Home and Church

A Godly Home

Text: Joshua 24:14-15

I bring you greetings from the Thomas family home. Me and my precious wife who has made this sacrifice to journey through life with me. Let me just say that it truly is an honor and a privilege to be with the saints of God one more time. I am excited and elated about being with you this morning. Over the last few weeks you and I along with so many have been combining home and church. For those of you that watched the NFL draft over the last few days we saw how they combined home and the draft. We were invited to share the living spaces of the young men who would go on to lucrative professional careers. I thought it was a good thing because home is where it all starts.

As I stated earlier we have had to combine church and home together. While some had had to combine home and work others have had to combine school and home. Depending on the strength of the home has determined the success of this transition. In case you haven’t noticed God has come into our homes in a way he has never done before. We used to go to church and go home but now God has combined church and home together. In my opinion that is where church is supposed to start. Church starts with your family.

1 Timothy 3:4-5 The Apostle Paul lets us know that bishops or overseers of the church must be blameless , respected by their children and take care of their households. This in no way means to be a church leader your home does not have problems. This means you have to be able work the problems out in your home before you take the responsibility of helping to manage other peoples homes. I brought this up because the Christians need to know that our homes matter to God. How much room does God have in our home? God has more space in lives during this pandemic

Relevant Question: How much room will God be able to keep in our lives once this pandemic is over?

At the end of Joshua life he challenged the people of God to remain faithful to God in the same way we are challenged today to be faithful to Jesus. Who else other than Joshua could challenge Israel. Joshua had served Moses and God faithfully. He and Caleb were the only of his generation over the age of 21 to enter the promised land. Joshua saw the gates of Jericho fall down. Joshua has gotten old ,some probably called him old school tells them they have to make up their minds.

Rewind the Past

Now days we have digital music that we can just press a button and rewind a song but it wasn’t always that way. We have come a long way from 8 tracks, cassette tapes and Walkman radios. We are in the age of smartphones with the capacity to play music. Joshua rewinds the past on Israel. He hits the reset button in verses 1-13 and reminds them of the grace of God. He called Abraham out of idolatry to serve him. God gave the land him land and a seed. He basically tells them I see your fancy iPhone and your computers but don’t forget when you had nothing but 8-tracks and cassettes to play.

Illustration: My sister was going through some things and ran across a old picture of mine with some coke bottle glasses and haircut. Joshua has to pull out an old photograph of what they used to look like. He goes back to their bell bottom and Afro days to get them to understand that they better keep God in their home. You should be able to look at an old photo album and know God has been good to you.

Keep God in your home

Reasonable Requirements

Every blessing is on the other side of a tough decision. Joshua tells them to hang in their with God in every season. Serving Jesus Christ is not always the most fashionable life to live but it is the most rewarding. The Christian today that makes a decision to serve the Lord must understand that everything should not interest us and we can’t be involved with everything that passes us by.

Illustration: Before I married by wife I can remember those long and lonely weekends. Everyone on the job would be making plans to go here and there and the only plans I had was going to Walmart grabbing a movie out the Redbox machine and stay home. It took some years for God to show me that the rewards that I am living in today are the result of all those lonely long weekends staying home being faithful to God. I love making vacation plans but I have made a decision to serve Jesus Christ because I plan to spend an eternity with him.

Keep God in your home.

Recognize the Problem

If living save was easy to do everyone would be doing it. Joshua recognizes something in verse 19 that is true today and is the solution to keeping God in our home. There is a part of everyone of us that does not want to serve God and desires perverted passions, person preference over the purpose we were created. Jesus puts it this way.

John 3:19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

The individual that wants to serve God recognizes their inability to serve him in their own strength because their will always be what appears to be more attractive alternatives to God.

Conclusion: The Christian who can rewind the past, see God’s requirements are reasonable and recognize the problem will make a decision that will please God and lead to a happier home. Satan also wants your home to make it a living hell. What would your home be like if God comes into your home? -

-You will have a power that never weakens

-Love in your home that will never leaves.

-Promises that can pay your bills.

-Joy that never ends

-Peace that greets you at the door

-Foundation that will never fail

-Trusted friend through the trials

-Protector all day and night

-Supply that never stops

-Blessings that chase you down

Breakthroughs over and over

He able to do it if you keep him in you home

You should tell somebody with all the trouble in the world I’m going to keep Jesus in my home

Because over 2000 years ago when the world was in trouble he showed up in the home of Joseph and Mary to do something about it.

He dragged a my trouble up Calvary’s hill on a rugged cross

He died for all of my pains

He died for all of my struggles

He died for all of my sins

But three days later he rose with all power in his hands

Power to heal

Power to deliver

Power to save

I don’t know about you but I am going to keep him in my home.