.
2. Family must be willing to find out what God has to say
about family life.
a. This means searching the Scriptures for the truth
about our God-ordained roles in the family.
b. This means seeking the counsel of our church leaders
who are aware of God’s guidelines for the family.
3. Family must put the word of God into practice.
a. This means putting into action the word of God
by caring and helping others specially those in
needs.
b. This means helping not only spiritually
but on their physical and material things also.
“As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord”
is a promise to do the best we can to make sure that everything
that takes place inside the home honors God.
It is also a prayer that the children will follow in the faith of
their parents.
CONCLUSION:
Like Joshua did for Israel,
God extends his invitation to us today,
and we must decide now.
We and our family must honor God and Serve Him daily.
Today, may each of us say,
"But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.“
Amen
To God Be The Glory!
