Building a Marriage on Mission

November 26th 2023

Series: Family Talk

Sermon Title: Building a Marriage on Mission

Topic: How to have maximum impact in your marriage.

Key Passages:Acts 4:32-37, Acts 5:1-11, Acts 18:1-4, Acts 18:18-28, Romans 16:3-4, 1 Cor. 16:19

Sermon Blurb: In today’s message we read about a couple that lived for themselves and a couple that lived for God. We will see quite a contrast and how we could live on mission for God.

Green in sermons means illustration, something we are looking for a response from, or a picture that goes on the screens.

Yellow means what is yellow will be on the screens and in the handout.

Sermon:

Hello Family Church!

Family Moment –

Dan / Steve we like to try and start our messages with something personal from our family life recently to help people get to know us.

Today we wrap up our series we have been calling Family Talk.

This whole month we have been laser focused on families.

Because we want to help you all win in your family.

We want your family to thrive!

And we want to equip your family to make it through the hard parts of life.

That is why in week #1 we talked about the power of blessing and how to shape your children’s future.

In week #2 we talked about surviving the desert and what to do when your family is in crisis.

Last week, we talked about Shattered Expectations…

What do we do when our dreams implode?

What do we do when our dreams for our family unravel?

What do we do when life does NOT go as planned…..

And I would encourage you that if you missed ANY of those prior messages to back and listen to them on our website or app…..

PAUSE

Today we wrap up this series….

Today we are going to talk about how to Build a Marriage on Mission…

These are all powerful messages to help your entire family not just survive but thrive!!!!

PAUSE

There are so many fascinating marriages in scripture:

Like the first couple ever married….Adam and Eve

Abraham and Sarah….who were married for like 100 years and SUPER old when they started having kids!

Noah, the guy who built the Ark when we had the flood, was married to but did you know the Bible never gives us her name?

This is so interesting because when the whole world perished in the flood, except Noah’s family….

That means she became the second Eve from which we would all descend from….

Moses married Zipporah while in hiding from the murder he committed….

Jacob wanted to marry Rachel but got tricked by her father and married Leah….

Hence why you should NOT drink at your wedding!

Then he had to wait years to marry Rachel like he wanted to…

So yes…he married two sisters…

I cannot imagine that made for an easy life for Jacob….

King David had many wives….

PAUSE

It can be easy to get confused on what marriage should be….if we read only stories from the Bible and not the context around them.

It can be more confusing when we have a culture around us trying to constantly re-define marriage.

But the GOOD news is that the Bible does have clear teachings about marriage as well!

Paul taught about marriage in the New Testament.

And there are GOOD and BAD examples of marriage in the New Testament as well……

PAUSE

Let me show you both ends of the spectrum and see what we can learn….

Grab your Bibles and open them up to the book of

Acts 4

We will bounce around a bit today, but mostly be in the book of Acts.

Let me give you a little background on what is going on in Acts 4 as you are getting there…

By Acts chapter 4 the early church is growing.

They are reaching people for Jesus left and right….

And people are joining the church….

It says this in verse 32….

Acts 4: 32-37 All the believers were one in heart and mind.

No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had.

33 With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.

And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all 34 that there were no needy persons among them.

For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales

35 and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need.

36Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means “son of encouragement”),

37 sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles’ feet.

Acts 5:1-11 Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property.

2 With his wife’s full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles’ feet.

3 Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit

and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land?

4 Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold?

And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal?

What made you think of doing such a thing?

You have not lied just to human beings but to God.”

5 When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died.

And great fear seized all who heard what had happened.

6 Then some young men came forward, wrapped up his body, and carried him out and buried him.

7 About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened.

8 Peter asked her, “Tell me, is this the price you and Ananias got for the land?”

“Yes,” she said, “that is the price.”

9 Peter said to her, “How could you conspire to test the Spirit of the Lord?

Listen! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also.”

10 At that moment she fell down at his feet and died.

Then the young men came in and, finding her dead, carried her out and buried her beside her husband.

11 Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events.

Let’s stop reading there….

This is one of the most terrifying passages in the Book of Acts.

This seems crazy.

This is confusing.

Why is this such a big deal?

PAUSE

When it comes to marriage….we can look at this couple and we can see something very important….

When we ask the question of, “What do we learn about Ananias and Sapphira’s marriage?”

We can see VERY clearly…..

When it comes to what they VALUE….

They are clearly on the same page.

The problem is this…

While they are on the SAME page….

They are on the WRONG page...

They valued MONEY above truth.

MONEY above integrity.

MONEY above everything…..

The same problem so many people struggle with today….

I mean let’s be real for a minute……

If you were to ask most Christians do you tithe?

They would say YES!

Of course!

And they would be offended if you asked them.

And most Christians would be offended because they know in reality they do NOT give God 10% of their income….

I read an article recently that was looking at giving statistics and is said this and I quote (80+ Charitable Giving Statistics & Demographics (2023) (definefinancial.com))

“Religious giving is lower today than it was during the Great Depression

The average annual charity donation for Americans in 2020 was $737.”

And “Those making less than $50,000 annually are highest givers in terms of percentage of income.”

PAUSE

The reality is that people thousands of years ago struggled with doing money God’s way in their marriage…

Just like so many of us do today….

If we are honest that is…

Here is the point.

A marriage on a mission is filled with integrity.

Repeat

And here at Family Church, we want to help you learn how to live FILLED with Godly integrity.

PAUSE

Which later in the book of Acts we meet a couple that does just that!

They lived with incredible integrity.

They lived on a mission for God in their marriage.

Let me show you!

Flip to Acts 18….

You might remember us talking about this couple in the past few months….

A couple named Aquila and Priscilla.

Acts 18:1-4 After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth.

2 There he met a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla,

because Claudius had ordered all Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to see them,

3 and because he was a tentmaker as they were, he stayed and worked with them.

4 Every Sabbath he reasoned in the synagogue, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks.

Pause here for a second and let me make sure we all know what is going on here…

Aquila and Priscilla are in Corinth because they were exiled from their homeland by the Romans and they re-settled here.

This couple had a family business that made tents.

We do not know if they were tents people lived in.

Tents for the businesses along the road side.

We just know they had a business making tents.

We also know this couple had the gift of hospitality.

We know that because Paul stayed with them.

Paul also worked with them.

I want to point something out here that I think is often overlooked.

Aquila and Priscilla welcome a single male, Paul, into their home.

This might seem odd in America, but this is VERY normal all over the world.

Only in America do we live in MASSIVE houses and rarely ever open up our homes to other people.

If you go to other countries you will find what we do is odd.

Church can I encourage you here with something?

It is GREAT that so many people in church’s today stand STRONG and PRO Biblical marriage.

That is great and we should!

But….

BUT we should also stand STRONG and be PRO single people who are NOT married but striving to honor God with their celibacy!!

We should be just as supportive of the younger generation that is trying to stay pure until they are married as we are supportive of those God call’s to never marry….

Paul is one of those people who never married and gave his entire life to ministry….

Just like Jesus did…

Just like some people are called to today…

And we need to support not SETUP those who are called by God to live dedicated to God their entire lives…. And part of how we do that is by inviting those people into our lives and homes…..

PAUSE

Let’s drop down to verse 18 and keep reading….

Acts 18:18-23 Paul stayed on in Corinth for some time.

Then he left the brothers and sisters and sailed for Syria, accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila.

Before he sailed, he had his hair cut off at Cenchreae because of a vow he had taken.

19 They arrived at Ephesus, where Paul left Priscilla and Aquila. He himself went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews.

20 When they asked him to spend more time with them, he declined.

21 But as he left, he promised, “I will come back if it is God’s will.” Then he set sail from Ephesus.

22 When he landed at Caesarea, he went up to Jerusalem and greeted the church and then went down to Antioch.

23 After spending some time in Antioch, Paul set out from there and traveled from place to place throughout the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.

Stop there….

Do you see something about this couple church?

Not only are they hospitable.

Not only do they open their home to others.

Not only do they want to grow in their relationship with Jesus.

They are nimble.

We are not sure how long they lived in Corinth….but they went on this mission trip with Paul to Ephesus.

They did not let their business tie them down.

They did not let their home tie them down.

They did not let their relationships tie them down.

They went on a mission trip and never moved back!

They made that HARDER decision to be married and live on MISSION for God….

Rather than be married and live for the future retirement…

PAUSE

Let me pose a question to you here to ponder….

Is my current (future) marriage about living on a mission for God or for my future plans?

Repeat

I really want to encourage you all to think about that…

Married couples….

What are you really living for?

What really is the goal of your marriage?

People who one day want to be married…think about that…

What do you want your marriage to be about?

What is the goal of your future marriage?

PAUSE

You will see with this couple….

Their marriage became all about God’s Kingdom…

After learning with Paul for just a year or two….they are ready to teach others!

They are ready to lead others in Bible study after only a SHORT time with Paul!

Let’s keep reading…

24 Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was a learned man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures.

25 He had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and he spoke with great fervor and taught about Jesus accurately, though he knew only the baptism of John.

26 He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately.

Stop there…

This couple meets a man named Apollos.

Apollos LOVED Jesus!

He was passionate about Jesus!

He was teaching about Jesus but was still raw and was missing some theological understanding…..

So Priscilla and Aquila invite him into their circle.

They invite him into their home.

They being to teach him what they learned from Paul about Jesus.

They invest in him like Paul invested in them….

Verse 27…

27 When Apollos wanted to go to Achaia, the brothers and sisters encouraged him and wrote to the disciples there to welcome him.

When he arrived, he was a great help to those who by grace had believed.

28 For he vigorously refuted his Jewish opponents in public debate, proving from the Scriptures that Jesus was the Messiah.

Stop there…

Barnabas invested in Paul…..

Paul invested in Priscilla and Aquilla…

Priscilla and Aquilla invested in Apollos…

Now Apollos is investing in others…

Alex McManus said, “The gospel always finds you on its way to someone else.”

PAUSE

So let me ask you another question….

How could you influence others for God?

Repeat

Stop and really think about that….

How can you use your marriage, singleness, career, or whatever to influence others for God?

Some of you are AMAZING at hospitality….how could you open your house up in a way that doesn’t just make people feel welcomed by also leads them towards God?

Some of you are WORLD CLASS, business leaders…. There are young people in our church that would love to learn from you… could you give someone a hour a month to coach them? Then while they are there talk about Jesus!

Some of you cross-fitMASTERS …. Have you ever thought about offering a free class to help people get into shape? Then while they are there talk about Jesus!

Some of you have an AMAZING marriage…. Have you ever thought about looking around church at the young married couples and finding one you could invest in to help them in their marriage?

Everyone here has different skills and talents….

How can you use how God created you to lead people toward Him?

PAUSE

Listen to what Paul says about this couple YEARS later…..

Romans 16:3-4 Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my co-workers in Christ Jesus. 4 They risked their lives for me. Not only I but all the churches of the Gentiles are grateful to them.

1 Cor. 16:19 The churches in the province of Asia send you greetings. Aquila and Priscilla greet you warmly in the Lord, and so does the church that meets at their house.

Clearly, this couple lived ON MISSION for God for their entire married life!

How cool!

What an amazing way to be remembered!

Think about it this way…..

You will see that the end of your handout some questions to ponder….

1. What experiences have we had as a couple that equip us to serve others?

Not let me be clear on this first one…

I am NOT talking only GOOD experiences…

It is good and BAD….

Let me give you an example….

There is a man named Don Pollard who goes to our Ebenezer campus who lost his wife and it was incredibly hard for him.

I cannot imagine that kind of pain that he, and lots of you, have had to go through….

But he and his wife were ministry partners….

And he knows where she is…

And he knows he will be with her again one day…

And he is still active in ministry at the EB campus…

And I have referred so many men to him now to minister to..

Because the pain he went through has given him the ability to minster to other men who have lost a wife in a way I cannot….

Rick Warren said this, “God never wastes a hurt.”

What experiences have we had as a couple that equip us to serve others?

The second question….

2. What resources has God given us that we could leverage to advance His work in this season of our lives? (business/ home/ spiritual gifts/ Hospitality)

Instead of just thinking about your future retirement and having plenty to get by….

Why not think about how you could use what you have in THIS season to advance God’s work?

And that can be a variety of things!

If you are retired it can be your time. We have SO many retired people that help out around here and we LOVE IT!

If you own a business owner….Leverage your position and lead Bible studies at work!

If you own a boat, invite people on your boat and talk about God!

If you own a RV, camp but talk to other campers about Jesus!

What resources has God given us that we could leverage to advance His work in this season of our lives?

PAUSE

The third question…..

3. What kinds of people are we excited about loving and serving in Jesus’s name?

This means for all you Michigan Fans….go love some MSU fans for Jesus!

MSU fans….well we are already are so loving I am not sure what we could do….

KIDDING!!!!

But really… what kind of people do you already enjoy…

What people do you already hang out with?

And how could you LOVE them…

And serve them….

SO well that they see Jesus in your actions?

What kinds of people are we excited about loving and serving in Jesus’s name?

PAUSE

And the last one to think about today…..

4. What is God doing in our community right now that we could join Him in?

Church there is SO much God is doing around us….

How could you shift your focus from what YOU are doing to what GOD is doing and just join God?

This is one of the things I LOVE about our local missions!

Did you know that 99% of the local missions work we do is simply partnering with other local ministries to help them do what God has called them to do?

We don’t try and invent things to do!

We look at where God is moving and simply join God!

How could you do the same????

How can you live on a mission for God?

How can your marriage, or singleness, be a mission for God…

That leads us to our life application today….

Life Application: Take some time and write down the GOAL of your marriage, or singleness. Write out how you God could work through you. I will ________.

Let’s Pray…..

Offering Talk