Our Legacy Of Hope Begins At Home

Our Legacy of Hope Begins at Home

Introduction: Recognize the longest married couple in the service and possibly the

newest married couple. (Perhaps distribute a special gift of some kind)

A question for married couples:For those of us who are married, what hope do we have that our marriage will last? What hope do we have that we will “finish strong”’? What should we count on—or hope in, so that our marriage is full of passion and intimacy?

The headlines are filled with stories of unfaithfulness and marital discord. So what

lessons can we learn from legendary sports heroes, political figures and movie stars that seem to have it all, but can’t seem to make their marriage last?

What do the stars of Hollywood or the politicians of Washington hope in? What are they counting on? I wonder if their hope of marital success was misplaced? How about yours and mine?

A question for parents: For those of us who are parents or grand-parents: What hope do we have that our children will stand by their faith? Live by their values? What are you counting on? What are you hoping in—that will produce relationally

healthy, followers of Jesus? (Proverbs 22:6)

We certainly can’t hope for perfect children, because our children are just like us: imperfect people. They make their own decisions and just like us, some of those choices are good ones and some of them are not! Could you join with me in this hope?

• Our children are more influenced and shaped by their parents and by their

faith—than by the world.

• Our teens, remain open to our input and continue to be open about the details of

their physical, emotional and spiritual life.

• Our adult children want to be around us and we regularly enjoy being around

them!

Some of us may also champion the simple, but profound hope that our current family could be a little healthier, or a little more functional than our childhood.

When we consider the worldwide tragedies of family violence and neglect,

abuse and fragmentation – We’ve got to ask the question: Is the hope for our

families in the right place?

A question for teens and single adults: If we were to ask, the vast majority of you

would say that you hope for a life-long soul mate and committed marriage relationship, but many of you would settle for much less. The rise of co-habitation, frequency of divorce, having children outside of marriage and “hooking up” are all signs that the hope for life-long commitment often gets terribly lost.

Is your hope for an abundantly satisfying, life-long marriage just a fantasy or could

it be, God’s hope for you? Again, lessons from the Psalmist give us wisdom to ground our hopes in confidence for the future. Let’s read what many refer to as, “The Homebuilding” Psalm – Psalms 127:1-3.

The Lord is Our Hope For a Blessed Marriage and Family “Unless the Lord builds the house they labor in vain who build it; unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman keeps awake in vain” (Psalm 12 7:1).

The Lord is in the homebuilding business. He builds heavenly homes (John

14:1-3), church homes (Matthew 16:16-18) and earthly homes!

Married couples: Consider God’s wisdom— “Husbands love your wives just as Christ loved the church...” (Ephesians 5:25). And “let the wife see that she respects her husband” (Ephesians 5:33).

Parents: Consider God’s wisdom—”Do not provoke or exasperate your children ...”(Ephesians 6:4).

Teenagers and singles: Consider the encouragement of II Timothy 2:22—”Run away from youthful indulgence. Run after mature righteousness—faith, love, peace—joining those who are in honest and serious prayer before God.”

Our homebuilding Psalm reminds us that there are only two kinds of homes being built: Those the Lord builds and those being built in vain— the homes and families built with emptiness. Consider how life events have recently exposed the vanity – or the emptiness of celebrity marriages. They looked good on the

outside, but painful emptiness and betrayal was just below the surface.

Colossians 3:16 Preparation: “Let the word of Christ dwell richly in you.”

Pastor, take time now to allow the Lord to remind you of a “wake-up” call you received from the Lord—a time when you realized your home priorities were out of balance. Recall a time when emptiness or vanity was creeping into your home. Consider sharing this with your congregation as a testimony of humility and dependence upon the Lord as our hope.

“I remember the time that the Lord got my attention about our family …”

It is the Lord who both builds and guards our homes. Countless enemies are trying to destroy God-honoring relationships. The Lord is our only true hope for faithfulness.

You see, it’s not just today’s celebrities who have failed to “hope in the Lord” for their marriages and families, this problem has been around a long time: