Keys To Succesful Families

Keys to a Successful Family

Eph. 6:1-4

Intro.:

A. You know sometimes I think we hear words but then have a tendency to never take it from our brains down to our heart! One of those words that we hear but sometimes don’t digest is John 3:16, For God so loved the World that He gave His one and only Son that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life.

God loves you – He really does.

So much that He gave us Jesus Christ

So much that He wants us to believe, trust in Him and have eternal life!

Think about that for a moment….

(Focusing on the kids) – Do you know how special you are? Do you know how much the Lord loves you?

Ps. 8; “Why are people important to you? Why do you take care of people? You made them a little lower than angels and crowned them with glory and honor.”

Ps. 139:14-16; “I praise you because you made me in an amazing and wonderful way. What you have done is wonderful…. You saw my bones being formed as I took shape in my mother’s body. … You saw my body as it was formed. All the days planned for me were written in your book before I was one day old.” NCV

Not only that but we learn that Jesus wants YOU to come to Him,

Mark 10:13-16; Jesus took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them.

Luke 17:1-2 “Things that cause people to sin will happen, but t how terrible for the person who causes them to happen. It would be better for you to be thrown into the sea with a large stone around your neck than to cause one of these little ones to sin.”

B. Another aspect of Jesus’ love for you, is that Life is like a SEA. There are challenges, there are storms you will face, there are outside forces (like waves and swells) that try to pressure you, as well as currents that try to lead you away.

So God cares and loves you so much – you mean so, so, so very much that He wanted to Provide you with a Safe Environment - called the FAMILY!

- The greatest need with people is not Sin it was loneliness, GEN. 2:18-25 God is not just concerned about sin in your life, He is concerned with your loneliness too.

- God’s Idea/Plan/Pattern for the Family is very clear: A man, Woman united in the Covenant of Marriage and the children born to them.

C. The Family is like a Boat in the Sea of Life!

- It’s your Boat.

- It’s to be your safety zone for life.

- a Place for you to learn about Life Issues: like Responsibility, Communication, Emotional stability, Security, and God’s purpose is for you to Learn about HIM!

The Big Question though is Who is going to be the Captain of the Family – the Boat? The Parent? YOU?

The Answer: needs to be Jesus Christ as LORD (that is what Lord really means: ruler, master – Captain)

Parents: if you really think that you can lead your kids to everything they need and all that they need to become – you’re kidding yourself! You need help and Jesus wants to Help – He wants to be with you, guide you, bless you, give you wisdom!

Hey students: are you going to be the Captain of the Family Boat? You really want all that responsibility of caring, providing, leading and being accountable to the Lord? As you get older, as a Teen, you may think you want to be Captain.

The Truth: both you parents and kids; Jesus is the Only Qualified Captain there is for a Family!

C. Besides making Jesus Lord – Captain – of our Families - how can we become a Successful, Safe, Fulfilled Family that is prepared to meet the Challenges in the SEA of Life?

How can we build in within our families the Hope and Promises of Eternal Life that are offered to each of us through Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord?

READ Our Passage – Eph. 6:1-4

Body:

A. Families Need Godly Parents to set examples for their children.

We learned last week that Hannah was a Model Mother why? She Prayed for son, set an example and Worshiped the Lord, and Dedicated Samuel to the Lord.

Dt. 6, Prov. 22:8

Parents in this Sea of Life there are Lies – waves that are crushing our families today:

Lie #1: A Parent’s role is to Provide for their children! That is a Half Truth and a half truth is still untruth.

The Truth is that as parents you are called not only to provide for your children physically but also emotionally and Spiritually.