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The Role of the Christian Family in Our World Today

Colossians 3:18-21    
¹⁸Wives, be subject to your husbands [subordinate and adapt yourselves to them], as is right and fitting and your proper duty in the Lord.

¹⁹Husbands, love your wives [be affectionate and sympathetic with them] and do not be harsh or bitter or resentful toward them.

 ²⁰Children, obey your parents in everything, for this is pleasing to the Lord.

²¹Fathers, do not provoke or irritate or fret your children [do not be hard on them or harass them], lest they become discouraged and sullen and morose and feel inferior and frustrated.  [Do not break their spirit.]

Today, more than ever it is a truth that as the family goes, so goes the church.

As the church goes, so goes the community.

As the community goes, so goes the state.

As the state goes, so goes the nation.

While our secular, godless society continuously attacks the sanctity of marriage and the family, God continues to tell us that the Christian family is the key ingredient to a revived world.

For the family to influence culture in a Godly way, two major behaviors must be activated: selflessness and caring

When we are willing to look beyond ourselves and care deeply for others, our families will be strong in the faith of Jesus Christ.

Caring is the closest identification we have with the cross of Christ in our marriages.

To care means I am with you and for you no matter what the circumstance.

Caring rids us of selfishness.  It means I cherish and appreciate my family and I commit my energies, myself, my time, to their fulfillment.

It is in the caring relationship that we are sustained.

The family is a portrait of community. 

Families are to exemplify the Christian style of relationship.

Will you share and practice this with your family?

The Power of the Church

Jesus has given us the church as an instrument of instruction, guidance and protection.

Anything significant that happens in your life will be a result of God’s activity in your life.

The fuel, energy and life of the church is prayer.

Prayer is a relationship – not just an activity.  It is designed more to adjust you to God than to adjust God to you.

God doesn’t need your prayers, but He wants you to pray because of what He wants to do in and through your life.

We often think of prayer as an outlet for expressing what we need – a cry to God for help.

But prayer is the asking of God to fulfill His needs through us.

God’s original thought is not the letting of believers to achieve their own aims through prayer, but God accomplishing His purpose through the prayers of believers.

God wants to meet our needs and will as it relates to His purpose.

Prayer is responding to God’s will since He seeks our cooperation with Him.

Isaiah 45:11

¹¹Thus says the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, and its Maker: Would you question Me about things to come concerning My children, and concerning the work of My hands [would you] command Me?

During the period called “time” all of God’s actions are governed by the church.

Today the church stands on earth as God’s vehicle for His will to be done.  To the degree that we do His will, His power is released.

God is always waiting on the church to come into agreement with His will.

The church’s ministry today is the proclamation of the Gospel and the manifesting, on the earth, of the will which is in heaven.

BE WISE AS SERPENTS

Given the choice of experiencing acceptance or rejection, the choice is very easy to make.  All of us want to be accepted.

The fear of rejection may well be the major reason why more Christians don’t share their faith.

Fear of rejection is the irrational fear that others will not accept me for who I am, what I believe, and how I act.

Fear of rejection is the self-censoring attitude that inhibits creativity, productivity, and imagination in our approach to life.

Fear of rejection is the energy-robbing attitude that leads to self-immobilization, self-defeating, and self destructive behavior.

Fear of rejection is the act of giving to others more power than I give to myself over how I feel about myself.

In this Red Letter command from Matthew 10, Jesus gives us reasons why we will suffer rejection:

• Verse 17 – Beware of men who will attack you because of the message.
• Verse 14 – Some will not receive you.
• Verse 14 – Some will not listen to you.
• Verse 22 – Some will even hate you.

The three institutions which God established in this world are the home, government, and the church.  In these last days all of these institutions will oppose the truth instead of promoting it.

Jesus is sending us out as sheep among wolves.

“Behold, I send you forth.”  The pronoun is emphatic, “It is I, the Lord, who send you.”

I send you knowing what you will encounter.  I send you with My Message. I send you with full power, authority, and protection.

We are to “be wise as serpents” as stated in Genesis 3:1.    Serpents sense danger and avoid it if possible.

As God’s witnesses we must possess the wisdom to do the right thing at the right time; to use the best means to achieve the highest goal.

Don’t get into a fight about Jesus; don’t antagonize people whose hearts are hard.

Don’t waste your time or your breath on those who reject His message.

Shake the dust off of your feet and leave (Verse 14).

Our priority should always be to “Live the Red.”

We must strive to please God and not men.  He has “sent us” to boldly proclaim His message in spite of opposition. We must always “let our light shine.”