Building The Right Foundation Series

Building the Right Foundation

Theme: To show the importance of having a stable foundation in the home.

Text: Luke 6:46-49

Opening Read: Psalms 55:22

Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved. (Psalms 55:22 AV)

Cast you cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall. (NIV)

Luke 6:46 And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? 47 Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them (puts them into practice), I will shew you to whom he is like: 48 He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock. 49 But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great.

Introduction

Let me tell you, you can have the best of everything in a house. The best furniture. The best wood. The best kitchen the best lights. The best roof. But unless the foundation is built solid it is all done in vain.

This is what Jesus was trying to explain to his disciples. We must have our foundation solid and founded in the Lord. He must be our rock. He must be our foundation. He must be our chief-corner stone or all else is in vain.

This is as important for the family as in any other area of our lives. If you are going to talk about the family you have to begin with the family. I could preach all year on the family but if the foundation is not secure it will be no good for you to apply these scriptures.

It is sad to see parents who are worried about teaching a child what is right and wrong yet they do it apart from God. Oh they may include God in there sometimes but their actions, their attendance in church and their commitment to God shows their children they don’t need God.

I thought about that old saying, “Give a man a fish and feed him for a day, teach a man to fish and feed him for a life time.” I have modified it to the family. “Tell a child what to do and he will do that for a day, teach him about God and you will give him morals for a life time.”

Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”

The stability of a family is its foundation. You will find that everything may look good on the surface in a family but it is what is under the family that will make the difference.

Boy when my first child was born. This cute little boy I thought things were going to be perfect. We were going to be the perfect parents. And we were, that first day. Hey maybe even that first week. But the test of the stability of the family is not during these times the test is when the storms come. The test is when the trials happen. The test is when the family is faced with priorities and choices and how we choose. What happens when our child tells that first lie? What happens when our child is faced with stealing and cursing? What do we do? Are we stable enough to see the big picture? Can we handle this?

For some families they can simply sit down with their child and not just explain the sin from their perspective but also from God’s perspective. Then the child will see a higher purpose and calling.

Yet there are many others who try to do the same with their child and the child knows the commitment to the Lord of their parents. They know that their parents take God as second or third priority and only call on him when they need him. The child says, “Well what does he know anyway? He is just another opinion”.

How many houses have you been in and seen a crack in the wall? What happens when they fix the crack? It reappears. Over and over again. You could sit and claim that the problem is in the wall. But if you look deep enough you will find that the problem is in the foundation.

I will not tell you that making God for you foundation will give the perfect family but it will give you a stable family.