GraceLife - LIVE! @11:00am

[Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] more to [Music] [Music] [Music] so [Music] so [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] good morning gracelife we are so excited you're here if you're a first time guest please text the number on the screen if you have time stop out in the lobby we'd love to speak with you today pastor tim is starting a brand new series called family vintage values in a modern age we're going to be talking over the next seven weeks about men women families kids singles communication we're so excited about all the things that god is going to teach us through these messages for all of our married couples or soon to be married couples we have a marriage conference coming up september 25th at 6 pm it's going to cost 20 dollars per person you can go to gracelifefamily.org forward slash marriage to register our college plus and young adults ministry are coming together to do an end of summer high on the hog cookout on september 11th saturday night from six to nine o'clock we're gonna have all the food provided we're gonna have yard games a bonfire it's gonna be super awesome way to connect with other young adults at grace life we hope to see you there again we're so glad you're here today let's go ahead and stand and worship hey good morning come on would you guys stand with us we're excited you're here today whether you're here in person or online we're gonna worship the lord together amen come on now let's sing together let's worship him let's give him all the glory do his name today come on [Music] come on [Music] is [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] belongs to [Music] the battle belongs to you [Music] who can be against me [Music] for jesus there's nothing impossible [Music] we believe it [Music] is [Music] my knees [Music] [Applause] [Music] i'll sing through them [Music] you go before us nothing can stand against the power of our god you shine in the shadows you in every battle nothing can stand against the fire come on you believe it stick it out [Music] oh my god [Applause] nothing can stand against the power of my god [Music] is [Music] nothing can stand against the power of my eyes [Music] i'll see you [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] what a blessing be seated thank you for being here at grace life this morning we welcome you in the name of the lord jesus and pray that you'll have a great time together here as we celebrate who he is and what he's done one of the great things that we do today or we want to do today is we have a bible presentation we're going to make to all of our incoming first graders is that right pastor dave all right so all you guys come up here and uh are you coming up here down there up here yeah come up here on the platform let's welcome them to the stage this morning can we do that [Applause] that's great yeah come right down here i'm going to read you their names in just a minute pastor dave is going to give them a bible and it's a kid's bible and we do this because we believe the scripture ought to have a high place in their lives and in our lives and if that's going to be true in them that has to be true first in us doesn't it so we want to set a good example and tell the lord today that we want to set a good example so let me read you their names and you can you can uh clap when it's all over all right we're starting with caleb caleb blankenship and is this oh just read it and you'll give them to whoever okay braxton graybill all right there's braxton malachi harstein autumn hobbs not here ellie humphries all right there's ellie salah lucas all right simon merrill miles phillips how's you representing your team today aren't you buddy that's awesome us you can clap it's okay yeah i love sundays after most people's team wins y'all we're all in a better mood aren't we um harper harper riggs all right there's harper kyle smith and last but not least isabel right now you can give them a big hand and then awesome [Applause] all right now y'all wait right here okay i'm gonna pray and then we're gonna do something really special after i pray okay but that's more important let's pray first lord thank you for these boys and girls and thank you for the opportunity to sow the seed of your word in their lives and in their hearts and lord i pray that we would be as a church family we would be good examples to them of what it means to love the lord with all of our heart soul mind and strength and to have a desire and longing to keep your word and so lord grow them up in great grace and wisdom we pray for the time when they'll each come to know jesus as their master and savior lord help their moms and dads and all who have influence in their lives to sow the seeds of righteousness by the way that they live as well we pray it all in jesus name and for his sake amen all right here we're going to we're going to get a picture so everybody get up here with pastor tim so we can get one really good picture all right come on up there we go ha-ha-ha and it's fun everybody in come closer it won't hurt you to get close to a girl or boy there we go we ready all right look right down there see that lady there you go smile tell us when all right so i can go back to wherever thank you awesome [Music] amen isn't that exciting to see god's word just being exalted in their hearts i know uh it's a very important day for that amen come on we're going to stand and sing we're going to remember when god has been faithful to us all these years even since we ourselves were first graders amen so come on let's worship together let's give him glory together [Music] [Music] faithfulness is thy faithfulness [Music] thou change is [Music] is great is thy faithfulness [Music] thy faithfulness [Music] way [Music] is [Music] to thy great [Music] is faithfulness faithfulness [Music] is [Music] yes [Music] is [Music] strength [Music] blessings [Music] is [Music] is [Music] be seated thank you i would like to remind you of this every week that the lord is using your gifts each week to make a difference here and in other parts of the world uh pretty regularly at this point been a lot of needs and uh places where we minister in thailand and zimbabwe because of covid and all that's gone on because of that one of the villages that we minister in in zimbabwe it's actually a refugee camp called tongo gara we got there by accident several years ago well not by accident nothing happens by accident with the lord does it but for us it wasn't expected they're anywhere from ten to fifteen thousand refugees there um at any given time uh in a real isolated place down on the border of zimbabwe and mozambique and so with the lockdowns and they've struggled getting getting food and so we were able we've been trying to do this for several months to get a team in there with food and so that finally happened last week and we were able to do food distribution and uh serve a little over a hundred families and provide them stuff for about a month and so jason was there you see some pictures scrolling by of uh our team in tongo gara we actually have a little video of jason and a couple of others sending us thank you greetings so let's watch that on the screen hey grace live everybody thank you so much this is a lot of food unfortunately it is making me very hungry but thank you so much god bless you ah really we thank you yes thank you bless really yes and we are happy about the food yes thank you god bless you yes and good tasting food [Laughter] that's jason and peter peter from tango garage speaking and thanking chris life this is some of the fools i think you can see them yeah thank you amen that's pastor manyanga hey amen you can clap for that pastor manyanga one of the pastors we work with and peter who's there in the church at tongo gara and then jason so jason looks good he's doing well please continue to keep him in your prayers thank you for using all the different opportunities to give whether that's online some of you using the text to give and the mail and the and the offering buckets in the back because of what you do we're able to minister to folks and take advantage of opportunities like that so we appreciate we appreciate that and thankful to the lord for his blessing let's pray i'm going to kneel if you'd like to kneel there you may do that and join me but i hope you'll pray with me i know you will as i pray and lead us together god thank you for all the things that we get to celebrate together today thank you for life and health and provision and lord thank you for the opportunity to minister to others and bring encouragement in places like tongo we pray your blessing upon that church and we pray lord for jason and pastor k and others who are continuing to do ministry there we pray that they will know that we love them that they would feel encouraged today lord thank you that we get to pray over these kids and invest in them and we pray again for their success as they grow in grace as they are a part of what you're doing here at grace life lord we thank you for your word today and the opportunity that we'll have together in just a few minutes uh to open your word we pray that from it that we would have teachable hearts uh that you holy spirit would take the word and make the application in our lives so that we'll grow in grace and we'll look more like our savior and father we thank you for taking the penalty of our sin in christ and giving us new life and new hope and knowing that no matter what difficulty that we're up against that you are sufficient for that in our lives whatever decision we may need to make or whatever is going to come at us this week that we don't even know about we honor you and bless you today for your presence your grace your mercy and your goodness to us in jesus name we pray amen a home with a lot of work just plain work when work at home is planned and organized for cooperation there can usually be more time for leisure i'm certainly in favor of those things please you're fun who is it wouldn't we all be happier if we worked out a little system for living together in harmony but how can we manage them we'll have to work out the full answer together same well [Music] most family problems can be solved through frank and friendly discussion which points the way to a happy family life you know this is beginning to be quite a family project it certainly is [Music] well that's awesome i appreciate that uh video what an encouragement that is you know being a part of a family does take work doesn't it amen it's all right to admit some things we're going to be doing some more of that along the way these days and especially this morning i heard about a little boy who came to his dad and he said he said dad where were you born and the dad said well i was born in indiana well where was mom born well mom was born in colorado well where was i born well you were born in georgia well where was born son your sister was born in in mississippi and the little fella got a big grin on his face and he said dad isn't it great that god got us all together well it is great that god got us all together isn't it and all together here in this place today hey thank you by the way last week for getting all my family together that was a wonderful celebration to have all my kids here and grandkids and do the 25th anniversary thing and you all have so loved us and encouraged us so wonderfully well through the years and that was a great time we appreciate that so much well here we are together you know we call this the grace life family that's a part of our website address and we are we're a family of the lord that meets together and functions together and serves together as grace life baptist church and it is it's a great family and it's kind of what we're doing in these days for the next seven weeks is we're gonna have a family gathering together and we're going to look in god's word and we're going to talk about the family and we're going to talk about our homes and marriages and parenting and all those good things that we need some encouragement in along the way and so i'm i'm thankful that the lord has led us to this point and i pray it's going to be a great blessing to you as i believe it will if you have a bible today open it with me if you would to the fifth chapter of the book of deuteronomy now that's in the old testament genesis expo leviticus deuteronomy chapters five and six we're not going to have time today to look at the entirety of both chapters but i would encourage you to go back and spend some time reading there this is this is moses farewell address he's getting ready to pass off the scene he's not going to be able to go into the promised land as you know joshua's going to lead god's people into the promised land but moses is now giving them some encouragement and he's speaking to them for the lord and he's talking to them about what is going to make them successful as now they go in and take the promised land what's going to lead them to a place of purpose and fulfillment and joy and peace and he's gathered with the entire nation i mean there are thousands upon thousands of people that are gathered there with him for this farewell address and moses knows they're gonna they're to have a few skirmishes still like you saw up here on the screen that it's going to take work to be what god wants them to be and moses knows they're they're still going to be battles to fight and fears to face and it's not going to be by any stretch of the imagination a perfect situation and so he's he's going to tell him how to live life and how to be successful and it's interesting that he doesn't say one word about politics he doesn't tell them you know about building up the military or how they need to hoard weapons in order to be a great nation he tells them very simply here's here's what you need to do you need to focus on the family and you need to build strength into your homes and so the title of my message today is simply this building homes that last building homes that last now i want to read just a portion of chapter five and a little bit in chapter six and so if you have your bibles open i'm going to start in verse 32 if not it's here on the screen for you he says there in verse 32 chapter 5 be careful to do what the lord your god has commanded you don't turn aside to the right or to the left walk in all the way that the lord your god has commanded you so that you may live and prosper and prolong your days in the land that you will possess now skip down to verse 5 chapter 6 love the lord your god with all your heart with all your soul and with all your strength these commandments that i give you today are to be upon 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 tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads write them on the door frames of your houses and own your gates well that's an interesting word isn't it from moses to to the people about how to be a successful nation it all starts in the home i mean wasn't wasn't it the philosopher plato who said you know the the life of the nation is the life of the family written large that's kind of what moses was saying several years ago there was a a professor at the university of nebraska now this was not a christian man he's a secular professor chairman of the department of human development dr nick stinnett and they published a research project that they called the family strengths research project now apparently they had surveyed for several years literally thousands of families from all over the world about what it is that makes them strong families and they came up with several commonalities among those families now none of this on the screen but you can go back and google it the family strengths research project let me mention some of the things that they said were marks of strong families all right here they are number one was commitment what they meant by that was that they invested time in each other they were committed to making the family a priority here are some of the others spending time together communication expressing appreciation so these were families that that they planned family times and meals and and they showed love and appreciation to one another here's one that was in the top five a high degree of spiritual commitment isn't that interesting well that's what moses is telling us in fact all of those things that they found were prominent in strong families or things that moses talks about here in deuteronomy chapter 5 and chapter 6. now let me say this from the very outset of this series and we're gonna be doing this for for seven weeks all right having a strong family having a godly family having a family that you know is is going to go the distance this is not so much a destination as it is a journey that's what it is and it's a journey that we're all on together oh and sometimes we mess things up a little bit i mean sometimes sometimes we don't get it right and that's true of all of us that's true of you in your family and that's that's true of me and my family i mean that's just the way it is but i can tell you you know i've got five children they're all grown and and most of them are married and now their grandchildren you know coming along i can tell you they can tell you you know that it was not a perfect family and it's still not and for us it's it's still a journey it's still a journey that we're on it is certainly not a destination that we've reached but i will say this as well any genuine experience that you have as an individual now i'm talking to dad's moms grandparents uh you know and and kids all in here in one group any experience that you have of the lord jesus in your life that's genuine is definitely going to impact your family all right there's no way that you can keep that happening now you you know some of that's not genuine but any your walk with the lord any part of your walk with the lord that's real i mean that's legit that's genuine it's going to make a positive difference in your home no matter who you are and so there are three things i want to talk about this morning number one and i'm sure by the way all of us are thinking as we hear about this family series i'm sure all of us are thinking well you know i could use a little help in my home and i'm sitting by somebody and i know they could use a lot of help yeah i know how we think and yeah i could use a little help and i could use a little encouragement along the way and i'm hoping i'll get that well i believe we're we're all going to get that here number one what i've called bible blueprints bible blueprints now you don't have to come to grace life very long to know that uh you know we we value god's word we do and it's central to what we do on sunday mornings and it's central we we hope to everything that we do and we want it that way and we value the truth of scripture and so i want to give you just three simple reminders from the scripture this morning that i hope will form kind of a blueprint for where we're headed here they are number one there is no family situation that's too difficult for god none now i know i know some of you out there you may be struggling in some different ways and maybe you're up against some hard things in your relationship and your family or with your kids but we need to be reminded of what the scripture says about our father nothing is too hard for him nothing in fact we read that all through the scripture here jeremiah 32 27 this is god speaking through jeremiah and he says behold i'm the lord the god of all flesh is there anything too difficult for me that's a question that requires an answer right and and the answer is well no yeah you are you are the lord you're the god of all flesh and nothing is too hard for you and you put whatever you want to in there with nothing whatever your situation is whatever the problem is it's not too hard for the lord to solve and look i can i could point out families here at grace life this morning some of them are right here in this room that over the last 25 years they've walked through some of the most difficult things and things that that you know in some cases would just break the family apart but the lord has helped them and they've survived and they've thrived and they have a testimony to share of what god's done nothing is too hard for your father no family situation no personal situation whatsoever here's number two there's no greater counselor than the holy spirit no greater counselor than the holy spirit we looked at this passage a couple of weeks ago where jesus in john 16 said this verse 13 but when he the spirit of truth comes he will guide you into all truth he will get he's the spirit of truth and he leads us to the truth and the holy spirit is within us he's god within us to help us walk in the right path by the way do you remember in uh jeremiah chapter 6 when when god was talking to jeremiah his people had forsaken him at that point i mean they were following other gods and and god says through jeremiah says to his people he says he says do you remember when i when i led you to a crossroads and i told you there were two paths look at the ancient path the old path the path of truth the path of vintage values if you will look at the old path that's the path i wanted you to walk in but he said you said no you said you were not going to walk in that path and you were not going to listen to me and that's why this disaster has come upon you well friend there are a lot of families today who who are living disasters for one reason they've not let the holy spirit tell them what to do and they've not walked in the old path they've not stayed true and faithful to the lord's word so that brings me to number three all right no family situation too difficult for god no greater counselor than the holy spirit and by the way i know christian counseling is is very important all right and i get that and i do a lot of it and i know that's important to have that in our lives but listen the holy spirit can do more in five minutes than a christian counselor can do in five years when the holy spirit is at work and that's who that's who we want to teach us in these days you know we don't want pastor tim to be the teacher we want the holy spirit to be the teacher no family situation too difficult no greater counselor than the holy spirit number three no better book to help us than this book god's word no better book than this book a lot of books out there about marriage a lot of books about parenting you know a lot of books about this and that and and i've read some of them and i'm going to mention some of them along the way but what we need to realize there's no book better than this book none that's why david said in psalm 119 speaking to the lord and about his word he said your commands make me wiser than my enemies i have more insight than all my teachers more understanding than the elders i've kept my feet from every evil path so that i might obey your word how sweet are your words to my taste i gain understanding from your precepts therefore i hate every wrong path your word is a lamp unto my feet and the light unto my path now i don't know about you but i can tell you there are sometimes in fact most every day where i need a lamp for my feet and a light for my path i need that as a pastor i still need that as a parent i still need it as a husband and i need it as a grandparent now are you in the same boat if you are lift your hand if you're not just stay asleep all right most of you had your hands up we're we're all in that same boat and uh you know there are times when even still as a husband i get in hot water any other i mean that that happened once or twice this week already um i mean that still happens in my life i heard somebody say the man who seldom gets in hot water is the man who has a wife five daughters and only one bathroom some of you get that later listen there are times when i'm in hot water and you're in hot water and i'm thankful that uh you know i have a father who loves me and he reminds me every day there's nothing that's too hard for him who reminds me every day that he's present in me by the wonderful holy spirit who's there to help me and lead me in making good decisions and on top of that he's given me the greatest book he could ever give me in this book his word bible blueprints number two what i want to call fortified foundations fortified foundations now here's where we're gonna get in deuteronomy for just a little bit and look at exactly what moses said now it's really very simple and yet it's incredibly profound moses basically gives them three simple words of advice and encouragement if you're if your family is going to last if your nation is going to stand the test of time here's what you have to do here they are number one love the lord love the lord notice how he says it there in uh verse 5 love the lord your god with all your heart and all your soul and all your strength in fact he was saying it if you love the lord this way it's going involved everything about you your mind your will and your so this is a love of priority this is a love that affects you in your mind and your will it's to make a willful choice to love him sincerely not half-heartedly by the way children are absolutely turned off when they see their parents profess to be religious but they don't really love jesus and i'm telling you your children they can spot a fake a mile away and they know when you're faking it and that's absolutely going to be one of the things that leads your family either to success or failure if your children know that you really don't have a genuine love for the lord all your heart all your soul and all your strength now here's where the rubber meets the road that means that that i love him more than everything else everyone else that's what it means and it means it means that i love him more than i love my wife that's what it's supposed that's what it means i mean really that's where it comes comes down to meet us where we are it means that she loves him more than she loves me it means you love the lord more than you love your children you love the lord more than you love your job you love the lord more than you love football more than you love hunting fishing sports center food sex whatever it is the lord has first place and his love has priority in your heart or in my heart over every other love there was a sunday school teacher once at sitting with their class and they said to their class they asked their class this question why do you love god that's a good question for a bunch of eight-year-olds in it why do you love god and the teacher listened several answers were given and finally a little girl on the back row said this she said well teacher i guess it just runs in my family that's a good answer it ought to run in your family and all to run in my family i ought to run in our family dr james merritt a pastor that i love said this about about this verse he said nothing breaks the heart of god more than the sin of a half-hearted love husbands a half-hearted love won't make your wife happy parents a half-hearted love won't make your children happy christians a half-hearted love doesn't make god happy if you don't have a wholehearted blazing burning passionate love for the love for the lord jesus christ and pass that love onto your children you have failed miserably as a parent well fred i want to tell you that's that's hard to read isn't it that's hard to hear i want the lord to give me that kind of love for him and i you know sometimes i don't feel like i love him that way but i want to love him that way and i want the lord to give me that kind of love for him and i want to be able still to pass that love off to my children and i know you want to do the same love the lord that's number one number two very simple keep his word keep his word look at it look at there in verse six he says these commandments that i give you today shall be upon your hearts now when he said that you know for the hebrews you know that meant if it's if it's on your heart it's in your life if it's in your heart it impacts everything you are and everything you do now go back up we read it a minute ago verse 32 be be careful to do what the lord has commanded you don't turn to the right of the left walk in all the way that he's commanded you so that you'll live and prosper and prolong your days that's what he was talking about these commandments that he's given them he's we're going to get to this in a minute and press them on your children but he says talk about them when you lie down when you get up put them as symbols on your hands and write them on the door frames of your houses look he was serious about them being successful and prolonging their days in the land and building homes at last and he said here's the key keep my word keep my word by the way you can't love him and not keep his word those those two don't don't work jesus said if any man loves me he will keep my word if the only time our children see us if the only if the only time they see this book as influential in our lives is one hour a week on sundays we're going to build a very unstable foundation for our families god just makes that clear and so he says love the lord and and and and keep the word that means to preserve it to cherish it to do it to live it to read it to study it to meditate on it i heard about a little girl she was in the in the dining room one day and she called out to her mom she said mom mom was in the in the kitchen mom says yeah she says mom you know that vase that you keep in the china cabinet in the dining room mom says yeah she says you know the one that you say has been passed down from generation to generation to generation my damn mom's word yeah she said well mom this generation just dropped it huh yeah oh my look we're we're one one generation away from dropping it just one that's what's why here at grace life we value sowing the seed of the word of god in the lives of our children that's why that's such a vital part of what we do here at grace life so he says love the lord keep his word and then number three teach your children teach your children i mean those are the three very simple this is what you want to do to live long prosper and be successful love the lord keep his word teach your children verse seven impress them on your children talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road when you lie down when you sleep that's it pass your faith down to your children now dads i believe that's primarily our role and i'm going to talk about that along the way uh and by the way i probably ought to say say this at the beginning of the series i'm probably going to say some things that will make you uncomfortable along the way okay i might say some things that make you mad i'm just giving you the word i mean sometimes i read things in the word i get uncomfortable you know sometimes the lord convicts me of something i ought to be doing and i'm not doing and it doesn't always sit right i mean i have to admit it and so that that that may be going to happen and if in fact it may it may it may happen right now okay so here it is teaching your children the word is not our job it's your job it's your job it's not the job of grace life now we want to help you and we take that seriously we want to help you to do that we want to complement what you're doing as a family in your home but teaching your children the scripture is your job not ours you're the one who will give an account before god for how that's happened in your family it won't be us now we'll give an account before god but you're the one that'll stand before him and give an account for how well you've done that it's not the job of the church okay i'm talking to you and me and us it's not the job of the church it's my job as a parent that's the role that god has given me and that's clearly outlined in his word not long ago a survey was done of a group of teenagers about about spiritual influence who's had the most spiritual influence in your lives about 10 of them said the church about 10 of them said they're friends 47 of them said my parents they've had the most spiritual influence whether good or bad they didn't specify my parents if you've studied education at all in high school or college you've studied about a guy famous uh educator and child rearing expert he was actually catholic his name was francis xavier and he's written extensively about raising children and francis xavier said this he said you give me the child for the first seven years and anybody can have them after that i think he knew what he was talking about yeah you let me have your child for seven years the first seven years you let me have him and then you do anything you want to after that because i've already instilled in his heart everything he needs by that time abraham lincoln once said this the only way to bring up a child in the way he should go that is to travel that way yourself to travel that way yourself that's what moses is saying really very simple you want to you want to lead your family to have to have a fortified foundation you want to be a family that goes to distance you want your home to last it's real simple love the lord keep his word teach your children now here's the third thing i want to talk about that we could end the sermon right there couldn't we but there's more to go bible blueprints fortified foundations number three concrete commitments concrete commitments now i've been in the ministry for over 40 years and i've seen good families and i've seen great families and i've seen some not so good families i've seen families that have endured all kinds of heartache and hardship and they've gone the distance and i've seen families that have absolutely fallen apart i want to mention to you today some commitments that i believe are true or will be true in families that go the distance all right here are the things that are always going to be evident number one and this is a commitment that you ought to make you ought to make it today the things i'm going to talk about and i i ought to make it today with you here they are number one to grow together in christ consistently to grow together in christ and i'm talking about spiritual growth and the bible's the bible's very clear that that we we are to grow and we're to give ourselves to those things that make us grow second peter 1 peter said this beginning in verse 5. look at it here make every effort all right that means this is going to this is going to be some work make every effort to add to your faith goodness knowledge self-control perseverance godliness brotherly kindness love he's talking about growing spiritually do the work for if you possess these qualities in increasing measure what's going to happen they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our lord jesus christ and so spiritual growth is hard but spiritual growth is something that happens in us if we're committed to let it happen in us and so he says give yourself to that work and you need that commitment as a husband as a wife not not just to do it on your own but to do it together i put that word in there for a reason grow together in christ a lot of families you'll find one person who's a spiritual giant and another person who's a spiritual dwarf and that always brings about conflict always so we have to be committed to grow together now i realize that that we're going to be at different places in spiritual maturity that's very natural and it's not so much how long you've been on the road the thing is how far you've traveled down the road you can be a christian for for 40 years and you haven't gone six steps down the road of spiritual maturity so it's about being on the same road it's about having the same goals we may be at different places on the road but but we need to be on the same road now i'll tell you something about marriage and being a part of a family being a parent and being married all right those things demand growth but they do not produce growth not naturally they demand it but they don't naturally produce it you and i have to be responsible for that in our own lives and through our own spiritual commitment so that needs to be one that we're going to grow together in christ we're going to worship together spend time in the word together we're going to pray together and so on and so forth here's number two embrace the heart of a servant well this may be the hardest thing ever embrace the heart of a servant now didn't jesus teach us a lot about that i mean jesus said and he said this more than once i didn't come to to be served i came i came to serve and to give my life as a ransom for many and that's hard to do you know we're creatures of the flesh and we're we're basically selfish to the core i mean that's who we are apart from christ and that spills over in our marriage in our relationships doesn't it you you've heard me say before and you've heard other people say before marriage won't make you selfish but it'll sure show you how selfish you are is that the truth parenting is the same way it won't make you selfish but it'll show you how selfish we are and and you've heard it said before everybody wants to be known as a servant but nobody wants to be treated like a servant and that's how we are i mean we just gravitate to to being served and so marriage will show you that it will show you how often you want to be served rather than how often you want to serve steve and annie chapman said this they said we believe a man and wife would have a better married life if they would just try serving each other deeper love is felt when what is done is not for self but when it's done to satisfy the other so number one grow together consistently in christ number two embrace the heart of a servant we can't do that without the help of the holy spirit in us number three be faithful to your spouse and your children do you say pastor that goes without saying somebody somebody would look at that and say well that that means don't cheat and i'd never cheat on my husband or i'd never cheat on my wife and and i think that's true of a lot of us in here we wouldn't do that outwardly we wouldn't do the outward act but you know jesus said if you look on someone to lust after them you've committed adultery in your heart didn't he say that it's okay to nod your head it's okay to agree with the pastor and so i'm talking about faithfulness not just outwardly but inwardly and that goes for men and women by the way and again it's not a destination it's a journey that we're on and so as a husband as a christian husband you know i have to let the lord and i have to desire for the lord to build that into my heart and build that into my life now i know what i said at the altar i know those promises i made you know those promises that you made we did that at the altar and for the most part we took it seriously but look let's all admit when i was standing at the altar saying those things i wasn't near as concerned about those things as i was is getting back and getting to the good stuff yeah i mean yeah we get that don't we and so you know through the years i've had to pray and trust the lord you know lord that's the kind of man i want to be not just not just faithful to my mate outwardly but faithful to my mate on the inside where nobody sees but me and the lord but not just for your mate faithful to your children what in the world you mean by that pastor well i could talk about it a long time but look god gave those children to you and they're your children they're your children god gave those children to you for you to be a steward over them for a short time and they're your children they're not my children they're your children and my children are your children they're my children your children belong to you they don't belong to the neighbors they don't belong to this church they don't belong to the awana leaders they don't belong to the daycare they don't belong to the school system they don't belong to grandma and grandpa they belong to you and they're your children and god gave them to you and you asked the lord to help you embrace a spirit of faithfulness to your spouse and to your children and so here's number that's number three here's number four goes right along with that one stay committed to marriage for life now if you're married all right this applies to you especially if you're married now if you're not married and hoping to be buried one day i still want you to get this all right now let me read you this passage malachi 2 verse 16. there's god speaking through malachi to his people and he says this for i hate divorce says the lord to god of israel so guard yourself in your spirit and do not break faith and what did god say about divorce he said i hate it he didn't say i don't like it he didn't say i would prefer that it not happen he didn't say i wish you wouldn't consider it he said i hate it i hate it now i'm not trying look know my heart on this i i know i'm preaching to people who've been divorced i'm not trying to beat up on you if that's happened to you here's what i'm trying to do i'm trying to build you up if you're married right now okay you can't change the past i can't change the past your past is covered under the blood and forgiven you can't change it but you can change your future and that's what i'm talking to you about if you're married stay married and don't ever look tell your spouse you ought to do this from time to time tell your spouse i will never ever divorce you and mean it tell them that tell them today sometime now you may say i'll i might murder you one day but i'm not going to divorce you i understand that i thought that moment needed some levity right there it was getting a little heavy so uh look and tell your children that because i'm going to tell you something about your kids they're hearing about their friends moms and dads leaving each other and fussing and fighting and and they're wondering in their own minds is this going to happen to my mom and dad and so sit down with your kids both of you and say i'm never going to divorce your mom i'm never going to divorce your dad by god's grace is with his help i'm going to stay married to your mom and dad for the rest of my life and by the way those of you that have been divorced again i want to encourage you you may be divorced not married maybe god will lead you to be married one day and i pray by his grace that he does if that's what he wants for your life i had a man in my office recently he and his wife are going through a terrible divorce and i mean it's it's really nasty and i said to him you know here's what i've found out god hates divorce and people hate divorce and people who've gone through it hate it because of what it does in their hearts and what it does in their lives and i know that and you know that again the past is under the blood and the future is under the grace and the power of the lord jesus and his spirit and so make that commitment if you've never made that commitment before make it now tell your husband tell your wife you're never ever going to leave them all right here's the last one number five raise the standard of god's word in your home raise the standard of god's word in your home now we've already talked about that a little bit moses said love the lord follow the word teach your children a standard a standard is is a rule of measurement if i had a yardstick up here this morning if i were to show it to you and say what's this you'd say it's a yardstick it's a standard of measurement a standard of measurement is is that by which you evaluate everything else in your life and that's what the word becomes paul wrote to timothy in second timothy 3 verse 16 and he reminded him of this timothy all scripture is inspired by god all of it it's all god breathed and it's all profitable for teaching rebuking correcting for training in righteousness for telling you what is right what's not right how to get right how to stay right why so that the man of god or woman of god may be complete and equipped for every good work look god's word is sufficient sufficient for every area of our lives whether that's marriage work family parenting whatever it is god's word has something to say and god's word has good advice to give us and raising the standard of god's word in my home means i evaluate the decisions i make based upon what god's word says and and by the way we believe here that it's inspired from genesis to revelation we don't cut any of it out and we're all accountable for all of it even if it says something we don't like it if it speaks into our culture something that our culture doesn't like and doesn't want to follow we want to be true and faithful to the word i heard somebody asked this question not long ago a teacher said said the last time you faced a major decision in your life how did you seek god's will in that decision that's a good question the last time you made a major decision how did you seek god's will did you pray about it did you talk to some godly people about it did you get advice from your godly friends about it or a pastor when you when you made a big decision how did you seek god's will and then they asked this question when was the last time you sought god's will in his word that's a good question for trying to discern where my heart is and whether or not i'm desiring to raise this standard of his word in my life and measure everything else by it do you remember matthew chapter 7 when jesus was talking about the builders one that built his house on the sand one that built his house on the rock you remember that story jesus said the rains came and the floods and you know the wind beat against the house and and the one that built his house on the rock the house stood and it wasn't bothered by all those storms but the one that built this house on the sand the house was swept away you remember that story nod your head if you're still here not thinking about lunch okay yeah remember that story and you remember how jesus ended it jesus said here's what i'm trying to tell you the one that built his house on the rock is the one who hears my words and obeys them and the one who built his house on the sand his life on the sand his family on the sand and the storms of life carried it away very simple that's the one who built this house on not hearing and doing my word that's really what it comes down to doesn't it for all of us for you for me i remember in joshua 24 you know joshua's passing off the scene now joshua 24. he's led led the people into the canaan and he's ministered to them all these years and he's leading them actually through a time of revival and spiritual renewal they've been away from the lord and and they're ready to come back to the lord and and serve serve the lord and and and if you don't know any passage in joshua 24 you know you know this verse where joshua said this he said choose you choose you this day who are you going to serve but as for me in my house what did he say say it with me we will serve the lord well i love that people don't like saying anymore that you know you can you can boil life down to two things but boy you really can and joshua said you you don't have to make this choice today he's saying i'm getting ready to leave and i'm not going to be around here anymore and you don't have to make this choice but here's the choice that i'm going to make today my family and i we're going to serve the lord you know i want us to make that choice together today that over these next seven weeks we want to hear what the lord wants to say to us we want to obey what the lord says to us we want to follow him and we want to love him and we want to serve him together bow your heads with me if you would i'm going to pray in just a moment we're going to be done just another minute or so and i'm going to let you let you go i believe the lord has a lot of things he wants to speak into my life into your life in these days and to our families and you know you may be married not married single witted divorced a lot of kids no kids i don't know but the lord's going to have something to say to you this week no matter where you are you may be a family of one but the lord wants to talk to us i believe and i believe it'd be great for us to say together today lord i want you to speak into my life i want to hear what you have to say and i want to obey you and lord i want to bring back the old path the ancient path i want to bring the vintage values back into my family and my life let's tell him that today if you're here this morning you're watching and there's never been a time in your life where you've trusted christ in christ alone to save you from sin and give you eternal life i want to say to you today this could be your day and if you're ready to make that decision you can pray a simple prayer prayer of repentance and say jesus i've sure messed up a lot about my life but i want to do it your way now and so i'm asking you to forgive my sin come into my heart and be the lord of my life from this day forever you say pastor is it that simple it's that simple if you mean it and if you mean it and you ask jesus to save you the bible says he will save you whoever will call upon the name of the lord will be saved if that's something we can help you with following christ as your savior or being baptized or becoming a member of this church if you'll reach out to us we would love to help you in the days to come that's where it all begins will you stand with me let's pray together father thank you for the opportunity to worship today thank you for the opportunity to invest in the lives of each other children people in zimbabwe and other places lord today you've been good to us thank you for the truth of your word lord sometimes it's hard sometimes it's wonderful and encouraging and sometimes convicting lord i pray today that it's been all of those things and lord we'll go away knowing again how much you love us how much you want to help us how much you have done to see us be successful as moms dads husbands wives grandparents single married whatever father help us in these days to hear what you say and to have a heart to do it in jesus name we pray amen well god bless you i'm so glad you came today i hope we get to see you again next time [Music] you

Channel: GraceLife Television

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Length: 78min 23sec (4703 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 05 2021