A Real Home

Date: March 11, 2001

A. What Is A Real Home?

1. Edward Purinton, writing for Covenanter Witness, gave us 10 things that characterize a real home.

a. A real home is a gymnasium. The ideal of a healthy body is the first one to give a child.

b. A real home is a lighthouse. A lighthouse reveals the breakers ahead and shows a clear way past them.

c. A real home is a playground. Beware of house where you "dassn’t frolic"--there mischief is brewing for someone.

d. A home is a workshop. Pity the boy without a kit of tools or the girl without sewing basket. They have not learned the fun of doing things--and there is no fun like that.

e. A real home is a forum. Honest, open discussion of life’s great problems belongs originally in the family circle.

f. A real home is a secret society. Loyalty to one’s family should mean keeping silent on family matters--just this and nothing more.

g. A real home is a health resort. Mothers are natural physicians.

h. A real home is a cooperative league. Households flourish where the interests of each is made the interest of all.

i. A real home is a haven of refuge. The world does this for us all: it makes us hunger for a loving sympathy and a calming, soothing touch.

j. A real home is a temple of worship.

B. How Can We Make our Home a Real Home?

1. Make God the Foundation

a. Isaiah 28:16 "So this what the Sovereign Lord says: "See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who trusts will never be dismayed.

b. Matthew 7: 24-27 "Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against the house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash."

2. Make God the Builder

a. Psalm 127:1 "Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain…"

3. Make God the Watcher

a. Psalm 127:1 "…Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain."

4. Make God the Uniting Force

a. I Corinthians 12:12 "The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ."

5. Make God Our Dwelling Place

a. Psalm 90:1-2 "Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations. Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God."

C. Motto for a Home

"Lord, enter Thou my home with me,

Until I enter Thine with Thee."