January 16, 2022: Ephesians 6:1-2, "Families are Important"

New Year’s Resolutions: Families are Important

Winston Churchill once said: "We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills." -- It sounds exactly like Chevy Chase’s numerous family vacations and quite possibly some of our own as well!

Let’s face it, family life can be tough. It always has been tough, and yet families are important.

The evidence is convincing that the better our relationships are at home, the more effective we are in our careers. If we’re having difficulty with a loved one, that difficulty will be translated into reduced performance on the job. Conversely, there is evidence that where mom and dad are absent or a child is under great duress, their test scores and grades were lower. Now, am I in any way speaking poorly of difficult life circumstances? Certainly not! God is able to redeem any soul and circumstance as he continues to do with me and my family. But, the evidence is overwhelming that the family is the strength and foundation of society. Strong family ties have been correlated to one’s opportunity to succeed in life.

Families are important, and Paul felt the need to focus on the family in Ephesians 6:1-2 (NIV)

Let’s hear the word of the Lord together this morning. I invite you to stand:

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 “Honor your father and mother”—which is the first commandment with a promise—

And may glory be to God for the reading and the hearing of His Word this morning, “Thanks be to God.”

In the followup to today’s Scripture, Paul says in Ephesians 6:3…‘so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.'”

The idea is that as parents teach their children to obey the first time, it will be easier to obey God the first time He asks. The key is that teaching obedience must be rooted in the relationship that we have with them and not fear of punishment if they do not do what we ask. The closer bond we have with our children, the easier it is for them to accept our discipline. Josh McDowell says, “Rules without relationship lead to rebellion.” Countless times I’ve repeated that to myself as a reminder to keep the communication lines open and to invest more in the relationship than the expectation.

Strong families are important, and strong families come from strong relationships with God and one another. The stronger our relationships are, the easier it will be to honor one another and ultimately God. But strong relationships cannot happen if families do not spend time together.

It’s no wonder that our relationships with God and within our families are struggling. American Christians are reading the Bible and praying less than ever before. American families spend just 37 minutes of quality time together each day and yet are able to average a little over 4 hours a day watching television.

Think about it this way. The ones we are supposed to love the most in this world are often the ones with whom we spend the least amount of time.

The fact is that biological families are not perfect. In fact, many of us know the pain of broken families and family relationships. If that is your story today, I say to you that there can be redemption and healing within your biological family, but we are a part of other families that can give us life and vitality as well.

When we believe in God, we are all a part of God’s family. It doesn’t depend on biology, it depends on being a child of God.

Have you ever noticed how many Hispanic last names end in -ez? Have you ever wondered why that is? In Old Spanish, -ez meant "son of." Therefore Gonzalo’s son would be called Gonzalez, Domingo’s son would be called Dominguez, etc. And almost every language has the same thing. The Polish people -ski. For the Irish, it’s the names that begin in O-; the Scots use Mc-. It’s easier to see in modern day English, with Johnson, Williamson and Robertson. The point is that for centuries men have identified a man by who his father was. If we, as Christians, are children of God then we should be recognizable because of who our father is. We get our identity and our worth from that relationship, and we should display His characteristics.

As we believe in Jesus Christ, we are all children of God. Here’s a great key to being in God’s family. Human fathers may disappoint us. But our perfect Heavenly Father will never disappoint us. He just wants to spend time with us. We can connect with God in a myriad of ways including:

Slowing down. ...

Meditating or praying. ...

Enjoying the outdoors. ...

Staying open to finding God within ourselves. ...

Looking for God in each person we meet. ...

Staying open to experiencing the Spirit in unexpected places. ...

Finding music that touches our souls. ...

Honoring our bodies as a sacred place.

The key is that we commit to spending time with our Heavenly Father so that we can have a strong relationship with Him. A stronger relationship with Him means that we are able to enjoy a closer connection to Him both in the highs and lows of life that will inevitably come our way as we find a greater sense of our self worth that comes from being in God’s family.

As a child of God, that also makes you a part of your church family. White Bluff Methodist is a church family, created with the soul purpose of helping people to know Jesus and having a common bond in Jesus Christ.

Yesterday when I did Neta Lawrence’s funeral, I was taken back by how important Bob and Neta’s church family was to them through the years. I believe it was Kendle that commented that even though the boys lived away from their parents, they never worried about them because they knew that Bob and Neta were in good hands with their church family. I see examples of this frequently in the groups within this church. I look forward to us continuing to establish new groups with new people so that others may enjoy the experience of church family that many are already experiencing.

Church families help us to FOCUS ON GOD as we FACE LIFE'S PROBLEMS. It helps us to FORTIFY our FAITH. Through our church family, we FIND a place to belong as we fulfill our life’s mission of knowing Christ and to make Him known.

That sounds like a pretty good deal, doesn’t it?!

Ephesians 2:19-22 says,”So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.”

Strong families are important. A family that seeks God together will be naturally stronger. They can worship together, prayer together, and read the Bible together. They spend time together, not because they have to, but because they are family. Mother Teresa once said, “I Can Do Things You Cannot, You Can Do Things I Cannot; Together We Can Do Great Things.” It emphasizes that as we are rooted in Christ, we become stronger together.

As an adjective, the word “Family” means “designed to be suitable for children as well as adults”. As we think about God’s family and being a part of the White Bluff Church family, both are designed by God to be suitable for children as well as adults.

In 2022, let’s begin the year by placing greater importance on having strong families… strong biological families and church families that seek Christ together as we realize that we are all members of God’s family. The key to strong families all starts at the same place… a relationship with Jesus Christ. While our relationships with human beings will ebb and flow like the tides, we can always rest assured that we are safe and secure in God’s family. Our perfect Heavenly Father, Abba, Daddy, will always love us and will never disappoint.

SALVATION POEM