Sermon Tone Analysis

A Kingdom Man and His Personal Life

Blueprint for a Satisfying Home

Let’s suppose you wanted to build a house.

You don’t know much about building, but you know that you need cement, lumber, nails, and plumbing and electrical materials.

So you go to the building supply store and buy a bunch of those items and take them to your property.

You start sawing and nailing boards together, and stringing the electrical wires around and putting pipes here and there for plumbing.

If your finished product was anything more than a ramshackle lean-to, you would be lucky.

What you lack is a plan or blueprint.

If you want to build a house, you need a blueprint which shows the design and necessary materials.

No one in their right mind would consider building a house without a blueprint.

Everyone would agree that the structure called a house is not nearly as important as the relationships called a home.

And yet while we wouldn’t think of building a house without a blueprint, many go about building their homes with no idea of God’s plan.

It doesn’t make sense.

And the result, all too often, is a ramshackle, lean-to family life.

& 128 show us God’s blueprint for building a satisfying home.

Taken together, the two psalms may be seen as four stages in the development of a family:

127:1-2, Inception of home—“Foundation.”

127:3-5, Expansion of home—“Building on foundation.”

128:1-4, Child-rearing years—“Building material.”

128:5-6, Empty nest years—“Finished product.”

says: A satisfying home is based on God’s blessing.

goes a step further:

God’s blessing in the family is based on the fear of the Lord.

Thus, a satisfying home is based upon the fear of the Lord.

Just because you don’t have an ideal home, don’t scrap the plan.

Your kids and my kids are beating up our kids.

Mixed marriages

Marriages with one spouse saved

Do-It-Yourself Marriages: 7 Possibilities

#1 Starter marriage: Couples want to try out marriage for a pre-determined amount of time, without having kids.

They sign legal contracts.

Before the time is up, they decide whether to split or to renew their marriage or move on to a different kind of marriage.

#2 Companionship marriage: This is another marriage that is not about children.

Couples marry for friendship, to have someone to socialize with and do other things together.

It is not about passion or romance.

#3 Parenting marriage: This model of marriage is all about the children.

A romantic connection need not be part of the package.

Two people commit to raising kids together and providing a great home for them.

They promise to stay together only until all of their children become independent.

Of course, they can always decide to stay together even after that, but the forever assumption is not part of their marital contract from the start.

#4 Safety marriage: Some people marry for money.

Others marry for health insurance or for financial security while they pursue their passions or an education or they marry for some other instrumental reason.

Don't get all judgy!

It is not gold-digging or exploitation if each spouse gets something out of the arrangement and each explicitly agrees to it from the outset.

#5 Living alone together marriage: This marriage is for people who say they need their space, and mean it, literally.

Each spouse has a place of his or her own.

They are committed to the relationship but want a measure of autonomy, too.

#6 Open marriage: Spouses have other partners but they are not sneaking around.

They are practicing "consensual non-monogamy."

They want a stable marriage but not a monogamous one.

The "consensual" part means they've agreed to it.

#7 Covenant marriage:  Whereas all of the other versions of "the new 'I do'" relax the constraints or assumptions of the prevailing model of marriage, covenant marriage ups the ante.

It is only for unions of one man and one woman.

The marriages are harder to get into (premarital counseling is a requirement) and harder to get out of (there are few legitimate grounds for divorce, and couples who do not meet those criteria but still want to divorce have to wait two years to do so).

Three states offer covenant marriages – Louisiana, Arizona, and Arkansas.

is a wisdom psalm and a companion to .

Interesting the psalm begins with a blessing and closes with a prayer.

A Song of Ascents.

(Protection) Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in his ways!

Blessings come when the kingdom man fears the Lord and walks in His ways in his personal life.

(Working) You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands; you shall be blessed, and it shall be well with you.

(Family - Wife) Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house;

(Family - children) your children will be like olive shoots around your table.

Behold, thus shall the man be blessed who fears the Lord.

(Community) The Lord bless you from Zion! May you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life!

May you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life!

(Descendants) May you see your children’s children!

Peace be upon Israel!

THE BLESSING OF FEARING GOD

I often hear people explain the fear of the Lord as a mere respect or reverence.

But the Bible uses the word fear at least 300 times in reference to God, so we make a mistake when we downplay it.

The subject becomes even more mysterious when we read something like that says that "perfect love expels all fear."

So how do we marry this dichotomy?

How can we fear God while he expels all fear?

What does Scripture say about “blessings”?

Why are we blessed?

Malachi 1:6

John 3:16

Blessing refers to the favor and goodness of God that has been designed to flow to you and through you.

What does it mean to “fear” the Lord?

Scripture is full of examples of how fearing God is a positive rather than a negative thing.

For example in , Joseph wins his brothers' trust when he declares he is a God-fearing man.

It was because the midwives feared God that they obeyed him instead of the authorities by sparing the Hebrew babies ().

Pharaoh brought disaster on his nation because he did not fear God ().

Moses chose leaders to help him on the basis that they feared God and wouldn't take bribes () and told the Hebrews that God met with them in a terrifying display of his power so that they wouldn't sin ().

The Mosaic Law cites fear of God as a reason to treat the disabled and elderly well (, ).

And lest you think this is only an Old Testament idea, note that Jesus states this stronger than anyone when he says, "Don't be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot touch your soul.

Fear only God, who can destroy both soul and body in hell" ().

And Paul says to work toward complete holiness because we fear God ().

How then should we go about “living in the fear of the God”?

THE CONCEPT OF FEARING GOD

What was Malachi’s message to his hearers of old and today?

What was God referring to when He talked about His name?

Are we casual about God?

FEARING GOD FIRST

What are the different ways we give God our “left overs”?

What is meant by “ first fruits”?

YOUR ATTENTION, PLEASE

Are we giving God our full attention?

What happens when we don’t?