Part 1 - Introduction Series

The Home as God Intended

Part 1 – Introduction

First Baptist Church of Tawas City Michigan

Rev. Bruce A. Shields

WELCOME

PRAYER

The oldest institution known to man is the home.

We know through the study of culture and society that the home is vital to our civilization.

We also know from reading Genesis 1; 2 that God is the author of the home and has sought through His Holy Word to regulate, mold, and form the home to where it is an ideal place for the legitimate fulfillment of the physical, social, and emotional needs of men and women.

God designed us to live in family units.

Genesis 2:18

“The LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him."

The home is also God’s perfect arrangement and environment for the upbringing of children.

Ephesians 6:1-4

“1Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2"Honor your father and mother"—which is the first commandment with a promise— 3"that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth."[a] 4Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.”

The home is the training ground for children, so that they may grow to love God and live for Him.

But God’s plan is not being lived in most homes today as God intended.

There are many problems in America today regarding the home.

A growing number of sociologists and historians are telling us that the traditional home in America is on the endangered species list.

Most of our social ills facing our country and church stem from problems in the homes across this country.

The most recent government census reveals some interesting but disturbing facts.

Unwed people living together jumped 71% since 1990.

Single women raising children grew 5 times faster than married couples raising children.

We are on the verge of a society where a significant portion of young people will not know the family structure of a married father and mother.

If their childhood is to be their training ground, in essence what we are doing is training our children to live failed marriages, failed family structure, and failed lives with no relationship with God and no understanding of purpose for their lives.

We are teaching them to be exactly what they become.

This census also showed that divorce is on the decline, but this isn’t good news. It’s on the decline because fewer people are getting married.

These are warning signs of the future of our society.

Do you wonder why people are living together instead of getting married?

Why single parent households are on the rise?

Why there is a general disregard for authority, because, this is what we are teaching our children.

Fathers, our children are watching you.

God created the fathers to be the spiritual leadership of the home.

What the father does, the children learn.

Fathers, what are you teaching your children?

Because fathers are not living the godly lives and fulfilling the godly roles they were created to, our children and wives are suffering.

Remember what we read in Ephesians 6:4, “children are to be nurtured and trained in the home.”

By the way, the word nurture here, in Greek is Paideia, which means the training of a child, including instruction; discipline, correction and chastening.

This implies affection, and true love also involves training, education and discipline.

How can a father fulfill this obligation to God if he is not in the home?

Kids in our society are acting results of our failures.

“My child has a problem with authority.”

No, your child has a problem of not being taught to respect authority.

It is a well documented fact that children who have authority issues usually are not rebelling against the authority itself, but because they relate that authority with a key figure from their childhood.

They are rebelling against the fathers who have left them, the fathers who have abused them; the fathers who have beat them.

They are rebelling against the authority from their childhood, and when they grow and leave home, they will rebel against any authority that reminds them of their childhood authority, including God.

This is why it is so important for us men to live godly lives.

God has a program here, and if we don’t get with the program, our children suffer for it.

Then they grow and leave home, and then society suffers for it, as well as our children.

This home as God intended is dependant on a few key issues that we will be discussing over the next few weeks.

1. Parents must be acting Christians for Gods instructions to and family plan to operate properly.