A Home Built To Last

I. THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF BUILDERS:

A. MOSES WAS A GREAT CARPENTER FOR THE HOUSE OF GOD. (2)

His time expired. He finished his work and left. He did a great job, but his ministry did not continue. Some of you who have had homes built know that. The builder may build the spec house according to their standards. But once their time is ended, so does the service. You may have had the greatest contractor, but once their contract ended, that is it. They do no more. You will not have your phone call returned and no one will show up to fix things. If

B. CHRIST REMAINS THE CREATOR AND CARETAKER OF YOUR SOULS AND

HIS CHURCH. (3-5)

1. He designed the house.

2. He died in the construction house.

3. He dwells in the house.

II. THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF HOMES YOU CAN CHOOSE.

A. THE CONVENTIONAL HOME.

Lives for earthly rewards.

Wanders in a lack of purpose.

Struggles to stay together.

B. THE CHRIST CENTERED HOME.

Lives for eternal rewards.

Follows God’s Plan.

Stays the course and holds together.

III. HOW TO COSTRUCT A SOLID FOUNDATION.

A. MAKE A COMMITMENT TO GOD’S STANDARD. (Deuteronomy 30:17-20)

B. MAINTAIN YOUR MARRIAGE. (Ephesians 5:20-30)

There’s a wonderful book entitled His Needs, Her Needs, by a psychiatrist by the name of Dr. Willard Harley. And in this book he talks about interviewing thousands of couples and he has listed the top five needs of most men and the top five needs of most woman and let me give them to you.

Top five needs of most men:

1. Sexual fulfillment.

2. Recreational companionship.

3. Attractive spouse.

4. Domestic support.

5. Admiration.

Men want to be admired.

Top five needs of most women:

1. Affection.

Affection needs explanation to at least half of this crowd. He’s talking about tender love, hugs, pats, kisses. He’s not talking about going through this process to lead them upstairs or wherever the bedroom is. He’s not talking about "touchdown." You know, hugs and kisses without a second half. Now, if you don’t understand that, talk to the person beside you and they’ll explain right after the service is over.

2. Conversation.

I mean they like to talk. And when you think they’re done, no, no, they want to tell you again. "Let’s talk about it one more time."

3. Honesty and openness.

4. Financial support.

5. Family commitment.

Now, look at those lists just for a moment. I’m going to show you now why there are marriage problems. If you look at the five for men and the five for women, do you see they don’t relate? They don’t parallel at all. You see, that’s where the problem is. The problem is when a man gets married he thinks as a man. He hasn’t been trained yet, ladies. He tries to meet his wife’s needs according to how he wants his needs met. And when a woman gets married, she thinks as a woman and she tries to meet her husband’s needs as she would like. They’re missing THE MARK. And that’s why the marriage problems. I heard a cute story the other day. In a scientific survey about husbands and lovemaking, they found out that husbands want to make love on days that start with T. It’s amazing what you pick up. And most men when asked to name those days could only come up with four days each the week. That means husbands want to make love on Tuesdays, Thursdays, as well as today, tomorrow.

Men we have this great capacity to think we are meeting our wife’s needs when we are just being busy. Rookies, I hope you listen to this lesson from your pastor’s experience. Sarah will ask me to help around the house and I will get busy but she will not be happy. Why? I helped. I fixed something. I cleaned the garage. But, I did not ask her what would help her. She says, doing what you think needs to be done is not helping me. It is not building the relationship. And guys, let me just explain, when you are missing the boat, there will be no “T” in your wife’s alphabet. It is just the nature of relationship.

C. MAKE TIME FOR YOUR CHILDREN. (Luke 18:15-17)

Children don’t stay on the Merry-Go-Round for long. That brass ring may be there for a few runs around the merry go round, but as some point it will be gone.

Thoughout the Bible you see the Children of Abraham referred to and the family of God. Just as Jesus has been faithful to complete all the tasks and work necessary to build the house of God, the church, He has charged us with the task of building our homes and maintaining his witness through the church.

WHEN YOU CONTRACT WITH THE MASTER CARPENTER YOUR HOME WILL STAND THE TEST OF ETERNITY.