Find Joy Through Family Part 4 Series

Find Joy Through Your Family! (pt4)

Series: Find Joy in the Journey

Thesis of series: Joy needs to be experienced in the journey of life! But Joy, like any other attitude, can come and go. It is not guaranteed simply because we are born again believers. We must put ourselves in the places where experiencing joy is a possibility. We need to go after and find joy in our journey of life. What are you doing to cultivate joy? Remember joy is a choice!

Many get all caught up in our, so called, destinations but in the process, we never enjoy the moments in the journey of life to that destination. But God is more concerned with the journey, than the destination so we need to focus less on the destination and enjoy the journey today – we need to find the joy in the here and now.

Introduction to Series:

Studying about joy in Scripture, looking at verses which speak of joy, helps build an understanding of how to put ourselves in places where it is possible to find and maintain an attitude of joy in our journey of life. Scripture reveals it is possible to find laughter and joy in living life in a sin-filled world! The Apostle Paul teaches us this can be done!

Scripture Texts for 2019:

Phil. 4:4: “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!”

Romans 15:13: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

John 15:11 “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.”

Sermon: Finding Joy in the Journey through Family! Pt 4

Focus: We have decided to focus on the family this month of June to celebrate and learn how to build healthy biblical families!

Thesis: We need to learn the keys to having a healthy biblical family if we want to fend off the attack of the enemy on our families. If we want to experience joy in the journey of life!

Summary of key building blocks to a healthy biblical family unit:

1. Build on God’s foundation and use His blueprints.

2. Commit and submit to each other and to the biblical family unit.

3. Be loyal and faithful to the family and to each other.

4. Respect your spouse, family members and others.

5. Be good godly parents.

The Main Family Focus Scripture texts is Ephesians 5: 1-33:

T.S. This video will introduce our next family building block – Video Illustration --- the building block key of forgiveness! The 6th key to building healthy biblical families is having the willingness to forgive and be forgiven.

I. Why should you forgive?

a. Charles Stanley gives us reasons why we should forgive in his book The Gift of Forgiveness.

i. He states, “A person who has an unforgiving spirit is always the real loser, much more so than the one against whom the grudge is held.” He adds, “Un-forgiveness, by its very nature, prevents individuals from following through on many specifics of the Christian life and practically necessitates that they walk by the flesh rather than by the spirit “(17,18).

ii. He also expounds in his book on how un-forgiveness devastates the one who refuses to forgive.

iii. Quote: “Harboring unforgiveness or bitterness, is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die” (http://danielpassini.org/what-did-jesus-mean-by-forgiving-70-x-7-times/).

b. When we choose to not forgive in one relationship you soon discover that it spills into other relationships and it destroys them too.

i. When the unforgiving person stands around and waits for the other to make restitution he loses out on life because they never make any progress in their journey of life.

ii. That sad fact is as they are standing around waiting for the other person --- they form fleshly patterns of behavior and incorrect thought processes.

iii. Stanley states, “Regardless of how wrong the other person may have been, refusing to forgive means reaping the corruption in life. And that corruption begins in one relationship including the relationship with God, and that works its way into all the rest” (25,26).

c. Here are a few lines from Scripture in which Jesus talks about the grace of forgiveness and why it's essential:

i. "If you forgive others the wrong’s they have done to you, your Father in heaven will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive the wrongs you have done." -- Matthew 6.14-15 GNTD

ii. "If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. If he sin’s against you seven times in one day, and each time he comes to you saying, 'I repent,' you must forgive him." Luke 17.3-4 GNTD and let’s tie this instruction from Jesus to another scripture - "Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, 'Lord, if my brother keeps on sinning against me, how many times do I have to forgive him? Seven times?' 'No, not seven times,' answered Jesus, 'but seventy times seven…'" -- Matthew 18.21-22 GNTD