My Family Should be Built on the Rock of Jesus Christ!

This morning we are kicking off a four part series that we’re calling, “Family Matters - Biblical Truth of Family Life” (Logo on screen) and not only are we going to spend the next five weeks talking about the family, we’re going to talk about the family, with the family. This whole month (as was perhaps already mentioned) we are hosting a series of Family Sundays. Family Sundays for us are typically the fifth Sundays of the year, so like 3 or so times throughout the year but we thought it would be important to spend a whole month together, worshipping together, learning together as one big family. Now listen, this is a two way street:
The older crowd having an opportunity to model for the younger crowd what it looks like participate in a larger worship service. It’s important for kids to see moms, dads and other adults worshipping the Lord through song. It’s important that they not only witness but participate in the giving of tithes and offerings. It’s important that they witness a participation in the teaching time, taking notes, giving an, “Amen” here and there.
And on the flip side, this is an opportunity for the younger crowd to model for the older crowd what it looks like to get a little excited right? Perhaps show a little expression, demonstrate a little energy.
If we’re honest, we as adults can sometimes take ourselves a little too seriously when we walk into the House of the Lord. I think about that passage from 2 Samuel where King David is bringing the Ark of God (the very representation of God Himself) back into Jerusalem. In 2 Samuel 6:16 (ESV) it says, “As the ark of the Lord came into the city of David, Michal the daughter of Saul looked out of the window and saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, and she despised him in her heart.” King David was so excited to be bringing he Ark of God back into Jerusalem that he couldn’t contain himself, he couldn’t help but dance before the Lord. He was so thankful for what God had done in his life…and yet there were those that despised David for his excitement and his expression of that excitement. (Pause)
Now listen, old people, (I’m putting myself in that category as well). Let’s not start despising the young people when they get a little jumpy and start dancing before the Lord just because we’re upset that our knees won’t take that kind of pressure anymore. Amen? (Pause)
It is so good to be together as a church family and to worship together. You’ve already seen some of our kids involved in the service (reading Scripture, we’ll have some kids involved later in the service as well and even helping to lead worship in the weeks to come). We praise God for our young people and the opportunity to worship along with them. Amen? I think you likely already know this but:

• Our young people are not the church of tomorrow, they are the church of today.
• We must never become a church that relegates our young people (kids or youth) to the fringe of involvement, to the fringe of serving, to the fringe of partnership in the Gospel?
• They are more than capable of serving God’s purposes right now?
• They are more than able to help partner with adults to accomplish the mission.
• God has built into them (for that matter all of us) a special calling from the beginning.

The Apostle Paul says it like this in 1 Corinthians 12:7 (ESV), “To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.” What’s that mean? That simply means that when you accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior, the Holy Spirit came into your life and you were given at least one spiritual gift that is to be used for the furtherance of the Gospel. This is such an important truth not only for the parents in the house today but for us as a church body. Parents, we must help our kids, our young people develop their spiritual gifts.

• If they’re caring and thoughtful, foster that. God may be developing in them the gifts of a shepherd to help shepherd and care for His people.
• If they love to build things and use their hands, help them harness those abilities  to build for the Lord.
• If they’re quiet and shy, that’s okay let them serve behind the scenes. I think about the number of people that do things behind the scenes all week long to help make our service happen each week. Those roles aren’t any less important than the person who stands on the platform.
• If they love to talk, let them talk. God may be developing in them the gifts of a communicator to teach or preach the Gospel.

We need to stop wasting our time and energy on trying to make our kids look like everyone else’s kids and instead help them rightly discern how God has specifically wired them and how He desires for them to serve His purposes.
Sidebar: I’m going to preach here in a minute but let me just say this, and this isn’t aimed at any one person specifically, but if the shoe fits. I’ve recently heard people say things like: “Well my son or daughter is feeling a call into full-time ministry (fill in the blank there: youth ministry, preaching, kids pastor, becoming a worship pastor) but we’ve encouraged them to obtain a degree in a more ‘secure field’ and to pursue the ministry thing on the side.”    
Mom and dad listen to me. You can’t speak out of both sides of your mouth. You can’t on one hand tell your kids that they should love the Lord their God with all of their heart, soul, mind and strength. You can’s quote Proverbs 3:5-6 (ESV) to them at bedtime, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” And then tell them not to trust the Lord when it comes to the calling He has on their life.
You say, “Well I’m just being practical.” You can call it whatever you want but what you’re doing is setting your kid up to become an adult that doesn’t really trust the Lord with everything, with all aspects, with every arena of their lives. Our greatest responsibility as parents, our greatest responsibility as a church is to foster in our young people a sensitivity to the move of God in their lives. Amen? (Pause)
Well as we are gathered together for this month of Family Sundays I thought it would be fun for us to commit to a month long Scripture memory verse that we can memorize together. Pastor Lindsey is in the habit of doing this with our kids each month as they meet together, so I thought that we as a group could commit to memorizing a key passage that will serve as our theme verse for this next month.
If you have your Bibles or your following along in the YouVersion Bible App or kids you should have this on your handout that you received as a part of your kid’s pack, we’re going to be in Matthew chapter 7. The verses that I want us to memorize specifically over this next month are from Matthew 7:24-25 (ESV) where it says, “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.”
So kids, students, I need you guys to lead the charge on getting the whole family to  memorize these verses over the next four weeks. Let me say this as well, if you’re here as a couple, you don’t have kids or maybe you’re here and not married, make a firm commitment to memorize these verses regardless. I think of the Psalmist words in Psalm 119:11 (ESV) where he says, “I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.” There is tremendous value in you and I hiding God’s Word in our hearts.
This morning I want us to look not only at these two memory verses but really the whole section around these verses because it’s in these verses that I think we can discover a recipe for success when it comes to being a family.
You guys probably already know all this but it’s tough to be a parent in today’s world. It’s tough to be a kid in today’s world. It’s really tough to be a teenager in today’s world. We could go through all of the various roles in a family: it’s tough to be a wife, it’s tough to be a husband. It can be tough to be a grand-parent. It’s tough to be part of a family and to commit to honoring God in that role? Why is that?

• Why does it feel so tough sometimes to get along with mom and dad?
• Why is it so tough sometimes for mom and dad to get along with each other?
• Why is it so tough to raise kids that love Jesus?
• Why do kids battle against mom and dad so hard when it comes to rules or expectations?
• Why do teenagers sometimes struggle to stand firm in their faith?
• Why do parents sometimes struggle to set the right example for their kids?
• What is it so tough to be a family that’s fully committed to the things of God? (Pause)

Part of the reason it’s so tough is because sometimes we choose to build our lives and our family life on the wrong foundation. Kids, you should have in your kid’s pack a clipboard with some paper for you to follow along with and each week there is going to be a statement written there that kind of serves to summarize what we’re talking about on that specific week. This week’s statement is, “My Family Should be Built on the Rock of Jesus Christ!” (On screen) Adults, this isn’t just for the kids, this is a statement that I want to encourage us to really consider this morning as we think about 1.) our individual lives and 2.) the kind of family life that we’re creating.
As we said earlier, our memory verses for this month are from Matthew 7:24-25 but I also want us to look all the way down to verse 27 of Matthew chapter 7 because that’s when you begin to get the full picture of what’s happening here. So let’s read all four of these verses. Matthew 7:24-27 (ESV) says this, “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”
Here are a couple of things that I want to make sure that we notice in these verses.

1.) There are two houses, one built on the rock and one built on the sand, but the storms are the same for both houses. Sometimes we like to think that if we give our lives to Jesus, if we fully commit our family to God then somehow that means that we’re never going to have struggles. This is such an important concept for us to get a hold of because when we misunderstand this, when we think that following Jesus means everything is going to be perfect, that’s when we think that throwing in the towel might be the best option. It’s like we think,“What’s the point?” Why am I following Jesus if things are still going to be tough? We could probably do a deep dive on where this line of thinking came from originally but this is not at all what the Bible tells us.

This was never a promise that God gave us. In fact Jesus says the exact opposite of this. In John 16:33 (ESV) Jesus says, “…In the world you will have tribulation. (trouble, tough times, bad things)…”

• Christian families have the same trials as everyone else.
• Christian couples have the same miscommunications as everyone else.
• Sometimes Christian kids have the same bad attitude as everyone else.
• Sometimes Christian families have the same tired parents with little patience.
• Christian families have the same mess on the floor that no one is picking up.
• Christian families have the same unexpected loss.
• Christian moms and dads have the same trouble at work.
• Christian kids deal with the same bully at school.
• Christian teenagers face the same temptations that everyone else faces.

This would be a very different passage from Matthew 7, if it said that there were two houses, one that faced storms and one that didn’t, but that’s not what it says. Both houses faced the storm. Listen, following Jesus as an individual, following Jesus as a couple, following Jesus as a family isn’t about not having trouble. It’s about having someone to lean on, someone to look to, someone to guide us, not if, but when the trouble comes. It’s not a guarantee of a hassle-free life, it’s a guarantee that we won’t have to navigate the hassle alone. It’s the guarantee that when the struggle comes we can look to the One who is all powerful, all knowing, everywhere at once and see wisdom on the who, what, when, where and how of what we’re supposed to do next.

Parents, please tell your kids that tough times are coming, they may even be right around the corner. Kids, that might be scary thing right, to think that there’s going to be some tough times ahead, but never forget the second half of Jesus says in John 16:33 (ESV), “ “… In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

We serve a God who promises to always be with us. In Deuteronomy 31:8 (ESV) God tells Joshua, “It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”

The Apostle Paul says in Romans 8:28 (ESV), “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” Because God is all powerful He can take even the thought stuff, even the hard stuff and use it for good in our lives.

The difference for Christians, for Christian couples, for Christian families isn’t the absence of storms and tough times, the difference is the foundation. Look back at our passage for this morning. Matthew 7:25 (ESV) says, “And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.”
2.) The second thing that I want you to notice about this passage and I’m going to try to keep it brief this morning so let me cut right to the chase, the true and right foundation for our lives, our marriages, our parenting, our kids, our families - is Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the rock that we are called to build everything on. Building our lives, our marriages, our families on the rock of Jesus Christ means that we do what His Word says. It’s following the words and the teachings of Jesus as recorded for us in the Bible.

Men, listen to me:

• Are you actively pursuing God through a study of His Word?
• Are you a man of prayer? Are you praying for your spouse? With your spouse?  For your kids? With your kids? Are you praying for the lost?
• Are you trusting God even when it’s difficult?
• Are you fulfilling the Biblical role of husband and father?
• Are you loving your wife as Christ loves the church?
• Are you spiritually guiding your wife?
• Are you spiritually guiding your children?

All of this and more is mapped out for us in God’s Word as the role of a man of God, a husband and a father. According to Matthew 7, if we do these things we are building our house (our families) on the rock and if we don’t, well then we’re building on a foundation of sand.
Women:

• Are you what would be described as a Proverbs 31 woman? Read through it, does that describe you?
• Are you fulfilling the Biblical role of wife and mother?
• Are you submitting to the spiritual leadership of your husband? Ephesians 5 talks about that.

It’s the same with you as it is with the men, if you are walking according to the Word of God, then you are building your house on the rock, otherwise your building on a foundation of sand.

Kids and Teenagers:

The only age minimum for following the words of Jesus is what’s known as the age of accountability. In other words, if you’re old enough to know right from wrong, then you should be following the words of Jesus. You should be right now, building your house on the rock of Jesus Christ.

Look back at the rest of our verses for this morning. Matthew 7:26-27 (ESV) says, “And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.” Same storms, same rain, same wind, same flood, with very different results. One house, one marriage, one family endured and one did not.

So our big statement for this morning. “My Family Should be Built on the Rock of Jesus Christ!” Is your life built on the rock of Jesus Christ? Married couples, is your marriage built on the rock of Jesus Christ? Parents, is your parenting built on the rock of Jesus Christ? Kids, teenagers, are you building your life on the rock of Jesus Christ? (Pause) What does it mean to build your house on the rock? It means doing what Jesus says; as a family, as a mom, as a dad, as a husband, as a wife, as a child, as a teenager.

In preparation for this month of Family Sundays I reached out to several families in our church, husbands, wives, moms and dads that have taken this journey already. They’ve got grown kids now, not perfect kids, but grown kids and asked them to give me answers to five or six questions related to these topics. One of the questions I asked was, “What’s one piece of advice you would give current parents or future parents as they raise their kids in the way of the Lord?”

Two of the responses I received back said this:

• “Talk about the challenges they face and what God's word says on those issues.”  That sounds an awful lot like building your house on the rock. What does it look like for you as a family to actively build your house on the rock? Listen, that starts with mom and dad, husband and wife making this commitment. We can’t ask our children to do something that we’re unwilling to do. Amen?
• Another family said, “NOTHING IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN GIVING YOUR CHILD THAT GOOD FOUNDATION which they can continue to build on!”

Let’s begin this month of Family Sundays by making some family commitments. Husbands, bring your wives to the altar and make a fresh commitment to build your marriage on the rock of Jesus Christ. Parents, bring your children to the altar and make a fresh commitment to establish your home on the rock of Jesus Christ.