Maintenance

Intro

Over the last several weeks we have spent time looking in God’s word inspecting the blueprint for the Christian home that I hope all of us want our spiritual homes to look like.

2 Chronicles 24:1–13 ESV

1 Joash was seven years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Zibiah of Beersheba. 2 And Joash did what was right in the eyes of the Lord all the days of Jehoiada the priest. 3 Jehoiada got for him two wives, and he had sons and daughters. 4 After this Joash decided to restore the house of the Lord. 5 And he gathered the priests and the Levites and said to them, “Go out to the cities of Judah and gather from all Israel money to repair the house of your God from year to year, and see that you act quickly.” But the Levites did not act quickly. 6 So the king summoned Jehoiada the chief and said to him, “Why have you not required the Levites to bring in from Judah and Jerusalem the tax levied by Moses, the servant of the Lord, and the congregation of Israel for the tent of testimony?” 7 For the sons of Athaliah, that wicked woman, had broken into the house of God, and had also used all the dedicated things of the house of the Lord for the Baals. 8 So the king commanded, and they made a chest and set it outside the gate of the house of the Lord. 9 And proclamation was made throughout Judah and Jerusalem to bring in for the Lord the tax that Moses the servant of God laid on Israel in the wilderness. 10 And all the princes and all the people rejoiced and brought their tax and dropped it into the chest until they had finished. 11 And whenever the chest was brought to the king’s officers by the Levites, when they saw that there was much money in it, the king’s secretary and the officer of the chief priest would come and empty the chest and take it and return it to its place. Thus they did day after day, and collected money in abundance. 12 And the king and Jehoiada gave it to those who had charge of the work of the house of the Lord, and they hired masons and carpenters to restore the house of the Lord, and also workers in iron and bronze to repair the house of the Lord. 13 So those who were engaged in the work labored, and the repairing went forward in their hands, and they restored the house of God to its proper condition and strengthened it.

And after we placed the roof of prayer on our spiritual homes last week, I hope we can look at the finished product and get excited to move into a home that is made out of such beautiful attributes.

Importance of Maintenance

Identify the NEED v. 4

Years of neglect and the prevalence of worshipping the idol Baal had led to degradation of temple.

Joash, understanding the seriousness of the covenant Jehoiada had made before the Lord to be the LORDS people, identified that the temple was in serious need of maintenance.

Make it OUR responsibility! v 5-6

Not the elders responsibility

Not the deacons responsibility

Not the churches responsibility

We will be held accountable for our families

Identify our resources v. 8-11

Just because we have made it our responsibility, doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t utilize everything at our disposal to fix our spiritual lives.

While it is certainly unlikely that a mere few hours a week spent studying God’s word and assembling with the saints will fix everything wrong with a spiritual house, it is a far underutilized resource nonetheless!

Having identified the need

Made it a priority

and identified his resources,

Joash set forth to the task of doing the work

Do the work v. 12-13

I think if we are honest, this is the biggest hurdle to maintenance.

Conclusion

Brothers and sisters, make no mistake about it, like the wind, sun, hail, and rain, Satan is constantly working to destroy our spiritual homes.

Fathers as the assigned spiritual leaders of our homes we must be up to the task of maintaining the foundation, walls, and roof that our families live under.

Unlike mothers day, I think preachers can sometimes preach to themselves a bit more on fathers day and that can come off a tad harsh. I think that is because when we see ourselves against the standard of God’s word, it is easy to see just how much we fall short of the mark.

But today I want to be sure to thank all of you fathers for your work on the spiritual homes in which your families live. Thank you for taking the time to maintain a Christian family and home. Thank you for maintaining prayers and dinner times and before bed. Thank you for raising your children in the nurture and admonision of the Lord.

I know there are times that we don’t do it perfectly, and we are so thankful for the grace of our families and God that allow us to try again.

But I hope today we see the importance of maintaining our christian homes, and that when we see the need, take responsibility, identify our resources, and do the work, we too can make our houses strong again.

If you are here this morning and are struggling with building a spiritually fulfilling home, the first step is to become a child of God.

Colossians 3:18–19 ESV

Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives, and do not be harsh with them.

Hear -

Believe -

Repent

Confess

Baptize