A Family Built on Jesus

Jesus as Foundation

Matt 7:24-27 ““Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain fell, the rivers rose, and the winds blew and pounded that house. Yet it didn’t collapse, because its foundation was on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and doesn’t act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain fell, the rivers rose, the winds blew and pounded that house, and it collapsed. It collapsed with a great crash.””

Matt 16:16-18 “Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Jesus responded, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.”

The Purpose of this Series

To make us aware that the way of Jesus is the model for our everyday home life.

(Matt 7:24) “Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.

Sunday morning worship is not enough to change your Monday to Saturday family...

Jesus is the WORD (Jn1.1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” )

To surrender our conversations, our habits, our authority, and our preferences to the Holy Spirit in all aspects of family.

To listen and hear the Spirit’s wisdom for every season of our family life.

Principle Truth: Family is Foundational to God’s Design

What does that mean?

It means that God’s plan and the Spirit’s formation for your life flows through the unique collection of people God has assigned to you.

You don’t always have to like them…but we don’t grow closer to God without growing closer to others.

The word for family in Scripture is often translated “household” and came to mean more than the individual group under a roof...it meant those who had been divinely connected to one another to experience and put on display the love of God…those persons God has assigned to your life.

So yes we have husband/wife, mother/father, son/daughter, but also more!!

Family is God’s place of provision… the expression of God’s kingdom in units of interconnected people bound in self-giving love towards one another.

In Matthew 7, Jesus is the FOUNDATION for the Family

Matt 7 is at the very end of the SOM…after likely the most important collection of Jesus teaching, he concludes it with this analogy...

The household that is built on the ROCK will endure…the household/family that builds on the sands of convenience and culture will crumble.

Notice that it wasn't the rain or the flood or the wind that destroyed the house…it was the builder!!

Both houses were caught in the rain or the flood and the wind.

Ps 127:1 “Unless [the ways of the] Lord builds a house, its builders labor over it in vain...”

Every Family will endure...

The rain of the pressures of life.

The rising flood of a breaking point (financial, relational, emotional, mental, spiritual).

The wind of attacks, disappointments, rejection, and isolation.

As believers we already know to expect these experiences…they are actually formational…they come to point us back to the foundation....

The foundation is something that does not get a lot of attention…it’s mostly hidden…but nothing else can survive if the foundation is not SOLID!

Rain, Flooding, and Winds come to reveal where our foundation needs repair!

Wherever Jesus is not at the center of our family life, our family foundations will be uncertain.

When Jesus is the Foundation of our Family....

1. Our Home reflects his Nature.

{God is relational by nature}

Jn 14:1-4 “Don’t let your heart be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? If I go away and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to myself, so that where I am you may be also.”

Rooms are places of provision…God’s design for family makes space for a covering, purpose, and provision.

There is a “not yet” to the Kingdom…but Jesus is actually talking about the cross and resurrection…so because Jesus has risen, we can now ALL get in on the FAMILY business (oikas).

The Jesus-centered home refuses to be driven by fear, anxiety, or crisis…it’s not that we don’t experience the pressure…we just choose to live faithfully knowing God’s way is the ONLY way.

2. Our home becomes a refuge for others.

{God’s love and healing flow through the love we give to others}

Gen 22:18 “And all the nations of the earth will be blessed by your offspring [family/household) because you have obeyed my command.”

Group Breakout:

Read Psalms 68:6 “God provides homes for those who are deserted. He leads out the prisoners to prosperity, but the rebellious live in a scorched land.”

How is the way of Jesus missing from your home? Where do you need to the Spirit’s guidance in your family today?