Sin Wages War On The Family Series

TEXT: Genesis 3:1-19

TITLE: The Wages of Sin on the Family - SIN WAGES WAR ON THE FAMILY

SERIES: Home Health Care

TOPIC: Making good choices for the family

OCCASION: Burnside Christian Church, July 13, 2008

PROP.: It is sin that has wreaked havoc in our families. Poor decisions destroy the family! This sermon shows the effect sin has on the family and furthermore, the remedy for that sin!

INTRODUCTION: House inspection: Whenever you buy a home, one thing you must have done is a termite inspection. Why? Because these little pests, over time, will ruin the foundation of your home!

This morning, I want to continue to inspect our home - the family. There is a destructive force that is attacking the foundation of family. It has been eating away at relationships. Causing bitterness and divorce.

That destructive force is sin!

Sin is the most destructive choice!

I know what you’re thinking, and the answer is YES, sin is even more destructive than my fists of fury.

T.S.: Let’s look at how sin wages war on the family!

Last week I told you about the blessings or the gifts that God gives the family..let’s recall those four gifts before we get started:

I. The first family WAS blessed!

Last week, as you recall, I told you, God blessed the family by:

a. by being created in His image

b. with a great job! --be fruitful and multiply, name the animals

c. with Clear boundaries -- “Do not eat of the tree of life and the tree of knowledge of

good and evil.”

d. with the gift of togetherness!

Life was good! Life was perfect! Life was how it was supposed to be!

But something tragic is about to take place in chapter 3.

Let’s look at the effect SIN has on the FAMILY!

In fact, I’ve entitled today’s sermon: Sin wages war on the family!

Turn to Genesis chapter 3. This will be our text for today.

(I’ve entitled chapter 3: SNAKES ON A PLANE? TRY SNAKES IN YOUR GARDEN!)

1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, ’You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?" We have no idea how long life was perfect before the serpent came to the woman! We don’t know if this is their first encounter or if the snake had befriended the woman. We do know that she was not scared, shocked, or amazed at a talking snake.

2 The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, ’You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’ " 4 "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. 5 "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." 6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.

Today’s sermon has again, one point! Don’t miss it! Here it is:

II. The first family was destroyed because of POOR CHOICES!

Adam and Eve were faced with a choice: Eat the fruit. Don’t eat the fruit.

Their choice was a poor one and that choice had consequences!

I feel that we need to clarify

A. The difference between circumstances and consequences

Circumstance = a situation you find yourself in that you have no control over.

Cancer is a circumstance! You have no control over when or if you’ll contract cancer.

Consequence = a situation you find yourself in that is the result of poor choices.

Having a hang-over is a consequence of the poor choice of being drunk!

I want to ask: Is your family being destroyed by YOUR choices?

If you’re family isn’t the way you want it be, you first need to recognize: Is it because of circumstances? Or is it because of consequences?

And if it’s because of a choice you’ve made, here’s the good news, you can decide NOT to choose that in the future!!

ILLUSTRATION: If you’ve ever gotten something at a restaurant that you didn’t like, you can make the choice to NEVER get that ever again! You learn from the bad choices in life! Now that doesn’t mean that there aren’t consequences, that just means that you can learn that you don’t want to do THAT again!

ILLUSTRATION: Electric fence on the Franke farm! I had no idea what just happened…but I didn’t like it!