Involve Your Family in a Christ-Centered, Bible-Preaching Church (Part 3)

I'm a firm believer that it takes a church to raise a family. Back in the Old Testament, Deuteronomy chapter six, it was the Lord God who gave Israel a command. And that was that they were to love the Lord, their God, with all of their heart, soul, mind and strength, and that they were to teach their children how to do the same. And so they were to invest into the lives of their children, the truth of the word of God. We have what Israel didn't have. We have the body of Christ. We have the church of Christ.

We have the spirit of God that reigns within us supremely. And therefore, we have an opportunity to be able to understand how God wants to use the body of Christ to help mature each and every individual. John MacArthur has written a new book. It's called The War on Children. It comes out next month. It's based on a series he did a number of months ago called Providing Shade for Your Children. And in that book, he talks about the fact that the church is so important when it comes to raising a family, because the family unit is a place of refuge.

It's a place where you gather together to grow. But that refuge is reinforced. That refuge is reconfirmed. That refuge is reiterated when it comes to the body of Christ. And so it's imperative that your children understand that what they're learning at home is not them in isolation, but they're a part of a bigger body of Christ that allows them to grow with them in their walk with the Lord. John MacArthur was asked last week on one of his Q&As, what was it that caused great things in his family that allowed his family to grow up and follow the Lord?

His answer was the church. It's because of the church that I'm a part of that my children are walking with the Lord today. It was a church that reinforced everything we taught at home, that when they went to church, they heard the same thing they heard at home and that the teachers who taught them the word of God, those who were their Sunday school teachers, their youth leaders, invested the same truth into them that was being invested at home. And so he attributes the growth of his children, the maturity of his children, the fact that their children walk with the Lord today to the church.

And he's right. It's the church of Jesus Christ that's so instrumental in the development of a family. That's why it takes a church to raise a family. It's a church that reinforces the identity of the believer, that you're a son and child of the living God. It's a church that reinforces the maturity of the believer and how to grow in your walk with the Lord. It's a church that that reinforces your accountability to God and how you're accountable to one another and the importance of that. It's a church that emphasizes the clarity of the word of God.

So, you know how to walk with the Lord, how serve the Lord. It's a church that reinforces the community of God and how it is that you learn to bear one another's burdens. And so we've covered five points with you up to this point. They're in your bulletin or in your outline, if you have that. And I want to pick up on point number six and hopefully we'll finish tonight. If not, well, we'll finish next week. But I want to let you know that the church reinforces and reconfirms several things. It provides identity, promotes maturity, prompts accountability, produces clarity, promises community.

And number six, it provokes responsibility. The church provokes responsibility. You know, we have a responsibility to live for Christ. Paul says, for to me to live as Christ and to die is gain. But there's something about the responsibility of the believer to follow Christ, to live for Christ and to serve Christ. The Bible tells us that in Acts 20, verse number 35, that it's more blessed to give than to receive, because those are the words of our Lord Jesus. And that's how he lived his life. So in Matthew, chapter 20, he says the son of man came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many.

So everything about living for Christ is wrapped up in how we give our lives away and how we serve one another. But it also is a responsibility to live a disciplined life. And the church assists the family in living a disciplined life. The church, a Bible teaching church, a Christ centered church, is focused on helping people fulfill their responsibility. The responsibility when it comes to to dealing with time, time is such an important factor. But the Bible says in Ephesians, chapter five, that we are not to be unwise, but wise.

And that is by redeeming the time. That is buying back every moment for the sake of eternity. And it's so important to realize that that when we go through life, our whole life is filled with time. And the question is, do we buy back those moments for the sake of Christ? You've chosen to buy back this hour to study the scriptures. You've chosen to redeem the time for this hour to learn about Christ, to understand Christ. And so every moment of the day, every day that we live, every week that we live is a is a portion of time by which we are to live for the glory and honor of God.

And so the church assists the family in learning to help you understand how to be responsible when it comes to your time. You know, as parents, we want to teach our children to manage your time, right? To redeem the time, to don't waste your time. It requires diligence. It requires discipline. And that's a that's a lost art today. Remember what it says over in the book of Proverbs, the 12th chapter? It says a lazy man does not roast his prey, but the precious possession of a man is diligence. The most precious possession a man has is his diligence, his stick to it, of this, his discipline.

It says earlier in verse number 24, Proverbs 12, the hand of the diligent will rule, but the slack hand will be put to forced labor. In other words, the diligent hand is the one that rules with authority. Why? Because they're able to manage your time. The Bible says over in verse number four of chapter 13 of Proverbs, the soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, but the soul of the diligent is made fat.

Proverbs chapter 15, verse number nine says the way of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord. But he who loves is one who loves, pursues a righteous and a diligent kind of life. In other words, it's very important to realize that when we redeem the time, it's because we are diligent, disciplined kind of people. And the Bible says that we are to discipline ourselves unto godliness.

And so as as parents, we're teaching our children, listen, you need to to manage time wisely. You need to be a good steward of your time. You need to understand how to live life every single day for the glory and honor of Christ so that you can live for his glory. But not only do we are we responsible when it comes to our time, but responsible when it comes to to our talents, right? Listen, if you if you are gifted and you are as a believer in Christ, you are to use your giftedness wisely and use it for the glory of the Lord.

Every talent that you have, every gift that you have, you you received it from the Lord. And therefore, we are to be wise stewards, responsible stewards when it comes to the use of our talents, as well as the use of our our treasures. Right. God has given us all that we have. And the Bible says we're to honor the Lord with the first fruits of our increase.

Proverbs chapter three, verse number nine, so that our vats will be filled to overflowing with wine. In other words, we are to make sure that we honor God first.

One of the questions that I was asked was, how do I teach my my child how to be financially responsible? The very first thing you do to teach your child how to be financially responsible is to make sure they give to the Lord.

Once you teach them that they're going to learn fiscal responsibility, they're going to learn how to handle the finances, but you've got to teach them to give to the Lord. That's what my parents taught me. They taught me. Listen, when you make money, it's because God allowed you to have a job and because he allowed you to have a job, you need to honor him with the first fruits of your increase.

So you take right off the top of your check. You make sure you give to the Lord. And when you give to the Lord, you realize how much money is left and that's what you live on. That's how you manage your money. But you've got to honor the Lord first, because if you don't honor him first, you'll never have enough money.

So make sure you honor the Lord first with what he gives you. And we want to teach fiscal responsibility to your children. You begin there, helping them understand that they need to honor the Lord. Why? Because God has given you your treasures. He's given you your talents. He's given you time and you need to be responsible. And so the church, the church comes along and provokes responsibility, responsibility not just in your personal life, but responsibility in your marital life, responsibility in your ecclesiastical life, responsibility in your social life.

All those things are are extremely important. So as you, as a parent, teach your children how to be responsible, how to be disciplined, how to be diligent, you want that reinforced. And the best place that that's reinforced is in the assembly of the righteous. It's those who gather together to honor the Lord and to serve his glorious name. So the church provokes responsibility. But on top of that, the church preserves unity. It preserves unity. Unity is not created. Unity is corrupted in the church.

Unity is not developed in the church. Unity is destroyed in the church. All the metaphors that describe the body of Christ, all signify unity. For instance, we as a church are one bride. We're not many brides. We're one bride, one bride with one bridegroom. We as a church are one flock with one shepherd. We are one kingdom with one king. We are one family with one father. We are one building with one foundation. We are one body with one head. And therefore, the Bible says in Ephesians chapter four, endeavor to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace.

In other words, you need to do all you can to preserve the peace because the peace or the unity, the unity has already been given to us because we're all in the body of Christ. Now I want you to think about this when it comes to blended families, right? We have a lot of families in our church that are blended families, right? A husband or wife has died or there's been a divorce and families are coming together with different children and they're coming together as a blended family. Well, what's the best way for that blended family to preserve unity?

By understanding that the body of Christ is a blended family. We're all from different backgrounds. We're all from different nationalities. None of us are all the same, but we all come together and we are one body. We are one family. We are one flock, right? And so we endeavor to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace because we're coming together to exemplify the unity that we have in Christ. And let's say you've adopted your children. Well, what's the best way for you as a parent who have adopted your children to understand how to preserve unity in your family but by going to a church that's filled with people that have been adopted into the family of God?

And so you learn to preserve the unity. The church reinforces that. It reiterates that. It reconfirms that in your own family. And that's why it takes a church to build a family. And so therefore, as blended families come together, as adopted children come together with their families and even in our own families, how do you preserve the unity in your own family, right? Humbly, gently, patiently, enthusiastically, diligently with great tenaciousness. You do all you can to preserve the unity. And when you do that within your local assembly, right?

In the church, what that does is it helps the family understand how you do it within the family unit. So many families are fractured. So many families are disunified. They're not together. And they need to be a part of a local body that is endeavoring to keep the unity of the spirit and the bond of peace. So they're learning how to do that. And so you learn from your church family how to make it happen within your physical family. It's so extremely important. Note this, that part of that is the diversity of the body of Christ.

You know, your family is a diverse unit and so is the body of Christ. It's like your hand. Your thumb is not your pinky and your index finger is not your thumb. They're all different, but they all function together as a unit. They're all different. You know, my toes are not my fingers. My legs are not my arms, but they all function in unison together because the flow of unity happens when there's a function of diversity within the body. And because we're all different and we come together and we function together, that's so important.

Not everybody's the same, and that's a good thing. It's like a football team, right? You have one quarterback. If you have everybody wanting to throw the ball, who's gonna catch the ball? Who's gonna run the ball? Who's gonna block for the guy who throws the ball or runs the ball? You see, everybody has a specific position and when they all are in unison functioning together, they can make the play happen. Well, the same is true in the body of Christ. So we endeavor to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

That's what we do. And families need to be unified. With all the families that are fractured today and they need to understand how to live in harmony with one another, they learn that at the church. They learn that through a strong Bible teaching, Christ in a church, that's focused on the truths of Scripture, that people might be able to grow in their walk with the Lord. So therefore, the church is that which preserves unity. Number seven, the church prizes loyalty. The church prizes loyalty. Why?

Because the head of the church prizes loyalty. Trustworthiness, devotion, commitment. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 4, it's required of a steward that he be found trustworthy or that he be found faithful or that he be found loyal.

Over in the book of Proverbs chapter 20, the Bible says this, verse number six. Many a man proclaims his own loyalty, but who can find a trustworthy man? A loyal man can be counted on. A loyal man is a trustworthy man. The Bible says in Proverbs 20, verse number 28, loyalty and truth preserve the King.

Loyalty and truth preserve the King. The Bible says these words in Proverbs chapter 21, verse number 21.

He who pursues righteousness and loyalty finds life, righteousness and honor. And then over in Psalm 12, verse number one, help Lord for the godly man ceases to be for the loyal disappear from among the sons of men.

Why aren't people loyal today? Because they are not godly. Psalm says, why does a godly man disappear? Why is a loyal man not found? Saying that the loyal man is the godly man. The ungodly man is the disloyal man. So within the family unit, you're trying to maintain a sense of loyalty. And marriages fail because of a lack of loyalty. A lack of faithfulness, a lack of trustworthiness, a lack of devotion and commitment. The church on the other hand, prizes loyalty, commitment, devotion. And so marriages need to have that foundation solidified and reaffirmed in their lives so they understand what true commitment looks like.

Now, listen to the words of Jesus in Matthew chapter 10, when he said these words. Verse number 34, do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I came to set a man against his father and a daughter against her mother and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a man's enemies will be the members of his household. He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. And he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.

And he who does not take his cross and follow me or after me is not worthy of me. He who has found his life will lose it and he who has lost his life for my sake will find it. Christ says, I demand loyalty.

If you love father or mother more than me, you're not worthy of me. If you love son or daughter more than me, you are not worthy of me. I demand undivided loyalty. I demand undivided attention. I demand everything that you have. And that's why he says, if you wanna keep your life, you're gonna lose it. But those who lose their life for my sake will find it. That is just so crucial because Jesus demands loyalty. And so the church prizes loyalty because Christ does. And each and every family needs to prize loyalty, trustworthiness, devotion, commitment with one another.

That's just so important. Isn't it interesting? Listen carefully. Let me meddle just for a second because that's what I like to do.

There are people who are more loyal to their jobs on Sunday, on Monday, than they are to Jesus on Sunday. You ever noticed that? People that are more loyal to their jobs on Monday than they are to Jesus on Sunday. Let me give you an example.

I don't feel so good today. So what I'll do, I'll stay home from church. So I'm well to go to work tomorrow on Monday. What did you just do? You just said you're more loyal to your job on Monday than you are to Jesus on Sunday. Well, I don't wanna get people sick at church. Well, you wanna get people sick at work? I mean, what's the difference, right? But see, that's how we think. That's how we think. We go away on vacation, but we have to be back to work on Monday, right? So I stay out as long as I can so that I'm gone on vacation as long as possible.

So I have to go to work on Monday. I have to go to church on Sunday, but I have to go to work on Monday. See, we're more loyal to secular school on Monday than Sunday school on Sunday. Why? Because we don't want our kids to miss their education. We don't want our kids to miss school. We want them to have that perfect attendance pin. And they can't afford to miss school. So we do everything we can to make sure they're in school on Monday. And whatever happens on Sunday, well, that's irrelevant, but they gotta be in school on Monday.

You see, we have our priorities all messed up. The church, the early church, they prized loyalty, devotion, commitment. They were willing to sell their possessions. Acts 2, Acts 4, to give to people in need, right? They would gather together daily for the apostles' teaching, for the breaking of bread, for fellowship, and for prayer. This was their priority because they were loyal to their God. Therefore, they were loyal to one another. You see, you can't say you're loyal to God and be disloyal to your church.

You can't say I'm loyal to God and disloyal to your wife. You can't say I'm loyal to God and disloyal to your children. Why? Because if you're loyal to God, you're loyal to everybody else around you because you love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind, and your neighbor as yourself. Why? Because that's what God demands, see? And I'm afraid that so many of us have lost sight of that. But the church, the body of Christ, it prizes that deep commitment. It prizes that loyalty. You know, as elders, we're always looking for those people that have shown commitment and determination and loyalty to the body of Christ because we know that those are the kind of people you want to lead in the church.

They provide an example so others can look to that example and follow that example. And you're to imitate your leaders, according to Hebrews 13, verse number seven. And so you want to make sure that that happens. And so we're always looking for those who are completely devoted to the church. Why? Because it tells us that they're devoted to Christ and they want to honor the Lord. And therefore, I mean, when you look at our elders, man, our elders are always here.

They're here on Wednesdays, they're here on Sundays. Unless they're on vacation, okay? Or they're sick, they're always here. But you know what? That didn't happen when they became elders. It was that way before they were elders. I remember talking to Tom Mason before he became an elder. He told us very flat out, listen, whether I'm an elder or not, I'm gonna continue to do the things that I always do because I'm committed to the Lord and committed to the church. And that's how he lived his life after he became an elder.

But that's the way it was before he was an elder, see, in the church. He was deeply loyal, deeply committed. He was sold out for Christ and the body of Christ. And so many times we forget about the importance of what it means to be absolutely loyal to Christ. Because the church prizes loyalty. Christ said, look, I'm not asking you to hate your family, but I'm asking you to put me above your family, your physical family. I'm asking you to put me first.

I'm demanding that you be loyal to me. And everybody in the scripture who was used by God in a mighty way was completely loyal to the Lord God of Israel. You wanna raise a family that's loyal. You wanna raise children that are loyal. You want your children to grow up in your family. You want them to get jobs, be faithful in their work, be married, be faithful to their wife, have children, be faithful to their children. And so you model that at home, but it's reinforced and reiterated and reconfirmed within the body of Christ by a body that comes together, that preserves unity and prizes loyalty.

And then number nine, number nine, the church prescribes purity. It prescribes purity. In other words, a church that's a Christ-centered, Bible-believing church that holds the word of God in high esteem does so because they're committed to the holiness of God. And therefore, the church prizes purity, holiness. Remember Matthew chapter 18? Matthew chapter 18 is the Lord's very first instruction for the church.

Now remember, the church is not born yet. The church is not in existence yet. But way before the church is born, Christ gives the very first instruction to the church.

And he says it very clearly this way. If your brother sins, Matthew 18, 15, go and show him his fault in private. If he listens to you, you have won your brother. But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that by the mouth of two or three witnesses, every fact may be confirmed. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. If he refuses to listen to the church, even the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven.

And whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. And again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them. By my father who is in heaven, for where two or three have gathered together in my name, I am there in their midst. Christ makes sure from the very outset before the church is born that there's an instruction given for the church. Why? Because he's concerned about the purity of the church. The body of Christ, the sheep, the flock, we are to live a holy life.

Christ said, be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy. Taken from the book of Leviticus, quoted in Peter's epistle, and the whole book of Leviticus is about the holiness of God. He wanted Israel to be a holy people, a people that was separate from creation and separate from corruption, like he is separate from creation and separate from corruption. He wanted them to be a separated people, a distinct people, a unique people. So he wanted them to be holy as he is holy. That's the call upon the believer.

And so the same call exists for you and me today. We are to be a holy kind of people. And therefore, we need to represent God in the purest way possible. So God demands that if there's sin in the church, it be confronted, it be dealt with. That you go to that person if they've sinned and you confront them on their sin. If they repent, you've won your brother. If don't, you take to another person with you that they might understand that when you go, you're going in the right attitude, in the right way, as you confront your brother.

If he repents, you've won your brother. If not, you take it to the church. And the church goes after the brother. The whole church goes. And we've seen this happen over the years in our assembly, where people in our church, they just go to someone's house or they call them on the phone or they write them letters because they're so concerned about their purity that they turn from their sin and follow the Lord. And we've seen great things happen. We've also seen people just completely apostatize the faith and walk away from the Lord.

But we've seen some great things take place over the years. But that's because the body of Christ wants to fulfill what God's called them to do. And that's why the church prizes purity because our God is a pure and holy God. Remember Acts chapter five, Ananias and Sapphira? The very outset of the church, it had just been born, just been birthed. And there were 3,000 members added to the church. And God was doing great things. And people were selling their possessions and they were giving to the poor.

And Ananias and Sapphira had a property and they sold it. And they came and they came to church. Ananias came first, Sapphira came later.

But they came and Peter asked them, did you sell your property for such and such? And they said, yes, we did. And they lied. They lied about how much they sold the property for. And Ananias was killed in the church. Sapphira came later. Peter asked her the same question. Did you sell your property for this much money? She said, yes. She lied. And she died in church. And the Bible says in Acts chapter five that great fear came upon the church.

It would, wouldn't it? If you knew that somebody lied when they came to church and they died, that would put the fear of God in you, right? But guess what? God kept adding to that church. Because it was a pure church. God wasn't gonna add to an impure church more people. He was gonna add to the pure church more people. And so he made it very well known at the very outset in Acts chapter five, that he wasn't going to tolerate sin in the church. Because he expects his people to follow the truth of the scriptures and to live pure and holy lives.

And so therefore, it's important to realize that the church of all places needs to be a pure place. I was reading today about that pastor in Australia. His name was Corey Turner. He had to step down, mega church in Australia because he had an adulterous affair with another woman pastor in the church. Or whether it was Mike Bickle, who's the founder of International House of Prayer, who's been accused of multiple affairs with multiple women over the years. You see, those kinds of things just destroy the testimony of the body of Christ.

We're trying to present a holy God to unholy people in the world. And so we wanna present to them a holy lifestyle. So the church prizes purity. It prizes a holy lifestyle where people are committed. Well, you want your children to walk with the Lord and live pure lives, right? Of course you do. You don't want your children growing up and sleeping with people in high school and sleeping with people on their football teams. No, no, you want them to live a pure lifestyle. Well, you want them to be around a group of people that live a pure lifestyle as well, and are committed to purity and holiness.

And so as parents are fighting the battle today and raising children in this culture that is totally against children, we are trying to preserve not just the unity of our family, but the purity of our family, the wholesomeness of our family, that we're able to represent God in a way that honors and glorifies His precious name. So the church prizes purity. And lastly, the church perpetuates a legacy. It perpetuates a legacy. Oh, this is crucial. Listen to Psalm 78. Psalm 78, verse number five. For he established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers, that they should teach them to their children, that the generation to come might know even the children yet to be born, that they may arise and tell them to their children, that they should put their confidence in God and not forget the works of God and keep His commandments and not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation that did not prepare its heart and whose spirit was not faithful to God.

God said that He wanted His nation to have fathers who taught their children so they would teach their children, so they wouldn't then teach their children the truth of the scriptures. Well, as you pass that down, the church is that which perpetuates a legacy, a legacy of truth being passed down from generation to generation. And Paul says it well in 2 Timothy 2, verses one and two, that he told Timothy that he was to entrust the faithful men the word of God so they in turn could teach others also.

The things that Timothy had learned, he was to entrust to other men so they in turn could teach others also. That succession of teaching from generation to generation is so important. You know, one of the great joys of being in a church for a long time is not only do I get to dedicate babies, but now I'm dedicating the babies of the babies I dedicated a long time ago. In other words, there is this perpetual transition of truth being passed down from generation to generation. So I would dedicate Samantha Hernandez at the time she was Samantha Lovaas as a baby, right?

But now she has grown and she has her children and we've dedicated now both her son and her daughter, right? Right, I hope I got that right, you know? And you see, but the joy of that is that they're passing the truth down to the next generation. And you see, the church helps perpetuate that legacy so that you're able to pass the truth down. Let me show you how you do that, okay?

Just take the word legacy and write it down half your paper, L-E-G-A-C-Y. And I'm gonna show you how you can perpetuate a legacy in your family because you wanna be able to duplicate yourself and your children and that they in turn can duplicate themselves in the lives of others. And so therefore you wanna be able to make sure that you perpetuate a legacy. Number one, you must love the precepts of God.

You can't pass on God and His truth unless you love the precepts of God. In other words, the Psalmist said in Psalm 118, oh, how I love thy law. It is my meditation all the day. You need to love the law of God. If you don't, chances are your children won't because they love what we love. They follow in our footsteps. When you love coming to church, guess what? Your children love coming to church. Why? Because mom and dad love coming to church. If you gripe and bellyache about going to church, guess what?

Your children are gonna gripe and bellyache about going to church. You know what happens in the life of the mother and father? Very easily is seen in the lives of the children, right? Show me your children if we can show you the condition of your home. Because your children speak to you about what's happening in the home. So we can see that. And when parents love the precepts of God, they pass it down to their children. They wanna hear those precepts. They wanna memorize those precepts. They wanna study those precepts.

They wanna be ingrained in them. And they pass that down to their children very, very easily. Why? Because they're passionate about it. And when they're passionate about it, the children become passionate about it. You need to love the precepts of God. Number two, you need to embrace the providence of God.

You wanna pass on a godly legacy? Embrace the providence of God. Peter says it well in 1 Peter 5, verse number six, where he says, submit yourselves to the mighty hand of God that he might exalt you in due time. In other words, remember that the phrase the mighty hand is a phrase used in the Old Testament that describes the discipline and the destiny of Israel, used in the book of Exodus and the book of Deuteronomy. Peter picks that up and says, listen, you need to submit yourself to the mighty hand of God's providential care because he will exalt you in due time.

But you need to humble yourself under his mighty hand of destiny, his mighty hand of discipline. You see, God's providence is at work every day. And so this is why the church is so important. The church loves the precepts of God. I mean, a Bible teaching church, a Christ-centered church, that's why they preach the truth, right? That's why when you go to Sunday school, you hear nothing but the truth. You go to youth ministry, nothing but the truth. A Bible study, nothing but the truth. Come to church, nothing but the truth.

We have one book, that's all we have. One book, and we wanna master one book because it's the Bible, it's the word of God. And we love the precepts of God. And so when you bring your family to church that loves the precepts of God, it catches on to your children. And if the church embraces the providence of God, that God is at work and that God is working at every detail of every person's life, what happens is that now you learn that. So many people don't understand God's providential working in their lives.

That's why the study of Job was so significant for so many people in our church because God was sovereignly orchestrating His perfect will in the life of Job. Well, all the things in the scriptures talk to us about how God providentially worked. Look at the life of Joseph, look at the life of Abraham, look at the life of Job, look at the life of Daniel, taken into captivity, 16 years of age, but God used them in a great and powerful way.

Just read through the men and women of the Old Testament and New Testament. Everything is about how God is orchestrating His will in and through their lives, no matter what the situation, no matter what the circumstance. Well, if you go to a Bible-believing Christ-centered church, they're gonna teach you about God's providential work in your life, how God is sovereign over all things. He rules over everything. He is El Elyon, the God most high. He's a God who possesses both heaven and earth and all that's in it.

And therefore, He rules over all. And so you begin to learn those things. And your children, as they're growing up, they need to learn about God's providence. Why? Because their whole life is filled with disappointments and failures. And so you wanna encourage them that this failure or that disappointment is not the end of your life, but that God is working through those things. And you begin to show them in Scripture how God used failure and disappointment in the lives of many people. But God providentially was working out His perfect will in and through their lives.

That's why it takes a church to raise a family. And you gather together and you learn about how the church embraces the providence of God. So as a family, you go home and you begin to embrace God's providence when it comes to your job and your house and the sale of your house and where you live and where you work and how much you make and where your kids go to school and whether or not they make the team or don't make the team, whether they make the band or don't make the band or whether they're able to be the president or they get defeated as president.

Who knows? But you teach them about God's sovereignty, God's providence in their lives, the detailed working out of everything in their lives. So incredibly important. Wanna pass on a legacy? Love the precepts of God. Embrace the providence of God. Number three, glorify the person of God.

1 Corinthians 10, 31, whatever you do, whether you eat or drink, do all to the glory of God. Ephesians 3, verse number 21, let there be glory in the church. To Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. We are to reflect the righteous radiance of our Redeemer. That's what it means to glorify the Lord. You are reflecting the righteous radiance of your Redeemer in every situation you encounter. And when you glorify the person of God in your home, in your church, in your attitude, in your conversation, in your behavior, what happens is you've chosen to put God on display.

And when you choose to put God on display, moment by moment, throughout your day, what happens is that affects your family tremendously. But you need to go to a church that does the same thing, that really wants to glorify the person of God. We want God to be put on display. We want God to be seen. We want Him to be honored. When you do that, you're beginning to pass down to the next generation a legacy that will continue on for the glory and honor of Christ. Love the precepts of God, embrace the providence of God, glorify the person of God, and then fourthly, align with the people of God.

Align with the people of God. Proverbs chapter 13, verse number 20, he who walks with wise men will be wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm. You need to walk with wise men. And so therefore, you align yourself with the people of God, people who love the Lord. You tell me who you follow, and I'll tell you exactly what your character will be like. Who are you following? Who do you admire? Who do you want to be like? That tells a lot about you, right? Well, you want to be a part of an assembly of people that align themselves with God, because as a people of God, you want to be around other people of God.

Why? Because we have the same faith. Peter talks about those with like precious faith. We believe in the same God. We want to honor the same Lord. So you align yourself with the people of God. Why? Because when you walk with wise men, you become wise. But if you become a companion of fools, you'll suffer harm. You want your children to walk with wise people. So that's why you ask your children who they hang out with at school. Who are their friends? When they go out with their friends, where do they go?

See? All those things are very, very important. And that's why you had to put parameters on your children to show them who they can hang out with and who they cannot hang out with. What's best for them? What's not good for them? See? But align with the people of God. Number five, commit to the proclamation of God. Commit to the proclamation of God. That was Psalm 78. That's Deuteronomy chapter six. Read through Deuteronomy chapter six and the Lord says, listen, this is how you live well. This is how you will survive in the land of Canaan.

The only way you can survive in a land that's the total antithesis to all that I am and who I am and who you are to be, you need to make sure you proclaim the truth to your children, that they understand that truth. And they follow that truth. Teach them to observe all that I've commanded you. When you walk by the way, when you stand, when you sit, you continually teach them the truth. You proclaim the truth. Why? Because that is the only thing that's gonna preserve them in a culture that's anti-God.

You need to commit to the proclamation of the truth. That's why you align yourself with a church that's a Bible teaching, preaching, Christ-centered church that all they do is proclaim the truth, that you might grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ our Lord. And then lastly, yearn for the promises of God. Yearn for the promises of God. The Bible says in Corinthians that, in first Corinthians, that all the promises of God are yes in Christ Jesus.

All the promises about answers to prayer, all the promises about the return of Christ, all the promises about the spirit of power that is within us, all the promises about our inheritance in heaven, all the promises about our security and glory, all the promises that are reiterated over and over in Scripture, yearn for the fulfillment of those promises in your life. Why? Because that keeps you focused on the Lord. It keeps you focused above. It keeps you focused on all the things that God's going to give you and God wants to do in your life.

And you wanna encourage your children to see, this is what God is going to do in your life. And God wants to do great things. He wants to do exceedingly abundantly above all that you can ever ask or think. Do you really believe that? Do you hold on to that truth, that promise that God gives in his word? And when you yearn for the promises of God, and the Bible is so, so filled with those promises, what you do is you focus your passions and your attentions on God himself. That's how you pass on a legacy to the next generation.

It's not hard. But listen, you can't leave that unless you live that. You have to live your legacy. And the reason most parents don't leave a godly legacy behind is because they don't live a godly legacy. They don't do it. And so therefore, the encouragement is live this way because the church helps perpetuate that legacy. That's what we're about. We love the precepts of God. We embrace the providence of God, right? We align ourselves with the people of God. We're all about the promises of God. We're all about proclaiming God.

And that's why when you align yourself with a body of believers that has the same aspirations that the Lord has spoken for in his word, then what happens is that rubs off on your church in a unique and special way. Next week, we're gonna move on in our outline. We're gonna talk to you about the fact that Jesus is all you need. You might want something else, but you only need one thing. You need Jesus. And once you understand that Jesus is all you need, your marriage and your family will begin to flourish.

Let's pray together. Father, we thank you, Lord, for tonight. A chance to be in your word. Truly, Lord, you have blessed us. I thank you for those who have come. Pray that you'd minister to them in a very special way. And may your word take root in their lives for the glory of your kingdom. We pray in Jesus' name, amen.