Sermon Tone Analysis
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“Family Feud”
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When you think about a family feud, what do you think of?
Do you think of the game show, where two families compete to see which family is the smartest?
Or do you think of the Hatfield’s and the McCoy’s of Kentucky and West Virginia who were always “a feuding and a fighting”?
The Hatfield’s and McCoy’s have become synonymous with arguing, fighting, fusing, conflict and revenge.
All the original Hatfield’s and McCoy’s are dead, but their relatives that live on; because fusing and feuding and fighting between individuals and families, and churches are still taking place today!!
Do you know anyone who is fussing and feuding?
Are you living a life of conflict, arguing and fighting?
Some people seem to love to argue and fight and quarrel, they enjoy strife.
But most of us do not like strife in our lives, families are church.
Those of us who are saved have the Prince of Peace living in our hearts, and we are told by Jesus in -“Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
Children of God are to be peacemakers, not troublemakers!!
In the verses we read this morning we see strife break out between Abraham’s cattlemen, and Lot’s cattlemen, and Abraham and Lot get drug into the fight.
Something is going to have to be done about the family feud; before somebody gets hurt!
Let’s paint the picture of what’s causing this family feud, and then we will talk about How to end a feud.
Abraham and Lot leave Egypt and come back to the Land of Canaan in V:1-4.
We are told that both Abraham and Lot were rich:
· V:2-“Abraham was rich in cattle, silver, and gold”
· V:5-“Lot had flocks, herds, and tents”
I picture a western; all the cowboys that worked for rancher Abraham and the cowboys that worked for rancher Lot are driving their cattle to the watering hole.
One of them gets there first and takes up all the room and the other cowboys can’t get their cattle to the water, and a fight breaks out.
Kind of like an Old Testament “Open range”.
I want us to see what caused this feud and how it was handled.1st of all let’s see:
1.
The Source of a Family Feud.
We are told two time in V:6 that they could not stay together because the land could not provide for all their cattle it they stayed together.
What was the source of the tension, conflict and strife between Abraham and Lot?
The 1st source of the conflict was:
a.
There close Proximity.
They were living in close proximity, “they dwelt together”.
And that brought fighting and strife.
Trying to live, work, and worship close-up with people can be a problem sometimes.
It is one thing to be engaged to him-girls and you can say goodnight and go your separate ways.
But when you get married and he is your husband it is an altogether differ deal.
You are now sharing a bathroom with him and he messes up the sink with his toothpaste-why does he leave toothpaste in the sink?
Why does she get makeup on the hand-towel, why does he splash water all over the mirror, why does she put the toilet paper on backwards?
Living close-up brings challenges!
Doing life close-up sometimes causes strife!
The Bible and church history makes it clear that some of the greatest problems have come because people are thrown together and can’t get along.
How many arguments, divorces, and church splits have come because we refuse to tolerate each other up-close!
Sharing a bedroom or bathroom with a brother or sister, sharing a classroom at church, sharing a parking space can cause tension.
Waiting on someone else can bring strife and tension.
Because our selfish nature says, I DON”T WANT YOU NEAR ME!
I don’t like you, I don’t want to get close to you, and I don’t want to talk to you or fellowship with you, or spend time with you; stay away from me!
But that is not an option for a child of God in the body of Christ:
· We are “labors together with God”
· We are “built together an habitation of God”
· We are to “Strive together for the faith of the Gospel”
· One day we are going to be “caught up together to meet Jesus”
There are no solo fights to heaven, we are going up together!
We are told to encourage and built up one another; we don’t have the right to say, I don’t want you near me, I am not going to speak to you.
I am not going to work things out with you, I am done with you.
Behind the conflict was the fact that they could not work together in close proximity, they refused to learn how to work together.
Another source of the conflict was:
b.
Their material possessions.
Material blessing can be a mixed blessing; I know families that have been divided because of fights over money and the inheritance; who should have gotten what.
And now there are family members who are divided and haven’t spoken to one another for 25 years!
Abraham and Lot were both wealth and weighted down with all kinds of stuff to take care of, and prosperity had brought strife.
Everything that we possess whether it’s a little or alot has the potential of bringing pleasure or frustration.
Every toy you buy for your children is something that can bring them joy or cause a fight if someone else tries’ to touch it.
As adults a lot of strife and arguing comes because of stuff and possessions.
Abraham and Lot’s prosperity, rather than pulling them together, divided them.
Prosperity became a wedge between Abraham and Lot.
The love of money has destroyed a lot of good people, and caused a lot of heart-ache and division.
Proverbs tells us that people will lie, mistreat others, cheat and kill for money.
Paul told Timothy that the love of money is the root of all evil; it leads to all kinds of evil.
Then Paul told Timothy:
-“But godliness with contentment is great gain.
Lack of contentment causes conflict in marriages and relationships.
The source of Abraham and Lot’s conflict was their close proximity, their possessions.
There is a third source of conflict.
c.
A heart of Pride.
The conflict came because the cowboys are not giving in to one another.
They refused to submit to one another, pride is involved.
Pride is involved in every conflict, quarrel and fight!
-“By pride comes nothing but strife”
You find a person who is full of pride, they think they know everything, they are always right; you will find a person who is always fighting, arguing, quarreling about something.
Strive and fighting is always evil, it is from our fleshly nature and it displeases the Lord.
-“But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth.
This wisdom descends not from above, but is earthly, sensual, and devilish.
For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.
From God’s viewpoint quarreling and strife “are wicked works of the flesh”, that dishonor God, grieve the Holy Spirit and destroy relationships and fellowships and churches!
That is the source of a Family Feud.
Let’s see secondly:
2. The Solution to a Family Feud.
It always takes two to fight; you can’t have an argument if no one will argue with you.
Someone blows the horn at you…if you want to get things heated up-blow it back.
They jump out of the car, you take off if you smart; it takes two to fight.
You raise you voice, she raises her voice and...Let’s get ready to rumble!
It takes at least two to start a fight, but it takes at least one to stop the fight!
The first solution is to:
a.
Take the Initiative in Resolving the Conflict.
V:8-“And Abraham said to Lot Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen; for we be brethren.
If a conflict is going to be resolved someone must make the first move!
Someone must lay down their pride and go to the other person and say, “Let there be no strife, I beg you”
It is the mature person who takes the initiative in resolving conflict.
It is Abraham the man of faith, that approaches Lot the man of the flesh and says let’s stop the strife and conflict that’s going on, we are brothers!!
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