Building the Right Foundation
Theme: To show the importance of having a stable foundation in the home.
Text: Luke 6:46-49
Opening Read: Psalms 55:22
Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved. (Psalms 55:22 AV)
Cast you cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall. (NIV)
Luke 6:46 And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? 47 Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them (puts them into practice), I will shew you to whom he is like: 48 He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock. 49 But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great.
Introduction
Let me tell you, you can have the best of everything in a house. The best furniture. The best wood. The best kitchen the best lights. The best roof. But unless the foundation is built solid it is all done in vain.
This is what Jesus was trying to explain to his disciples. We must have our foundation solid and founded in the Lord. He must be our rock. He must be our foundation. He must be our chief-corner stone or all else is in vain.
This is as important for the family as in any other area of our lives. If you are going to talk about the family you have to begin with the family. I could preach all year on the family but if the foundation is not secure it will be no good for you to apply these scriptures.
It is sad to see parents who are worried about teaching a child what is right and wrong yet they do it apart from God. Oh they may include God in there sometimes but their actions, their attendance in church and their commitment to God shows their children they don’t need God.
I thought about that old saying, “Give a man a fish and feed him for a day, teach a man to fish and feed him for a life time.” I have modified it to the family. “Tell a child what to do and he will do that for a day, teach him about God and you will give him morals for a life time.”
Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”
The stability of a family is its foundation. You will find that everything may look good on the surface in a family but it is what is under the family that will make the difference.
Boy when my first child was born. This cute little boy I thought things were going to be perfect. We were going to be the perfect parents. And we were, that first day. Hey maybe even that first week. But the test of the stability of the family is not during these times the test is when the storms come. The test is when the trials happen. The test is when the family is faced with priorities and choices and how we choose. What happens when our child tells that first lie? What happens when our child is faced with stealing and cursing? What do we do? Are we stable enough to see the big picture? Can we handle this?
For some families they can simply sit down with their child and not just explain the sin from their perspective but also from God’s perspective. Then the child will see a higher purpose and calling.
Yet there are many others who try to do the same with their child and the child knows the commitment to the Lord of their parents. They know that their parents take God as second or third priority and only call on him when they need him. The child says, “Well what does he know anyway? He is just another opinion”.
How many houses have you been in and seen a crack in the wall? What happens when they fix the crack? It reappears. Over and over again. You could sit and claim that the problem is in the wall. But if you look deep enough you will find that the problem is in the foundation.
I will not tell you that making God for you foundation will give the perfect family but it will give you a stable family.
For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. (Galatians 6:8 AV)
In other words you reap what you sow. If you sow godliness you will reap godliness. If you sow sin you will reap sin.
What do we do?
Yet we must allow God to take control of our family and we must begin to draw closer to him. Invoking God will not alleviate our responsibilities. Many times we get ourselves in a bind and then we call upon the Lord. Yet we must do something.
A young girl was faced with a great dilemma. She had left her boots on the porch when she came in after dark. So her parents told her to go back outside and get her boots. Well she was afraid. It was dark. But her parents insisted that she go out and get them, trying to teach responsibility. Finally to console her they said, “Don’t be afraid God is out there.” Finally the little girl peeped her head out the door and yelled, “God since you are already out there will you throw me my boots?”
1. In everything let the main thing be the main thing.
Let God be first in our family, that is everything. We even take him on our vacation. Everything centering around Christ.
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates. (Deuteronomy 6:4-9 AV)
I remember when we had been at Allendale for a short time. We were traveling to Barnwell, the next town over, when we passed this big house with a pond in front of it. Kai looks over at the house and says, “Daddy why don’t we move there.” So we told,” Well God has called us to pastor in Allendale so that is where we are.” Well that seemed to settle it for a while. Yet the next time we passed the house Kai blurted out, “Daddy I am going to pray that God will call is to that house.”
He wanted to live there but it was an opportunity to show him that the main thing in our house is not what we do but putting God first. As I have said many times, “When we put God first then the rest of the line will line up.”
Remember the astounding statistic that I gave you just a few weeks back.
Both parents attend church 76% chance that the child will attend church in later years.
Father attend church 55% chance that the child will attend church in later years.
Mother attend church 15% chance that the child will attend church in later years.
2. Pray “The family that prays together stays together”
We must show our family our foundation but praying before them and with them. We show them what is important in our lives and what should be important in their lives.
3. Worship
Praying is a part of worship but worship is not just praying. Worship is showing the worth ship of God in our lives.
Conclusion
The family has changed but God has not. He is still the same God who created Adam and Eve as a family and looked up the creation and said it was good. He saw the family as good.
These next few weeks God has placed upon my heart the burden to preach about the family. I believe that if you have revival in the family you will have it in the church. The importance and priority of the family.
