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FIGHT FOR THE FAMILY
Nehemiah 4:13-18
Sunday Morning Sermon
February 21, 1999
Fair Avenue Baptist Church
Today is “Love Your Family” Sunday and I want to preach on the family.
Without a strong family base, no church will ever grow.
During the past 20-25 years, the family has been disinter-grating. Non-religious secular studies have proven the family is disappearing.
We now have more single parent families than any other time in history.
We now have more working mothers than any other time in history.
The family as we knew it 50 years ago, with dad working and mom staying home and being with the kids, and everyone living happily ever after, is just about gone.
We now have "latch key" children.
We have many children that spend more time in a day care center than they do with mom and dad at home.
Have you ever stopped and thought about that? How many children spend more time with a day care worker in a day care center than they do with their own mother?
How many children know the day care worker better than they do dad?
What possible benefits of both parents working are worth our children spending more time in day care centers than at home with mom?
We need to get back to the old fashioned home where the home is special.
We need to get back to the old fashioned home where moms and dads realize their children are more important than money.
Take your Bibles and turn to Nehemiah 4:13-18.
Notice V. 14 - FIGHT FOR YOUR FAMILY
I believe that today in 1999 we need to fight for our family more than ever before. We need to fight to make families what they once were.
Speaking of homes, as far as I am concerned, there is nothing beautiful about a home that does not have Jesus in the center of it.
Through the years it has been my privilege to observe hundreds of homes. All of the fine furnishings, all the social gatherings, cannot
change a Christless home into a beautiful, happy home.
I have found that a home without Christ is a desolate, dreary, and miserable home.
Homes without Christ are full of pain, sorrow,
misunderstandings, hurtfulness, and misery.
We need more homes with Christ at the center.
I would like to read a poem for you:
DOES JESUS LIVE AT YOUR HOUSE?
Does Jesus live at your house?
I heard a child once ask:
Her little brow was furrowed as she struggled with a task,
I saw here eyes were shadowed,
her face marked with a tear;
The voice a wee bit wistful for the answer she might hear.
He used to live at our house, with mamma & daddy, too,
But now He's gone away somewhere
and I don't know what to do,
For Daddy's not the same today,
and mamma laughs no more,
They never bother much with me,
they say I'm just a bore.
It didn't use to be this way with Jesus in our home,
For every night when my daddy came home,
all my curls were combed,
To help me say my bedtime prayer,
and mamma helped me too.
And they'd smile and tuck me in, but now - they never do.
Could you tell me where Jesus is?
For everything seems black;
We want Him in our house again,
we want Him to come back.
And when He comes we'll keep Him for we truly need Him so-
If Jesus lives at your house, Oh! don't ever let Him go!
The child then turned and left me,
while I pursued my way,
And thought of many homes fires,
that could be bright today.
Does Jesus live at your house?
How much these words portend,
Yea! On this question's answer,
Our hopes...our all...depends.
Yes, there are some homes that were once Christian, but they are no more. Certain things took place, and now the presence of Jesus is no longer felt in the home.
In some cases, the making of money became paramount, and allegiance to Christ was forgotten.
In other cases, the pursuit of pleasure began to take first place, and the home disintegrated.
Yes, many homes were once beautiful and happy through the presence of Christ, but not today.
And, there are some homes that have never known what it means to be Christian. They have never honored Christ - they have never received Him.
The first great essential in the building of a Christian home is to receive Jesus. He must be admitted into the heart of the members of the home.
This is not a polite acceptance of the fact that Christ is the Son of God, but it must be the experience of receiving Him as Saviour, which
results in the new birth.
We must never be deceived into believing that a home can be made Christian simply by uniting with the church. The homes of many church members are as hellish and miserable
as the homes of out and out wicked sinners.
Therefore, the first prerequisite to a Christian home is to receive Jesus Christ as Saviour. And after you have accepted Christ as Saviour, there are still some things to do in
order to make your home a Christian home.
There are several ways we can fight for our family and our Christian homes:
1. REDEDICATION AND GETTING RIGHT WITH GOD
If you really want to fight for your family and make your home a Christian home, then it is going to take some rededication and getting
right with God.
Too many people have gotten away from God and the poem I read a few minutes ago describes your home. Jesus used to live there, but He has gone away.
We need to fight for our homes and for our family by getting right with God and rededicating ourselves to the work of the Lord.
Dads, are you right with God?
Moms, are you right with God?
Moms and Dads, do you want to fight for your family?
2. HONOR THE CHURCH
The Bible gives many good reasons why we should honor the church. First, we should honor it because it was purchased by the blood of Christ.
ACTS 20:28, “Take heed, therefore, unto
yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which HE HATH PURCHASED WITH HIS OWN BLOOD.”
EPHESIANS 5:25, “Even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it.”
We should also honor the church because Christ is the head of the church.
EPHESIANS 1:22, “And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head
over all things to the church.”
EPHESIANS 5:23, “For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of
the church; and he is the Saviour of the body.”
We should honor the church by attending the services. The first step to a backslidden Christian life is to stay away from the house of God.
The main reason for the sinking condition in so many homes is the failure to attend the house of God.
And when I say that we ought to attend the services of the church, I'm talking about ALL of our scheduled services. Sunday School,
Sunday morning, Sunday night, and
Wednesday night and Thursday night.
See, too many people have a Sunday morning type of religion. And you can't build a Christian home on anything as shallow as that.
You cannot tie your home to the church of God by a single service on Sunday morning. There are 168 hours in the week and at least eight of these should be given to the Lord
and as many more as we can. That’s less than 5% of our time.
Moms and dads, please do not complain about the wayward drifting condition of your children if you have not been faithful to God's house.
Some parents have told me that they do not know what to do with their children. It seems no amount of persuasion will get them in church.
Parents, you are reaping what you sowed.
I also believe we should honor the church by giving our money. I make no apology for saying that every child of God should be a tither.
And I also say without fear or contradiction that every home would be blessed materially and spiritually if the tithing plan were
adopted and followed.
God has had a plan in everything He has done and He has a financial plan.
I want to go on record as saying that I am ready to give $500 to anyone who can produce a CONSISTENT TITHER who is a beggar, or is forced to depend upon welfare agencies for his or her existence.
I also want to insert here that we honor the church by giving our talents to the Lord's work. There is such a desperate need for good workers.
Some phases of our work suffer because we do not have enough people honoring the church with their talents.
If your home is to be a Christian home, then you must honor the church of Jesus Christ and fight for that honor.
3. HONOR THE WORD OF GOD
You cannot hope to build a Christian home without daily consultation with God's guide book. Almost every home in America has a Bible, but the Bible is read in very few homes.
Here is a good rule for the Christian home:
The Bible should be read aloud, in the presence of your family, at least once a day.
If you are willing to pay the price, to put first things first, there is a time when your home can be blessed by the reading of the Word of God.
I have never regretted making the Bible an active part of our home, but I have regretted that we didn’t have a better family devotion time.
Notice VERSE 17
They had a tool in one hand and a weapon in the other hand. That weapon needs to be the Word of God.
We need to go about our work every day with one hand and the other hand on the Word of God.
If we are going to save our families, we are going to have to make the Bible an important part.
4. FIND TIME TO PRAY
After the reading of the Word of God should come prayer time. You will find that serious, earnest prayer will put your home in direct contact with Christ.
Prayer will drive out bitterness, harshness, and even infidelity.
Prayer is the key to every needed thing.
Prayer is the way to victory.
Prayer is the cord which binds us together. The more we pray, the more blessed and happy the home is.
Children should be taught the meaning of prayer. Prayerless young people come out of prayerless homes.
As I mentioned, prayer will drive away bitterness and criticism.
A critical attitude on the part of parents toward the church, the ministry, and the services of the church will reveal itself in the
children years down the road.
They will begin to question the importance of church attendance...Bible reading........and prayer.
But I believe prayer changes things!
5. DON'T QUIT!
I'm not going to say much about this, but the simple truth is that if we quit - our families lose.
Dads, if we quit serving the Lord - the family loses.
Moms, if you quit serving the Lord - the family loses.
Dads, if you don't quit - your family won't quit!
Moms, if you don't quit - your family won't quit!
1. Rededicate your life and get right with God
2. Honor the church
3. Honor the Word of God
4. Find time to pray
5. Don't quit
I realize that the storms may beat upon the Christian's home, but it will stand firm and fast.
Sorrows, like sea billows, may roll against its walls, but it stands.
The sun may refuse to shine for weeks and months and years, but the Christian home has comfort and cheer.
Is your family worth fighting for?
What about it, moms and dads, is your family worth fighting for?
Have you accepted Christ as your personal Saviour?
Do you need to rededicate your life?
Have you been faithful to church?
Are you reading your Bible like you
should?
Have you been praying?
Have you quit?
We need to fight for our families.
We need to fight for our families if we expect our church to reach this city.
We need to fight for our families.
Several questions in conclusion this morning:
ARE YOU SAVED, ARE YOU GOING TO HEAVEN?
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