The Incredible Family

Note: This is the sermon manuscript that Ben carried into the pulpit. Feel free to use it in any way to advance the kingdom of God.

The Incredible Family

Colossians 3:18-21

Englewood Baptist Church

Sunday Morning, June 15, 2008 (Father’s Day)

We live on planet earth and across this spinning globe, there are many powerful institutions. There is the institution of human government, which makes this country a more civilized, peaceful nation. Beyond government, there is the institution of higher learning. Some of the best and brightest young people fill our universities stretching their minds in order to make this world a better place. The government, the university—these are essential institutions. But there is one institution that is far more powerful than government, far more influential than the university. That institution is the family. There is no organization known to man that can exert greater influence in society like that of the family.

The family is the single most important institution in the world. Mother Theresa once said,

"What can you do to promote world peace? Go home and love your family." ~Mother Theresa

George W. Bush hasn’t been the most popular president in history, but I praise the Lord that he has sought to protect the sanctity of marriage and family. I agreed with him when he said not long ago:

The union of a man and woman is the most enduring human institution--honored and encouraged in all cultures and by every religious faith. Ages of experience have taught humanity that the commitment of a husband and wife to love and to serve one another promotes the welfare of children and the stability of society. –George W. Bush

Now the president was speaking specifically of marriage, but we all know that marriage is the fabric of family and family the fabric of society. I don’t think this country understands what the stability that lost as family upon family self-destruct.

As James Dobson says, we must focus on the family. It is a sacred institution of God. And in His sovereign purposes, God has set the pattern for the home. The formula is simple: He has called one man and one woman to make a lifelong promise. And to the man, God has ascribed a special leadership assignment. For the sake of order and peace, God has called the man to be the resident pastor and spiritual leader in the family.

Today, on this Father’s Day, I want us to look the Biblical instructions for the family and I will draw special attention to the role of the Daddy. Let’s talk about daddies for a second. Over the centuries, intelligent people have had much to say about their fathers…

When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years. –Mark Twain

I think we can all identify with Twain. Teenagers seem to know more than their fathers, but my, oh my, how things change over time. Along that same line, look at what musician Charles Wadsworth once said:

"By the time a man realizes that maybe his father was right, he usually has a son who thinks he’s wrong." ~ Charles Wadsworth, musician

It’s ironic, isn’t it? This role of fatherhood. What a humbling assignment this is, gentleman, to be called a father. It is not a position for lightweights, or cowards, or sluggards. Without question, it is much easier to have an incredible career at the office than it is to have an incredible family in the home. Nothing could be more humbling than the overwhelming task of shepherding a child’s heart. But thanks be to God, that He has given us some basic instructions for how to do it well. I am praying fervently that as a young dad, I will be able to apply these principles in my own home. I hope that you will too.

Let me read to you some very brief words from the book of Colossians…

Read Colossians 3:18-21

The Scriptures have just laid out the basic job description for every member of the family. Everyone is important in the home and everyone must function according to God’s design. Let’s look at the first instruction.

In the Incredible Family

1. Wives will yield to their husbands.

V.18 says, “Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting to the Lord.” Now, in spite of Paul’s straightforward clarity, that statement has been challenged by many today, even by some inside the church. Some misguided people suggest that this mandate is culturally driven and should not be taken seriously in our modern, advanced age. They are wrong. Every incredible family in the eyes of God has a cheerleading wife. She believes in her husband. She respects him, and she promotes him in the presence of the children and others.