Who Builds this House?

Title: Who Builds this House?

Title: Who Builds this House?

Text:

Series: Christ-Centered Parenting

Introduction:

Read

“Build” - establish, build

“Keep” - watch over, preserve, guard

What is the true source of success in the text here?

1001 Illustrations that Connect Illustration 779: Letting God Watch

LETTING GOD WATCH

Topics: Dependence on God; Experiencing God; Prayer

References: Psalm 127:1–2; Zechariah 4:6; Philippians 4:13; 1 Thessalonians 5:17

The baseball game was tied with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning. The batter stepped into the batting box and made the sign of the cross on home plate with his bat. Yogi Berra, Hall of Fame catcher for the New York Yankees, was behind the plate. A Catholic as well, Berra wiped off the plate with his glove and said to the pious batter, “Why don’t we let God just watch this game?”

Letting God watch. That may be OK for a baseball game, but it’s terrible theology when applied to the way we live our lives and carry out the work of the church.

—Ben Patterson in “Why We Don’t Pray,” Prayer Book (March 23, 1997)

Thesis: If your labor will be meaningful and your sleep peaceful, then you must genuinely trust the Lord!

Lesson:

(1) There is an alternative to genuinely trusting in the Lord

(a) The alternative of vain labor

(b) The alternative of an anxious life

1001 Illustrations that Connect Illustration 648: Women and Stress

WOMEN AND STRESS

Topics: Anxiety; Stress; Women

References: Matthew 6:25–34; Philippians 4:6

Women are stressed; that’s for sure. Here’s what they say about how often they are stressed:

• all the time: 8 percent

• almost every day: 21 percent

• once/twice a week: 29 percent

• a few times a month: 31 percent

• a few days a year: 11 percent

—USA Today “Snapshots” (March 20, 2000)

(2) There are overlooked enemies which serve to prevent us from genuinely trusting in the Lord

(a) There is the enemy of the “ability to labor”

Luke 18:9 KJV 1900

And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:

(b) There is the enemy of the “ability to exert or temporarily satisfy our anxieties”

Illustration of Rose Marie’s story

10,000 Sermon Illustrations Trusting In Activity

Trusting In Activity

The essence of legalism is trusting in the religious activity rather than trusting in God. It is putting our confidence in a practice rather than in a Person. And without fail this will lead us to love the practice more than the Person.

Jack Deer, Surprised by the Power of the Spirit, p. 151

(3) There is evidence of this genuine trust in the Lord

The evidence of this kind of trust in the Lord is an individual who “peacefully labors.”

Isaiah 26:3–4 KJV 1900

Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on thee: Because he trusteth in thee. Trust ye in the Lord for ever: For in the Lord JEHOVAH is everlasting strength:

King James Version Chapter 26

3 Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace,

Whose mind is stayed on thee:

Because he trusteth in thee.

4 Trust ye in the LORD for ever:

For in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength:

Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations 3856 Peace, Perfect Peace

3856 Peace, Perfect Peace

One morning in 1875 Canon Gibbon of Harrogate preached from the text: “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee.” The Hebrew is “peace, peace” instead of “perfect peace.” Bishop Bickersteth wrote the hymn, putting each first line in the form of a question and giving the answer in each second line: “Peace, perfect peace—in this dark world of sin? The blood of Jesus whispers peace within.”

—A. Naismith

(4) There is a good cause for this genuine trust in the Lord

The LORD grants what we cannot find in our own strength. For so he giveth…

The LORD has wellbeloved ones. You can rest in his love, even when your love fails.

Christalogical fulfillment & application

Lineage preserved -

Luke 2:4 KJV 1900

And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Beth-lehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:)

Entered into his rest - ,

Eternal house established

Hebrews 1:3 KJV 1900

Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;

Entered into his rest - ,

Hebrews 4:10 KJV 1900

For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.

The LORD gives rest.

The LORD gives rest.

Applications Questions:

(1) What religious activity are you trusting in to build and protect your house/heritage? Why trust in that activity above the Lord?

Turn from this trust in your activity and turn to trust in the Lord.

(2) Have you justified living with anxieties (because of your children)? Why is this anxiety ok in your mind?

Turn from this sinful anxiousness and turn to trust in the Lord.

(3) Has God set his love on you, in Christ? Have you tasted and seen that God is good? If God has given so much for your eternal rest, why would he not desire your temporal rest?

Turn from seeking your rest in your ability to preserve and turn to the Lord who gives rest.

Conclusion:

What are some things we are tempted to trust for success other than the true source of success?

A Christ-centered parent is one who believes Christ to be sufficient for the building and preservation of their family, according to God’s own purposes, and the parent is one who labors while constantly refusing to place faith in his/her labor.

Survey question handout.