What God Can Do For Your Family Series

Series: How to Have a Happy and Healthy Family

Scripture: Psalm 127

Sermon: "What God Can Do for Your Family"

(ILL: Dorothy in Wizard of Oz, "There’s no place like home) And she’s right. There’s no place like home, when it is happy and healthy. A happy and healthy home is one of the best places on earth, while an unhappy and unhealthy home is one of the most miserable places. So how can we have a happy and healthy home? We’re going to take the next several Sundays and answer that question straight from the Bible.

There are several steps we must take and turning to God is the first step. Somebody says, "Preacher, what can God do for my family?" That’s a good question and Psalm 127 gives a good answer.

I believe this psalm was written by David to his son Solomon. David gives his son some godly advice on starting a family. He mentions 4 things God can do for any family who turns to Him.

What can God do for my family?

I. God Can Help Me BUILD My Family.

"Unless the Lord builds the house . . ." (v. 1, NIV) David isn’t talking about constructing a shelter. He’s talking about establishing a family. David is saying, in effect, "God can help you BUILD your family."

". . . it’s builders labor in vain" (v. 1, NIV). In other words, if you want a home that will last and survive, then you’d better turn to the master home-builder: God Himself. God invented the family. He knows what will work and what won’t work. He can help fix whatever problem your family encounters. It’s like this:

A story is told of Henry Ford. One day he and his wife were driving in the country and they came across a man whose Model T had broken down. He was under the hood trying to figure out what was wrong, when Mr. Ford asked if he could take a look. And in just a few mintues, Mr. Ford had the Model T running. The owner was amazed and said, "I’m impressed with your knowledge of Model T’s, and I’m amazed that you fixed it so easily." Mr. Ford replied, "I ought to be able to fix it because I’m the one who DESIGNED it." And dear people, that’s how it is with God and the family. God says, "I can fix it because I designed it!."

Somebody says, "Rick, that’s nice to know but tell me how God can help me build my family."

God isn’t going to wave His hand over you and your spouse and supernaturally transform the two of you into Ward and June Cleaver. Nor will He wave His hand over your children and change them into the Brady kids. God doesn’t work that way. Instead, He gives you the necessary instructions and tools and says, "Here’s what you need. Get to work. I’ll help you every step of the way."

Where are those instructions? They are revealed in the Bible. The Bible is best marriage manual and child rearing manual on the market. It has withstood the test of time and it has millions of satisfied customers. So you’d be wise to heed what it says about the family and put it into practice (ILL: The wise man who built his house on the rock).

Be wise!! Make a commitment to listen to what God says about the family and ask Him to help you put it into practice. Follow His instructions and He will help you BUILD your family.

II. God Can Help Me PROTECT My Family.

"Unless the Lord watches over the city . . ." (v. 1, NIV)

What is a city? It’s a group of families who live close together. And the word "watches" means to guard, protect, and save lives. So David is saying, in effect, "God can help you PROTECT your family."

The family needs protection in today’s world (ILL: the ADT commercial where a burgular is trying to break into a home and oldest daughter pushes the panic button and frightens the burgular away). Not only does your family need protection from burglars and prowlers, it also needs protection from evil spiritual forces. You see, the Devil and his demons would love nothing more than to break up and destroy your family. And what are some of the weapons they use against the family?

A. Alcohol.

The bottle is a cold blooded killer. It kills lives. It kills marriages. It kills families.

If you have booze in your house, then you are housing a cold-blooded killer! In fact, you better off having Charles Manson as a house guest. At least he’d be quick about it - while the bottle takes it’s time in killing your family.