God in the Home

The Answer for All Our Family Problems

Revelation 3:20

Audio MP3

 

Pastor Craig Ledbetter

Bible Baptist Church, Ballincollig, Cork, Ireland

4 July, 2010  AM

www.biblebc.com

 

I.       Introduction (Revelation 3:20)

 

A.    God is FOR the home!

 

1.      More is learned about God in the home than in any other place. They will learn about God, and how important or unimportant God is by what we teach our children, by our attitudes and the way that we live at home. Or in Irish “Sabhaile” – At Home!

2.      Before God ever instituted human government, or even a church, He created the home!

 

B.     A sense of the presence of God in the home is missing, and it shows in our nation.

 

1.      Same sex civil partnership ball passes WITHOUT A VOTE in the Dáil

2.      The crumbling of the family ideal – most people only want a girl, or a guy, and have no concern about having a family!

3.      Churches are struggling to rescue a general public that does not want rescued!

4.      I am not talking about religious exercises and rituals, but a living, active relationship with almighty God that is sensed and enjoyed throughout every day!

 

C.     Illustration: I read of a man who visited Washington DC in America several years ago, and saw all the buildings and government offices, and all the busyness and activity in that massive city and he wrote in an Editorial, “Washington DC is the center of this great nation of free people!” But a year later, he changed his mind. He wrote another editorial, and in it he said that he made a tremendous blunder. He said that the center of this country is not in the United States Capitol — it is in the cottages and in the old farm houses and in every home in this land in which there is a family altar. The Christian home is the center of American life from which all the rest of it moves and radiates, and by which all freedoms are enjoyed.

D.    Before we can begin to address and fix all the myriads of problems in our homes, in our marriages, in your teenagers, in our children… we have to get God back where He belongs – in the very centre of our homes!

 

1.      That’s where God wants to dwell (Ex 29:45,46; Lev 26:12; Eph 3:17; Rev 21:3)

2.      But He only goes where He is invited (Rev 3:20)!

 

E.     This month, I want to invite the almighty God of heaven and earth, the Great I Am, and the Beginning and the End to return and take His place in our homes! We need His blessing, and we all definitely need His help!

 

II.    Message

                                                                                                                             

A.    God has Been Thoroughly Kicked Out (Ps 10:4)

 

1.      Listen to some excerpts from some articles presented by Time magazine in 1993 about the future. This is what Time’s editors and their selected ‘experts’ think will happen in the years ahead. They spelled it out in a special edition entitled ‘Beyond the Year 2000: What to Expect in the New Millennium.’

2.      The magazine consisted of 93 pages of dreary predictions and analyses of the future. Many of their conclusions dealt with the institution of the family, which Time believes is destined for the junk heap. For example, the section dealing with marriage and parenthood bore this headline: ‘The Nuclear Family Goes Boom!’ The article went downhill from there. This, says Time, is what we were to expect in the 21st century:

 

a.       The family as we have known it will soon die. It is nothing more than an interesting anomaly – a mere blip in human history. We thought of it as ‘normal,’ but we were wrong. The very term ‘nuclear family’ will give off a musty smell in the days ahead.

b.      Replacing “the family” will be multiple marriages, or what will be known as ‘serial monogamy.’ Divorce will be so common as to be considered normal. Some marriages will have ‘sunset clauses’ to automatically terminate at a given age. Couples reaching their 50th anniversaries will be as rare as today’s piano or cello virtuosos – gifted masters of their craft.

c.       Many women will live with other women, much like the ‘Golden Girls’ are depicted on the television sitcom.

d.      Children will live with a bewildering array of relatives – mothers, fathers, multiple stepmothers and stepfathers, stepbrothers and stepsisters, grandparents and former grandparents, etc.

e.       The taboo against incest will weaken. The fractured family will consist of relatives, non-relatives and former relatives, breaking down the obsolete prohibition against intimacies at home…

f.       Paediatricians will teach children about the use of condoms at the time of their vaccinations against disease.

g.      Theology, the study of God and the Bible, will soon die. Schoolchildren of tomorrow will have no knowledge of spiritual matters, nor even any interest in this topic.

h.      The triumph of feminist religion will cause many Christians and Jews to shun references to God in personal terms (no more Lord or Heavenly Father). This in turn (will) strengthen the groups that worship a mysterious nature-force to seek to deify only the self.

i.        Forced abortion, such as China imposes on its women, will be necessary in nations with exploding populations. The most important goal for the 21st century will be family planning for everyone.

j.        The bottom line? Let me quote: ‘…an even more radical approach may evolve. It is reasonable to ask whether there will be a family at all. Given the ease for divorce, the growing number of adults who choose to remain single, the declining popularity of having children and the evaporation of the time families spend together, another way may eventually evolve. It may be quicker and more efficient to dispense with family-based reproduction. Society could then produce its future generations in institutions that might resemble state-sponsored baby hatcheries…’ In other words, in our new millennium, human bodies are only for sex, and no longer for families!

 

3.      I’ll tell you what has happened:

 

a.       Started off with No time for God.

b.      Then turned into No need for God – only reliance upon other people, and on governments

c.       Now, No belief in God! Many religious leaders today deny that there is even a personal God, and they ascribe everything to—a great Nothing, which they designate Nature-mother earth. these teachings are being promoted in the universities, colleges and theological seminaries, in the secondary schools and even in the national schools

 

d.      Is it surprising—is it any wonder that the rising generation is losing its God?

e.       Our modern homes have kicked God out and…

 

1)      Replaced Him with socialism, entertainment, girlfriends, boyfriends

2)      Idolatries are anything in the place of God

3)      Does your home have a huge TV that gets 95% of all the attention in your home?

4)      Do your children have their own personal computer, personal ipod, mobile phone, etc?

5)      Modern life is only a series of Selfish demands without any need for God!

6)      And you wonder why no one knows God in your home? There is no room for Him!

 

4.      Listen to these Scriptures:

 

a.       Matthew 13:58  And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief.

b.      Luke 8:32-37 describes how Jesus was forcibly pushed out of Gadara simply because He interfered with the local business and economy

c.       The entire nation of Israel tied God’s hands, and limited His power in Psalm 78:41  Yea, they turned back and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel.

d.      How can all that be possible? And yet it is the same today!

 

1)      Not many mighty works

2)      Jesus is not welcome

3)      We are provoking God’s judgment

 

5.      God today, is basically misunderstood, resisted, unwanted, and easily dismissed!

 

B.     Today’s False gods

 

1.      The fact that the God of the Bible is unwanted does not mean that people are no longer religious at all! No way! There are countless FALSE gods that people look to instead!

 

a.       Pagan philosophies

b.      Self-sufficiency

c.       Multitudes of New Age of Self Helps like Oprah Winfrey

d.      Lighting candles, and burning incense, and hanging pictures of saints on the walls

e.       Drugs, drink

f.       Visions, apparitions

g.      People immerse themselves into Role playing games like Warhammer

h.      Others just simply surf hundreds of TV channels, and hours on end on the internet!

 

2.      But Only the God of heaven can make your home feel like heaven  (Isa 45:22; 51:3)

3.      Illustration: A man relates the following interesting incident back in the early 1900’s: "The story is told of a little Japanese girl who studied at an American College and spent a Christmas vacation in the home of one of her classmates. She had seen much else in America, but the thing she longed most of all to see on the inside was a Christian home. She had a delightful time and as she was about to leave at the end of the vacation time the mother said, `How do you like the way we Americans live?' `Oh,' she said, `I love it. Your home is beautiful. But there is one thing I miss,' said the girl with a faraway look in her eyes. 'It is this that makes your home seem queer to me. You know I have been with you to your church and I have seen you worship your God there. But I have missed seeing God in your home. Do not you Americans worship your God in your homes?'"

 

C.     The Missing Strand – a Person (Eccl 4:12)

 

1.      What’s Missing is not a THING…

 

a.       Many a lonely woman thought a boyfriend would make their life complete

b.      Many a husband and wife thought that a baby would make their family a home

c.       Many a couple thought counselling would fix their problems

d.      Many a married couple thinks time apart would do them good

e.       Many a teenager thinks all they need is some freedom

f.       Many a business man thought they only needed just one more chance, one more idea, one more loan

 

2.      But… It wasn’t money they needed, or a baby they needed; it wasn’t a boyfriend or girlfriend; it wasn’t information or a feeling that they needed - it was God!

3.      The THIRD STRAND in your home, in your business, in your life!

4.      And NOT just any religious expression of God… but the true God of the Bible (Cf John 4:22-24)!

5.      John 15:5

6.      Philp 3:8-10

 

D.    Getting God in the Home (Rev 3:20) The question is how do I start to have a real relationship with God?  And how do get it to affect those around me?

 

1.      First of all, It takes Conversion! (John 3:3) You need to make sure you really are a Christian. 

 

a.       I’m talking about complete Conversion – not just a “go along with it” attitude

 

1)      Brokenness

2)      Humility

3)      Contrition

4)      Hunger and thirst for God!

 

b.      You can never have a relationship with God unless you have really been saved.  All the statues and icons, and rituals, and prayers mean nothing to God – only Jesus in your heart makes you a Christian!

c.       Do you know a time in your life that you realized you were a sinner and repented (turned from your sinful self and your dependence upon yourself) to Jesus who alone is the only one who can save you? 

d.      Did you sincerely ask Jesus to forgive you of your sins and ask Him to come into your life and be your Saviour? 

e.       You are not a Christian because you are a church member, been baptized, are a good person etc.  The Bible tells us very plainly “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”  We need to repent of our sins and ask Jesus to come into our heart and save us.  Romans 10:13 “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” 

f.       Are you a Christian?   If not you can become a Christian this morning. I’ll explain how at the end of this message! 

g.      Salvation makes your body a temple for the Lord!

 

2.      It Takes Repentance – God only moves towards a thirsty soul (Psalm 51:10; 63:1)

 

a.       Sorrow that you have lived so long without God

b.      Sorrow that you have been a hypocrite

c.       Beg God for a heart for Him, a hunger and a thirst for Him

d.      Be absolutely willing to make the Effort (Isaiah 44:3). There is no quick and easy “get it over with” thing for you to do

e.       Be transparent with your family about your failure in this area!

f.       They all only happen if you are Determined (Josh 24:15) that God become real to you!

                                                                                                                                         

3.      It Takes True Worship. Praise (Psalm 22:3), Honouring and glorifying God

 

a.       No wonder with all the fighting and arguing, and rebellion in our homes! No wonder there is no God there!

b.      Worship is the deliberate lifting of one's eyes from man and his mistakes, to ponder God and his glory!

c.       How often we worship everything BUT God

 

1)      Our music

2)      Our friends

3)      Our heros

4)      Our money

 

d.      Worship means loving God in everything we do. No longer blaming and blaspheming God, but rejoicing in the Lord, and thanking Him, and enjoying His presence!

e.       Worship means Uprooting things that insult God and defile your family – no more fights for your “freedoms” to do as you please!

                                                                                                                                                                                  

4.      It Means Reading Your Bible (John 10:27, 4; John 8:43) – not the act, not just information! Many Christians read their Bible daily, but do not have a real, intimate, personal, passionate, relationship with God.

 

a.       Read to listen to God

b.      Read to learn of God

c.       Study what you don’t understand – God reveals Himself to those who seek and search and dig and study! He doesn’t spoon feed anybody!

d.      If you decide to get to know God through learning His word, then God will show up

 

5.      It Requires Obedience (John 14:23)

 

a.       The Bible is not only for information, but for transformation (Rom 12:2)!

b.      It cleanses as you read it – thankfully!

c.       But it changes you ONLY as you obey it!

 

6.      It Demands Regular personal prayer, every morning (Heb 4:16)

7.      It Means Praying with your children and your mate (Mt 18:20).

 

a.       The family without the prayer circle is like a family living without a roof over its head. When the storms come and the winds blow and the rains fall they have no protection. Surely when the home is without prayer there is no protection for the life from the problems and distresses which come our way!

b.      At the table – thanksgiving (1Timothy 4:4)

c.       At the end of each day! You don’t lose a child with whom you pray with every evening before bed!

d.      And you won’t lose a spouse that you pray with openly, transparently and passionately every day!

 

8.      It Means Making Church Attendance THE Centre of your World (Heb 10:25). Not your home, or your job, or your fun – all of those things will flourish based upon your commitment to public, unashamed worship as the body of Christ on earth!

9.      It means Soul-Winning (Mt 28:19,20). God just shows up when you open your mouth for His glory!

10.  It Means Serving (John 12:26). Ministering in some way to others through your church!

11.  These are all MUST Do Priorities!

 

E.     Don’t Worry About Failed Attempts – Just get Started!

 

1.      Illustration: After a pastor preached on the need for family worship one Sunday morning, one of the church deacons went home and announced at the dinner table that they were going to have family prayers. So he took out a Bible and began to read out loud one of the Psalms. He got along all right until he started to pray. He had never prayed before in the presence of his children, who were nine and eleven years old. He tried to pray, but the words would not come. His little girl began to titter, and then the boy began to chuckle. The mother smiled, and he was a good sport and smiled too. It ended with all laughing. He did not let the children know how his heart was broken. He went to his room and got down on his face and asked God to forgive him. At the supper table that next evening, he again opened his Bible and read another Psalm; and then he gathered his family around him and knelt down and prayed with his children, and there was no tittering this time. There was a sweetness, and after his short but real prayer, the little girl put her arms around her father's neck and thanked him. He had brought something precious into that home.

 

III. Conclusion

 

A.    Where are we going with this?

 

1.      The Pattern For The Home – Making Your Home a Taste of Heaven

2.      Child Training and Discipleship

3.      Resurrecting the Dead – Overcoming “the Impossibles”

4.      Dealing With Family Issues

 

B.     Suffice it to say, God is FOR the home!

 

1.      More is learned about God in the home than in any other place. They will learn about God, and how important or unimportant God is by what we teach our children, by our attitudes and the way that we live at home. Or in Irish “Sabhaile” – At Home!

2.      Before God ever instituted human government, or even a church, He created the home!

 

C.     A sense of the presence of God in the home is missing, and it shows in our nation.

D.    Before we can begin to address and fix all the myriads of problems in our homes, in our marriages, in your teenagers, in our children… we have to get God back where He belongs – in the very centre of our homes!

E.     Even though God has Been Thoroughly Kicked Out (Ps 10:4)

F.     Even though our world is full of False gods

G.    Let’s invite the almighty God of heaven and earth, the Great I Am, and the Beginning and the End to return and take His place in our homes! We need His blessing, and we all definitely need His help!

H.    He is The Missing Strand of our Lives!

I.       Getting God in the Home Involves…

 

1.      Conversion! 

 

a.       Do you know a time in your life that you realized you were a sinner and repented (turned from your sinful self and your dependence upon yourself) to Jesus who alone is the only one who can save you? 

b.      Did you sincerely ask Jesus to forgive you of your sins and ask Him to come into your life and be your Saviour? 

c.       You are not a Christian because you are a church member, been baptized, are a good person etc.  The Bible tells us very plainly “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”  We need to repent of our sins and ask Jesus to come into our heart and save us.  Romans 10:13 “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” 

d.      Are you a Christian?   If not you can become a Christian this morning.

e.       First of all you need to make sure you really are a Christian.  You can never have a relationship with God unless you have really been saved. 

f.       Do you know a time in your life that you realized you were a sinner and repented (turned from your sinful self and your dependence upon yourself) to Jesus who alone is the only one who can save you? 

g.      Did you sincerely ask Jesus to forgive you of your sins and ask Him to come into your life and be your Savior? 

h.      You are not a Christian because you are a church member, been baptized, are a good person etc.  The Bible tells us very plainly “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”  We need to repent of our sins and ask Jesus to come into our heart and save us.  Romans 10:13 “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” 

i.        Are you a Christian?   If not you can become a Christian right now. 

j.        Stop where you are and pray this prayer.  “Lord, I know that I am a sinner and I ask you right now to forgive me of my sins.  I turn from my sins and myself to you and ask you to forgive me of my sins and to come into my heart and be my Savior.  I receive you now.  If you did that you are now born again or born from above. That is the place to start first.  Now you can start a new life in Christ to have a personal, intimate, passionate relationship with Him.  He loves you and died for you and wants you to have an abundant life in Him.  If you did make a decision for Christ please lets us know that so we can rejoice with you and send you some material that will help you.

 

2.      Repentance

3.      True Worship.

4.      Reading Your Bible

5.      Obeying What you Read

6.      Regular personal prayer, every morning

7.      Praying with your children and your mate

8.      Making Church Attendance THE Centre of your World

9.      Soul-Winning (Mt 28:19,20)

10.  It Means Serving

 

These are all MUST Do Priorities!