Family Matters

nearest grandson 64 years ago your grandmother and I set out on the British journey of our lives at the same time how there was could imagine the road that lay before us with its hills and valleys its pleasures and pains over the years we learned the reality of those words who spoke so solemnly on our wedding day for richer or poorer the mostly boy for better or worse in sickness and in health and now more than ever I feel the weight of the words till death do us part oh how I miss her but now that same journey is before you and thinking about the joy that awaits you both gives me joy as well with that being said I want you to have a successful marriage I believe the proof is in the reading the answers are in the book so here is a special gift that I want you to have I love you with all my heart here we are in Proverbs 22 the title of the message is family manners I told you this story before but but bear with me it's a story of a husband and wife were married for 60 years that's quite a feat in this day and age and the announcement was made they're gonna have a party a celebration someone down to the local newspaper heard about it and they dispatched a reporter to talk to the couple and tried to find out what the secret to a long marriage is so the reporter sat down with a husband that said sir tell me what is this secret to be married for 60 years a man said well goes back to our honeymoon my wife and I went to the Grand Canyon we're writing those little donkeys you know on one of the paths and my wife was right in front of me and let me tell you I didn't really know her all that well we had we hadn't known each other that long before we got married well anyway she's on the donkey in front of mine that her donkey sort of stumbled and I noticed her leaning forward and saying into the donkeys there that's once and I thought that's once what does that mean so we went a little bit further or donkey stumbled again she leaned forward and said that's twice then we went a little bit further the donk goes donkey stumbled a third time she reaches into her purse pulls out a handgun holds it up to the donkey said fires a donkey drops dead right on the spot and I said that's horrible that's awful how could you do that to the donkey and my wife said to me that's once so that's a secret to long marriage right there thank you and God bless well that's a joke and one I probably told too many times but there's no question that marriage and family is under attack in our country today battered by high rates of divorce and cohabitation unwed childbearing fatherlessness and the push for same-sex marriage and civil unions brings marriage to a state of crisis in our country you know one study estimated that divorce and unwed childbearing cost taxpayers a hundred and twelve billion dollars a year this is a national problem and it's been said that a family can survive without a nation but a nation cannot survive without the family we've been engaged in our country in recent years and a massive social experiment a little just see how much we can change what marriage really is let's see if we can just push the boundaries a little bit further and now we're seeing the repercussions of that in culture in general so listen shifting culture has nothing to say about a successful marriage if you follow cultural Clues your marriage may be doomed we have to come back to the Word of God the only authoritative source on this and any other topic so this is my last message in this series and it's sort of a flyover of what I've said in the last five messages so if you miss one or more of those messages you'll get some of the mean points and then we'll bring it to a conclusion so let's start with point number one because I'm going to identify for you six keys to a successful and lasting marriage number one there must be a leaving and a cleaving remember that Jesus was that's about the topic of marriage and divorce and he said in matthew 19:5 for this reason a man will leave his father a mother and cleave unto his wife and the two shall become one flesh leaving and cleaving to operative words and I'm amazed at how many marriages have not this down and let some folks this is marriage 101 if you don't get this worked out you're gonna have problems throughout your marriage first there is a levy and the phrase that issues here a son leaving this father and mother implies that the closest relationship outside of a marriage is specified here that of a son to his parents meaning that if it's necessary to leave your father a mother that certainly all lesser ties must be broken chains or left behind broken change are left behind you're still a child to your parents you're still a sibling you're still a friend but now a new family has developed in in time if God blesses you with children too so there must be the leaving there's a change in your relationships and number two there's a cleaving and the word cleave is a word that speaks of being glued together not stuck together and it also and verb form speaks up holding on to one another so it's the idea that you're holding on to each other let's say your best friend should be your spouse so start there number two a successful marriage requires that husband and wife must submit to each other they must submit to each other Ephesians 5:21 says that we are to submit one to another in the fear of God before a word is said about wives admitting to their husbands both husbands and wives are to submit one to another but what does that mean well it's a military word and it means to rank beneath or to rank under in the military you have a chain of command you have officers or those of higher rank that are over you so you're to put that other person above you notice this is before it said that a wife should submit to her husband it says wives and husbands should submit one to another put the needs of your mate above your own that's what it's saying a husband submission to his wife does that mean that he abdicates there's responsibilities of leadership in the home but he helps her to Roberta's he's always ready to meet her needs and sacrifice his own desires for what will help fulfill those needs and she is willing to do the same for him the idea of holding one another up wives are to submit to the leadership of the husband husbands are to bow to the needs of their wives number three to have a successful marriage you must be filled with the holy spirit you must be filled with the holy spirit Ephesians 5:17 says don't be drunk with wine where there is excess but be filled with the Holy Spirit speaking to yourself in Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs we have the power given to us from God to do what he has called us to do and I'll be honest with you there is no way and I can do what the Bible tells me to do without the power of the Holy Spirit no way I can love my wife as Christ loves the church are you kidding me talk about a tall order there's no way that a woman can submit to the leadership of her husband without the power of this spirit we need this power and by the way in the Greek it's implied that it's done over and over again in other words be constantly be being filled with the Holy Spirit again and again and again so when you get up in the morning I might just say Lord fill me with the Holy Spirit help me to be the husband the wife the parent you've called me to be and keep asking for that power number four to have a successful marriage the husband must love his wife as Christ loves the church beaches 5:25 says husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her now that is not easy but this is what God requires I want you to notice that the man is called to take point here because in many marriages spiritually men are passive at best and actually working against the marriage at worse and far too many Christian homes the woman is a spiritual leader it's the woman the wife that says let's go to church it's a wife that says let's remember to pray before the meal it's a wife that says let's read the Bible to our children it's a wife that says no let's not do that it's not the husband being the godly leader the Lord has called him to me thank God for the wives picking up the slack but my question is husbands are you doing your part and you know this really talks about expressing love women are far more social than men you know they get together and they start talking guys kind of look at each other especially if they've never met him and me said two girls who have never met can become immediately des France or so it would seem guys are kind of looking at each other and the other thing you know when girls are you're with friends maybe in a restaurant and one girl says I'm gonna go to the restroom who wants to go with me and all these girls go on the restroom together we don't do that as guys we would never ask the question in fact we might even be embarrassed if we see each other in the restroom you don't want to be in there too long with each other you know so the idea is that it's easier for a woman generally speaking to express affection to show affection girls a hug each other love you love you guys are like love your bro can I get them you know it sort of sideways hog right but the idea is that we feel it men are just is full of emotion as women are we just express it differently so here's something love your wife as Christ loved the church don't just think it show it and even better say it proverbs 31 says her children call her blessed and her husband praises her listen husbands brag on your wives in front of your kids in front of your friends hey do it in front of complete strangers let me tell you about my wife she is the greatest wife ever that's something we should do complement her there's a great theologian bruno mars points out in this song when I was your man quote too young too dumb to realize I should have brought you flowers and held your hand should have given you all of my hours when I had the chance take you to every party when all you wanted to do was dance now my baby is dancing with another man wake up guys show affection to your wife tell her you love her verbalize it number five to have a successful marriage a wife must respect and submit to her husband the wife must respect and submit to her husband now this is very interesting first Peter 3 says wives be submissive to your own husbands even as some do not to be the word they without a word will be won by the conduct of the wife when the observed your chaste and respectful conduct then Ephesians 5:33 says let the wife see that she respects her husband tincho seen that God doesn't tell the husband's just specifically to respect his wife he tells the wife specifically to respect her husband that's not to say a husband should not respect the wife what it is to say as God tells you in a very specific way to do this maybe it's because it's not done enough maybe men are not loving their wife as much as they ought to and maybe women are not respecting their men like they ought to just as a husband that's a love his wife even if she does not respect him submit to him a wife is to respect her husband even if he does not love her as she wants so show respect to that man it's important for you to say to him I appreciate the sacrifices you make for this family I appreciate the love that you show to us I appreciate all that you do a man needs respect a woman needs to be nurtured and told she's loved a man needs to be respected make sure you do that because sometimes women are disrespecting their man and sometimes they do it publicly this husband of mine let me tell you what a loser that's disrespectful and that's unbiblical and this will undermine your marriage see the relationship of Jesus Christ to God the Father as the same with marriage though the husband and wife are equal in their standing before God you know in order for the family to function in harmony the woman with no loss of dignity takes the place of submission to the headship of the husband this models the way that God loves the church and the church loves God and the husband is a god-given responsibility to provide for protect and lead just as the Lord does the church so the wife submits graciously to the servant leadership the husband provides just as the church submits to the headship of Christ respect him and submitting him some girls will say well I don't agree with that well then you're wrong how do you like that because this is what the Bible teaches about the roles of husbands and wives well I think the Bible's wrong no you're wrong see because look at how it's worked out in our culture as we have abandoned these roles and done it our own way I was watching that television interviewer talked to a pastor a while back and and the interviewer said pastor don't you think it's time to bring the Bible kicking and screaming into the 21st century and the pastor amazingly didn't respond to that and I wanted to jump through the television screen and I wanted to say to the universe no sir it's time to bring culture kicking and screaming back to what the Bible teaches because that's where the problems are coming from the Bible is a source of truth someone asked me a while ago Greg what do you do when you come to a verse in the Bible you don't agree with actually kind of laughed when I heard that I said change your opinion because you're wrong what do you mean you don't agree with it either we're gonna accept the Bible as a source of truth on marriage and family and every other topic oh we're not going to but you can't pick and choose what parts of the Bible you agree with or what fits with culture you have to develop a biblical worldview will you see things through a scriptural lens it's how you view life number six to have a successful marriage communication must be constant and a survey that was taken among divorced couples they were asked why did their marriage fail 86% said deficient communication and this is why when I talk to couples who want to get married I asked him if they've had a fight yet and understand when I say a fight I don't mean a physical altercation it should never come to that I mean verbal disagreement that's going to happen and if you haven't had one yet go have one soon because you need to learn how to resolve conflicts good conflicts will arise so you need to learn how to fight fair you know when there are certain boxing match just say as an example there are rules around lasts so long there are certain things you can and cannot do to your opponent and when you sit down with your wife or your husband you're having the disagreement what you want to do is first hear them out the Bible says James 1:19 let every man be quick to listen slow to speak slow to round proverbs 18:13 only a full answers that matter before he asserted she get into these things in your interrupting one another talking over one another yelling over one another that's counterproductive sit down and say all right tell me why you're upset tell me what the issue it's and shut up and listen just listen and you might learn something first of all you might realize that there's a misunderstanding that you can now hopefully soar and then again they may make a point that you see is actually valid and you could see how they would understand what you had done or perceived what you had done you didn't mean it that way but it came off a certain way and saying I'm sorry I didn't realize that I won't do that again but have a calm conversation when it starts to escalate and you're raising your voice and you feel the anger starting to boil a boil up that's where you need to stop sometimes literally if necessary you walk out of the room but if it's coming down I'm gonna throw something or yell something or no you don't want it to go there that's why Ephesians 4:31 says get rid of bitterness and rage and anger and harsh words and slander as well as other types of evil behavior instead be kind to one another tender-hearted forgiving one another just as God through Christ is forgiven you Ruth Graham once said a successful marriage is made up of two good forgivers learn to forgive have your disagreement now forgive and never fight in front of the kids just don't do that in fact don't fight in front of people in general have you ever had that happen you're out with a couple and they start having that argument in front of you it's like stop do I really have to sit here and listen of this I mean if it's in front of a pastor and he's helping you sort through things fine but in front of friends out to dinner and you guys are going out of with each other you know you're gonna learn to resolve these things but the objective is not to win it's to resolve fight to resolve the conflict not to win if you go into it to win you lose even if you win cannot let's shift gears and let's go from marriage to the family we touched on this a little bit in our last message when I talked about parenting peas and six for you fathers do not provoke your children to wrath but bring them up and the training and admonition of the Lord how do you provoke a child around one way is by favoring one child over another showing favoritism don't do that another way is by never complimenting or affirming them up now we have a job to do as parents bring them up and the training and admonition of the Lord it doesn't say beat them down why do we need to bring them up because their sinful nature brings them down and our job is to point them to Jesus listen to this parent if you do not proactively take an active interest in your child's physical as well as spiritual welfare someone else will and it usually is not good let me repeat that if you do not proactively take an interest in your child's physical as well as spiritual welfare someone else will that will usually not be good don't leave it to the public school system to teach your child values don't leave it to media to teach your child would right and wrong are listen mom dad that's your job to teach them to lead them to guide them to train them in the way that they should go if you don't do it the Bible says in proverbs 29:15 a Child Left to himself will bring shame to his mother let's go now to our text proverbs 22:6 a well-known verse an oft quoted verse and usually quoted when the child's gone astray would say well train up a town on the way he should go when he is old they'll not depart from it and I think that's a great verse to quote when a child goes astray but here's the question I want to ask you have you done your part have you actually trained up the child and the way that they should go do you understand what that means the Amplified Bible puts it this way train up a child in the way he should go and in keeping with this individual gift or bent when he is old he'll not depart from it every child is different the New Living Translation puts it this way direct your child into the right path and when they're older than leave it what does it mean to train up one way this phrase can be translated is to create a thirst in create a spiritual thirst and the life of your child how do you do that by having a walk with God that is attractive having a relationship of the Lord that they would aspire to they want to know God like you know God create a thirst in but then it's interesting because another way in burnt form it's translated is to break a horse horse is a beautiful creature a powerful animal and they go through a breaking process where they learn to submit to the will of the writer I like to write horses but I far rather writing things with horse power because there's an off button and I can push it and it stops horses have a mind all their own I know this because I've had some horses take off and they wouldn't stop when I wanted them to I heard a story about a preacher that got himself a horse and he thought he'd be real spiritual instead of using the normal words to command the horse he would use spiritual words for instance instead of saying giddyup he had say praise the Lord and he taught the horse and whenever he said praise the Lord the horse took off and a full gallop and instead of saying whoa he said I'll say amen amen the horse would stop this is great praise the Lord how he would go amen the horse would stop and he loved to show this off to all of his friends so one day he was out fooling around and the horses took off running and he couldn't remember his stop work oh what's that stop word hallelujah horse is still running glory to God horse is still running oh what's that word what's that word word and he's coming right to the edge of a cliff amen the horse stops the little rocks are going over the side we're stopped right there he's looking over the side praise the Lord so to train up a child is to create a thirst in them for the things of God by example by modeling it by showing them what it is to be a real Christian and secondly to break a horse the implication being you put parameters in place there's absolutes in your home there's things that child can do and things that child cannot do that means sometimes punishment as much as it's important to love our kids and hug our kids and tell them how much we love our kids we also if we love them must discipline our kids when I was in military school you remember that little video we showed last time on etiquette as my little granddaughter Lucy said I went to military school well I was in military school a couple of times once when I was a very small boy and when then was a little bit older but I didn't like it I'll be honest with you we had to wear little uniforms I actually googled the name of my military school last night it was Southern California military academy it was on Signal Hill in Long Beach it's no longer there I blew it up no I did it actually was a fine school really was and and I was but I didn't want to go there cuz I wanted to be with my mom you know sighs just a little boy and but I'll tell you what I learned discipline in that school and when you messed up do they discipline you and guess what I was getting A's and B's and I was on the honor roll so one day my mom took me out of military's don't put me in public school I went from A's and B's to D's and F's and I spend most of my time and the president a principals office because I was in trouble for mouthing off in class or doing something obnoxious here's my point I thrive in an environment where I was disciplined and that needs to be there and if you don't discipline your children you don't love them when you discipline your children you actually Flint God's character see well I thought God was loved he is loved and because he's loved he disciplines us the Lord says whom he loves he will discipline Hebrews 12 says our earthly fathers disciplined us for a 40 for a few years doing the best they knew how but God's discipline is always right and good for us because it means while sharing this holiness no discipline is enjoyable while it's happening it's painful but afterwards there's a quiet harvest of right living for those that are trained in this way yes bring them up and the training and admonition of the Lord the Bible tells a story of Eli the priest who did not discipline his wayward sons and God dealt harshly with him as a result for Samuel 3 says the Lord said to Samuel I'm gonna do something in Israel that will make the ears of everyone who hears it tingle at that time I'll carry out against Eli everything I spoke against his family from beginning to end for I told him I but Judge his family forever because of this sin he knew about his sons made themselves contemptible and he failed to restrain them have you ever seen someone's kids running amuck you wonder why these kids so horrible and disrespectful then you meet their parents and you say now I get it because that's the way they were raised or not raised they're a reflection of the way that they were brought up have you ever been out in the public and seen someone's kids just coming unhinged and they're screaming or they're disrespectful to your mom or their mom or dad and you felt like you wanted to intervene you can't do that you'd like to discipline their kids you definitely can't do that oh that's only for you to discipline your kids you see that's your responsibility as a parent so because God loves us he disciplines us and if you can go out as a child of God and do things that are sinful and not feel any remorse or guilt that would be a cost or great concern I think when your conscience just working in you feel guilt when you've done something wrong and God even makes it hard for you to disobey you should rejoice because he's showing you how much he loves you if you can go and sin with abandon without any concern that would indicate to me you're not even God's child whom the Lord loves he disciplines the scripture says and Eli didn't take care of his sons you see the sin of the father was passed to the children and this happens to all of us today we see this in multiple generations you know the Bible says the sins of the parents are visited on the children I've heard some people say you have sort of a mystical interpretation of that and think there's some kind of a generational curse and you need to bind it and that that's crazy that that's not what it is it's simply saying this that if you live in a sinful way that very easily can be passed on to your kids because they will imitate what they see at home for better or for worse so there can be a godly legacy passed down and there can also be an uncut sorry to make you the ungodly but you here you are godly ungodly ungodly no forget it ungodly you go what I'm saying but there can be a godly legacy you pass on in an ungodly legacy you pass on we all know that kids raised in alcoholic homes are far more likely to become alcoholics themselves we know kids raised in abusive homes often become abusers studies have shown the kids from divorce homes are more likely to drop out of school are actually more susceptible to sickness have a higher risk of strokes a propensity for crime and even die earlier than those that come from intact families and those from divorced homes are far more likely to get divorced themselves because they often marry mates who are also from divorced homes and when they do that there are three times more likely to divorce and those that marry mates from non divorced homes so then the cycle repeats itself again and they again and again and again and it becomes a problem for an entire country like we're seeing right now so what we want to do is find that balance you can go over part of the praise and affirmation apart and never discipline and then you can go overboard of the discipline department and never bring enough of the affirmation and praise and support we have to find the balance in all things you know a trend nowadays is I want to be my child's friend not their parent I want to be their best friend they don't need you to be their best friend they need you to be their parents because only you can do that only you can be mom or dad they may not like it now but trust me they'll thank you later for being a parent and doing what a parent ought to do you can stop clapping now thank you here's an interesting thing Harvard University sociologist Sheldon and Elinor glueck developed a test that proved to be 90% accurate to determine whether five or six-year olds would eventually become delinquent in other words if these things were in play the child would not be a delinquent if these things were not in play 90% chance that child would be a delinquent here are their findings number one the father's firm fair and consistent discipline that's what we've been talking about if this is in a home according to this extensive study there will not be delinquency number two the mother's supervision and companionship during the day number three the parents demonstrated affection for each other and for the children and number four the family spending time together and activities were all participated way haven't I read this somewhere before all right I read that in the Bible that's what the Bible told me to do and now the sociologists are catching up with the scripture so here's the bottom line what does our goal as a parent to make a child in my image no my job is to point them to God and lead them to Christ and get them safely to heaven after our son Christopher went to be with the Lord we had a conference planned at our church called preach the word and my son actually did the poster design he was a very talented graphic artist as I've told you before and so I got it in our own church here some of the finest preachers in America a John MacArthur Chuck Swindoll Jack Graham James Merritt James McDonald Bob hoy the list goes on all these great men of God and so this was really an almost the immediate aftermath of our son dying and I was hurting and I needed help I needed counsel I needed prayer and so here with these great men of God so I took each one into my office separately and just effectively said you know what would you say to me and each one ministered with great compassion and offered very hopeful things that I carried in my heart and helped me through this difficulty and many of those things I've shared with others because I didn't want to keep it to myself but John MacArthur actually gave me the most cut-and-dried response of all and in many ways it maybe was the best he said Greg your job as a parent is to bring your child to Christ and get them safely to heaven you've done your job and I thought well okay and then I thought yeah okay I mean not that I'm happy about what happened I obviously wanted to spend many more years with him but just knowing that yeah he is safely in heaven so that's all of our job because we're passing a legacy on James Merritt in this book what God wants every dad to know wrote quote fatherhood is more than conceiving feeding clothing educating and sending children out of their owns dads have the responsibility of preparing their children for the eternal destiny of meeting God in quote I agree with that that's our job we're passing on a legacy when David was on his deathbed he called his son Solomon in Solomon was gonna carry on his reign as king here's what David said in first chronicles 28:9 as for you my son Solomon know the God of your father and serve him with a loyal heart and a willing mind for the Lord searches all hearts and understands all the intent of the thoughts if you seek Him he'll be found by you but if you forsake him he'll cast you off forever bottom line son daughter no god that's the legacy I'm passing on to you having lived 60 years on this earth I've seen many generations my grandparents generation my parents generation my juju generation that's a quote of a who song remember talking about my digit generation okay my children most of you missed it mom's got it Oh hon just woke up it was a hoot anyway my children's generation honza's who and then my grand I just blew everything I'm saying cuz I'm messing around okay so I've seen all these generations my grandparents my parents mine my children and my grandchildren and here's what I've seen it's things we do today impact us later in life and the impact our children and our grandchildren and our great-grandchildren listen to this the choices of time are binding in eternity not just during life here on earth but in eternity you're leaving a legacy the question is is it a godly or an ungodly legacy I want to close with the stories of two men briefly max Jukes and Jonathan Edwards how many of you have heard of Max Jukes razoring and max Jukes you're really okay how many of you have heard of Jonathan Edwards raise your hand quite a few of you mat suits lived in New York he did not believe in Jesus Christ he did not raise his children in the way of the Lord he refused to take his kids to church even when they asked to go there are 1026 known descendants of max Jukes the non-believer 300 were sent to prison for an average term of 13 years 190 were prostitutes 680 were alcoholics his family has cost well over a half a million dollars from society and he made no contribution whatsoever contrasts a life of max Jukes to Jonathan Edwards Jonathan Edwards lived in the same state at the same time as Jukes did Jonathan Edwards of course was a pastor and an educator he was known to study 13 hours a day despite his busy schedule of study writing teaching and pastoring he made it a habit to come home and spend an hour each day with his children he also made sure his kids were in church every Sunday he has 929 known descendents among those descendents 430 became ministers 86 became University Professors 13 became university presidents 75 authored good books 7 were elected to the United States Congress and one was the vice president of the United States and Edwards family never caused a state 1 set yeah family it matters and we're leaving a legacy for your wife are your life rather and for those that follow you by your actions and by your words that will affect generations to come she Spurgeon said quote a good character is the best tombstone though that those that loved you and we're helped by you will remember you so carve your name on hearts and not on marble we need to think about our legacy you know when someone dies an obituary is placed in the newspaper and it usually goes along the lines of the name of the person the date of their birth perhaps where they were born and the deed of their death usually there's not a lot of information about how they died and then I will say there survived by right no we'll listen members of their family I've never written an obituary that said they made this much money in life or they were so attractive or things like that those things that we spend so much of our time focused on it talks about their life maybe some good thing that they did how they were remembered and then their descendants or those that were connected to them are mentioned we're leaving a legacy Socrates the philosopher once said quote can I climb to the highest place in Athens I would lift my voice and proclaim fellow citizens why do you turn and scrape every stone to gather wealth it takes so little care of your children to whom one day you must relinquish at all and quote wow that's pretty insightful Socrates had it right we need to think about the legacy we aren't leaving so let's shift gears now because now we're gonna receive the elements of communion let's talk about a different family the family of God communion is a fulfillment of what the Passover pointed to the Passover was instituted by God for the Jewish people to commemorate their deliverance when God's judgment came upon the land of Egypt on all the firstborn because of the Pharaohs disobedience the Jews were to take a lamb slay it apply the blood over their doorposts over the doorway of their house on the top and on the left and the right and the hints that turned Passover because God's judgment passed over them Passover was a family event and is a family event for Jews today and Jesus celebrated the Passover and he had one last Passover celebration with his disciples we call it the Last Supper it was a new family the family of God his boys that had dedicated their life to following him and others who were present and he said with great desire I wanted to have this Passover you Passover with you and then he took bread and he broke it and he said take this bread and eat it for this is my body which is broken for you then he took that goblet and he said drink this Cup and remembrance of me that was a symbol of his shed blood this was a family celebration reminding us that communion is for family only they say what do you mean family I mean the family of God and how does one become a member of the family of God by believing in Jesus Christ the Bible says for as many as received him he gave them the power to become sons of God so if you want to be a son of God a daughter of God you receive Christ into your life and so if you've done that you're welcome to join us in this communion celebration but listen if you have not done that you do not want to receive the elements of coming our communion why because they represent the broken body and the shed blood of our Lord and to receive these elements without believing than the one that they represent is according to Scripture eating and drinking judgment to yourself so you don't want to do that there might be some that have joined us here that have been prodigal sons or daughters you haven't been with the family for a while well this would be a great time to rededicate your life to Christ because the Bible also says when we receive the elements of communion that we are to examine ourselves to ask ourself the question am i right with God am I where I need to be spiritually so if you're a prodigal and you need to come back or if you're some if you are someone who has never believed in Jesus I'm gonna give you an opportunity to do that right now as we receive communion so let's bow our heads father thank you for your word to us and thank you for the death of Jesus on the cross and his resurrection from the dead and the promise that whoever would believe in him would not perish but have everlasting life and I pray for any here who may not yet know you Lord help them to see their need for Jesus Christ and help them to come to you now we pray now when our heads are bowed and our eyes are closed and we're praying how many of you would say today Gregg I'm not sure if I'm a Christian I don't know that Christ is living in me but I want him to I want to believe in Jesus right now I'm ready to say yes to him I want to invite him into my life and be forgiven of all of my sin if that's your desire if you want Jesus Christ to come into your life right now would you just stand to your feet and I'm gonna lead you in a prayer right here just stand to your feet if you want Jesus Christ to come into your life god bless you stand up wherever you hear me or see me stand up here at harvest in the main sanctuary anyone watching the video screen stand to your feet right now and I'm going to lead you in a prayer of asking Christ to come into your life just stand up god bless you that are standing stand up and I'll lead you in this simple prayer before we receive communion together you don't have that hope of heaven you don't have that assurance that you're right with God but you want to be you want your guilt taken away you stand up I'm gonna lead you in a prayer anybody else stand now god bless you that are standing god bless you anybody else stand up now god bless you in you god bless you there might be a few more of you that need to stand there at harvest Orange County Stan out in the amphitheater here at harvest riverside in the court building stand your feet i'm gonna lead you in a prayer maybe there's some prodigal sons or daughters you know you've been living in a way that is not right before god you know you've been doing things that are displeasing to God and the fact of the matter is is the Lord has disciplined you because he loves you maybe even here today you've been reminded you're a child of God and you need to get back home again if you need to rededicate your life to Jesus I want you to stand to your feet right now you prodigal sons and daughters stand up wherever you are and I'm gonna lead you in this prayer with these other folks anybody else stand now god bless you that are standing you need to return home to the Lord stand up god bless you anybody else stand now one final moment and then we're gonna pray just stand now god bless you don't be ashamed you're among family and friends today anybody else in this final moment stand now god bless you all right now all of you the understanding I'm gonna lead you in a prayer and I want you to pray this prayer out loud after me again as I pray you pray this out loud after me pray this after me now if you would Lord Jesus I know I'm a sinner but you died on the cross for my sin and paid the price for every wrong I've done I turn from that sin I repent of it now I commit my life to Jesus Christ I choose to follow you Lord from this moment forward thank you for calling me and accepting me and forgiving me in Jesus name I pray amen you

Channel: Pastor Greg Laurie

Views: 8,482

Rating: 4.8632479 out of 5

Keywords: harvest, greg, laurie, Happily, even, after, family, matters, family matters, proverbs 22

Id: y4XJUwHe12g

Length: 48min 24sec (2904 seconds)

Published: Tue Jul 09 2013