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Too often we have a vision for how to grow our business but lack having a vision for the future of the church.
Comparison is the biggest robber of joy, be content with what God is asking you to do.
Once a culture is developed and engrained, it is difficult to change the culture. Church has culture and it is important to have a culture that is pointing people towards community and growing together in Christ.
Church membership has become a very decisive topic in our circles. We aren’t all mature, we need each other. It isn’t easy often for ministry to know how to handle issues relating to membership.
Why I Need the Church
- I need the fellowship. I need to learn from you.
- I need the teaching. I am not wise or discerning enough to make it on my own.
- I need something to do. We are not an island, we all need to feel loved and needed and we need to be able to make a contribution to the whole.
- I need to feel a sense of belonging. Not unlike belonging to a birth or adoptive family.
- I need the stabling factor that a church provides.
- I need accountability. We need to work together to be accountable and submitting to each other.
- I need the help and benefit of others and I need to be able to help and benefit others.
In general, we as an anabaptist people have done well with brotherhood. The things we do for each other, as a family, are incredible.
The Burden of Family
Genesis 18:19, 1 Corinthians 11:1 – Raising children is a lot like raising quail. It takes constant training. Can your children follow you as you follow Christ?
Remember that we are always to be imprinting the following things into our children’s lives.
- God honoring.
- Obedience to God’s will.
- To be productive citizens here on earth.
Restitution is huge in raising children. It brings relief, it is helpful in learning to not make the same mistake again.
There are over 500 verses in scripture speaking of being obedient to those in authority over you. It starts with parents, and moves on to others.
1 Samuel 15 – Obedience is vitally important in the lives of your children.
Luke 6 – The language that we use is a very good indicator of the condition of the heart. You can be depraved or not, but either one will become evident by what comes out of your mouth.
Teach your children to assume responsibility for their choices and actions. Not everything is your child’s fault, but if your child thinks that everything is someone else fault you are setting them up to live as a victim, thinking that everything is everyone else fault.
Family Devotions – No matter what you do or how busy life is please make an attempt to spend quality time together with your family. Whether it is mealtime or game night or something else, make that happen.
When you immerse your children in God’s Word day after day it will make a difference in their lives. Not only is this difference something that will affect them here, it will affect them for eternity.
Mark 1:35, Psalm 5:3-4 – No matter what you decide to do for family devotions, make a plan, otherwise it’ll never happen.
John 4:22 – God is looking for you and me. Be there for that time of meeting with God.
3 John 1:5 – Pray with your family. Pray for your family. Be specific with your family prayers. The needs of the day. The unsaved.
Even though we serve the same God and we read the same Bible, a lot of things have changed over the past 50 years. The roles of Fathers and Mothers has become muddied. The Bible does lay out the foundation for how this is supposed to be done.
Be aware of the influences on your home. This is something that is more difficult than it used to be with the internet being so readily available.