Sermon Tone Analysis

*FORTIFYING THE FAMILY*

                                                              /Deuteronomy 6:1-15/

 

~*~* What advice would you have given to the Israelites as they prepared to enter into the Promised Land?

 

- Many foes to fight

            - Many fears to face

~*~* God wanted His people to be strong and stay strong.

*So what did He tell them?*

*                                                           What was His counsel?*

*                                              What grand strategy did He propose?*

 

1.

Doesn’t tell them to increase their defense spending

2.         Doesn’t tell them to strengthen the military

3.         Doesn’t advise them to stockpile their weapons

 

HE SIMPLY SAYS — — — “FORTIFY THE FAMILY”

 

 

*/Why this emphasis on the family?/*

Because whatever strengthens the family, strengthens the nation.

God created the first individuals.

From those individuals God produced the first family.

From that first family God molded the first society.

God ordained that the family should be the foundation of society.

| The ancient sage and philosopher, Socrates, once said:    "Could I climb the highest place in Athens, I would lift my voice and proclaim: Fellow citizens, why do you turn and scrape every stone to gather wealth, and take so little care of your children, to whom one day you must relinquish it all?' " |

 

 

| An old Chinese proverb states, "It is harder to lead a family than to rule a nation."

|

 

 

 

If we as a church do not link arms with our families to lead the children to godliness, graciousness, and goodness, it won’t matter who rules the nation.

*You may as well put a different label on the same bottle of poision.*

EMPHASIS OF “GROWING BEYOND”

                                                                       Children

                                                                 Next Generation

 

 

* *

*| *ART MURPHY* — served more than 20 years as a children’s ministry pastor – currently at FBC, Orlando, FL, where 2000 children are enrolled: “Churches must see children’s ministry as a key part of the church’s strategy for reaching non-Christians.

Churches must realize that a dynamic children’s ministry is a key to reaching today’s family.

*/It can be one of the greatest outreach tools of the church.”/*

|

*

*I.

WE MUST INVITE THE NEXT GENERATION TO RECEIVE THE LORD* (v.

4)

 

~* To a Jewish person, that verse is as familiar as John 3:16 is to a Christian.

*SHEMA* – from the Hebrew word translated “Hear.”

From this one verse we see */four things we must teach the next generation:/*

 

1.

There is a God ("the Lord our God")

2. There is only one God ("the Lord is One")

3.

That God is Lord ("the Lord our God")

4. That God is to be our Lord ("the Lord our God")

 

/Our number one responsibility, church, is to see to it that the next generation establishes a personal relationship with Jesus Christ that is real and lasting./

Years ago, I read something by */James Dobson/* that I have never forgotten.

He said:  

\\     "The mission of introducing one's children to the Christian faith, can be likened to a three-man relay race.

First, your father runs his lap around the track, carrying the baton, which represents the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

At the appropriate moment, he hands the baton to you and you begin your journey around the track.

Then finally, the time will come when you must get the baton safely in hands of your child.

But as any track coach will testify, relay races are won or lost in the transfer of the baton.

There is a critical moment when all can be lost by a fumble or a miscalculation, the baton is rarely dropped on the backside of the track when the runner has it firmly in his grasp.

If failure is to occur, it will likely happen in the exchange between generations!

According to the Christian values which govern my life, my most important reason for living is to get the baton--the Gospel—safely in the hands of my children.

Of course, I want to place it in as many other hands as possible, and I'm deeply devoted to the ministry to   families that God has given me.

Nevertheless, my number one responsibility is to evangelize my own children.”

WE HAVE A TASK, CHURCH,

OF PRESENTING THE GOSPEL

TO THE NEXT GENERATION

 

*BECAUSE WITHOUT JESUS, NOTHING ELSE MATTERS!*

 

OVAL OFFICE

KREMLIN

NORTH KOREA

IRAN

IRAQ

*/None of it  matters if we fail to reach the next generation with the gospel of Jesus Christ./*

*II.

WE MUST INSPIRE THE NEXT GENERATION TO REVERE THE LORD* (v.

5)

 

 

~*~* It is not enough for us just to teach the reality of God.

~*~* We must also teach them their responsibility to God!

 

– /That responsibility can be summed up in one word – LOVE!/

 

 

~*~* Not talking about the average kind of love that the average Christian has for God.

NO!

                                               I’m talking about the kind of love that

                                                                 GOD DESIRES

                                                               GOD DESERVES

                                                               GOD DEMANDS

 

 

 

*          A.

WE ARE TO LOVE THE LORD FERVENTLY – with all our heart*

 

~*~* Nothing breaks the heart of God like the sin of a half-hearted love.

Christians, a half- hearted love doesn't make God happy.

If you don't have a wholehearted, blazing, burning, passionate love for the Lord Jesus Christ, and pass that love on to your children, you are missing what God wants!

 

 

 

 

*          B.

WE ARE TO LOVE THE LORD FAITHFULLY – “with all of our soul”*

~*~* To the very core of our being – to the very depths of our existence.

*          C.

WE ARE TO LOVE THE LORD FIRMLY – with all our strength*

 

 

*DELTA AIRLINES SLOGAN*       “We love to fly and it shows.”

~*~* We ought to love God so much that it shows, and our children can see it.

| Teacher  talking to a group of kids one time at a Sunday School class, and he asked them, “Why do you love God?”

He got a variety of answers.

But the one he liked best came from a little one who said, I don’t know why I love God.

I guess it just runs in my family.”

|

 

 

1.

Invite the next generation to receive the Lord

2.         Inspire the next generation to revere the Lord

 

 

\\ *III.

WE MUST INFLUENCE THE NEXT GENERATION YOUR CHILDREN TO RESPECT THE LORD* (v. 2, 13, 24)

 

We must teach the next generation to fear the Lord.

I know that many of you are raising either a question or an objection that goes like this: "You are telling me to fear the Lord, I thought you just told me to love the Lord!"  That's right, because the person who fears God most, loves God best.

*DEFINITION OF THE FEAR OF GOD:*

“The fear of the Lord is the continual awareness that I am in the presence of a holy, just, and Almighty God, and that every thought, word, action, and deed is open before Him, and is being judged by Him.”

 

 

*~*~*~* The fear of God is the awe and the respect we should have for God, that makes us diligent not to offend God, and be devoted to pleasing Him.*

 

*SHOW BY:*

            • the way you live

            • the language you use