(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.) you you you you Oh, yeah? You guys are new? Look at that. Look at that. That would have been skydiving, bungee jumping, swim shotting, rubber poster. Is that how it is? Oh, okay. Train bus? Bus and train? Yeah, bus, train, bus. What? Oh, why? Because it didn't work today. I just wanted to tell you that. Yeah, because I had found something and then I put the cabinet on. I'll get you the tape on the nose. Yeah. How do you know? There's a lot of stuff on the trip. In the trip, yeah. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. Yeah. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. There's a lot of stuff on the trip. Are you preaching on Genesis 2 that it's of the garden only? No. Because Genesis 2 teaches that all the birds, everything that was made... I'm not preaching on that though. I'm preaching on marriage. That's alright. Alright brethren, please find your seats. Grab your hymnals. We're about to begin. Find your seats. Grab your hymnals. Welcome to church this morning. If you can please turn to hymn number 16. Let's start with hymn number 16. Majestic sweetness sits and thrown. Hymn number 16. And when you have found it, can you please stand? Hymn number 16. Majestic sweetness sits and thrown. Alright, let's sing it up to the Lord. Majestic sweetness sits and thrown. Upon the Savior's brow. His head with radiant glory is crowned. His lips with grace o'erflow. His lips with grace o'erflow. No mortal can with Him compare among the sons of men. Fairer is He than all the fair who fill the heavenly train. Who fill the heavenly train. He saw me punch in deep distress and flew to my relief. For me He bore the shameful cross and carried all my grief. And carried all my grief. To Him I owe my life and breath and all the joys I have. He makes me triumph over death and saves me from the grave. And saves me from the grave. Alright, great singing. Heavenly Father, Lord, we thank you for the opportunity to be in your house this morning. Lord, I just pray that our songs will be lifted up to you in praise and in worship, Lord, that you'll receive the thanksgiving that we give you as a church. Lord, we thank you so much for salvation. That you've given us a free gift of everlasting life. And Lord, we just seek to praise you this morning to please you. And I pray that your Holy Spirit will touch our hearts and minds as we learn from your Word this morning. Amen. You may be seated. Alright, hymn number 45 now. Hymn number 45. When I can read my title clear. Hymn number 45. When I can read my title clear. When I can read my title clear Hymn number 45. When I can read my title clear Hymn number 45. When I can read my title clear Hymn number 45. When I can read my title clear Hymn number 45. When I can read my title clear Hymn number 45. Hymn number 45. When I can read my title clear Hymn number 45. When I can read my title clear Hymn number 45. When I can read my title clear Hymn number 45. When I can read my title clear Hymn number 45. When I can read my title clear Hymn number 45. When I can read my title clear Hymn number 45. When I can read my title clear Hymn number 45. When I can read my title clear Hymn number 45. When I can read my title clear Hymn number 45. When I can read my title clear Hymn number 45. When I can read my title clear Hymn number 45. When I can read my title clear Hymn number 45. When I can read my title clear Hymn number 45. When I can read my title clear Hymn number 45. When I can read my title clear Hymn number 45. When I can read my title clear Hymn number 45. When I can read my title clear Hymn number 45. When I can read my title clear Hymn number 45. When I can read my title clear Hymn number 45. When I can read my title clear Hymn number 45. When I can read my title clear Hymn number 45. When I can read my title clear Hymn number 45. When I can read my title clear Hymn number 45. When I can read my title clear Hymn number 45. When I can read my title clear Hymn number 45. When I can read my title clear Hymn number 45. When I can read my title clear Hymn number 45. When I can read my title clear Hymn number 45. When I can read my title clear Hymn number 45. When I can read my title clear Hymn number 45. Across my peaceful rest Across my peaceful rest And not away Of trouble road Across my peaceful rest Alright, you've put away your hymnals and take your Bibles and turn to Psalm 19. Take your Bibles and turn to Psalm 19. We'll sing Psalm 19. We'll sing Psalm 19. Psalm 19. So, I can't remember how familiar you are really with it. But we start with verse number 7. You may recall verse number 7 and then the chorus is verse number 10. We start with verse number 7 and the chorus is verse number 10. So, Psalm 19 in your Bibles. Hopefully you guys remember how to sing it. Verse number 7. Ready? The law of the Lord is perfect Convert in the soul The testimony of the Lord is sure Making wise the simple Verse 10 More to be desired Are they then gold Yea, they're much fine gold Sweeter also than honey And the honey conversates The statutes of the Lord are right Rejoice in the heart The commandment of the Lord is pure Enlighten in the eyes More to be desired Are they then gold Yea, they're much fine gold Sweeter also than honey And the honey combs Verse 9 The fear of the Lord is clean Enduring forever The judgments of the Lord are true And righteous altogether More to be desired Are they then gold Yea, they're much fine gold Sweeter also than honey And the honey combs Verse 11 Moreover by them Is thy servant warned And in keeping of them There is great reward More to be desired Are they then gold Yea, they're much fine gold Sweeter also than honey And the honey combs Verse 14 Let the words of my mouth And the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord My strength and my Redeemer More to be desired Are they then gold Yea, they're much fine gold Sweeter also than honey And the honey combs Genesis 2 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished And all the host of them And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had made And He rested on the seventh day From all His work which He had made And God blessed the seventh day And sanctified it Because that in it He had rested From all the work Or His work Which God created and made These are the generations of the heavens And the earth When they were created In the day that the Lord God Made the earth and the heavens Every plant of the field Before it was made Before it In the earth Was in the earth Every herb of the field Before it grew For the Lord God had Not caused it to rain upon the earth And there was not a man to till the ground But there went up a mess from the ground From the earth And watered the whole face of the ground And the Lord God formed Of the dust of the ground And breathed into His nostrils The breath of life A man And man became a living soul And the Lord God planted in the garden A garden in eastward in Eden And there He put the man And whom He had formed And out of the ground the Lord Made the Lord To grow every tree That was pleasant to the sight And good for food And good for food And the tree of life Also in the midst of the garden And the tree of knowledge Of good and evil And the river went Out of Eden Water And the river went out of Eden To water the garden And from thence it was Parted And became four heads The name of the first was Pison That is It which compaseth The whole land of Havilah Where there is gold And the gold Of that land is good There is Bedilium And the onyx stone And the name of the second river is Gaon The same is that which compaseth The whole land of Ethiopia And the name of the third river is Hiddekel That is It which goeth Toward the east of Assyria And the fourth river is Euphrates And God The Lord God Took the man and Put him in the garden of Eden To dress it and to keep it And the Lord God commanded The man saying Of every tree of the garden thou mayest Freely eat But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil Thou shalt not eat of it For in the day that thou shalt In the day that thou eatest thereof Thou shalt surely die And the Lord God said It is not good that man should be alone I will make Him and help me For him Help me for him And out of the ground The Lord God Formed every beast of the field And every Foul of the air And brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them And whatsoever he called Every living Creature that was its name thereof And Adam Gave names to all cattle And to all fowl Of the air And to every beast of the field But for Adam was not found And help Meet for him And the Lord God caused A deep sleep To fall upon Adam And he slept And he took one of his ribs And closed up the flesh thereof And the rib Which the Lord God had taken from man He made a woman And brought her to the man And Adam said This is now bone of my bones And flesh of my flesh She shall be called woman Because she was taken from man Therefore Shall a man leave his father and mother And shall cleave unto His wife And they shall be one Flesh They were both naked The man and his wife And were not ashamed Let's pray Father, thank you for bringing us to church today Lord, I pray for the people that are sick today And Lord, I pray that you would bless Pastor Sepulveda While he preaches the word to us In Jesus' name we pray Amen Alright, we have Genesis chapter 2 Very famous story of course Of how God created Adam And then created Eve from his side And if you have a look at Genesis chapter 2 And just look at verse number 22 Genesis 2 22 It just says there And the rib which the Lord God had taken from man Made he a woman And brought her unto the man And Adam said This is now bone of my bones And flesh of my flesh She shall be called woman Because she was taken out of man Therefore shall a man leave His father and his mother And shall cleave unto his wife And they shall be one flesh The title for the sermon this morning is Finding identity and stability in family Finding identity and stability in family You see here We're talking about day number 6 When God created man As soon as he creates Adam Well the same day he creates his wife And we see immediately on day number 1 Not just the creation of man and woman But the creation of family Family is a very important institution That God has created Even before the church existed Even before the house of God existed God created family And we're going through the perfect man series And if we're talking about the perfect man Being complete, being whole What the perfect man needs Is a complete and whole family Family is so important In your growth as a Christian It's so important in you Finding identity and stability It's such an important factor That gets overlooked Society today does not care for families Society does not think that a man and woman Getting married That should be the only criteria of family Since 2017 we had The change of marriage laws To be same sex marriage LGBT, filthy, disgusting Creatures that they are wanting to get married Man and man and woman with women And they call this family That is not family Society is trying to destroy what family is They're trying to tell you that children are a burden Let someone else raise your children up They're just going to restrict you from your career development They're going to restrict you from living the life The exciting life that you want to live Society does not value family But God values family He creates that from day number one And I want you to notice that even though Adam and Eve Did not have children as of yet They were still a family He left mother and father In fact they did not even have mother and father They had no earthly parents And yet it is so important to God That he gets jotted down here Therefore shall a man leave father and mother And cleave unto his wife You see when you leave your family You create a brand new family When you get married you are not part of another family You create a new family unit Husband and wife Family is so important to God And when we think about the Christian life We think about the experience that we go through As a Christian, if you're saved You are going to experience Three different families Ideally, the possibility is That you can experience three different families In this life Especially if you are saved But the reason why family is so important And this is where people kind of miss the point The reason family is so important to God Is because family exists Within the nature of God Family exists within the nature of God Keep your finger there in Genesis chapter 2 Come with me to John chapter 17 Come with me to John chapter 17 John chapter 17 and verse number 4 Family exists within the nature of God There is a reason why When we talk about the triune nature of God We say God the Father God the Son God the Holy Spirit These aren't just titles With no meaning There's a reason why he's the Father There's a reason why he's the Son Is because there's family You know the institutional family Exists within the nature of God I've already told you that Within the nature of God exists Authority, a structure A chain of command but so does family A father and son relationship It says there in John 17 verse 4 Jesus Christ says these words I have glorified thee on the earth He's glorified his father on the earth I have finished the work which thou gaveth me to do He says father I'm doing the work You're in charge I'm doing the work that you've asked me to do Verse number 5 look at this You see family existed Even before the world was How did family exist? Father-son relationship And one thing that's going to help you Understand the value of family The value of family and the value that God has With parents and children Is just understanding this makes up The nature of God He already has a family unit within His triune being When we talk about the most famous verse For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son It's not like God just gave himself He gave his son When you think about parents you think about the value of your children How much you love them How much you care for them How much you don't care if they're protected Well God was willing to offer up his son Was willing to give up that protection So the son can die in our place And offer us salvation That was not an easy process for God to do Just as much as it would not be easy For you to give up your child And offer them up as a sacrifice Towards your enemies But when you understand the value of family When you can experience those emotions Experience the responsibility of taking care of family You can truly appreciate why the father Gives up his son Because families are really in the nature of God It already exists And this is where people get mixed up Because sometimes people look at Human beings And we understand that before a son Can come into being The father must be there first Some people start teaching well Jesus Christ wasn't really the son Until sometime later That's because they're trying to take human Characteristics and applying it to God You've got it mixed up That's not how you describe God You understand God through his word And you can understand as the son glorifies the father He asks the father can you glorify me in the same way Before the world was This relationship already existed It did not come into existence This is the nature of God And God understands the value of this nature And says when I create man I want them to experience some of this family Life And so he creates man and woman He creates the ability to have children This is a good thing to have It's a good thing to experience Come with me to first John now Come with me to first John First John chapter 2 First John chapter 2 and verse number 23 First John chapter 2 verse number 23 Now parents If you've got your children that you love very much You've worked hard to provide for them To give them clothes To give them food to give them education What if some stranger What's up to your child And despises them, hates them Abuses them Bullies them Beats up your child How would you feel about that individual that does it to your child Obviously you would not have good feelings Toward that person Obviously you'd try to step in And protect your child And if it requires you to step in and be physical To protect your child you would do that You'd be willing to do whatever it takes to protect your children And again this then brings to light When you reject the son When you reject the son How does the father feel about you rejecting the son When he's offered up his son As a sacrifice And you say The ungodly wicked world says I don't need the son I think I can make it to heaven on my own merits I don't think it's People say to me The reason I don't believe in Christianity Is because how can a father sacrifice his son That doesn't seem right to me They're rejecting the son They're rejecting the sacrifice How do you think the father is going to feel By you rejecting the one who gave his life for you It says in 1 John 2 verse 23 You cannot have the father without the son You reject the son How do you think the father is going to feel about that If you mistreat my kids If someone mistreats your kids How are you going to feel about that Are you going to be just accepting toward that person Oh yeah just go ahead, keep rejecting my child Keep ignoring my child Keep abusing my child Are you going to accept that? No of course not So you can understand if you don't acknowledge your son If you don't receive the son If you don't believe in the son Why would the father want anything to do with you To slap in the face Especially when you offered him up To be your sacrifice I'm drawing you back to the Lord God Because it's within his nature He values family You reject the son Don't tell me you got the father Judaism, they reject the son They don't believe Jesus Christ is the Messiah They don't believe Jesus Christ is the son of God Islam does not believe God has a son You reject the son, the father is going to want nothing to do with you Nothing to do with you You're not right with God And we can understand this When you have families, you have children And you see people reject them Of course it's going to make you feel cranky Of course it's going to make you upset Of course you're going to want to reject that person As I said, generally speaking A Christian will be part of three families in their lifetime As a general rule The first family, of course, is your family at birth Your family at birth And you got no choice as to which family you were born into I mean, mum and dad got together You were born into that family And no family is perfect I had the blessing of growing up in a Christian home Many of you did not have that blessing Some of you did, some of you didn't But there are Whether it's a Christian home or not And of course when it comes to a Christian home You can learn about Jesus You can learn about the Bible You can learn about what God expects So you've got that advantage You're going to hear the gospel much earlier in life And you'll be able to call upon the Lord much easier But there are still advantages To growing up in a strong loving family There are still advantages Even just an ungodly, unsafe family If they've still got the love that exists Between husband and wife They still have love that is given to the children There are advantages to a strong loving family And what I'm going to read to you It's not my list It's not a Bible list It's something that I just looked into from secular material Looked up online What are some advantages to a strong loving family What does the research show If you're growing from an independent Baptist website Or anything like that, or a pastor This is just some research that was done About the advantages of a strong loving family Number one So this is for the children Children growing up in a strong home Number one It improves the mental health of the children Okay If you grow up in a family unit that's strong and together Your child is going to be more mentally strong Than a child that grows up in a broken home Okay You know, if you've got a family, if you're married And you've got that This is one reason you want to stay together This is one reason you're going to fight for your marriage Because it's going to influence your children You know, you break your family It's going to influence your children Affect your children in such a negative way Number two If you have a strong loving family It helps children perform well academically Okay, they'll do well in their studies If they see a loving family Number three It lowers the risk of behavioural problems Lowers the risk of behavioural problems Now The reason this one rings a bell to me Is because when I grew up I grew up in Canleyvale, just a suburb away from here One suburb away from Cabramatta And in the 80s and the 90s There was a lot of gang problems In my area There was a lot of criminal activity And the reason this existed Is because we had the migration of many people Many from the Asian countries And many of the migration was illegal Illegal migration, boat people You know, that kind of terminology And sometimes I'd hear stories where children Are put on a boat so they can live a better life In Australia, but the parents have to stay behind Or stories where the parents Have travelled with the children But the parents have perished at sea And so you have these Asian children Coming to Australia illegally Without parents, without a strong family Unit And they get into communities like Cabramatta Or so, okay And then what do they do? They try to find family They're trying to find identity Because they haven't got mum and dad And so they get together with other children Of their age, other children that have suffered Other children that have lost their families They get together and they become a family In their eyes, they become a gang Okay, and what do you notice? Again, lowers the risk of behavioural problems When you have a strong loving family Well if you haven't got that family These children get up to criminal activities They've got each other's backs You know, they're full of corruption They attack shop owners They say, hey, we're going to protect your shop If you make sure you pay us this amount of sum By the end of every week, we're going to come and collect that sum So we protect your shop, meaning If you don't pay the sum, we're going to come and destroy your business Things like that, and there was a high Gang activity, at least in the 80s and 90s I think it's been cleaned up now But it's because we had children Coming in from Asian countries Without their families Family is so important Number four It boosts self-confidence When you have a strong, united family Self-confidence And the reason for this, fathers, there is something About being a father that you cannot overlook Your children want to know That you approve of them That your children, I know your children Disobey, I know your children do wrong But they need to know that Dad loves me Man, there is an authority in my life That cares for me, that I'm included As part of that family Because when they don't have that loving father They start seeking approval From other places Other places that are not, sometimes even approval from a pastor Sometimes I have that, people who are trying to get my approval Trying to treat me like a father But I'm not a father I'm not that father There's this problem, and you can have people In their 30s, in their 40s, in their 50s And they're still trying to seek approval from their father You say, why, you should grow up by now Yeah, but they didn't grow up with that authority With that acceptance when they were children They've lost that Number five, the advantages of A strong loving family Is that it helps the children Learn future parenting skills I mean, it makes sense, if they see mum and dad Do a good job, then they know how to become a parent They've seen it by example And they can follow after their parents Number six, it teaches effective Conflict resolution Because I know what it's like, a household with 11 kids There's conflicts As much as my kids love each other And are friendly, there's going to be conflicts And unlike another situation Where you can run away from problems Within family, you can't run away from problems You're there, you're under the same house And so you've got to learn how to get along You have to learn how to make peace And this is important, because when you learn to make peace as children Then when you go out into the real world And you have major conflicts Then you learn how to make peace with people as well It's encouraging your family Your kids aren't going to learn conflict resolution It reduces stress Number seven, number eight It promotes adaptability And resilience So it gives your children thicker skin They won't be so offended by every little thing And I think, again, it becomes The reason for that is because They have acceptance in their family So they're not needing acceptance in other places You know, when they don't have acceptance With you in the family, again, they're trying to find acceptance Somewhere else, and if they don't get it They might get offended, they have thin skin They're always offended, you know But you can find adaptability and resilience Within family Number nine, it enhances physical health This is all research Your health is improved When you're brought up in a loving family And number ten, it lengthens Life expectancy Now this is really interesting It lengthens This is, again, not a biblical Article that I'm reading from This is a secular article It says if children grow up in a strong, loving family It lengthens Their life expectancy And that should be no surprise I'll quickly read to you Ephesians 6 verse 1 I'll just read it to you quickly Children, obey your parents to the Lord For this is right Honor thy father and mother Which is the first commandment we've promised That it may be well with thee But not on the earth That's what God says If you honor Mum and Dad You're respectful to Mum and Dad And the way they honor, the reason The way your children can be obedient to Mum and Dad Is by Mum and Dad passing down instructions Putting down boundaries Giving rules around the house So the children can learn how to obey And when they obey and they honor their parents God says you have a longer life And even secular research says Hey, when a child grows up in a family like that Then the average child See, God's word is always true God's word knows And so, you know, if we're Christians And we are, we're saved and we have children There's a few families here today I've got my children I want the best for my kids I want them to live a long, good life You know, and so it's so important Even when Mum and Dad sometimes have conflicts That in the children's eyes They see Mum and Dad united You know, husband and wife You know, conflict Go to the bedroom, sort it out Apologize to one another Then go back out and let the kids see Mum and Dad united Not arguing and fighting Okay, it's good for their mental health Okay Now, another article, what are some of the disadvantages? Disadvantages to children in a broken Or loveless marriage So this is where there might be divorce Or there might be remarriage Or there might be step-parents Or loveless, so Mum and Dad are together I've spoken to people like this, they know Mum and Dad, yeah, we never got divorced because they didn't believe in divorce But they hated each other's guts It's like two individuals living in the same house But they have nothing to do with each other Or they're arguing, they're fighting Maybe even physical abuse took place Because Mum and Dad were old school And they did not believe in separation and divorce Well, even in that scenario, these are the disadvantages It says Children in families Whether parents have broken Or loveless marriages Are prone to depression And emotional disorders Not only do they grow up Having a disturbed mindset This is what's interesting Their opinion on almost Everything Is extremely negative And I've seen that I've observed that People that grow up in a broken home Or a loveless marriage Life to them, they're getting through life But everything's negative They complain about everything Whine about everything Everything's bad They never see the positive side They always see the negative side And there are people like this I guarantee you there are people like this Even within our church That have grown up in broken homes And if you were to ask them, hey, is that like you? Do you have a negative mindset? They'll be like, yeah, I do And the reason for that is because they've grown up in a broken home Everything's negative When they see that broken It breaks them The thing that they want and desire the most Mum and dad to love one another And that gets destroyed in their life Of course, in light of everything else Life sucks When mum and dad don't get along It continues It says they also have Major trust issues To the extent that they can't Even trust their own parents Well mum and dad, I thought you guys were going to be together Mum and dad, I thought you guys were going to look after the children And love us And we're going to have a united family And we're going to be together But I can't trust that anymore They don't trust anyone Negative, negative And again, you feel sorry for these people You kind of want to snap them out of it But you can't really because there's emotional damage that has been done From childhood So, you know, when God says That marriage is the death to us part You understand, it's not just It affects your children It damages your children If you get divorced Or if they see a family, mum and dad hating one another Fighting one another It's so important that we get along Look, I'd rather fight with Everybody in this church But be at peace with my wife Than for me to get along with everybody at church And be fighting with my wife Because I see my wife every day Hours and on And every day With you, we go home our separate ways And I have to see you for a whole week at least Or a month maybe But my wife, I have to see her every day I'd rather get along with her I'd rather get along with all of you But why do we want to live a life Where we're just angry at the person That we have to live with for the rest of our life How about we just say, hey, you know what Let's just find a way to get along Let's just remind ourselves why we fell in love What was it that I loved about you What was it that you loved about me Let's ask these children, let's make it work for our children You know Because we see here just how much damage it does cause To children when parents are fighting Or broken Come with me to Ephesians chapter 5 please Ephesians chapter 5 Ephesians chapter 5 What I want to talk about now is The Father's authority God created Adam first God created Adam first And Eve was created to be a help To Adam Okay Listen, you're not going to hear this in the world You barely even hear this in churches now But the man is the head of the house Amen The man has authority in the house Look, no one really debates Myself as a pastor To have authority in this church I mean some people have debated that in the past But generally speaking, right People don't want to debate because they know Look, it makes sense that there's authority within An institution When you go to work and you work for your boss Your supervisor, your manager You may not even like your manager But you're not going to argue that he's got the authority That it makes sense to have someone Who calls the shots, that gives direction That shows a vision And other people get behind that and accomplish that task No one's going to argue that When we talk about the nation of Australia Once again, as much as whether you like the government Whether you like our politicians or not No one's going to argue that it makes sense And it is biblical that God has instructed There to be governance There to be laws, to punish wicked people You know, to make sure that The nation can operate with Righteousness and without corruption No one's going to debate that there ought to be Authority within a nation But for some reason when it comes to family People have a hard time to say Well, there must be authority within the family as well And the reason why there must be authority within family Ahead Is because we already saw within the nature of God We have the Father who gives the Son instructions We have the Son who submits his will To the Father's will We see the Father who sends the Son And then who sends the Holy Spirit There is a chain of command, there is authority This is within the nature of God Look, God is perfect, he's righteous He's a good God It's good to have authority We live in a strange society That wants to rebel against authority It doesn't make sense Authority is within the nature of God We have a society that wants to rebel against family Family is in the nature of God We have a society that wants to rebel against authority Authority is in the nature of God You're rebelling against God When you're rebelling against these things There is authority within family God's created man The husband to be the head of the wife Not 50-50 authority That's not the truth of God's word Not 80-20 100% to the man Both husband and wife have authority over the children Don't get me wrong But the one who's in charge And in charge doesn't just say I call the shots In charge means you're now responsible You're accountable To the family below you If you're responsible You're responsible If I'm the pastor of this church And everyone's reading from the NIV Instead of the King James Bible I'm accountable for that God's going to hold me accountable Why is your church reading from the new international version? Or if you're running a business And your employees Don't know how to do the job The boss who trained them Who employed them Is responsible Are you going to train these people up? Are you going to get them to accomplish the task they need to accomplish? Or are you least going to fire them and get someone that does know the job? Because you're accountable Fathers, yes you call the shots You have authority, but you're accountable If your family Aren't living the way that God wants them to live It's on your shoulders It's your responsibility That comes with authority I want to call the shots But I want to take accountability Then you're not the leader that you ought to be But Ephesians 5 please Ephesians 5 23 For the husband Is the head of the wife Just in case you thought it was just my opinion There it is What's another interpretation of that verse? There is no interpretation of the verse Just read it, that's what it says For the husband is the head of the wife And it compares this Even in the same way As Christ is the head of the church And the saviour Of the body You see Christ is the head of the church You're the saviour of the body Husbands, fathers Yes you're the head of your wife But you ought to be the saviour of your family You ought to be the one that looks after them That gives them security, gives them stability Gives them everything they need in life To do well That's your job I'm the head but I'm not going to take care of my family You're not even doing half the job really But that's what the Bible says And if you go to Go to Ephesians 4 please Sorry, Ephesians 6 Ephesians 6 So husbands, fathers, you've got to throw in your family Ephesians 6 verse 4 And this is the other one I really want fathers to Absorb please Because I know fathers sometimes We say yes I know I've got to provide, I've got to go work And take care of my family needs And so I'm busy and so therefore I'm going to leave my wife to take care of the children That's good as well But sometimes what happens with men Let's read it, verse number 4 And you fathers, so if you're a father this is for you And you fathers provoke not your children to wrath Look at this, but Bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord It doesn't say fathers Just leave it up to your wife to bring up the children Oh I go to work So my wife is the one that raises the children No, it says there, fathers Bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord See fathers you also have the responsibility To get involved in your children's education In your children's understanding of the Bible In your children's direction of life In passing down instruction and teaching to your children You can't just leave it up to wife I mean that's a good thing to do Mum's going to be around more hours than dad Generally speaking But you can't be like oh that's just her responsibility then I'm going to go to work, I finish work and I'm going to hang out with the boys Now you come home and bring up the children as well You help out with the family Because that's what some fathers think that I've provided Now I can just do my own thing I'm going to go hit the gym, hang out with the boys Honey I'll see you tonight Come home, bring up the children In the nurture and admonition of the Lord Meaning they're going to have to hear you talk about the Lord They're going to have to see you open up the Bible And teach them something of value Let me read another article to you Another secular article It says here Children from fatherless homes I'm talking about fathers specifically here because of the other head But children from fatherless homes You say pastor I just can't get along with my wife I think I'm going to leave her You know we just don't see eye to eye Why do I want to live a miserable life I think I'm just going to go Oh let her have the house and she'll have everything Kids will be taken care of, you'll all be good for them No no no No no no This is what the research shows Children from fatherless homes Are more likely to be poor Become involved in drug and alcohol abuse Drop out of school And suffer from health and emotional problems Boys are more likely to become involved in crime And girls are more likely to become pregnant as teens That's true That's true I've seen this I've seen this I've seen this That's true, I've seen this You know when you look at these people Involved in drugs, falling pregnant Single mothers, you look back Was dad involved in life? No they weren't They weren't there So dad you've got to get along with mum You have to fix your marriage You've got to sort it out I'll be the best father I can I'll make sure they've got everything but I'll leave them Well then you're increasing the chances That your children are going to turn out to be derelicts Okay, destroy their lives Let me just read another one It says here I want to make it very clear These are just secular articles About research on families Make that very clear There's another article that says Fathers like mothers Fathers like mothers are pillars In the development Of a child's emotional wellbeing Children look up to their fathers Look up to their fathers This is what a secular article says You're not going to hear this in school You're going to hear this from the researchers I want you to pay attention Children look to their fathers Not mothers, to their fathers To lay down the rules And enforce them Children expect Dad, what are the rules? Dad, how are you going to enforce Dad, I broke the rules I need a smack Yes sir Your children want this I promise you Your children are saying I don't want that dad They do want this And I'll tell you how I know they want this Children that do not grow up with any boundaries Children that do not grow up with any discipline They become spoiled kids They become angry kids They become rebellious teenagers They become haters of mother and father But when you discipline them And you give them a little pain And you give them a little pain on the behind And they cry some tears And then they say sorry And then you hug And you forgive them Guess what happens immediately afterwards? Happy, joyful, all forgotten, back to normal Because within the child They must, they demand Dad, give me the rules And dad, when I break them Can you correct me? Because they're learning, they need development They need instruction, they need guidance And they're looking at that from dad Because they think dad is a strong one Dad's the one that's going to enforce the rule, surely it's going to be dad at least I mean, mum should get involved as well But dads, you can't drop the ball in this area It says they also look to their fathers To provide a feeling of security Both physical and emotional Children want to make their fathers proud And an involved father Promotes inner growth and strength Involved fathers Not just working all day, never saying Not just working all day, never saying Never see the kids' fathers Involved, involved in their lives You promote inner growth and strength Studies have shown That when fathers are affectionate And supportive It greatly affects a child's cognitive And social development It also instils An overall sense of wellbeing And self confidence Father, you've got a massive responsibility On your shoulders I've got a massive responsibility on my shoulders If I want my kids to You know, we homeschool the kids, right? What do people say? How are they going to learn how to be social? Isn't that what they say about homeschooled kids? Are they going to be socially awkward? No, the more involved dads in their lives The better they're going to be socially According to research Let's just take them to the school systems Away from mum and dad So they can learn how to be social They're going to learn how to be antisocial They're going to learn how to be awkward in that environment They're going to learn how to be pressured Into what their peers want Rather than being strong And making their own correct decisions Under the guidance of mum and dad So we talked about A family that Go back to Genesis 2 now please We talked about the family that you're born into And the importance of family So that's the first family, right? The first family is the one that you're born into And then of course Generally speaking People find a spouse They find a partner And then they get married And this is now your second family Please don't make the mistake Of thinking it's just You know Sometimes when two people get married The in-laws might say Well I've gained a son and I've gained a daughter That's true You have, you've gained a daughter in law You've gained a son in law You've not gained a son You don't have authority over that person You've just gained a son in law And a daughter in law It's good, it's a good thing for families to grow And to care for one another and all these things But what you must understand At marriage it's a new family unit You know, Isabel's my eldest When she gets married I no longer have authority over her Her husband has authority over her The husband is the head of the wife Dad's not in the head of The son in law and The daughter that he got married, married off No, he gave his, her hand in marriage Remember that tradition that we do? You know, fathers you give your hand, your daughter's hand in marriage You hand over the responsibility Genesis 2.23 And Adam said This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh She shall be called woman Because she was taken out of man And remember Adam's got no earthly mother or father But he says, therefore shall a man He goes, this is what I need to do Leave his father and his mother And shall cleave Unto his wife and they shall be one flesh When you get married Biblically You have left mother and father I don't encourage you to live With the in-laws I don't encourage you to do that Look, at a specific time Emergency situation Temporary time, yes I understand Things come up, maybe you have to do that for a period of time But let me encourage you, if you're going to make that decision Let's get married, you better be ready to leave Mother and father Trust, leave the home Leave and understand You're now under a new family unit And Wives, when you leave mum and dad And there's problems in the house Don't run to mum and dad They've handed you over If there are problems in the house You go talk to the head of the house The husband And if your husband doesn't listen to him Go on your knees and pray to Jesus Christ Say Jesus you are his head Can you fix my husband And not just that But men, when you've got problems Okay Don't run to your parents Don't run to her parents And say hey, you're the one that gave it to me To get married and I can't sort out these family issues That we have in, can you sort out your daughter please You're the head of your wife How crazy is that How crazy, right You're running to McDonalds, I'm the manager at McDonalds I've got an employee who's not performing well So I'm going to go to the KFC manager Down the road and say KFC manager Can you sort out my employer over here That's how ridiculous it is When you go, after you've taken the wife Who you're the head of, and you run to her dad And say dad can you sort her out Because I can't sort her out You're the head, you're in charge You're accountable, take ownership But you create a new family I'm not saying there's anything wrong with mum and dad In-laws You know, why do some of the in-law problems Develop in family Is because the in-laws get too involved You've got to leave mother and father And look, I see my mum and dad Every time I travel here Sometimes I travel with the family, we stay with my parents But look, my mum and dad They barely know, really They know some of the things, especially with the grandkids They know a bit about their lives and stuff But they don't really know about every little argument I've had with Christina Mum, I just had another argument with Christina You know, can you please pray for us And sort us out, you know It's my responsibility Pastor, pastor! I'm having a fight with my husband, can you please talk to him Hey, you talk to him That's the man of the house And again, who is his head? Jesus Yeah, I'll pray for you, but you better be praying too The one that can fix him is Jesus I can't fix your husband I can't fix him from behind the pulpit I'm not going to go to your house though And sort him out, that's his authority, that's his place And by the way Let me just say, fathers You know, honestly If I preach something from God's word Alright, and let's say you don't agree with me Alright, you think Well, that's actually pastor's opinion And you're driving home with your family So you know what kids, I did not agree with pastor on that issue This is what I believe we ought to be doing as a family You know what I say to that family Obey the head of the house Listen to him Because he's the one that has authority over the house Not me I do the best I can to preach God's word But at the end of the day, every man has authority over his own family Now You're going to start a new family unit That's your second family that you get involved in, generally speaking I looked up another source I said, what do women look for in a husband? What do women look for in a husband? I'm not talking about Christian women I'm just talking about a woman out there Okay, that Lives a normal world of life When she says, I want to get married What qualities, I've got ten qualities here Of what she's looking for in a husband So this is what women look for And I agree with every single point on this list And these aren't Christian women And so men, if you're a single man And you're wanting to get married Then if this is what a woman is looking for This is what you need to be able to do it This is what you need to achieve, this is what you need to do So you're eligible to be someone that can get married But I'm going to start from So these are ten things, I'll start with ten and work my way down But at tenth place She wants him to be a good financial prospect She says, I want my husband To be in a good financial position Because I'm going away from Under the authority of my parents And I need this man to be able to take care of my needs Okay Is he working a job, is he able to provide Is he saving, is he responsible With the finances Is he set up, is he able to take care of me And if I fall pregnant with children Is he able to take care of children That's number ten on the list And by the way, in this top ten None of this was his appearance, believe it or not Okay Number nine, the next thing that she's looking for Is a man with good health Okay, why is that? Because She wants to make sure that he's going to be alive tomorrow Okay Not only is she going to be under his authority But you know, she's going to live a life Ideally they might live till they're 70, 80, 90 years old 100 years old And she wants to make sure that man's around for the majority of that time The man has good health Right, I mean if a man is obese And you know, bad health She's not going to feel like that person That man's going to be able to take care of me The next thing that she's looking for Number eight, is a man who's ambitious Or industrious Okay, a man who's productive A man who gets out there A man who just goes and like what God created a man to be A worker Alright, someone that just gets out there Gets things done She's not looking for a gamer Okay, she doesn't care If you're number one in Fortnite Or Minecraft People still playing Minecraft, I don't know That's not what she's looking for She's looking for a man who's ambitious and industrious Number seven, she's looking for a man Who has a pleasing disposition Meaning that you're positive minded You're positive minded You know, you're generally a happy person You know, within your company You know, you lift her spirits You know, you're not just a downcast man Oh, life sucks Because you're just going to pass that on to everyone else in family She wants someone who's positive minded A pleasing disposition Number six, and this is men, I think we struggle sometimes She's looking for a man Who has social I can't pronounce this Sociability Or social Let's put it that way She's looking for a man who's social Meaning, honey, I've just worked eight hours Ten hours at work Come home, leave me alone, I just want to have rest She wants someone to be a companion A friend Where she can socialise That's why it's so important, men, that we take time sometimes To take our wives out on a date And spend time with her, that's what she's looking for Number six on the list So as we keep going down this list We're actually going up the list These things become more and more important For the woman's desire for a husband Number five, she's looking for someone with education Or intelligence You know, if the husband is going to be the head of his wife She wants to learn from her husband You know, she doesn't want to be talking to An airhead man Right? She wants a man who knows something Knows something about the world That knows something about life Especially a Christian woman A man who knows the Bible A man who can give direction and wisdom in life Education, intelligence And believe it or not This is number four We're talking about the top four A secular source Because again, society does not tell you this But she's looking for a man Whose desire is for home and children Unsaved women Within the top four desire for a man She wants a man who has a desire For home and children Even though society says Women forget the kids They're a waste of your time Within a woman She wants a family, she wants a home She wants children And she wants a man who's going to love that family We're not talking about Christian women here Number three She's looking for a man who Has emotional stability And maturity Emotional stability and maturity Why is that? Because again, generally speaking, women are more emotional Women have the highs and they have the lows They're more up and down Because of their hormones, the way they're created to be And God's created them in that way on purpose Because they're more What's the word I'm looking for? They're more attuned when children Are not doing well They might identify things about Individuals that parents, fathers I don't know, I think they're fine, leave them alone There's something wrong And usually that intuition within women is because they're more emotional They're more in touch with feelings But she's looking for a man Who's not overly emotional, up and down He's a rock, he's an Emotional stability, he's got maturity about him So when mum's Getting all worried and upset about the situation Instead of The husband going, just calm down woman Just relax You ought to be calm And you can give her the calmness Encourage her, you know what things are going to turn out alright Don't worry about it, you don't need to worry about it that much I think this is just normal procedure You don't need to get overly concerned Or this is not our responsibility Don't worry about that Let's just focus on the things that are our responsibilities That's number three Number two, she's looking for a man With dependable character Dependable character And number one Number one should be obvious Number one, she's looking for love A man who loves her In fact that is the number one instruction that God gives to the man Husbands love your wives That's what God says Husbands love your wives That's what she's looking for This has nothing to do with the Bible, I just read you And yet this top ten list, I say yes 100% That's what a woman is looking for Even if she says she doesn't Deep down this is what she's looking for And if you want to get married one day man If you're single then this is what you ought to be aiming for I have to be a man in a good financial prospect I have to have good health I need to be ambitious, industrious I have to have a pleasing disposition I have to be social I need to educate myself and have intelligence I want to show that I have desire for a home and children I need to be someone who's emotionally stable I want to be someone who's dependable And I want to be someone that shows love Toward that person You've got to be working towards this man Even married men, we've got to be working towards this If we've dropped the ball in the area of our life The decision of who you will marry Number one, of course, we talk about a Christian perspective You ought to marry someone who is a believer Someone who is saved Why is that so important? Because there's many reasons why But I'm going to quickly read to you from Malachi 2.15 Malachi 2.15, the question gets asked And did not he or God And did he or God make one Talking about marriage, you know, one flesh It says Yet had he the residue of the spirit And wherefore one Why did God make one? Why did God make family? That he might seek a godly seed Therefore take heed to your spirit And let none deal treacherously Against the wife of his youth So the reason God created family In mankind Is that he would seek a godly seed So the reason it's so important men and women That we work on our marriage Is because we need our children To love the Lord, to be saved And then to serve the Lord all the days of their life That's what God wants That's ultimately the key there And then they get married Then there ought to be bringing forth a godly seed Etc, etc But you ought to be making the decision to marry Someone who is a believer Women you ought to be looking for a man who has proven To love and provide You know A man who you're willing to be subject under So I don't think I should be obedient to my husband Then you should have married You should have made that decision a long time ago If I'm going to marry this man And for young girls When you decide to marry a man You're saying hey I'm willing to be under his authority For the rest of my life And if you say I can't do that to this person Then that's not the person you ought to get married to And again divorce is not an option Don't let divorce be an option Like don't even consider it Don't even let it come out in arguments Oh then we're just going to get divorced I didn't mean it, okay but it came out of your mouth Because the bible says out of the abundance of the mouth Sorry out of the abundance of the heart The mouth speaketh The heart is in your heart Why speak about divorce? God hates to put it away, God hates divorce Alright so Family is so important to God That it's the testing ground On taking an office in church You know when it comes to becoming a pastor One of the qualifications, I'll just read it to you quickly In 1 Timothy 3.5 For if a man know not how to rule his own house How shall he take care of the church of God? You know men if you're not accomplishing your responsibilities As a husband, as a father As a provider As the emotional stability The emotional stable person in the house Then you're not ready to become a pastor Okay It's so important to God that this part of life Gets sorted out first Before you take on an office as a pastor That's how important family is to God I hate it when I see pastors Neglecting their families I hate it I hate seeing pastors that break up with their wives Get divorced, commit adultery I hate it when I see pastors' kids Hate their parents Hate the church because mum and dad Were always involved in church and they were never there To support them and give them acceptance That is the worst way God wants us to make sure our family comes first Okay And I promise you this If my ministry is hurting my family I will step down as a pastor tomorrow Today If it's hurting my family Because that is my ministry That is my purpose I'm trying to raise a godly seed That's why God has given me a wife and family Come with me to Come with me to Ephesians chapter 3 Ephesians chapter 3 please Ephesians chapter 3 Ephesians chapter 3 So girls just make sure You know there's a few girls here Even young ones but When you grow up and you're ready to date You know have this mindset Look this person that I'm going to date I'm going to go out with This could be my husband one day You know Does he have the qualities that I'm looking for in a husband Does he love me, take care of me Or is he just involved in a relationship Is he just involved in playing games You know is he not serious in life He's not serious Look he still could be the husband that you might get But he's probably not ready at this point in time You know just make sure you Do things right Be careful, be mindful It's a big decision in life Like why would you date someone As a Christian, how many Christians here Why would you date someone that you think I'll never get married to Just prepare yourself And when you're ready to say hey this person Meets the criteria that I see In a spouse This is a man that can take care of my needs Or this is a woman who's willing to Put herself under my authority one day You know Then I'll date that person, then that's the person That I'm going to make the decision to have A relationship, emotional attachment Because the end goal Is to get married But Here in Ephesians chapter 3 Ephesians chapter 3 verse number 14 Ephesians 3, 14 And this one is the last one This is the third family that we're part of And this is of course the family of God This is in Ephesians chapter 3 verse 14 Okay so Jesus Christ has a father Okay and we bow ourselves to him We worship him, but verse number 15 says The earth is named What a wonderful thing to be saved Not only that you're on the way to heaven But God gives you a family A Christian family You know the people in this church this morning That's your family You know that's your brother That's your sister in the Lord God has given us a family And even those that have gone before us Those that have passed away that are saved That are in heaven, that's our family as well It says here, of whom the whole family In heaven and earth is named Brevin we've got a big family now that we're saved A big family Look maybe you grew up in a broken home Maybe your parents never wanted to be involved in your life Maybe you've been hurt by human beings Because we have a sinful nature Hey maybe your marriage is on the rocks Maybe you've made major errors in life Okay and you feel like your marriage has fallen apart You don't go, man I've stuffed up family But you know, hold on You're saved, you also have the family of God You also have the family of God If you're saved, you have a father That approves of you Because of his son Because of the shed blood of Jesus Christ You know you're a sinner You know you've messed up life But the heavenly father still approves of you Because he sees you in the righteousness of Jesus Christ Whom you trusted, whom you believed upon Okay Come with me to Matthew chapter 10 Matthew chapter 10 Matthew chapter 10 And while you're turning to Matthew 10 I'll read to you from Mark 3 32 And the multitude sat about him And they said unto him, behold Thy mother and thy brethren, without seek for thee So Jesus Christ is teaching And then his mum turns up And his brothers and sisters, they turn up Someone says hey Jesus, your family's turned up Verse number 33 And he answered them, saying Who is my mother? Or my brethren? And he looked round about on them That sat about him and said, behold My mother and my brethren For whosoever shall do the will of God The same is my brother and my sister and mother Who's your mother, your sister and your brother? Right here And all believers Every church that is made up of saved people They have Christ at their head Every saved individual is your brother or sister in the Lord They've done the will of the father What's the will of the father? None should perish, but that all should come to repentance Everyone that has been saved Everyone that has believed in Christ Is your family I asked you to turn to Matthew 10 Did I? Matthew 10, 34 One of the sad things I grew up in a Christian home And I've got a Christian wife, I've got Christian children So I'm probably never going to experience this The same way some of you guys have And it makes me sad when I hear stories About this, but It says here in verse number 34 Think not that I am come to send peace on earth I came not to send peace But a sword For I am come to set a man at variance Against his father And the daughters against her mother And the daughter-in-law Against her mother-in-law Jesus Christ says look when I come I'm not bringing peace Like just because you get saved Doesn't guarantee that you're going to have peace in your family In fact it could set variance It could very well be a sword A sword of division Because it says here in verse number 36 And a man's foes Or a man's enemies Shall be they of his own household Hear that love of father and mother More than me Is not worthy of me And hear that love of son or daughter More than me Is not worthy of me You see sometimes You may have grown up in a non-Christian home Or a broken home Or a home of another religion A false religion And you get saved You hear the gospel You hear the good news You're excited wow salvation It's a free gift It's not of works it's by faith alone And you believe the truth of God's word And you think surely my family is going to be excited Just like I was And you go to your family and you share the good news And they hate you for it They hate you for it Some of you know what I'm talking about Because you've got broken relationships In your own families Simply because you trust Jesus Christ as your saviour And for them it's a slap in the face You've gone against the family religion Or whatever it is Or you're saying we're not good enough To make it on our own and you offend The message is offensive We think it's okay because we're all sinners I'm a sinner too we're all sinners But they get offended You sound like good enough And then it causes divisions It causes conflicts within families Jesus Christ says this is going to happen This is definitely going to take place in life Come with me to Matthew 19 Matthew 19 And verse 29 Matthew 19 and verse 29 please But I want you to remember this promise From Jesus Christ I can't fully understand it I can't fully explain it to you But it's the truth of God's word It says And everyone that have forsaken houses That's basically Well let's keep going Or brethren or sisters Or father or mother Or wife Or children or lands For my name's sake Look at this Shall receive an hundredfold And shall inherit everlasting life You see if you Get saved and your family rejects you for it And you just can't Make peace You just can't sort these out You know you're hated by the family And you say well you know what I'm making a decision to follow Christ I'm making a decision to live after him Even if it upsets my family Even if I get rejected by my family Even if my wife hates me for it Even if my husband hates me for it Christ is going to reward you You're going to receive an hundredfold I can't really understand that brethren That's a decrease That's like a bank telling you Deposit a hundred dollars And you'll get A hundred percent A hundredfold A thousand Yeah deposit a hundred And tomorrow you can Withdraw a thousand dollars A hundredfold That's ten Ten thousand Okay Okay honestly like if someone says right Look guaranteed because Jesus Christ What he says is guaranteed right We're not talking about speculative trading here Putting money into shares or crypto or anything like that But you know someone comes up and says look Put a hundred bucks down today and tomorrow You get ten thousand dollars Guaranteed You're going to be like yeah let's do it In fact here's a thousand dollars In fact here's a million dollars This is what Jesus Christ says A hundredfold in heaven rewards Doesn't make like you know we can't fully understand this We can't fully comprehend this But you know one I'll tell you the truth One factor that gave me the confidence To leave Sydney Go to the Sunshine Coast and start a church Is this very verse It says and every one of you that have forsaken houses I'm going you know what Lord I'm not going to stay Where I'm comfortable You know I know Sydney I've got family and friends here I've got my house I'm comfortable I need to go and start a church I'm going to go to the Sunshine Coast Because your word says you're going to reward me a hundredfold If I forsake my house If I forsake my comforts To serve you for your name's sake That was one determining factor You know what it's worth it Alright it's worth it People talk about the property market Get invested in the property market because it's always going up It's not always going up but sometimes it goes down If I forsake my house so I can get a hundredfold when I get to heaven Sounds good to me Because Christ is making me a mansion in heaven He's making me a home in heaven That's the housing market that I'm interested in Where the builder and maker is God That sounds like a good housing market to get involved in But the reason I'm saying this to you brethren Is sometimes your family is going to hate you You know you're not going to have the luxury You're not going to have the blessing I can't even relate to some of you It breaks my heart Because I grew up in a Christian home I grew up with me as a pastor I've got a Christian wife My children, most of my children are saved The older ones And I don't see this conflict Developing in my own family But some of you Your parents hate you Your brothers hate you because you got saved Because you were in church this morning You get rejected I just can't comprehend But I'm telling you this because God wants you to be encouraged And comforted You've got a spiritual family that loves you You've got brothers and sisters in the Lord Even if you're the only one And as sad as it is Even if you're the only one in your earthly family That gets saved You're going to have a spiritual family in heaven A great family Brothers and sisters in the Lord who love you and care for you And a heavenly father Not an earthly father that makes mistakes But a heavenly father that will never leave you Nor forsake you I'm going to read One more passage to you If you can, come with me to Romans chapter 8 verse 14 if you can Romans 8, 14, but I'll just read it quickly Romans 8, 14, it says For as many as are led by the Spirit of God They are the sons of God For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear But ye have received the spirit of adoption That's why we cry Abba Father Abba means father Verse 16 But then look at this, verse 17 That makes sense You know when earthly parents pass away They leave the inheritance to the children Well, if you're children of God Then you're heirs of God You get to inherit what God has And if children then heirs, heirs of God And joint heirs with Christ So if be that we suffer with him That we may be also glorified together Boy, if your earthly family reject you Hate you If your parents hate you so much That they cut you out of the will No inheritance for you Well look, you're going to be A joint heir with Jesus Christ In the kingdom of God You're going to have great riches in heaven Because you're children of God So brethren, three families The family that you're born into Great Now, you have no control over the family that you're born into But you do have control Of the family that you get married into Make the right decisions Say, pastor, I did not make the right decision If you said I do That's the person, till death do us part Now make it work And if you need help, get on your knees and pray to God And say, God, can you please fix my family Because I'm at my wits end Alright, go to God, get his help Make it work, raise your children to love the Lord Get them saved Teach them about God's word, God's looking for a godly seed But you say, pastor, I've messed it all up Not only the family that I grew up with was broken But I've really stuffed up my marriage We're divorced and we can't make things work Well, remind yourself that you've got a spiritual family Okay, be excited about eternity Don't put your eyes on the earthly things That are going to pass away Set your eyes on everlasting life Set your eyes on your heavenly home Set your eyes on your spiritual family And try to be a blessing to your brothers and sisters As much as you can Alright, let's pray Heavenly Father, Lord, I just want to thank you for your word Lord, I thank you that we're part of your family Not just salvation, not just saved, Lord, saved from hell But that we get to inherit all things with Jesus Christ What a great blessing And I can't even comprehend what that means exactly, Lord But we know it's going to be great and it's a great promise Lord, I thank you so much for creating family Lord, we've been talking about stability and identity in family Lord, I just pray that we would be people that would strengthen our marriages Lord, that we would value the family that you've given us Our children, our spouses Even our mums and dads, Lord If we're children, Lord, help us to live a life that pleases you And that we would always honour you through our family So Lord, please fix every marriage that is broken Please fix every relationship that is hurt Lord, every child that is emotionally damaged from the sufferings they've received Growing up, Lord, we just pray that you step in, Lord And heal us and heal our broken hearts And heal our broken homes We pray these things in Jesus' name Amen Alright, take your hymnals now And turn to hymn number 82 Hymn number 82 My apologies for going over an hour But I don't get to preach too much to you now Hymn number 82 When he cometh When he cometh When he cometh When he cometh To make up his jewels All his jewels Fresh as jewels His love and his own Like the stars of the morning His bright crown adorning They shall shine in Their beauty Bright gems for his crown He will gather He will gather The gems for his kingdom All the pure ones All the bright ones His love and his own Like the stars of the morning His bright crown adorning They shall shine in Their beauty Bright gems for his crown Little children Little children Every demon All the jewels Fresh as jewels His love and his own Like the stars of the morning His bright crown adorning They shall shine in Their beauty Bright gems for his crown Like the stars of the morning His love and his own Like the stars of the morning His love and his own Like the stars of the morning His love and his own Like the stars of the morning Like the stars of the morning