The definition of marriage and family are being deconstructed and redefined. For those who care about God’s plan for the family, these are troubling statistics and trends. If you’re married with kids, you’re probably worried about your kids’ future. If you’re divorced and a single parent, you don’t want your family to be another statistic. If you’re single, especially if you’re a single woman, and you want to get married, you’re starting to panic that it won’t ever happen because of the decline of available, marriageable men. How can these statistics and trends be reversed? One heart and one family at a time.
In the book of Ephesians, the apostle Paul prayed that believers would experience God’s blessing on the family. We can experience God’s blessing on our families.
Have you noticed how grace-less our culture has become? The so-called “social graces” that used to guide our social interactions, like polite speech, good manners, etiquette, deportment, appropriate dress, have faded into a rude, rough and selfish disregard of others. Add to our declining social graces the political turmoil, the pandemic, the racial unrest, and other problems continuously broadcast to us 24/7 and you have the makings of the graceless and divided country we see today.
How can we change? How can we understand how much “grace matters” to God and how much it matters to how we should live as believers? First, we must understand that in the Bible, grace takes on an even deeper spiritual meaning than just good manners. In the apostle Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, he reminded them how much God’s grace mattered to their salvation. We can understand how much God’s grace matters to our salvation.
Why does gathering together as a local church even matter? In the epistle of Hebrews, believers were instructed that the glorious privilege of access to God through Christ Jesus came with certain important responsibilities as members of His body that make the Church really matter. We can recognize these important responsibilities that make the Church really matter.
Are you overwhelmed by the hatred and violence in our country these days? Don’t you wish we could all just get along? For some of you, the disunity is more than a news report or a social media post. It’s starting to affect your relationship with your neighbors, your co-workers, maybe even your relationship with your family and friends. Some of you have taken sides and made your positions known. Others of you are afraid to say anything, but even your silence is judged. Everyone has a different perspective on the root problems and the solutions. Everyone thinks they’re right and the others are wrong. How can we find reconciliation and peace again?
Where is God in all of this? Do our broken relationships with one another matter to Him? And if they do, how can we understand how much relationships matter to God?
In the apostle Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians, he sought to make them understand how being reconciled to God through Christ Jesus affected all of their relationships. We can understand how being reconciled to God through Christ Jesus affects our relationships.
What matters most begins with deciding whether Christ will be your Master, your Lord. Then second, learning what mission, what purpose, Christ has for your life. Then, who you choose as your mate or who you choose to fellowship with should line up with the first two.
In the apostle Paul’s second letter to Timothy, he charged Timothy to fulfill God’s purpose for him in Christ Jesus. We can fulfill God’s purpose for us in Christ Jesus.
As we begin to return to life outside our homes, what have you learned about what really matters to you? Having so many things closed and isolated from school mates, neighbors, church attendance, even family… what have you missed the most? And have you considered whether everything in your formerly busy life should be just added back willy-nilly? Or should we carefully consider how we order up our lives going forward, asking what really matters?
In Paul’s letter to the Philippians, he challenged them to follow his conviction that faith in Jesus Christ is what really matters above all other things in life. We can choose to see our faith in Jesus Christ as what really matters most in our lives.
Over the past few weeks, we have talked about how troubled times can cause us to be overwhelmed by fear, by
depression, and by doubt. Today, we want to consider how trouble can cause us to feel overwhelmed by anxiety. Certainly, the “uncertainty” of this time has caused much anxiety in our world today. Yet, even before COVID 19, anxiety was a pervasive condition for Americans.
Are you overwhelmed by anxiety today? Do you have a constant sense of unease? A kind of nervousness? Have the uncertainties of what’s coming next overwhelmed you with worry? The truth is, there will be trouble in this world. But do we have to be overwhelmed by anxiety as we face it? In the apostle Paul’s letter to the Philippians, he taught them to turn to the Lord when overwhelmed by anxiety. We can learn to turn to the Lord when we are overwhelmed by anxiety.
How many of you are struggling with depression today? How many of you have had more trouble with depression because of the pandemic? Depression causes symptoms that affect how we feel, think, and handle daily activities, such as sleeping, eating, and working. The Bible is filled with those who struggled at times with the symptoms of depression, such as: Job, Moses, Naomi, David, Elijah, Jeremiah, Mary, Peter, and Paul.
Yet, no matter its cause or its degree, those who suffer from depression, need mercy not judgment. And perhaps more than anything, they need hope! In Psalms 42, the psalmist described how he put his hope in God when his soul was overwhelmed by depression. We can put our hope in God when we are overwhelmed by depression.
What is hope? For many of us, hope is made of flimsy, fragile stuff. Kind of like a thread. For many, their hopes are like wishes, and their hopes are often broken. Their “thread” of hope is easily broken.
But when the Bible speaks of hope, it speaks of much stronger stuff! For biblical hope is more like a rope! It’s a living hope anchored in Christ’s resurrection and extending through our present and into Christ’s future return.
You may not yet understand how you have rejected God as your True King, but I’m sure you know how rejection feels. You love someone and they betray you or leave you. They act one way to your face, but another behind your back. They say they love you back, but they don’t mean it. Or someone has rejected you for a place on a team, a part in a play, or a position of employment. Rejection hurts! And that’s how God feels toward us.
As we conclude our 1 Samuel study, we’ll see that our rejection grieves the Lord. nclude our 1 Samuel study, we’ll see that our rejection grieves the Lord.
BODY: In 1 Samuel 15, the LORD rejected Saul from being king of Israel because he had rejected the Word of the LORD God who is the true King over all. Saul represents all of us. For all humanity since the time of Adam has been in rebellion against God as its true King. We can recognize that we have rejected God as our True King, so that we may repent and follow Him as our True King.