Excellence In Family Living Series

INTRODUCTION

Opening Statement: A minister was finishing up a series on marriage. At the end of the service he was giving out small wooden crosses to each married couple. He said, "Place this cross in the room in which you fight the most and you will be reminded of God’s commands and you won’t argue as much." One woman came up after the service and said, "You’d better give me five."

A home is more than a house or the rooms where one lives; that’s merely space. A home is family, it’s security, it’s provision, and it’s love in the relationships that are found there; it is more than space – it is a place where life is fleshed out in all of its variegated forms. It’s so important to have excellence in leadership and service there.

Title: Excellence in Family Living

Theme: Leadership and Service Excellence Series

Text: Colossians 3:18-21. Colossians offers us some help in establishing a home of excellence.

Background: Colossians is one of the most Christ-centered books of the Bible. Anyone who has ever searched for an answer to the question, “Who is Jesus?” must eventually come to Colossians. Colossians answers this question with “Christ is Supreme over all persons and things!” And, if He is supreme, then He is sufficient for all of our spiritual needs. Jesus does not need supplemented. We need not seek other mysterious religious experiences outside of knowing and encountering Him as Savior and Friend. And, if He can hold together and sustain a universe (1:15-17) as Paul asserts in Colossians, can He not also hold my life together, hold my family together, hold my marriage together, hold our society together and sustain us?

Just a surely as the principles that govern this great universe reveal a system of order and structure, even so, God also has a system of order and structure within the family unit. This order and structure is meant to make life better for everyone.

Key Word: FOUR #1 PRIORITIES or FOUR CONCISE DIRECTIVES are given in this passage that govern this great universal idea of the family unit. We will look at 2 of them today. Then we will look at 2 of them the next time I speak.

Recitation: 18 Wives, be subject to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. 19 Husbands, love your wives and do not be embittered against them. 20 Children, be obedient to your parents in all things, for this is well-pleasing to the Lord. 21 Fathers, do not exasperate your children, so that they will not lose heart.

I. Number 1 Priority for Wives

II. Number 1 Priority for Husbands

III. Number 1 Priority for Children

IV. Number 1 Priority for Fathers

Clarification: If you get any one of these out of proper alignment, a chaotic unbalance enters into this world of family living and relationships disintegrate quickly. What are these concise directives?

I. Number 1 Priority for Wives – Honor Your Husband as Leader

A. Recitation: 18 Wives, be subject to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.

B. Exposition: This verse is not just about subjection or submission; it is primarily about leadership. It implies that the man should lead and that his wife should empower him to lead. Husbands, you are provider, protector, and caregiver. The Bible says you are (Genesis 3:16). You are not to stand passively by and expect your wife to pull the leadership load. That’s your job. Give her the security she needs to follow your lead and trust your leadership. What Paul is saying to the Christian ladies of Colossee is that when your man is a godly man, let him lead. Paul is teaching that you’ve been set-free by Christ ladies of Colossee. Your womanhood will be honored and respected within the New Community like never before in history. The gospel has given to you a new status. Salvation and redemption privilege is for everyone equally. But, Paul cautions, don’t use this new freedom that you’ve been given to throw the home out of balance. God has ordained that husbands should lead in the home. Now, there are some other issues involved if your husband is not a believer or if he doesn’t lead. But here, Paul is addressing families within the New Community. And for him, it is inconceivable that a godly woman would not allow her aspiring godly husband to lead. He’s not perfect. But he’s out there as leader and pointman trying to determine which way the family out to go. Paul’s word to you is that you are to be committed to following his leadership and it is fitting in the Lord.

C. Illustration: The deacons and I are working our way through a book by Stu Weber entitled, Tender Warrior. Early in this book, he compares husbands and fathers to the wagon train Scout. You’ve seen the Scout at work in some of your favorite westerns. He rides ahead of the wagon train, checking out the trail, looking for Indians, scouting out water holes, scanning the skyline for upcoming storms, and listening for the muted rumble of a buffalo herd. The Husband-Scout looks ahead, gives direction, anticipates needs, and defines destinations.