Gospelized Marriage - Part 3

get ready for Christmas at a LCF starting with a special Advent message series beginning Sunday November 25th along with our Christmas celebration on Sunday December 23rd featuring our adult and children's choir for many people the holidays can be a very tough season especially for children separated from their families so let's all come together for a LCFS 19th annual Christmas gift Drive help local youth Angel Tree our program supporting children of incarcerated parents and military troops serving abroad stop by the gift table to find out more about how you and your family can get involved through December 20th it's time to spread the good news about Jesus throughout our communities by preparing packages of food clothing and toiletries then we'll share them and minister to people living on the streets or temporarily residing at the first step for families shelter this event takes place on Sunday November 18th at 11:45 a.m. in the AL CF kitchen our young adult Sunday Meetup is a great opportunity for people 18 to 30 ish to connect and have fun with other young adults over lunch meet us at the center pillar in the lobby after service on Sundays and we'll head out together to enjoy tasty local eatery from 11:30 to 1 p.m. if you're new to abundant life and want to learn about our story vision and values be sure to join pastor brian at our guests luncheon this is a LCF event takes place on Sunday November 18th from 12:00 to 1:00 p.m. in the chapel have you ever wanted to be a part of the camera crew that records service are you interested in being a part of the production team that runs graphics during the service now is the perfect time to sign up for our open camera operator and graphics operator position training will be provided in our production booth and you are guaranteed a great seat for service we are looking for people who are focused task oriented dedicated and responsible for more information contact visual media at ALCS dotnet the 4th Sundays of the month are now family-friendly and your entire family is invited to join us in the sanctuary for our worship celebration to sign up for any of these upcoming events go to a LCF net slash signups so check out the a lcff and remember abundant life exists to make a better you or a better world I love the multi-ethnic Church you never know what you're gonna get I love it I love it pray with me father we bless you and we acknowledge you to be our strength in our portion Lord God and we we come to you in fact we just confess Lord God taking way too much credit for stuff we didn't do that you did in our lives you are our strength you are our portion not the letters behind my name not the zeros in my bank account not the things I've accomplished or achieved the Bible says what do you have that you did not receive and we thank you thank you for your blessings now speak to us Lord God I pray one more time from your word use me I pray for your honor and glory in Jesus name I ask these things amen and amen you may be seated we're finishing up today a series on marriage three part series that we've been working in please meet many fusions five we've been anchoring they're resting there for all three weeks in this series Ephesians chapter 5 one of the things that we do have as a Resource Center so if you just exited straight out straight out of the sanctuary and go to the right there right behind the contributors tent is a room that's our Resource Center and we are an equipping Church so we're always looking for opportunities to put tools in your tool belt to help you be a well resource follower of Jesus Christ an effective witness in the bay we've got several books on marriage that I've had them stock in the resource center one is a book that just came out written by my parents Crawford and Karen lore it's I saw the movie and the book is actually quite good it will really encourage you it's the really some great stories of their marriage anchored in biblical principles I promise you I'm not trying to get a bigger inheritance by telling you about this but this is a good book called your marriage today and tomorrow anybody here ever read the book love and respect this is a classic classic book I think every single person especially those who are married should read this book it is a phenomenal book that I promise you will bless you as I always tell the men men don't wait for your wives to elbow you and to tell you you should get this resource for some you're like that's too late she already did but I want to encourage you it will go well with you if you actually take the initiative and just got one or both of these resources and just say sweetheart I want to invest in our marriage I promise you brother that will go well with you you fees in Chapter five pick me up in verses 25 I want to read the text to us and expound on some thoughts and then we can get on with the rest of our day Ephesians chapter 5 pick me up in verse 25 guy who wrote this his name is Paul Paul writes husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her that he might pay attention to these words sanctify her having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word so that he might present the church to himself in splendor without spot or wrinkle or any such thing that she might be holy and without blemish in the same way husband's should love their wives as their own bodies he who loves his wife loves himself for no one hated his own flesh but nourishes and cherishes it just as Christ does the church because we are members of his body therefore now in verse 31 Paul is actually quoting from Genesis chapter 2 therefore man shall leave his father and his mama i should have heard of amen somewhere there cuz somebody's mom was coming in town this week and hold fast to his wife which means his wife is the number one lady in his lot in his life now not his mama I should have gotten two amens on that one and the two shall become one flesh this mystery is profound and I am saying that it refers to Christ in the church however let each one of you love his wife as himself and let the wife see that she respects her husband the word of the Lord thanks be to God when I was in school over in England one of the things that I would always do either before I would make my way over into Oxford or on the way back on my way going to the airport I would always take some time to stop by either the Tower of London or Westminster Abbey if I could do both I would do it those are my two favorite places to visit in England many of us have been to those places in England you know that the Tower of London among other things houses the crown jewels of the monarchy if you spend an afternoon there you'll you'll find yourself just blown away by the sheer majesty and beauty of these jewels Westminster Abbey is where the bulk of the British monarchy are buried along with other notable figures throughout England history that's werewolves are forces buried in Churchill and so on and so forth spend an afternoon there and likewise you'll find yourself just just blown away in many regards the Tower of London and Westminster Abbey housed the glory of England if you want to catch a glimpse of the glory of England hang out at the Tower of London and Westminster Abbey if you want to catch a glimpse of the glory of God hang out with a Christian couple who have committed themselves the holy matrimony I know this sounds like a a far-fetched statement but it is actually true week 1 I told you that God has instituted three instruments of divine human flourishing the first institution he creates is marriage second institution he creates for our good and the safety and flourishing of his people is government and the third institution that God creates is the church these three institutions are the vehicles God wants to use to give the world a glimpse of his glory and to and to contribute to human flourishing in other words your marriage is not just about your marriage your marriage is not just about sharing bills or sharing bodies your marriage is not just about what happens in the privacy of your home but your marriage is to be a profound witness to a dark in dying world that is giving up on the institution of marriage God wants to set your marriage up a city set on a hill and give people hope he wants your marriage to be a poster that people look to for inspiration this is marriage God has a call on your marriage and because God has a call on your marriage whatever God calls Satan attacks Satan is not gonna sit back and just watch you and your wife have a great time together he's not gonna just sit back and watch you lead your wife and love your wife as Christ loved the church I mean the moment you decide to take your marriage seriously is the moment that Satan is gonna throw everything at your union including the kitchen sink that's what marriage is for grown folk it's for children it's not for children for people who have a steeled resolve that God wants to do something God maybe wants your marriage to reverse the curse of broken marriages in your lineage but you don't have to be handcuffed by what your mama didn't do a your grandmama didn't do or your or your great-grandfather didn't do God wants to stop the curse at your zip code he wants to use your marriage as a profound instrument I'll never forget and look I want to be careful core would be the first to tell you we don't have a perfect marriage we're we're just in process but I tell you we did this thing called a residency program when the churches I pastor and we'd bring in all these young individuals who said I just have a call of God on my life for vocational ministry and many of them came from broken homes and a part of it was they would just come over our house and just would sit at our table and on their exit interviews three years later after they've graduated with the m.div and they've spent three years under my tutelage and now they're out planting churches and their exit interviews they would say things like honestly some of the most valuable things I ever learned was just sitting at your table watching you open up the scriptures in seeing you relate to your wife your wife relate to you because I came from a broken home I never even had a picture of what that was God has a call on your marriage he doesn't just want you to cohabitate with one another he wants there to be a witness through your marriage to a lost and dying world well what does that look like we spent the first two weeks actually in verse 25 in verse 25 we were just in one phrase where Paul says husbands love your wives look at it with me as Christ as Christ as Christ loved the church and that one phrase what we said was this here is Paul now he is now tying and tethering the institution of marriage with the gospel that's what he means what he says as Christ loved the church in that phrase is the gospel of Jesus Christ it is as if Paul is saying you can't understand marriage unless you understand the gospel marriage is to be a megaphone by in which we communicate the gospel what does that mean we learned in the last two weeks that the gospel is predicated on four foundational pillars one the gospel begins with some very bad news and that is we are sinners here I am a sinner and God has gotten into union with me I don't care how fine she is I don't care how fine he is how good she looked on the wedding day how good he looked on the wedding day you married a sinner who's profoundly broken and because of that they don't have the capacity to be God in your life and to fulfill your deepest longing so stop looking to them you married a sinner secondly the way our union with God works through the gospel is because he married us we sinners if our marriage to God is gonna have any hope any hope of flourishing any hope of working the way our marriage to God works is every day many times throughout the day he heaps on our plate generous portions of forgiveness he forgives and he forgives that he forgives that he forgives and so a marriage that mimics the gospel not only understands that I've married a sinner but this marriage has no hope unless I learned the divine art of letting it go forgiving as far as the East is from the West and I'm not just talking about pressing pause on it and then three months later we're back at another argument then all of a sudden I reached back to the previous three months and brought up what I thought was already forgiven I don't pop my espouses sins into the microwave and heat him up I cast them into the sea of forgetfulness thirdly the gospel says that we got into relationship with Jesus Christ excuse me with God through His Son Jesus Christ Jesus says I am the way the truth the life no one comes in to the Father but by me likewise the gospel centered marriage is a marriage that is built on the cornerstone of Jesus Christ here is the dance of marriage and that is marriage is a venture between two very flawed people two very different people and in the goal of marriage is to not clone each other into our own image but the goal of marriage says in spite of our differences we've got to have a few core commitments and one of those core commitments is we have to be on the same page in the same chapter as it relates to our commitment to Jesus Christ we're just not going to fudge on that we we keep coming back to the common denominator of Jesus Christ fourthly and finally the gospel is predicated not only fact that I'm a sinner I'm being forgiven on the cornerstone of Jesus Christ but but marriage is a covenant it's not a contract it's a gray space base covenant contracts or performance-oriented right you do your part I do my part and if I'm pleased with your performance I'll I'll stay in it but the moment you don't make me happy is the moment I kind of veer off or venture out of the marriage I'm not being fulfilled here yeah I won't divorce you but I'll go somewhere else to get what I need that's merit-based marriages are grace based covenants now this morning I want to go all-in on men husbands fasten your seatbelts single men fasten your seat belts because single men you need to be hearing this stuff now if you studied Paul's text on marriage which actually begins in verse 22 and ends in verse 33 here's what you'll figure you don't need to go to seminary for this he devotes three verses to wise 22 23 and 24 but a beginning in verse 25 he devotes nine verses two husbands three times as many verses two husbands as he does two wives that doesn't mean the husbands are more important than wives not at all but he does through this example is communicating that husbands bear the weight bear the responsibility for the well-being of their marriage we can go back to Genesis for this even though Eve ate of the fruit first who did God come calling Adam not because Adam is better than Eve he was not but in the divine order of things and I know I'll get emails on this one so email me at glen dot at a LCF dotnet but in the divine order of things he is holding adam responsible for his house there's an inescapable biblical truth sometimes my wife and I will get into an argument and we'll just go back and forth back and forth and finally that's okay you'll have to answer to God on that one so passive-aggressive so passive-aggressive but there's some biblical truth to that three times in our text Paul says husbands love your wives husbands love your wives husbands love your wives in fact I think that's the central idea of our passage husbands love your wives but what does it mean to love I know I'm dating myself in this analogy I grew up in the 80s and there was a band called foreigner and they sing a song I want to know what love is didn't work somebody I want to know what love is if the central idea here is husband's love your wives and actually when Paul says these words husbands love your wives it is a command which means when I stand in the presence of God one of my stewardship responsibilities that I will have to give an account for is did I fulfill God's command to love this woman Korie so I better know what he means so when God says through Paul husbands love your wives what does that mean three things here's the table of contents and I'll be out of your way first of all love is sacrificing to love is sanctifying and three love is satisfying give that to you again love is sacrificing to love is sanctifying and three love is satisfying look at verse 25 Paul says husbands love your wives the Greek word there is is agape Paul is writing in Greek CS Lewis in his wonderful book the four loves points out as the title suggests there's four Greek words for love this word agape is the highest one one of the words for love is eros from which we get the English word erotic from the idea of lust lust takes agape is completely different it is a sacrificing kind of love that seeks the best in the object loved even if it comes at my own cost in detriment I'm going too fast agape is not eros eros erotic is a sexual kind of love that says you give me you fulfill me I come to the table and and this is kind of a marketing agreement and I want to see if the consumer goods is up to par and if you perform well if you satisfy me that's that's under the heading of eros agape is completely different eros takes agape gifts agape looks at our wife and it says what can I do to pull out the best in her if even that means it comes at a cost and detriment to me look at the context husbands love your wives as Christ as Christ Emily as Christ loved the church how do I know Christ loved the church he got on a cross and died for me Jesus says mankind is headed to an eternity in hell I've got to do something about it even if it demands my own pain detriment and death I will pay the penalty that's agape so husbands if you're saying my wife is killing me Paul would say well then you're being like Jesus if it ain't hurtin if it ain't costly if you're not having to die to your flesh [Music] you ain't loving these are the simple mathematics of it the Bible says first John God is agape God is love God doesn't just do love the very nature of who he is is love John 3:16 hear it now hear the giving aspect of it God so a got paid the world that he took know that He gave His only Son Jesus so loved you and I that he died in fact Jesus would go on to say in John 15:13 look at it with me greater agape greater love has no one than this that someone laid down his life for his friends now hear me ladies I'm not saying you get a pass from this need I remind us that the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians chapter 5 which is a call for everyone is that the fruit of the Spirit Galatians 5:22 is lead off batter love agape every believer is called to love but why is he saying especially husbands love husbands love husbands love when everybody's been called to love why because the husband is not better than the wife but he has been given leadership responsibilities within the home I know I'm getting emails on that one Glen at a LCF net the husband is called to leave the home and the truth is in my marriage and marriages I've waded into husbands are thermostats women are thermometers husbands tend to set the temperature in the home and wives reflect the atmosphere you know my mom said to me recently I hope she wouldn't drop it a hint she says son I can always tell when a couple who's been married for years I can always tell the quality of the husband's leadership because the wife tends to wear it on her countenance she says a husband who's not doing his job his wife just looks beat down she said to me the best plastic surgery a wife could ever receive is the godly leadership of her husband man how you doing how you doing again if the Lord says the same we got 30 years together I'll next time I'll go in on the women I'll probably have my wife do that husbands love love love pat tillman we remember pat tillman don't we here he is wealthy prestigious famous football player for the for the Arizona Cardinals and yet right on the heels of 9/11 he is so disturbed by what's happened to 9/11 what does he do he quits his job walks away from a lucrative life gives up the paycheck gives up the money gives up the notoriety gives up the fame joins the military where two years later he's killed fighting on our behalf and I think the reason why we were we were especially moved is because in that we caught a glimpse of the gospel he didn't have to do that but here is sacrificing the lineage of Jesus Christ where he says I'm gonna table my needs I'm gonna lay down my life for the good of others husbands that's what we're called to do see that's why I'm saying when I say marriages for grown folks see you can't come into marriage which requires agape with an eros mentality you you can't come into marriage as a consumer when it requires a giver so what does this look like every day men we have an opportunity to lead out in this and it comes in a million different ways again it could be simple things like if it's not your regular habit to do you know I'm gonna make up the bed or you know one day maybe the chores are divided equally in the household and you just say look I'm gonna do my chores today and I just want to give you a break and I'm gonna take yours on as well these are simple little sacrifices to make it could be weightier things like like the husband saying I've got some dreams I've got some things I want to get to but but my wife has some dreams and some things she wants to get to and just for simple time purposes we both can't do it at the same time so so honey you go ahead first you you pursue your dream first you go ahead it couldn't mean you gonna quit your job and you go back to school first and I'll figure it out but I want to see you flourish I want the best to come out of you see this stuff ain't for boys it's for men secondly marriage is not only sacrificing but secondly marriage is sanctifying verse 25 husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave gave gave himself up for her verse 26 here it is that he might underline these words sanctify her having this one cleansed her by the washing of water with the word now don't get lost in the metaphor again Paul is using the example of Jesus Christ the gospel in the church to teach on marriage he says here's what happened we're married to Christ Christ is our husband and he gave himself up to sanctify us the idea of sanctify it means to make pure not only that but he did it to cleanse us and and he did it to wash us all of these words speak of bringing a person from a state of impurity to purity that because of the leadership of Jesus Christ in my own life I am moving from glory to glory I'm I'm getting better and better and better and better why because ultimately the purpose is verse 27 so that he might present the church to himself in splendor you notice splinter means flawless without spot or wrinkle or any the best way I can I can depict this is is to go back to July 3rd in 1999 there I am standing at the altar of the faithful central Bible Church front and center my dad's to my immediate left my best man my grooms and all of my left and man everybody's standing the music is playing and there's that pregnant pause where all of a sudden the doors are open and there is Corrie and oh my gosh in splendor not a hair out of place not a spot or a blemish on her dress walking down the aisle and there she is face to face with me just beaming and she's giving thanks for the honor and privilege it is to be married to me hardly that's the idea here she's she's in splendor you know what Paul is saying there's coming a day it's hard to imagine where we will be face to face with God Jesus Christ our uh our groomsman we're gonna be his bride and he's gonna present us faultless completely wholly without spot or wrinkle and I know you can't even even fathom it was one of my preacher friend says phantomon I know you can't even fathom it because right now what's happening I've got all these sins and struggles and I can't believe I said that I can't believe I did that and I just did that last night and I fall at fault fault fault fault fault fault fault fault and yet you keep following Jesus one of the things that you know you're legitimate follower of him is you'll never reach a place of sinless perfection you'll never be completely sinless but the more you follow his leadership you should sin less I'm getting better I'm getting better I'm not there yet I'm getting better I'm getting better I'm getting better to the point where I will be presented faultless why how do I progress to faultless the leadership of Jesus Christ now here's the bombshell what Christ is to us the husband is to the wife what is he saying here your wife husbands this is the weightiest thing i'll say to you your wife if you've been leading her in the way of Jesus should be able to look through the rearview mirror of her journey with you and should be able to conclude I am a better woman not in spite of you but because of you I'm flourishing I'm growing I don't have to work around you I'm just simply following you as you follow Christ and you are bringing out the best in me so that here's what the godly husband is always doing the godly husband is earning a PhD and his wife he's studying her he's always asking the question what makes baby girl flourish what brings her life what makes her come alive you gotta pay attention she an introvert and she an extrovert does she get her energy being by herself or with her girls and I want to position her I'm not God but I want to position her so that she blooms in marriage aim for boys this is grown men stuff does it look like one of the ways my wife comes alive she loves in New York City so I said every year we all make it happen I'm gonna get you on a plane you and your girlfriends send you to New York don't even tell me what you spend here I dropped her off she literally she said to me honey I won't overdo it on the credit card but I will do it some of you you married it introvert she gets her energy being by herself and she begins to wilt when she doesn't have enough me time so good leadership is not her figuring that out on her own but you actually saying hey look honey I got the kids for the weekend and I've studied you I know what your favorite hotel is I've already booked it see see right there ladies you just missed your cue some lady should have said preach pastor right they're not just right there was a good spot sweetheart it's been a while since you've been to the spa and I and I know money's been I know money's been tight I know money's been tight but I'm giving up golf for the next three months to pay for your spa day I mean there's a little humor in this but brothers study your wife what's her love language study her she should flourish thirdly let's go home on this one love is sacrificing love is sanctifying love is satisfying pick-me-up in verse 28 Paul says in the same way so he's been talking about what Christ is doing for us now he loops it back in into Mara so he's going in and out between what Christ does for us what husband's does for wives in the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies I'm looking around the room we many of us husbands are loving our bodies well he who loves his wife loves himself for no one ever hated his own flesh underlying these words but nourishes and cherishes it just as Christ does the church why because we were members of his body this is so rich I struggle because I could actually teach a whole sermon just on what we just read he says here's what a God's godly husband does we satisfy or wise how do we do that we nourish them to nourish is to provide sustenance it is it is the idea of provision I think I think in general it's comprehensive provision I'm not taking us back to a human kind of an ethic where you know men's gotta go out and work and wives can't work that is look that's not even a biblical concept first of all if you read proverbs 31 the proverbs 31 woman she works she's an entrepreneur alright so don't don't don't take me back to the 1950s on this I'm just saying what a man does is a man contributes to the well-being to the provision of the household ain't nothing sorrier then a man sitting at home with nothing to do while his wife is out working now understand seasons of unemployment I get that I get that but don't wait for the dream job and six months later you should just still wait and do something and nothing wrong with working at Starbucks this is wrong with that do something he nourishes he brings things to the house but I think Paul has something even more specific when he says nourishing I think he's not just talking about provision in general I actually think he's talking about spiritual nourishment why look back up at verse 26 having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word so so the the godly husband nourishes and in he provides to the deepest levels of his wife's soul which is he exercises spiritual leadership and he cherishes her the idea of cherish the Greek literally means to heat up to make warm it's not a sexual term it's a term of intimacy it's the idea of affection what he's saying here is men your wife ain't one of the boys handle her with care be tender was it was it was it oh does reading who said try a little tenderness be affectionate so what Peter gets that when he says in 1st Peter chapter 3 live with your wive's in an understanding way showing honor to them as the weaker vessel this is not a statement of inferiority when it calls wives the weaker vessel it's actually a statement I think you could argue for superiority what do I mean by that all of us right now have two kinds of vessels in our home one kind of plastic cups of these these big gulps we might have who cares how we handle them other vessels are fine china China is weaker and we handle those with care because it's more valuable so I cherish her because I see how valuable she is I'm not rough with her I guard what comes out of my mouth as it relates to her that's why for a husband to abuse his wife is despicable now watch this why should I do this verse 28 in the same way husband should love their wives as their own bodies when your when your body says I'm hungry you drop everything and take care of it when your body says I'm tired you go on vacation you pay attention to your body in you no discussion no delay no debate you are proactive in caring for your body Paul says in the same way treat your wife why he says because he who loves his wife follow me now loves himself wait a minute what does that mean he says remember he says we are members of Christ's body Colossians says that Christ is the head we are the body so that we are connected to Christ so when I'm when I am obedient to Christ when I'm loving Christ when I'm following Christ when I'm in submission to Christ it goes well with me because I'm the body now in our text he says we're members of Christ and he also goes on to say that the two husband and wife are now one we're connected so why should i nourish and cherish my wife because we're one when she's nourished I'm nourished when she's cherished I'm cherished it really is true happy wife happy life earlier this year I was in an airport waiting on a flight and got the news we were delayed we asked why we delayed well they said I need to institute this for pastors they said well miss larette's the reason why you're delayed they actually came on the on the intercom said all this reason why you're delayed is is because the crew came back too late last night and there's actually a rule that says pilots have to get a certain amount of sleep before they clock in I love that love that and so they said we will be delayed three hours this one brother next to me starts flipping out I can't believe that they don't do that on my job or most jobs they need to hurry up and get here I'm like no they don't like what's the alternative him not enough at the wheel 35,000 feet in there no no no you get all the rest you need why because my well-being is tied into their well-being why should i Narus my wife why should i cherish my wife why should i do all this stuff because when she's satisfied you're satisfied when Mama's happy everybody's happy when mama ain't nobody is and when daddy ain't happy who cares come on y'all I'm tired of fooling around with child listen let's go home on this one let me just give you some practical things to take home let me give you three practical things number one know your wife's love language and speak it off in brothers I'm referencing here a book called the five love languages men any men read that book the five love languages if you have not read that book brothers you have to read it required reading five love languages quality time words of affirmation physical touch acts of service gifts five love languages here's the problem the authors say the problem is most people communicate love the way they like to receive love I'm a words of affirmation guy I was when Corey and I were dating I was constantly telling her you're beautiful you're beautiful you're beautiful you're beautiful you're beautiful and I wouldn't get it anywhere because that's not her love language her love language is quality time so what I'm having to do to sacrifice for her is to spend quality time with her brothers no your wife's love language and speak it often and speak it well to build into her spiritually it could be a weekly thing where you're working through a book of the Bible it could be getting one of these resources and saying sweetheart I just want to let's just read a chapter a week and set aside a time for us to sit down and talk about it now i'ma warn you the moment you decide to do that I promise you if you say sweetheart Wednesdays at 7 p.m. we're gonna sit down and we're gonna pray together or we're gonna go through this chapter I promise you what's gonna happen Tuesday or Wednesday morning something's gonna happen and there's gonna be a huge fight that's Satan and you got a make up in your mind right now he's not gonna get the victory thirdly ask her how can i connect better with you simple maybe lunch conversation husband just ask your wife how can i connect better with you and just spend time talking about it I know this is easier said than done all of us have marriages that have issues we've got to work through marriage is tough it's challenging it's hard Satan is busy but I want us to be a church that has marriages built on the cornerstone of Jesus Christ I want to have marriages where women are coming to church looking radiant and full of life and flourishing and they're able to say I am I couldn't imagine doing life without this husband in my life he's unleashed things in me I'm more empowered I'm better equipped because of his godly leadership not dictatorship but his servant leadership in my life so father in the name of Jesus I I pray for the men I pray Lord God that what Paul wrote in 1st Corinthians 16 would be true of us that we would that we would be strong and act like men and that we would be courageous not in a beat down he-man worldly way but in the way of Jesus Christ I pray Lord God we'd be men of Agape we're saying how can I sacrifice for you how could I build into you how could I give up for you how could I lay down my life for you god I just pray that and I can pray that because Jesus that's what you've done for us yeah so as we in this service we acknowledge that none of this works without the gospel of Jesus Christ that we need to tap into a power source that is beyond us and that power source Jesus is you so father God right now in the name of Jesus as our elders come and as our prayer team members come god we pray right now in the name of Jesus that you would save someone's soul we pray that you would hit reset on some husband's heart some husband's leadership some husband's love that they would lead in an Ephesians chapter 5 kind of a way bringing out the best in their lives I pray Lord God for marriages in this house right now in the name of Jesus I speak against divorce I declare under the authority of Jesus Christ that Satan will not get victory in this house I pray humility I pray the power of your spirit I pray the blood of Jesus Christ I pray repentance I pray forgiveness I pray humility I pray for a fresh anointing and fresh power and pret fresh provision over these marriages do it father God we pray in the name of Jesus look at what's going on this week at abundant life get ready for Christmas at a LCF starting with a special Advent message series beginning Sunday November 25th along with our Christmas celebration on Sunday December 23rd featuring our adult and children's choir for many people the holidays can be a very tough season especially for children separated from their families so let's all come together for a LCFS 19th annual Christmas gift Drive to help local youth Angel Tree our program supporting children of incarcerated parents and military troops serving abroad stop by the gift table to find out more about how you and your family can get involved through December 20th it's time to spread the good news about Jesus throughout our communities by preparing packages of food clothing and toiletries then we'll share them and minister to people living on the streets or temporarily residing at the first step for families shelter this event takes place on Sunday November 18th at 11:45 a.m. in the AL CF kitchen our young adult Sunday mita is a great opportunity for people 18 to 30 ish to connect and have fun with other young adults over lunch meet us at the center pillar in the lobby after service on Sundays and we'll head out together to enjoy tasty local eatery from 11:30 to 1 p.m. if you're new to abundant life and want to learn about our story vision and values be sure to join pastor Bryan at our guests luncheon this is a LCF the event takes place on Sunday November 18th from 12:00 to 1:00 p.m. in the chapel have you ever wanted to be a part of the camera crew that records service are you interested in being a part of the production team runs graphics during the service now is a perfect time to sign up for our open camera operator and graphics operator positions training will be provided in our production booth and you are guaranteed a great seat for service we are looking for people who are focused task oriented dedicated and responsible for more information contact visual media at a LCF dotnet the 4th sundays of the month are now family-friendly and your entire family is invited to join us in the sanctuary for our worship celebration to sign up for any of these upcoming events go to a LCF net slash signups or check out the a lcff and remember abundant life exists to make a better you or a better world

Channel: Abundant Life Christian Fellowship

Views: 1,340

Rating: 4.2941175 out of 5

Keywords: 6-11-18

Id: lU9gvGIANQ0

Length: 54min 39sec (3279 seconds)

Published: Mon Nov 19 2018