Family Matters: Part One — Foundations for a Godly Family

Preliminaries

Food Distribution: Saturday, August 23, 2025 (Show Video)

Series Setup

Family Matters: Build strong(er) families and a (more) loving, (more) Christ-centered home!

Inspired by a social media post about a Family Matters revival series (it was fake), but it got me reminiscing about TGIF, Family Matters, Home Improvement, and Full House…

While not so much anymore, there was a time that even culture recognized the importance of strong families and healthy relationships!

Before we dive into this series and sermon:

Not everyone is married.

Some are single – not by choice.

Some are divorced and feel the weight of regret or rejection.

Some are widowed, carrying memories and grief.

Some families are broken, blended, or burdened.

I can’t cover every topic, thought, or exception…

But over the next few weeks…

I’ll do my best to preach and teach God’s Truth in regards to marriage, family, raising children, and healthy God-honoring relationships.

No matter where you are – I believe this message is for you.

Whether you’re raising a family, preparing for one, healing from one, or praying for one →

God’s Word has something for you.

Scripture

Genesis 2:18–25 NLT

18 Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is just right for him.” 19 So the Lord God formed from the ground all the wild animals and all the birds of the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would call them, and the man chose a name for each one. 20 He gave names to all the livestock, all the birds of the sky, and all the wild animals. But still there was no helper just right for him. 21 So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep. While the man slept, the Lord God took out one of the man’s ribs and closed up the opening. 22 Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib, and he brought her to the man. 23 “At last!” the man exclaimed. “This one is bone from my bone, and flesh from my flesh! She will be called ‘woman,’ because she was taken from ‘man.’ ” 24 This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one. 25 Now the man and his wife were both naked, but they felt no shame.

Foundations for a Godly Family

Marriage = “Mawwiage”

A godly marriage is a covenantal union between one man and one woman, designed by God for companionship, unity, and intimacy, where both leave their former ties to become one flesh and live in mutual love, transparency, and trust.

Substance

Point #1. GOD SAW THE NEED AND FORMED THE FIRST FAMILY

Genesis 2:18 NLT

18 Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is just right for him.”

First “not good” in Scripture isn’t sin, it’s isolation

Everything else about creation was good, but Adam (because of isolation) was in a “not good” situation

Was in paradise

Complete and total access to God

But because he was “alone,” this was not good enough for Adam in God’s good creation

God creates a “Helper” who is “just right for him.”

Helper: Ezer

Not demeaning or belittling or inferior or subservient

God often refers to Himself as our Ezer / Helper through Scripture

It illustrates that Eve supplied what Adam lacked

Adam would supply what Eve lacked

Just Right: Kenegdo

Literal: “According to the opposite of him”

No human relationship can complete you, not even marriage.

Only a true and genuine relationship with Jesus can do that.

But the best relationships complement you

God puts Adam under anesthesia, pulls out a rib (literal = took a part of man’s side), and makes Eve!

Theologian Matthew Henry:

Eve was not taken out of Adam’s head to top him, neither out of his feet to be trampled on by him, but out of his side to be equal with him, under his arm to be protected by him, and near his heart to be loved by him.

God doesn’t just see Adam’s loneliness—He addresses it by creating partnership and companionship.

Whether married or not, you were created for godly connection and community.

Point #2. MARRIAGE WAS CREATED FOR COVENANT, NOT CONVENIENCE

Genesis 2:22–25 NLT

22 Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib, and he brought her to the man. 23 “At last!” the man exclaimed. “This one is bone from my bone, and flesh from my flesh! She will be called ‘woman,’ because she was taken from ‘man.’ ” 24 This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one. 25 Now the man and his wife were both naked, but they felt no shame.

Joined = “Dabaq” = To cling, adhere, or be glued together

Marriage is a covenant where 1 man and 1 woman become one emotionally, physically, and spiritually!

Marriage is God’s idea, not man’s

Which is why we don’t have the right to redefine it.

Marriage is a covenant which supersedes convenience or compatibility

Kristen and I will celebrate 17 years of marriage this December

We are very different people at 40 than we were at 23

We look different, we think different, we act different, we like different things

BUT → we are still committed to each other even as we and our relationship changes.

WHY → covenant relationship!

Marital love is more than a feeling → it is a decision to remain faithful to one another!

Becoming ONE in marriage doesn’t erase individuality – it unites it under God’s purposes!

When you get married, you are starting a NEW family

You don’t become a new family once you have children, but when you get married.

Parents / In-Laws / Siblings = extended family

In a Godly Marriage, both husband and wife can be completely naked before one another

Physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually, and feel no shame or condemnation.

Point #3. THE FAMILY WAS DESIGNED TO REFLECT CHRIST TO THE WORLD

In Ephesians 5, Paul lays out how husbands and wives are to love and serve one another:

Both of you, submit to one another out of reverence for Christ

Wives, submit to your husbands as the church submits to Christ

Follow her husband’s leadership (not into sin) (not blindly)

Forced/coerced submission is abuse

Honor her husband’s authority in their family.

Support her husband in their efforts to provide, protect, and honor God in their family

Brag on her husband both publicly and privately

Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church

He should be willing to sacrifice everything for her

He should make her well-being of primary importance

He should care for her as he cares for himself

He should lead the way in pursuing God and leading his family to Jesus

Ephesians 5:32 NLT

32 This is a great mystery, but it is an illustration of the way Christ and the church are one.

God calls the wife to honor her husband and submit herself to his authority & leadership.

God calls the husband to love his wife and submit himself to her needs & desires.

And this is a living example to the world of the love of God towards His church!

Shutdown

Point #4. A GODLY HOME (LIFE) MUST BE BUILT ON THE RIGHT FOUNDATION

Matthew 7:24–27 NLT

24 “Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. 25 Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock. 26 But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. 27 When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.”

Every family builds on something – values, traditions, truth, survival, chaos, addiction, fear

Build your family on Jesus and His Word

Storms will come – not if, but when.

Storms reveal what’s underneath

Hearing and knowing aren't enough.

What are you doing / what will you start doing to build your family on the right foundation?

Altar

Salvation / Recommitment

If your life has been built on anything but Christ, today is your day to receive a new foundation—Jesus Himself.

Prayer for Families

Invite people forward for:

Restoration in marriage

Wisdom for parenting

Healing from past family wounds

Guidance for singles pursuing godly relationships

Strength for the grieving, divorced, or brokenhearted