Okay, so we're continuing our series on the decently and in order series, right, and we've
looked at the workplace, we've looked at the employment, and last Thursday I preached on
the family, the order of the family, and I had mentioned how, you know, I know it's not
popular in this day and age, but the Bible makes it very clear that the man, the husband,
the father is the head of his family, right, he's the head of his wife, and so we're looking
at the authority structure within a family, and you know, I mean, that shouldn't be controversial
teaching, it's amazing to me that things that were normal just 20 years ago, 30 years ago,
50 years ago, 100 years ago, seem so abnormal today, and you know what, the more this world
changes, the more abnormal we're going to appear, like if we just believe what the Bible
says, if we just believe what God says, and we live in accordance to what God says, we're
going to appear in this world even more abnormal as the time goes by, and so we looked at that
in the authority structure, I'm not going to be preaching so much on the authority structure,
but I am going to be focusing today on, well the title for the sermon tonight is Building
Strong Families, I want to give you some pointers, how you can build a strong family, and I'm
going to be preaching to the husbands, I'm going to be preaching to the wives, and I'm
going to be preaching to the children. Now, when it comes to preaching to the husbands,
you've got two roles, okay, you've got a wife, that relationship with the wife, and you're
the head of the wife, but if you have children, you have another role in that family unit,
which is to be a father, and of course the wife also, if there's children, she has another
responsibility and another role, which is to be a mother, and so all these points, you
know, you think about a husband, that could be one sermon all together, you look at the
father, that could be just one sermon, all these points could be one sermon each, but
I just want to give you just one sermon, okay, and cover all these things and give you some
pointers, because what I really want every family here to be a strong family, I want
every family here to be like what the Bible tells us to be, and you know, the truth is
the strength of Blessed Hope Baptist Church, you know, Blessed Hope Baptist Church can
only be as strong as the families that are in it. You know, if the families are broken,
if there's not, the authorities aren't being followed, if the roles aren't being followed,
if we don't have good, healthy, strong families, it's going to weaken this church, and so as
the pastor of this church, I want this church to be strong, but I also understand that it
comes down to the individual level, it comes down to the family, and then you can break
it down there, it comes to everybody that makes up each family unit. So you're there
in 1 Peter, let's look at 1 Peter 3 and verse number 7, so we're going to start with the
head of the home, okay, dads, husbands, I'm going to be preaching to you first and foremost,
and as I said, you know, fathers, husbands, I said that you've got the authority, okay,
and listen, when the Bible talks about authority, this is within measure, there are boundaries
that your authority has, there are, you know, when it comes to being, having authority,
what also comes with authority is not just power, but also what also comes with authority
is accountability, okay, accountability, you might ask the question, why does God
want authorities, why does God want authority in the church, why does He want authority
in the workplace, why does He want authority in the government, why does He want authority
in the household, the reason is so He can hold somebody accountable to the actions of
that family, hey, if that family does well, it's going to look good on you, husbands,
hey, but if the family does poorly, it's going to look poorly upon you, okay, and don't forget
the one simple truth, when Adam and Eve sinned against the Lord in the garden, even though
the Bible, we'll look at this later, even though the Bible says that Eve was the one
that was deceived, God came to Adam, okay, as the head of his family, came to Adam, saying,
what is going on, Adam, he holds the man accountable, all right, so we need to remember this, yeah,
you might be saying, man, it'd be so good to have authority, but don't forget, with
authority comes accountability, all right, now 1 Peter 3, verse number 7, it says, likewise
ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honor unto the wife, as
unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers
be not hindered, and so God is telling the men here, yes, you have authority, but I also
have great expectations from you, okay, there are certain boundaries that you need to operate
within when it comes to the family units, first of all, it tells us here to dwell with
them, speaking about your wife, dwell with your wives according to knowledge, okay, now
one thing that you learn very quickly when you get married, and this can sometimes cause
a bit of friction until you learn the lesson, is that women do not think like men, okay,
women do not react like men, women do not have the same emotional response as men, and
sometimes, you know, men, especially if you haven't been, you know, if maybe you've gone
to a life where you just hang around the boys, you know, just the boys club, you know how
each other react, you know how each other feel, and all of a sudden your wife, you might
think, well, my wife is overreacting, it's not that she's overreacting, well, she might
be, but most often than not, it's just that she's a different person, okay, you have to
understand, you have to acknowledge and understand, well, women were created differently by God,
okay, she's not created to be like a man, listen, as much as I like to hang around the
boys, I don't want to be married to those boys, you know, I don't want to spend the
rest of my life with hanging around the boys, right, you know, going out, having a meal,
going out, having a bit of fun, going around, kicking the ball around, hey, that's great,
but really, I don't want to spend every day of my life with the boys, okay, it's much
better being with the wife, and she's complimentary to the husband, okay, and so you have to understand
she responds differently, you know, you might think, you know, buying flowers is a waste
of money, because men think practically, but for your wife, it's probably something super
romantic, super loving, and she'd love you to bring home some flowers to her, we think
differently, okay, we react differently, so when it comes to, again, thinking about knowledge,
you also have to get to know your wife, you know, you can't just think, well, I go to
my job, spend eight hours in the workplace, then I'm just going to hit the gym, then I'm
going to hang out with the boys, and then I'll see my wife later tonight, no, listen,
you have, it's with knowledge, you have to get to know your wife, who is she, what are
her needs, when you understand who she is, and what her needs is, then you can be a better
husband to her, okay, and then what else does it say in verse number seven, okay, according
to knowledge, this is giving honour unto the wife, now often when you think about giving
honour, we might think about, you know, giving honour to the person in authority, and yes,
men need honour as well, but the Bible's very clear, God's words very clear here, men, you
have to give honour to your wife, you know, what does it mean to give her honour, to give
her respect, to acknowledge who she is, acknowledge her as your wife, and when I think about giving
honour to your wife, the first thing that I think about is honour your vows, right,
the day you took her to be your wife, you exchanged some vows, you said that you're
going to look after her, you said you're going to love her to the day you die, you said you're
going to remain married to her to the day you die, you keep those vows, if you keep
those vows, you are honouring your wife, how else can you honour your wife, celebrate your
wedding anniversary, you know, celebrate it, it surprises me how many people don't celebrate
their wedding anniversaries, you know, I remember just being in the workplace, people would
say, oh yeah, it's my wedding anniversary, what are you getting up to, oh nothing, maybe
just watch a movie or something, or you know, I'm working overtime on my anniversary, I'm
going, what's wrong with you guys, you know, you made a decision for life, I don't know
about you, but getting married is like one of the biggest decisions, maybe the biggest
decision I've made besides getting saved, right, you know, it's a lifelong commitment,
and you know, when the wedding anniversary rolls around, give your wife honour, you know,
set some money aside, take her out on a date, you know, make her feel special, buy her some
gifts, hey, that's honouring your wife, you know, you spent another whole year with that
woman that you love, that woman that you were committed to, you know, another way that you
can honour your wife is to thank her for her contribution to your life and to the family,
you know, my wife raising 11 children, you know, there's always food on the table, the
house is always clean, and you know, it could be easy for me to be a man who just comes
home from work, you know, tired, it's been a long day, a lot of stress at work, and just
expect the house to be clean, just expect there to be food on the table, and you don't
thank your wife for what she's done, you know, even though you're labouring the workplace,
you know, your wife was probably labouring the household, right, raising the kids, making
sure everything's being tidy and orderly, she's gone through her stresses, she's gone
through her difficulties, and what she would love to hear, man, is when you come home is
to give her thanks, is to honour her and say, wow, you've done a great job today, and we'll
look at this later on, we do see that this is a godly attribute, this is something God
wants men to do to recognise your wife.
And the last way I have to give her honour is to give her time and attention, give her
time and attention, especially when life gets busy, and boy, life gets busy, life gets busy,
doesn't it?
You know, I don't remember now what it was like when I had free time, it seems like every
time I have, it's busy, it's been taken up with something, hey, but I enjoy that, I'd
rather my life be busy, but even when your life gets busy, and man, even if you have
to work overtime sometimes, or you have to travel afar, you know, always remember to
give your wife some time, you know, especially if she's raising little kids, you know, she's
not had a lot of adult interaction, and sometimes she just needs, you know, to blow things off
her chest, you know, she can't talk to her kids the way, the same way that she can talk
to an adult, and she would love nothing more for the men, for her husband to be there,
so she can speak to that person, okay?
And I truly believe, man, if you give yourself some time, you know, sometimes, you know,
men, we like to blow off some steam, you know, like I said, go out, hang out with our mates,
I think the amount of time that you give to yourself, you should then work out, okay,
I spent two hours to myself, you should now give your wife those two hours in return.
If those two hours, or whatever it is, were so important to you, will give your wife back
the same amount of time if you love her as much as, you know, the Bible says you ought
to love her as you love your own body, okay?
So if you're giving yourself time and attention, make sure you give your wife time and attention
as well.
Let's keep going to that verse.
What else do we learn?
Give an honor to your wife, as unto the weaker vessel, unto the weaker vessel.
So what's the Bible saying here?
That your wife is a weaker vessel than the man's vessel, okay?
Now the immediate thought that you might get there is, obviously, generally speaking, men
are stronger than women.
I'm sure there are some women that are stronger than men.
I'm sure that happens, especially in this day and age where, you know, women are, you
know, being told to be manly, as I've preached before, and men, they're just lazy, men, you
know, they don't do anything with their bodies, they just become weak.
I'm sure there are some examples, and this is really bad for men, right?
If you think, you know, if a woman looks at you and says, I can just beat that person
up.
That's a bad look, right?
That's a bad look.
But generally speaking, generally speaking, a man is stronger than the woman, which is
why quite often, you know, my wife would have to come to me to open up a jar or something,
right?
You know, there might be certain things she can't do around the house, and she requires
me to do that because it requires, you know, maybe heavy lifting or things like that.
So we do understand that our wives, and, you know, God created this way, this is not
some defect, this is how God intended it to be, for women to be a weaker vessel physically,
but you also need to understand that your wife is a weaker vessel spiritually, okay?
Spiritually.
Now let's keep our fingers there in 1 Peter, let's go to 1 Timothy, let's go to 1 Timothy
chapter 2.
We'll have a look at this, 1 Timothy chapter 2, and we're going to be looking at the story
of Adam and Eve.
We know the story quite well, we've covered it recently, okay, but then in 1 Timothy we
also have a bit of a commentary of what took place there in the garden.
And we know, we know that both Adam and Eve partook of that fruit, of the tree, of the
knowledge of good and evil, okay?
Adam is as much guilty, and maybe even more so, for being the one that should be responsible
and accountable to his family, but when we look at 1 Timothy chapter 2 here, I'll look
at verse number 13, 1 Timothy chapter 2 verse number 13, it says for Adam was first formed,
then Eve, and then look at verse number 14, and Adam was not deceived, but the woman being
deceived was in the transgression, alright?
So when Adam took part of that fruit, he was not deceived.
He knew exactly what he was doing.
He knew by eating of this, I am sin against the Lord, I am doing what is wrong, but he
did it out of love for his wife, okay?
But the Bible is telling us that his wife was deceived, and of course she was deceived
by the serpent, alright?
So what do we learn from there?
When God gives his word, hey eat of all the trees except this one tree, when we see the
commandments and the laws of God, hey in Garden of Eden it wasn't that complicated, right?
Just don't eat of that one tree, that's the one sin that you can commit, right?
We see the devil came in the picture, and he didn't, the devil did not deceive the man,
he went and deceived his wife, okay?
So when we talk about spiritual matters, look, don't misunderstand me, many wives are more
spiritual than their husbands.
I know, I've seen that, I've seen many wives that are more spiritual, that love the Lord
more than their husbands.
But even though that's the case, the devil knows that if he can deceive anybody, he's
going to strive to deceive a woman.
And this is where the man comes in, and men not only are you leaders in your household,
but you should be leaders spiritually in your household.
You know, he comes down to you to train your family to know what God says, and if there's
any confusion, to answer the questions to your wife and to your children that might
come.
You know, it falls in the hands of the man.
Now let's go to Ephesians chapter 5, and again, stay there in 1 Peter, we're not going to
come back to 1 Timothy, but go to Ephesians chapter 5, and I'll just show you this truth
again here.
Ephesians chapter 5 and verse 25, Ephesians chapter 5 and verse 25, Ephesians 5, 25 reads,
Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for
it.
But now notice the next words.
That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word.
So what do we learn there?
That Christ is the head of the church and that he washes this church, he cleanses this
church by the preaching, the teaching of his word, of the Bible.
So we learn that, let's keep going, verse number 27, that he might present it to himself
a glorious church, not having spots or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy
and without blemish.
Now I don't have time to show you this right now, but you know, false prophets, people
that are preaching false things, the Bible often says that they are spots.
And God wants his church to be without spots.
He wants his church to be perfect without any blemishes.
And so the word of God needs to be preached to get rid of false doctrine and especially
to get rid of false prophets that might be trying to come and influence the church.
Say why are you telling us that?
Because Jesus Christ is using the analogy of husband and wife.
Jesus wants his church clean so she would be a glorious bride, a glorious wife as it
were to him.
And so what we learn from that then, men, is that if that's what Christ is doing to
his church and he's using the analogy of husband and wife, then it is the husband's responsibility
to use God's word to teach his family.
It is the man's responsibility to get rid of the blemishes, the spots, the wrinkles,
the sins that he finds in his family and teach them from the word of God.
So the responsibility falls upon the man.
Now I've had questions in the past where, as I've said, this is not unusual, where the
wife is more spiritual than her husband.
Hey, maybe the wife has been saved longer than the husband, right?
And the question gets asked, well, I see what the Bible says about authority, I see that
the husband's in charge, but when it comes to Bible preaching or when it comes to teaching
the word of God to the family, you know, is it right for me to do that?
And I'll give you my quick opinion on, I don't think it's an opinion, I think this is the
fact, okay?
And I'm often reminded, you know, there are times where, you know, in the workplace where
I would be supervising or managing people, you know, I would, one of the reasons you,
sometimes you become a supervisor or a manager is because you know the work better than others.
Sometimes that happens.
People work better than others, you're more productive, you're more efficient, and then
you get promoted into a higher position, right?
To train people up.
That's one way you get promoted.
Another way you get promoted is just by being a great character.
Just by being a hard worker, you might not necessarily know everything, but you prove
yourself to be a leader, you prove yourself to be someone that can be trusted, and so
the employer sometimes will promote you even though you don't know the work that you're
supervising.
I've been in that situation many times where I was promoted into a position and then I
have no idea what the work is.
I've been promoted because I'm a good people manager.
I'm not being promoted because I necessarily know what is happening in that department,
okay?
So what happens?
What happens when you don't know what's going on in the department?
Well, what you do, you start to figure out who knows what's going on, you start figuring
out who are the leaders in that department, you start figuring out who knows best, and
then you rely on those people.
And so then you give tasks to those people to make sure the job is being carried out,
but even though you don't know what's going on, you don't necessarily know the job end
to end, you're still in charge.
You're delegating the responsibilities to others so they can do the job.
And so my advice to men, if your wife is more spiritual, there's nothing wrong with your
wife opening the Bible and teaching the family, there's nothing wrong with that, okay?
But here's the thing, you still be in charge.
You still be the leader.
You say, all right guys, it's family time or it's time for church, Thursday, 7 o'clock,
they're going to be in church, or you know, you might read the Bible and say, honey, you
know a little bit more about the Bible than I do, what do you think this is saying, right?
But here you're delegating the responsibility, you're still the one in charge, you're still
the one making sure that your family is receiving Bible teaching, okay?
Now, if you go back to 1 Peter chapter 3, verse number 7, 1 Peter chapter 3 and verse
number 7.
We saw that she's the weaker vessel and so there's responsibility on the men to make
sure you're her strength, that you're her rock.
Then it says here, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers be
not hindered.
So there's a reminder there, brethren, that we're heirs together, husband and wife, we're
heirs together of the grace of life.
You know, God's given us a beautiful gift and that's life.
Every morning you wake up, you take a breath, you open your eyes, praise God you did not
pass away in your sleep, you've got another day to look forward to, you've got another
day to accomplish things.
Well, I don't know how many years we have, I don't know how many days we have, brethren,
but you know what?
Your wife is to be your partner, she's to be your co-laborer, your help, your love,
all the days of your life, your heirs together of the grace of life.
You know, God did not make it for man to just do his own thing and for the wife to do her
own things.
And again, this happens in marriages.
You get married, but it sounds like husband and wife, you just don't spend time together.
You know, the man does his business, the wife does her business, and they don't even know
each other.
They don't cross paths.
It's like they have separate lives.
They live in the same house, they have the same kids, but their lives are completely
different.
That's not how it should be.
Remember, God created husbands and wives to be one flesh, we're to be a team, we're to
function together.
And so God has given us the grace of life, He's given us this great gift to be shared
together.
Husbands, make sure you give your wife time.
Make sure, you know, whatever days and years God has given you, you make a decision today
or if you haven't already done that, make it today and say, well, I'm going to make
sure that my wife is involved in my life, okay?
She's number one, she's the priority, we are one flesh, we are a team together.
Now why are you telling us all this, Pastor Kevin, because it's said there at the end
of verse number seven, that your prayers be not hindered.
What does it mean to be hindered?
To be prevented, right?
They're not reaching God, all right?
So here's, okay men, you've been given the authority, all right, yeah, I'm in charge.
Oh good, you're in charge, all right?
But here's the thing, you've got to treat your wife properly.
You've got to love her, you've got to give her honor, you've got to spend time with her,
because if you're not loving her, if you're not doing what God says, your prayers to God,
they're not going to reach God.
You know, you're going to have a need, you're going to go to God, God, I have a need, but
you've been treating your wife badly, well God says those prayers are hindered, okay?
That's part of the, you know, the chastisement of God.
If you're not being a good husband, you're not loving your wife properly, God's going
to hinder your prayers to him.
Next time you're crying out in help to God, and you're saying, well God, you seem like
so far away, it seems like you're not answering my prayers.
Well, look at your wife, have you given her time?
Have you loved her the way that you should?
And you know, if you can say, well, you know what, I've not been giving my wife time, I've
not been honoring her, I've not been, you know, I've been fighting, I've been arguing,
you know, we've not been having a good life together, or maybe you need to go and fix
that first, in fact, you definitely need to go and fix that first before God will start
answering your prayers.
And so you can see here that God holds men accountable, and if you don't do what he says,
God will chastise you.
And one great way there is by hindering your prayers.
All right, so I spoke about husbands there.
Now I'm talking about the same men, if those husbands, if you've had children with your
wife, let's now turn to Ephesians chapter 6, let's turn to Ephesians chapter 6, because
husbands, you also have a different role, okay, and this is with your children, with
your children.
And you know, I look at Isabel, Isabel's here tonight, she's 15, I don't know where the
years went.
You know, I still remember her at six months old, I still remember her, you know, running
around and, you know, when I'm going to work, she's running to the door, Dad, give me a
kiss, you know, give me a kiss, Dad, before you go to work, I still remember those years
and she's 15 now, all right, and I just said, where have the years gone?
I look in the mirror, yeah, my hair's a little bit whiter, I guess the years have gone white,
but what happened to my kids?
And I'm just thinking, that's gone so quick, you know, in another 15 years, she'll probably,
definitely be married and have her own family and her own kids, you know, where does the
time go?
And so God has also given us children, and it might seem like when they're little that
they're always going to be there, it might seem like they're just, you know, the years,
we're just going to have so many years together, but time goes quick, doesn't it?
And so we're given instructions about our own children.
Before we read Ephesians chapter 6, verse 4, I'm going to read to you from Colossians
3, 21, which says, and it's basically, it's almost the same thing, it says here, fathers
provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged.
You know, our fathers, we need to remember that our actions can cause our children to
be discouraged.
I don't want my children to be discouraged.
You know, when I look at people that grew up in a broken home or, you know, a father
did not show them love, you know, and you see the discouragement, you kind of almost
see those emotional scars for the rest of their life.
It's like they never know how to behave, they never feel like they've been accepted
in the world because they weren't accepted by their own fathers, and it really has an
emotional effect on children when they don't have the love of their fathers, okay?
It can discourage them, but look at Ephesians chapter 6, verse number 4.
It says, and you, fathers, provoke not your children to wrath, okay?
So we're not here to make our children angry and upset.
We need to make sure that we show them love, we want to make sure that they know that even
when we discipline them, it's out of love, it's out of care.
We want them to mature, we want them to grow, we want them to be successful in life, we
want them to love God, and listen, brethren, you know, I want my kids to do well in life.
I want them to, you know, have a house, I want them to live comfortably, but if I can
exchange all of that for them to just love God, you know, just to, you know, even if
they're poor, but they go through life poor, but they just love God, and they're winning
souls, and they're doing what they can for God, they're serving God for the rest of their
life, that's success to me.
You know, who cares if they're rich but they're far from God?
Or even worse, that they're rich and they're not even saved, you know, they've stopped
believing on Jesus Christ, I don't want that for my children, okay?
But here's fathers, you know, we need to make sure that we spend time with our children,
right?
All right, so fathers, you know, sometimes we might think that the job of raising the
children falls on mum, and yeah, you know what, most often than not she's at home, you
know, and she's going to spend more time with the children, but we see here that it's still
the responsibility of the fathers to bring up their children, to raise their children.
It says the nurture, what's nurture?
Nurture is to train, to instruct, to give guidance to your children, okay?
And then it says admonition, what's admonition?
That's to correct, that's to chastise.
When they've done wrong, you've got to correct your children, you've got to tell them they've
done wrong, okay?
Or that they've sinned against the Lord, that's important as well.
You know, you can't just be a father that's all admonition and no nurture, okay?
Because your children are just going to grow up hating you.
They're going to grow up hating the family they grew up in if it's just admonition, just
constantly being corrected, just being constantly told that they are wrong, no.
But if you just raise them with nurture, you know, just guidance and training and patting
their backs, but they don't get corrected, well they're going to become spoiled children.
They're going to think that they're entitled and that they never make mistakes and we need
to make sure that as fathers we have the nurture and admonition of supernanny, is that what
it says?
Hey, go watch supernanny and she'll tell you how to raise your kids.
Is it the nurture and admonition of supernanny?
No, it doesn't say that.
I don't know if you guys are familiar with this book, but there's this book called To
Train Up a Child by Michael and Debbie Pearl.
Who's heard of that book, anybody?
No one here?
Okay.
It's quite a popular book amongst independent Baptists.
Listen, if you've got that book, if you've got that book, brother, throw it in the bin.
It's the worst book.
I'm telling you, it basically instructs you, very first page tells you to raise your children
like you were taming a wild horse.
Okay.
It's like you're taming a wild animal and you've got to break their will, you've got
to break the spirit like you would an animal.
It's like, what in the world?
I don't want my children to grow up with no spirit, no will.
Hey, instead of breaking their will, it's about making their will like Christ's.
To make them love Christ, not to break it, okay, but to align their will to God's will.
That's what we're trying to do.
That book is rubbish.
Okay.
And I've seen families use that book and the kids hate their family.
They grow up and they hate their upbringing, okay.
It's not the nurture and admonition of Michael and Debbie Pearl, not the nurture and admonition
of Supernanny.
It says the nurture and admonition of the Lord, the Lord, okay.
So you're training your children in accordance to God's word.
According to the Bible, you're telling them what is right and wrong based on what God's
word says.
You're not telling them what's right and wrong based on what this world is telling
us or what the media is telling us, no.
It's what the word of God is telling us.
You're raising them to understand God's will and to understand their love for or His
love for them, okay.
So it's a nurture and admonition of the Lord.
Can you please turn to the book of Deuteronomy?
Let's go to Deuteronomy chapter 6, Deuteronomy chapter 6, verse number 6.
Deuteronomy chapter 6 and verse number 6.
And we're talking here about the law of Moses.
Don't forget Moses went out to Mount Sinai, received the law of God.
Deuteronomy took place sometime later.
It's a second giving of the law and it was given to the Israelites before they went into
the Promised Land, okay.
But in verse number 6, Deuteronomy chapter 6 and verse number 6, it says, and these words,
speaking about the law of Moses, speaking about the Scriptures, speaking about the word
of God and these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart and thou
shall teach them diligently unto thy children.
Listen, we need to teach our children the word of God.
This is why it's important to bring our children to church so they hear the preaching of God's
word.
But brethren, you know, church is not enough, okay.
They need mum and dad teaching their children these things.
You know, thank you that you allow me to have an influence on your children, you know,
by preaching the word of God, but the greater influence on your children will be yourselves.
You need to make sure you take time to teach your children the word of God.
It says teach them diligently, you know, put some effort in, put some study in, you know,
try to answer questions.
If your kids come with questions, you'll be like, you know what, let's try to figure that
out together.
Let's try to learn what God's word says.
Do it diligently and then it says, and shall talk of them when thou sittest in thine house
and when thou walkest by the way and when thou lies down and when thou risest up.
What's it saying?
Every part of your day is a day to train your children, to help them understand what God's
word says.
You know, quite often this passage gets mentioned, especially if you homeschool your kids.
We homeschool our kids and part of that, yeah, why do you homeschool your kids?
Yeah, because it tells us here that we need to teach our children diligently, okay?
But listen, it's not just homeschooling.
It's every aspect of life.
Whatever situation comes up, whatever drama comes up, whatever happens in this world,
it's an opportunity for you to train your children and tell them this is what God says
about this situation, all right?
So every opportunity is a training opportunity.
Now can we please go to Acts 16?
Let's go to Acts 16 in the New Testament, Acts chapter 16 and verse number 30, Acts
chapter 16 and verse number 30.
And for those that go soul winning, you guys know this is your soul winning verse usually
when you ask people, so what do you think you have to do to be saved?
And they're like, I don't know.
What does the Bible say?
Well, here in Acts 16 verse 30, the question gets asked and let's have a look at the question.
But I want to focus on something else here.
Acts 16 verse 30, it says, and brought them out and said, sirs, what must I do to be saved?
Great question.
Verse number 31, and they said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved
and thy house.
Now it says he believed on the Lord Jesus Christ.
Does it say go to church and be saved?
Does it say get baptized and be saved?
Does it say repent of your sins and be saved?
Does it say read your Bible cover to cover and be saved?
Does it say go and confess your sins to a priest or to a pastor to be saved?
No, it's believed salvation is by grace through faith, that not of yourselves, it is the gift
of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.
That's not what I'm focused on.
What I'm focused on here is you'll be saved and thy house.
Now you say, what is the house here?
The house represents your family, your family.
Now this is not saying that if you believe, if you get saved, that means your whole family
is saved.
No, that's not what it says.
Let's keep going, okay?
Verse number 32, and they spake unto him the word of the Lord and to all that were in his
house.
Okay, so they're not just preaching to the Philippian jailer, he's preaching to everybody
in his house, right?
The Philippian jailer allows them to come and to preach in his house and so they have
an opportunity to preach the gospel, yes to him, but they're preaching the gospel to the
whole house.
Verse number 33, and he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes
and was baptized, he and all his straight away.
So they believed on Christ, what's the next logical thing to do?
Get baptized.
You were talking to me earlier about getting baptized, okay?
Baptism is the next logical thing, but don't forget baptism does not save, it's your faith
on Jesus which saves.
Baptism is a picture that you've placed your faith on the death, burial and resurrection
of Jesus Christ, okay?
So who gets baptized?
He and all his straight away.
And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them and rejoiced.
Now look at this, believing in God with all his house.
Say what's the point here?
What are you trying to tell us, pastor?
Fathers, you're accountable for the souls in your family, okay?
If you know the gospel, you've been saved, you need to make sure that your wife is saved,
you need to make sure that your children are saved, you need to make sure that this message
gets passed on in your family.
What a sad thing when I hear stories of believing parents and children who grew up to be unbelievers.
Children who grew up to hate God.
Say what happened?
What happened?
I'll tell you what happened.
The parents did not train their children, the parents did not make sure that the gospel
was understood by their children and that they believed on Jesus Christ.
They thought well if my children go to Sunday school that's enough.
They thought if my children just go to church that's enough, they're hearing about God.
They need to hear from mum and dad.
They need to understand that the gospel is true to mum and dad and if it's true to them
then it's going to be true to me.
I'll never forget as a child, I've used this analogy before and my dad probably doesn't
even remember, but I just walked into his bedroom one day and he was on his knees praying
and he had his Bible open and I just thought wow, if my dad, who as a child I thought was
the greatest human being on the planet, if my dad needs God, surely I need God.
That was my reaction, surely I need God if my father, who I think is amazing, needs God.
And so you know fathers, we have an influence on our families, on our children.
This man made sure that not only was he saved, he made sure his entire household heard the
gospel and believed on Jesus Christ.
That responsibility does not fall on me as your pastor, it falls on you men.
You're accountable, you're responsible for your household.
Now let's go back to 1 Peter chapter 3 where we started, 1 Peter chapter 3 and verse number
1, 1 Peter chapter 3, we're going to backtrack a little bit in this chapter, let's go to
verse number 1.
So I've preached to the men, now I want to preach to the ladies.
Ladies in 1 Peter chapter 3 and verse number 1 and I know, again this is not popular today,
don't get mad at me, if you're going to get mad at anybody, get mad at God, right.
Honestly because these are his words, alright.
It says there, 1 Peter chapter 3 verse number 1, likewise ye wives, be in subjection to
your own husbands.
Oh man I can't believe it, yeah that's what the Bible says.
And you know what, if you're a young lady, you're a single lady and you're not married
yet, you better make sure you marry a man that you can say I can be in subjection to
this man.
Like if there's a man that you think I'm in love with him, you know, oh man, you know,
feels so good, you know, together, you know, we've got the feelings, you know, just seems
to be the one.
But then someone approaches you with the Bible and says yeah but you've got to be in subjection
to him, you say I can't do that.
That's not the man you should marry.
If you can't be in subjection to the man, don't marry that man, okay.
Don't marry some loser, don't marry some bum who doesn't work, okay.
Oh but I love him, yeah but he can't look after you, if he can't look after you, how
can you be in subjection to him?
How are you going to respect that leader, it's not going to happen, you know.
And it says here wives, if you're going to be subject, you better find, make sure you
find a man who's going to look after you, who's going to provide for you, who's going
to love you, who's going to teach you God's word, alright.
Likewise ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands, that if any obey not the word,
they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives.
What is it saying?
It's saying if, it says here but if any obey not the word.
If you know the context of the first book of 1 Peter, this is speaking about a husband
that is unsaved because the situation happens sometimes where a saved woman would marry
an unsaved man, that happens or they were both unsaved when they got married and then
the wife gets saved eventually but the husband remains unsaved, he does not believe the gospel,
right.
And so in this case it says that if, because you know the argument might be made, well
you know my husband, he's not saved, he doesn't love the Lord, do I still have to be in subjection
under him?
Well that's what this verse is for, yes even if he does not obey the word, you need to
be under subjection, why?
That they may, it says that they also may, sorry, they also may without the word be won,
that's won to the Lord by the conversation or the behaviour of the wives.
You know what, if your husband is an unsaved man and all of a sudden they see hey my wife's
been more submissive to me lately, we're no longer really fighting, she's doing what I
ask her to do and it all just started when she got saved, it all started when she started
to read a Bible, it all started when she started to go to that church.
It's going to make that man think hey there's something to this, alright.
And with the word of God, with the behaviour of the wives, they may very well be won to
the Lord.
It's happened many times, it's happened many times.
If you have a spouse who is unsaved, don't give up, okay.
Just keep doing your responsibilities, just keep showing a good conversation, a good behaviour
before the Lord.
Look at verse number two, while they behold your chaste, that's your conversation coupled
with fear, they see that you fear God, that you fear the words of God that you need to
be under subjection to your husbands.
And so wives, even if your husband is an unsaved man, you give him honour, you be submissive
to him, that's what God requires from you.
And I know it can be hard sometimes, it can be hard sometimes for your husband to be subject
to his manager at work, it can be hard sometimes for a churchgoer to be submissive to the pastor
in the church.
I mean we're all subject to something, it's not easy for all of us, I know because I've
seen your emotions, I've seen how you react, it's not easy for us to be in subjection to
the government with their COVID-19 restrictions, alright.
So sometimes the wives are like well man, how can God ask this of us, we're all in subjection
to something, we're all submissive to somebody, right.
I remember when the restrictions started with the COVID-19, I walked into Bunnings
and there was someone at the door saying no, no, you can't come this way, it's like what's
going on, you've got to walk in this way, in this way you've got to walk out.
You know what I had to do?
Oh how dare you, I'm going to be submissive, you know I don't like this, I don't like having
to walk all the way over there and just come back exactly where I am now, this seems stupid
to me, okay, but I just, well you know, I'm going to be submissive, I'm going to be subject
to their requirements.
And so you know sometimes wives get upset at this but they forget that we're constantly
submissive to one another, you know, to whatever situation, environment we find ourselves in,
it's just part of life.
Look at verse number 3, 1 Peter chapter 3 verse number 3, who's adorning?
So ladies this is how you ought to adorn yourself, let it not be the outward adorning of plating
the hair and the wearing of gold or of putting on of peril.
Now, this is not saying you can't plate your hair or you can't fix up your hair or anything
like that, that's not what it's saying, it's not saying that you can't wear jewellery,
okay, I know some people take that to the extreme, it's not saying that because if it
were saying don't plate your hair and if it were saying don't wear jewellery then it says
here or of putting on of peril, then if you were saying those things it would be saying
don't even put on clothes and you know that would be a ridiculous interpretation of that
passage, okay.
It's not saying you can't do these things, if we read verse number 4 it explains what
verse number 3 is about, remember look at the end of verse number 3, the sentence has
not finished, right, it continues, but let it be the hidden man of the heart in that
which is not corruptible even the ornaments of a meek and quiet spirit which is in the
sight of God of great price.
So how should you adorn yourself, what should be the quality of the woman of the wife, what
should be the thing that shines the brightest, should it be her clothing, should it be the
jewellery, no it ought to be that meek and quiet spirit, that hidden man of the heart,
you know, and you say what is that, that's the new man, that's the new man, when you
get saved you're born again and God gives you a revised spirit, there's a newness in
you and you know the Bible tells us that there's this battle between the flesh which
is the old man and the new man which is the spirit and you know the old man wants to rebel
against your husband, the old man wants to rebel against authority, even your husbands
when they're in the workplace and they don't agree with the manager and they say I'm not
going to do that, hey that's the flesh, you know, and all of us we're at constant war
with the flesh and the spirit, okay, and so the Bible tells us, you know, and I'll just
read the passage to you in Galatians 5 16, it says this I say then, walk in the spirit
and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh, for the flesh lusteth against the spirit and
the spirit against the flesh and these are contrary, the one to the other, so that ye
cannot do the things that ye would.
So I can't be submissive to my husband, you know why, because you're walking in the flesh,
you're walking in accordance to the flesh, you've forgotten to put on the new man, you've
forgotten the inner man which has that meek and quiet spirit, what did it say in verse
number 4, at the end of it it says which is in the sight of God of great price, you know
what is valuable to God, a woman that's walking in the spirit, you know when God looks at
a woman who is submissive to her husband, who is subject to the authority, to that man,
God says that's a valuable woman, that's a woman of great price, hey she's rare, she's
amazing in the eyes of God, okay, so don't think that being submissive to her husband
makes you some, I don't know, like feminism teaches you, you know that you're some low
class, like you're just a housewife, you're just doing what your husband wants and they
make you feel horrible about yourself, no God says that's great price to me, that's
valuable, that's riches and God's going to reward you for that behaviour, when it says
here the meek and quiet spirit, this is not saying that you have no voice or no opinion,
it doesn't say that right, meek is to put the needs of others before you, okay and listen
the Bible calls us all to be meek, the Bible tells us that Moses and he was a leader, okay
that he was the meekest man on the earth during his time, the Bible tells us that Jesus Christ
was meek, okay so this isn't, you know we're all called to be meek but when it comes to
your relationship with your husband, don't forget in your family you ought to be meek
and then when it says and quiet spirit, it's not saying hey don't say a word, that's
what it means by quiet spirit, okay by quiet, you know have you ever heard the term you
know she lived a quiet life, have you ever heard that phrase before she lived a quiet
life, is that saying that she lived a life and she never spoke, she never said a word,
right, no it's not what it's saying, it's saying that she lived a life of peace, she
had a wonderful peaceful life, what is it saying ladies to have peace with your husbands,
okay when you rebel against his authority it's going to cause tension, it's going
to cause arguments, it's going to feel like a war zone in the house, that's not what
God has called you to do, he's called you to be meek, understand the needs of the family
what my husband is asking for me and get along with it, be peaceable about it, again
in the workplace, men you know this, your boss says do this and you're like I don't
want to do that, it's a bad idea, okay you can either rebel and cause war, maybe get
fired who knows right, or you can just say you know what boss said, if it fails it's
on him, I'm just going to do what he says and get along peaceably with my boss, you
know we all have this relationship in some way, shape and form okay, God is not asking
something from a woman which he does not even ask from everybody else and again when we
looked at the beginning of this we saw that it was Jesus Christ who was subject to the
father, to the point of death okay and ladies God is not asking you to die for your husbands
but we saw last week that yes you know men if you have to give your life for your wife
that is God's expectation from you okay, just like Jesus Christ gave his life for the
church right, let's keep going, verse number five, for after this manner, the manner of
the meek and quiet spirit being subject to the husband, for after this manner in the
old time the holy women also who trusted in God adorned themselves okay, being in subjection
to their own husbands, again how do you adorn yourself, what is it that makes you look beautiful
of great price in the eyes of God, being subject to your husbands, even as Sarah obeyed Abraham
calling him Lord, whose daughters ye are, as long as ye do well and are not afraid with
any amazement and so ladies I know this can be hard, I know it can be hard because your
husbands not perfect, even if he's not perfect, even if he's not saved, the Bible commands
you to be in subjection to your husbands authority okay, he's accountable to God and if he's
not doing what God asked him to do, you go to his boss, you go to Jesus Christ and ask
Jesus Christ to help you in your marriage alright, can we please turn to, let's go
to Proverbs 31, let's go to Proverbs 31, I'm going to have to speed up, let's go to Proverbs
31, mothers, mothers, I'm going to read some passages to you very quickly, not in Proverbs
31 but you turn there and mothers you have a special role with raising children, in fact
you have a very powerful role okay, you're raising the next generation, you could be
raising the next pastor, you could be raising the next amazing missionary, the next person
that just serves the Lord with all their heart, soul and mind, you might be raising an amazing
generation to come, you've got it in your hands mothers okay, in Isaiah 66 verse 13
it says, as one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you and ye shall be comforted
in Jerusalem, God is saying look I'm going to comfort the Jews right, but he compares
the comfort that he's going to give them to the comfort the mother gives her children,
you know mothers you're created differently and you know dads we can comfort our kids
to some extent but there's something special about mother's love, there's something special
about the mother's comfort okay, and so when it comes to your children please understand
they need you, they need your love, they need your comfort just as much as they need their
fathers, you play a very important role in their lives, also in Isaiah just read another
passage Isaiah 49 verse 15, now mothers I want you to remember this or ladies even if
you haven't got kids please remember this, this is important, Isaiah 49 verse 15 and
the reason I'm going to quote this to you, I want you to have a happy life, like I don't
want you to go to your grave sorrowing, upset, concerned okay, it says in Isaiah 49, 15 can
a woman forget her suckling child that she should not have compassion on the son of her
womb, yea they may forget yet will I not forget thee, again God's using the illustration of
a mother with her children right, you've raised a child, you've given birth to that child,
you've weaned that child, you've raised that child, God says look can a mother forget their
child, can that really happen, he says look of course not and I'm not going to forget
about you okay, this is what God is saying and so mothers and you know, mothers already
know this, you're not going to forget your children, even when they get married and they
start their own family, you know what mum's thinking about, their children, you know what
mum's praying about for their children to do well okay, mothers will never forget their
children okay, this is important because you want to make sure you raise your children
to love the Lord, you want them to be successful in the eyes of the Lord okay and if you can
do that and they do well in life, you're going to have, you're going to be happy for the
rest of your life, you're going to be like you know what, I've enjoyed my life but I'm
just even happier to see my children doing well, I'm happy to see my children loving
God, I'm happy to see my children still in church, you know still soul winning, still
loving the Lord, you can go to your grave happy with that mindset but you know what
also gives a lot of sorrow to mothers is when their children turn out to be failures, you
know when they turn out to hate the Lord or they turn out to be you know just lovers of
pleasure, lovers you know full of lust, you know loving the things that this world can
give them and you know what, they can destroy their lives, you know maybe they can go to
the grave earlier by destroying their lives with wickedness, hey that would bring great
sorrow because you're not going to forget your children and that's going to be a great
sorrow that you carry for the rest of your life so this is important for mothers to understand,
you need to raise your children to love the Lord okay this is important, an important
part it's not just throw them in the daycare and just throw them into school, listen they're
going to be corrupted, their minds are going to be corrupted, be careful of what friends
they have around them okay because I know I was a kid, my friends influenced me to do
wicked things and we were all kids once, I'm sure you can say I had friends that influenced
me to do wrong things, we're just lucky we came out fine okay but most other kids they
don't turn out fine, they end up you know having a bad life, destroying themselves,
getting into all kinds of problems, you're in Proverbs 31, Proverbs 31 look at verse
number 26, it says here she openeth her mouth with wisdom and in her tongue is the law of
kindness, just think about a mother, mothers you have wisdom okay, yes dads are to help
raise their kids and to bring them up, dads got wisdom but mothers have a special wisdom
as well, you see the world a little bit differently okay, you have more compassion on your sons,
you know my wife tells me when I discipline my boys I'm a bit harsher on the boys than
I am with the girls, I don't know I feel like I'm the same but that's what my wife thinks
right, we just see things differently right, sometimes the mothers can see something or
they can perceive when children are, I don't necessarily see them understanding when kids
are upset but my wife does right, you know there's a difference, there are differences
right and there can be great wisdom, I don't want wives to be looking at this preaching
and think oh Pastor Kevin thinks we're just some low class citizen, we've no knowledge
or something, we've got to be submissive to our husbands, no but I would say look you've
got wisdom, pass that wisdom on to your children, let's keep going, don't underestimate yourselves
because you know you have great wisdom to share, verse number 27, she looketh well to
the ways of her household and eateth not the bread of idleness, so what's the responsibility
of a woman to look for the ways of her household, that's her family okay, that's what you've
been you know engineered to be, you know someone that can look after the family and it says
look and eateth not the bread of idleness, you know it's not about being lazy and watching
the soap operas and just watching TV and wasting your life away, no don't be idle,
you know raise your family, raise your children, you know your priority ought to be your family,
it ought to be what keeps you busy, look at verse number 28, her children arise up and
call her blessed, her husband also and hear praise of her, husbands remember I told you
that, make sure you praise your wives, make sure you give honour, make sure you're thanksgiving
to your wife for the effort she puts in, listen if she's a great woman, it's just going to
come out of you, you're just going to be like honey I love you, you know thank you
for doing so well and the kids won't be able to help themselves but thank mum for helping
them, you know for raising them, for loving them. Now you're in Proverbs, let's go to
Proverbs, sorry you're still in 31, let's go to verse number 1 right at the beginning,
Proverbs 31 verse number 1, so I just want to give you a sample of the great wisdom a
mother can give to her children okay, Proverbs 31 verse number 1, it says here the words
of King Lemuel, the prophecy that his mother taught him okay, mothers you can teach kings
okay, you can teach, you can give wisdom to your children, what is it that this mother
taught her son? Verse number 2, what my son and what the son of my womb and what the son
of my vows, give not thy strength unto women nor thy ways to that which destroyeth kings,
it is not for kings O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine nor for princes strong
drink lest they drink and forget the law and pervert the judgment of any of the afflicted.
You know I love this passage because we have a mother that looks at her son and says son
don't destroy your life and here's how you can destroy your life, by chasing after women,
by being a fornicator right or by drinking alcohol, you get under the influence of wine
and strong drink, mothers telling their sons that's going to destroy your life, it's going
to cause you to pervert the way of judgment, it's going to cause you to not understand
God's laws when you do these things and the reason I love this passage so much is because
look obviously I was raised by my parents, my parents are here and my parents gave me
much instruction but you don't always remember all the instruction your family, your parents
give you but I never forget my mum, my mum would always tell me Kevin one woman for life,
you find the right woman you get married, you don't go mucking around with a bunch of
girls right, when you start dating it's to look for a wife, that was the instruction
of my mum you know don't chase you know perversions and fornication and all that right and she
also said don't drink alcohol okay because she had an alcoholic auntie and she saw the
destruction that it let that cause in her life and she saw the pain and she said Kevin
don't drink alcohol and I just remember that you know those are two things that I just
remember if you say what are some things your mother taught you, those are the two things
immediately that come to mind are the same things that King Lemuel most likely saw him
in here where his mother taught him these things, mothers teach your children to not
destroy themselves, you know the dangers that are in this world, you've got to pass that
on to your children. Now let's go to Ephesians chapter, no actually don't go there you're
in Proverbs, let's go to Proverbs chapter one, I'm going to try to wrap it up quickly,
let's go to Proverbs chapter one, thank you for your patience so far, you go to Proverbs
chapter one and while you're turning there I'm going to read to you from Ephesians chapter
six verse number one because now I'm focused on the children, children Ephesians six one
children obey your parents in the Lord for this is right, what is your role in the family
children, just obey mum and dad, that's it okay, God asks so much more from mum and dads,
all he asks from you is obey your parents, do what they ask you to do alright and then
says this, honour thy father and mother which is the first commandment we've promised, it's
one of the ten commandments, what is the promise, if you honour your mother and father what's
the promise, it says that it may be well with thee and thou mayest live long on the earth,
this is the promise of God, you want to live a long time, you want to have a lot of years
on this earth, just honour mum and dad, just obey mum and dad when they tell you to do
things, not only will you live a long life but it says that it may be well with thee,
not only will you live a long life but you're going to have a happy life, you're going to
have a successful life, you're going to do well in life and all you need to do is obey
mum and dad, when they say wash the dishes just wash the dishes, so I don't feel like
just do it because you're adding some years to your life, you're adding some happiness
to your life in the long run, listen, childhood goes quickly, you know, you're going to get
married, you're going to stay around families one day, you've got many, many years to look
out for, you know, and when you get married and you have responsibilities, you're going
to have the cares and the woes of finances and dramas and problems, well you know what,
if you just obey mum and dad at the beginning, you're going to have life much easier, that's
the promise of God, promise of God, listen, my life's not perfect, okay, I've had problems
and difficulties, blah, blah, blah, but honestly, when I compare it to how much joy I have,
it's so insignificant, like, I don't have hardly any problems, you say, why is that
Pastor Kevin?
I guess I just obeyed mum and dad a lot, I guess I just ordered my mum and dad and now
God's made my life kind of easy, I don't really struggle with anything because I started this
great promise that God gives us in his word, now you're in Proverbs chapter 1 verse number
8, Proverbs chapter 1 and verse number 8, because kids, your mums and dads are constantly
giving you instructions, they're constantly giving you direction and it's easy for you
to go, oh come on mum, come on dad, I don't need to hear that, but look, verse number
8, my son, hear the instruction of thy father and forsake not the law of thy mother, it
says, for they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head and chains about thy neck, it's
about jewellery and ornaments, it makes you look rich, it makes you look intelligent,
you know, people might look at you, you know, even though you're young, they might look
at you and say, wow, this person has a lot of wisdom, hey, this person seems very successful
even at an early age, how does this person know so much?
You know why they can say that about you?
Because you've taken, you've listened to what dad says, you've listened to what mum
says and you've carried through those instructions, listen, yes, you know, we learn things as
we grow, as we go from a child to a teenager to a young adult, we learn things, we experience
things but not only do you have the wisdom of your own experiences and your own learnings,
you can take with you in your life the wisdom of former generations, what mum and dad learnt,
the mistakes that mum and dad did and they don't want you to make those same mistakes
and hopefully they've learnt from their parents, they've learnt from their grandparents so
they're passing that instruction not only from mum and dad's experience but from their
experiences, you know, grandparents' experience and then you're growing up in life, you're
doing what mum and dad says, you're getting instruction from your grandparents, through
your parents and all of a sudden amongst, in this world, you know, you shine, you seem
effective, you seem like someone of great wisdom but all it was, children, was that
you listened to mum and dad and you did what they asked you to do, okay, look at verse,
go to Proverbs 26, 22, sorry, Proverbs 22 verse number 6, Proverbs 22 verse number 6,
Proverbs 22 and verse number 6 and quite often this verse is quoted, is sort of a talk to
parents for their children but I want to take a different spin on this and I want to talk
to the children here, Proverbs 22 verse number 6, it says, train up a child in the way he
should go and when he is old he will not depart from it and so we often think about this to
parents, parents train your children correctly while they're young, train them when they're
young to love the Lord because even if they make some mistakes as they grow up, they're
still going to have that love for the Lord, they're still going to get back on those paths
that you trained them when they were young and so we teach this often to the parents
but I want the children to think about this for a minute, okay, if you want your adulthood
to be easy, to be successful, you know, to do well, to be a good worker, hey, maybe even
start your own business, hey, maybe, you know, you don't always have to work for somebody,
you might have the smarts, the intelligence to start your own business, have your own
employees, you have more flexibility, you have more options to your life, if that's
the future you want, well, start now while you're young, right, what did it say, train
up the child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it, what
am I saying to you, if you want to be successful in adulthood, start now, don't wait for mum
and dad to say can you do your chores, don't wait for mum and dad to say make your bed,
you just start doing it, you take initiative now, hey, you show leadership now, you know
what's required from you in the household, you know the chores that's required from you,
just go and start doing it now children, you start putting this into practice when mum
and dad don't have to chase you around anymore, you know, I would love it for me to go, alright
kids, you got to wash the dishes and my kids are like, I've already done it dad, it's all
done, that'd be wonderful, right, because I know they're set for adulthood, I know when
they become adults they're going to take initiative, they're going to be the leaders, they're going
to be in control, hey, they're going to do well in life, hey, but if you're a child that
just needs to be constantly reminded by mum and dad, you know, have you done the dishes
yet, have you done your chores yet, well that's what you're going to be like as an
adult, you're just going to have constantly a man over you saying have you done the work
yet, have you finished your project, when are you going to get it done, you know, you
might still have a great life but you know, it starts now, you know, the way you behave
now with your parents, with the instructions that come from mum and dad, with your behaviour
has lasting effects into your adulthood, so children, I say this and I mean this, you
know, this is, you're still young, you know, those of us that are older, we know that we
get stuck in our ways, right, the older we get, the more stuck in the ways we get, when
we're confronted with the Bible, it's harder to, you know, to mould ourselves to what God
wants when you get older and older and older, right, you know, and you know, children, it's
easy, while you're young, it's easy to mould yourself, it's easy to, you know, build up
your character, you know, to be someone that is accomplished and shows, you know, just
good character and good behaviour, you know, this is the age that you need to start focusing
on what God wants from you and I promise you this, if you show initiative as a young
person, you're going to be successful in your adulthood, okay, you're going to carry through
what you've gained and the knowledge and the wisdom that's been passed down from your parents
and through your behaviour as well, alright, so I'll leave it there, reverence of the title
for the sermon was building strong families, okay, and don't forget dads, you know, you
have the pleasure of being in charge but that comes with great accountability, great responsibility
and when your family fails, God's going to be coming to you, asking you what is going
on, okay, and so please keep that in mind, I want you guys to have strong families, why?
Because I want this to be a strong church, okay, the stronger the families, the stronger
the church, the more we can do in the service for the Lord, okay, let's pray, Heavenly Father,
Lord, I just want to thank you.