back to indexFamily Retreat Main Session 2
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I was a little bit worried that right after lunch, we'd all be a little sleepy. 00:00:12.280 |
Good thing they have this room down to ice cold. 00:00:23.800 |
The Anchor Family, and we're gonna walk through being anchored in Christ. 00:00:33.400 |
And I'm so very thankful for the last session that we had. 00:00:37.880 |
In thinking about, ultimately, our salvation, and 00:00:44.720 |
Now, what I'm saying is I'm really digging the entire analogy or 00:00:50.440 |
illustration of the anchor, long term, things like that. 00:00:55.520 |
Because truly when it comes to these major stages of our lives, 00:00:58.800 |
whether it be that we're moving from student life to young adult life. 00:01:04.440 |
Or moving from young adult life to singlehood and marriage. 00:01:07.600 |
And ultimately then starting your own family. 00:01:10.000 |
And then you're moving to another stage where you have children. 00:01:12.880 |
Within each of these stages, there is a drift. 00:01:16.680 |
Meaning there is a potential threat of strain because there's so 00:01:20.400 |
many different things that come at you, right? 00:01:26.200 |
You can even literally call it storms because sometimes 00:01:29.360 |
it's incredibly difficult to navigate through these things. 00:01:32.560 |
When it comes to starting a family, you guys have experienced that maybe 00:01:38.120 |
some of these distractions, the difficulties, are more intense. 00:01:45.080 |
You thought you were busy when you were single. 00:01:47.520 |
And the next thing you know, you're like, well, goodness. 00:01:52.280 |
And some of you guys, whatever the term is for six people, right? 00:01:57.480 |
And what's more, you experience your fatigue grow at an exponential rate. 00:02:03.560 |
And people are looking at each other like, man, you think you're tired. 00:02:08.880 |
And people are all competing with each other, talking about how tired we are. 00:02:14.200 |
But in the midst of all those various storms, 00:02:16.240 |
whether it be not only fatigue and tiredness, but the worries. 00:02:26.880 |
Within these things, we recognize that we absolutely need an anchor. 00:02:31.760 |
And it's so good that we're thinking on the lines of, 00:02:38.720 |
But the paradoxical thing about our Christian lives 00:02:42.040 |
is that He is not simply an anchor so that we can walk this earthly life well. 00:02:51.440 |
He is the anchor to the goal of Him, to pursue Him. 00:02:55.400 |
And so I was so thankful that Pastor Peter Chung reminded us 00:02:59.480 |
that not only is our desire to be in Him, but our purpose is for Him. 00:03:06.000 |
And so if you guys recall, the statement that he said multiple times was, 00:03:11.280 |
So we were created by God, created for God, to love God and serve God. 00:03:22.200 |
Now, as we think about this, and we have our verse here. 00:03:31.320 |
Our verse here put into a nice graphic that I found on the internet. 00:03:45.320 |
We recognize that Jesus Christ is the absolute stronghold. 00:03:56.840 |
And what's more, Jesus Christ should be what we're looking to. 00:04:02.080 |
But one of the core questions that Pastor Peter Chung left off with in the last sermon 00:04:10.760 |
Notice how in this graphic up here, there is no chain. 00:04:15.200 |
And what I want to do is actually focus on this idea that we absolutely need to, 00:04:20.280 |
yes, maintain and strengthen the linkage, the connection, and the chain 00:04:26.080 |
Because yes, conceptually, we can all agree and confess Jesus Christ is a stronghold. 00:04:34.920 |
To what degree have you tied yourself to that stronghold? 00:04:51.880 |
I had a picture for you just a moment ago of this photo. 00:05:05.360 |
Cool fact is that their chain is so weak, it actually outweighs the anchor. 00:05:11.240 |
An analogy-- don't try to think about the Christian spiritual analysis 00:05:15.280 |
What I'm saying is, how important is it to actually maintain that chain? 00:05:20.280 |
You have these individuals who have a 60,000-pound anchor. 00:05:24.400 |
But in terms of the chain, the whole of the chain that they have on the boat 00:05:32.760 |
And they have to maintain that because over time, it rusts. 00:05:36.320 |
My question to you is, how strong is your family's link to Christ? 00:05:43.120 |
To what degree have you given attention to these things? 00:05:46.040 |
And so what I'd like to focus on in this sermon 00:05:48.560 |
is the part of the identity, priority, and the activity of the family 00:05:58.280 |
The identity, the priority, and the activity of the family 00:06:02.760 |
has served as links to the solid anchor that is Christ. 00:06:10.240 |
A Christ-anchored family has a family identity tied to Christ. 00:06:17.240 |
The Christ-anchored family has a family identity tied to Christ. 00:06:21.720 |
Now, if you think about that, when we thought the term "identity," 00:06:33.160 |
The best and simplest way to say it is identity 00:06:36.160 |
is just talking about who you are as a whole. 00:06:45.640 |
And so people can look to all sorts of things-- your purpose, your skill. 00:06:50.120 |
And on a worldly level, that's how people typically identify themselves. 00:07:00.480 |
So when it comes to family, and not just you as an individual-- 00:07:04.480 |
you as an individual may be thinking about your skill set, 00:07:11.480 |
People are very concerned about family honor. 00:07:15.000 |
People are very concerned about being a respectful family in the community. 00:07:19.400 |
That's why certain individuals cannot, cannot bear the idea of having 00:07:32.000 |
are they concerned just like an individual is about the produce, 00:07:35.960 |
meaning what they can actually contribute to society? 00:07:51.480 |
The other day, me and a buddy were talking about that thing, 00:07:57.840 |
If you guys have ever had that itch, and you wanted to live for homes, 00:08:01.520 |
and next thing you know, you're on that thing, all of a sudden, 00:08:04.200 |
you think, oh my goodness, it's been an hour. 00:08:08.940 |
Because your interest and your desire and longing is there. 00:08:14.920 |
to look for things that could be answers for you. 00:08:19.640 |
All of those things are visible, tangible things. 00:08:30.960 |
But believers, we as Christians, our identity 00:08:33.960 |
is 100% wrapped up in the unseen gift of God. 00:08:39.120 |
God gives you an identity based on faith, and that identity, he says, 00:08:44.880 |
is in the person of Jesus Christ, whom you do not see right now, 00:08:54.200 |
And what's more, I'm going to complete that in the days to come. 00:08:58.720 |
Now, Blankey turned your Bibles to 1 John 3, verse 2 to 3. 00:09:04.760 |
It is a beautiful passage concerning your identity, which 00:09:24.520 |
given to you by faith, yet to be fully realized. 00:09:31.200 |
Pastor John says this, beloved, that we are children of God. 00:09:35.840 |
You are, in terms of your essence, in terms of your relational being, 00:09:41.120 |
in terms of your definition, you are a child of God. 00:09:44.240 |
And it has not yet appeared as yet what we will be. 00:09:47.640 |
We know that when He appears, we will be what? 00:09:54.080 |
And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, 00:10:01.040 |
So you bring those two things together in terms 00:10:04.280 |
of what we've been studying and what we've been thinking about in terms 00:10:07.240 |
of being this incredible hope, the hope of God's promise, 00:10:15.360 |
are able to enter into my presence forever because of Christ, 00:10:20.720 |
and that this promise does not change because His oath never changes 00:10:24.560 |
and because His word never changes, His character never changes, 00:10:30.400 |
Now as we think about that, I ask you this question. 00:10:40.040 |
He's given us a vision of what our families should be. 00:10:43.800 |
This world is constantly trying to look at themselves. 00:10:49.800 |
They're staring at themselves in the mirror saying, who am I? 00:10:54.520 |
And when they are able to produce, oh, I broke my leg 00:11:04.960 |
They're constantly looking at themselves and wondering, who am I? 00:11:08.840 |
But we as Christians are not operated by science. 00:11:13.480 |
Now, as Pastor Peter said, we have been created by God. 00:11:25.040 |
That we know is a vision also for our families. 00:11:29.040 |
The main question for you then is, have you accepted that? 00:11:33.920 |
Do you desire and long for that vision for your family 00:11:38.520 |
where in 1 John he says, you are going to be like Him? 00:11:42.600 |
God wants Christ's character in you as an individual and in your home? 00:11:53.040 |
Have you not only accepted that, but have you desired it and longed for it? 00:11:58.640 |
You see, in my mind-- I'm not going to go on about this for too long. 00:12:02.800 |
But in my mind, when individuals struggle with an identity crisis, 00:12:08.560 |
and they're sitting there thinking, oh my gosh, I don't know who I am. 00:12:12.360 |
It's not really, really, I don't know who I am. 00:12:16.480 |
If we were honest, the statement is, I don't like who I am. 00:12:21.320 |
Identity crisis is not so much like, I have no clue who I am. 00:12:26.840 |
I don't know what's my deal, so to speak, in life. 00:12:31.480 |
If we were honest, the simple statement is, I don't like who I am. 00:12:39.360 |
It also could be that when God gives us His vision for our family, 00:12:44.560 |
we can respond in a simple way where it's like, I see it, 00:12:57.560 |
The application, first and foremost, has to be for us. 00:13:00.720 |
Yes, I see a picture of what you want to do with me and my home. 00:13:06.840 |
You desire this place to be a place of worship, a place of truth, 00:13:10.720 |
a place of love, a place of joy, a place of glorifying God 00:13:19.320 |
For us, we have to be linked to that to be able to say, I want that. 00:13:31.640 |
The application has to be, first and foremost, yes, 00:13:34.320 |
that is the good design and identity, the characteristic, the expectation, 00:13:43.800 |
And not, yes, I hear you, but first, let me have my home 00:13:49.480 |
with three bedrooms, 2.5 baths, 2.5 kids, and three cars. 00:13:54.040 |
This is sometimes the kind of vision that people have when they fantasize. 00:13:58.600 |
Question to you is, what kind of a vision for your family 00:14:06.600 |
Have you adopted the picture of a family that God has already 00:14:11.440 |
Now, as we think about that, there's a second application 00:14:15.680 |
that I actually wanted to focus on here, which is this. 00:14:19.760 |
A clear identity of God's vision for your family 00:14:22.880 |
will allow you to make clear explanation of God. 00:14:25.840 |
I didn't know how to best phrase this in a summary way, 00:14:28.120 |
but that's the first thing I wanted to say is, you have clear identity. 00:14:40.400 |
I'm really talking about the linkage, but I do want to challenge you. 00:14:44.040 |
If someone asks you, what is God's expectation for a biblical family, 00:14:47.880 |
and your mind goes blank, then your first application 00:14:50.160 |
is, I should have really stood in the scriptures and asked, 00:14:52.680 |
what are the character traits of a godly family? 00:14:55.720 |
But when you see that clear identity and vision for the family, 00:15:00.000 |
then there should be a clear explanation of God. 00:15:04.120 |
Please turn your Bible over to Deuteronomy 6, verses 7 through 9. 00:15:12.720 |
There's a corollary passage in Deuteronomy 4, 00:15:14.680 |
but for the sake of time, we're going to skip it. 00:15:16.800 |
We're turning now to Deuteronomy 6, verses 7 through 9. 00:15:19.880 |
And this is that very famous, famous scenario 00:15:23.640 |
where Moses brings all the people, God's people, together, 00:15:28.120 |
He has chapter 6, verse 1, the whole great Shema. 00:15:35.000 |
Moses is going to teach everybody, this is God, 00:15:41.560 |
And as he's doing that, this is what he says. 00:15:43.720 |
"You shall teach them diligently to your sons, 00:15:46.560 |
and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, 00:15:49.160 |
and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, 00:15:51.920 |
when you rise up, you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, 00:15:56.120 |
and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. 00:15:58.640 |
You shall write them on the doorposts of your house, 00:16:06.560 |
Because you are a chosen nation, with a great God, 00:16:16.640 |
I mean, if you observe that, what he's saying is, 00:16:18.360 |
basically, you sit, and you write, and you're sleeping, 00:16:20.520 |
all over your house, you are to be filled with God's truth. 00:16:24.280 |
There should be a clear explanation in your home, 00:16:29.760 |
I'm going to draw this out a little bit more. 00:16:32.560 |
Please go to Psalm 78, verses one through eight. 00:16:45.760 |
So he says, "Listen, people, to my instruction, 00:16:50.400 |
and climb your ears to the words of my mouth. 00:16:57.400 |
which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us. 00:17:01.200 |
We will not conceal them from their children, 00:17:03.880 |
but tell to the generation to come the praises of the Lord, 00:17:07.320 |
and his strength, and his wondrous works that he has done. 00:17:13.320 |
and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers 00:17:16.600 |
that they should teach them to their children, 00:17:18.800 |
that the generation to come might know even the children 00:17:21.640 |
yet to be born, that they may arrive and tell them 00:17:24.840 |
to their children that they should put their confidence 00:17:30.480 |
but keep his commandments, and not be like their fathers, 00:17:42.040 |
What I'm saying is, remember, my sermon here and now 00:17:46.280 |
for our families is to ask, yes, you've identified 00:17:51.280 |
Christ is the solution to sin, Christ is the solution 00:17:55.160 |
to the tide and the storm, Christ is the solution 00:17:58.360 |
to your drifting, but the question more specifically 00:18:05.920 |
And what I'm saying is, when your identity is clear, 00:18:08.400 |
this is who I am in God, this is what he's done for me, 00:18:11.880 |
this is what I'm supposed to do, in God's purpose for me, 00:18:15.160 |
there should be a clear explanation, and this is God. 00:18:20.760 |
For those of you out there that have children, 00:18:22.520 |
anytime you do something, when your children get 00:18:27.600 |
Hey everybody, get in the car, we're going to church. 00:18:34.960 |
Do you respond typically with that kind of annoyance, 00:19:04.480 |
We believers in Christ who have an identity in Christ, 00:19:15.400 |
Why in the world do you go to church so often? 00:19:23.320 |
Why are we not able to give the appropriate answers? 00:19:36.640 |
Do you know how amazingly God has lavished his love? 00:19:58.720 |
Can we, like, when I say your identity should be clear, 00:20:21.680 |
Then you're like, "Perfect, thank you, Lord." 00:20:41.000 |
when God redeemed the nation of Israel out of Egypt, 00:20:49.440 |
before He even pulled them out in chapter 12, 00:20:52.160 |
He told them, "I want you, as soon as you get out, 00:20:59.520 |
"When you enter the land which the Lord will give you, 00:21:01.920 |
"as He has promised, you shall observe this rite." 00:21:17.760 |
"when He smoked the Egyptians, but spared our homes." 00:21:21.560 |
God spared me, and the people bowed low in worship. 00:21:27.880 |
"You shall tell your son on that day, saying, 00:21:36.000 |
Parents, husbands, wives, is your identity in Christ 00:21:42.440 |
so clear you have the linkage and connection to say, 00:22:03.440 |
I mean, it was almost so formal and so ritualistic, 00:22:06.480 |
but literally, the Father commanded the children, 00:22:08.720 |
you ask me why, right now, when I do this whole thing 00:22:11.080 |
with the staff and the sash and all that stuff, 00:22:23.480 |
I was a slave, an absolute misnomer, but God loved me. 00:22:33.080 |
there's gonna come a time when your spouse is not up for it. 00:22:41.920 |
we all have moments where we're like, oh gosh. 00:22:53.200 |
We have plenty of excuses and reasons why we don't wanna go. 00:23:00.000 |
So that even if your spouse, the one you love, 00:23:03.720 |
tonight I'm gonna just stay home and watch the baby. 00:23:08.520 |
you can describe, remember, this is what we do. 00:23:21.520 |
But would you ever use that if you had no chain? 00:23:32.000 |
We know that our clear identity will build a priority. 00:23:42.080 |
it starts establishing the priorities of your life. 00:23:48.640 |
a Christ-anchored family has a priority tied to Christ. 00:24:02.280 |
and they can sort it by importance and value. 00:24:06.920 |
you know how there's a little triangle and it filters? 00:24:12.400 |
And I'm gonna ask you some important assessment questions 00:24:19.320 |
What is dictating the top agenda for your family? 00:24:22.520 |
Okay, what is dictating the agenda for your family time? 00:24:42.080 |
What are some things that go on your family schedule 00:24:52.960 |
I'm just saying everybody operates on a certain function, 00:24:56.600 |
and some families are a little bit more structured, 00:25:00.240 |
they have a family calendar, everybody puts it in, 00:25:08.680 |
This evaluation would be really, really fast for you. 00:25:11.560 |
What are the schedule items that go in there first 00:25:16.520 |
and you can't move because it's so important to you? 00:25:18.960 |
And everything else in life has to work around that 00:25:39.200 |
The scripture says, "Seek ye first the kingdom." 00:25:53.640 |
based on what is most valuable and most weighty. 00:25:58.560 |
"Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness 00:26:09.520 |
there is a real life example of this in King Solomon. 00:26:35.240 |
He says, "Ye have not asked for yourself long life, 00:26:40.360 |
"nor have you asked for the life of your enemies, 00:26:47.040 |
"Behold, I have done according to your words, 00:26:49.120 |
"and behold, I have given you a wise and discerning heart 00:26:52.480 |
"so that there have been no one like you before you, 00:26:57.560 |
"I have also given you what you have not asked, 00:27:01.680 |
"so that there will not be any among the kings like you 00:27:10.600 |
In this period of time, King Solomon searched 00:27:14.960 |
for that which is more weighty in God's eyes. 00:27:17.280 |
I want you guys to think about that for your family. 00:27:22.520 |
Has there been consideration and question and evaluation? 00:27:39.000 |
We gotta make sure to go visit every single monument 00:27:41.280 |
in the US, and every single monument in South America, 00:27:56.920 |
If some of you are into traveling, that's fine. 00:28:08.720 |
There are individuals so dedicated to entertainment, 00:28:13.240 |
of how to be entertained for the next three seasons. 00:28:20.560 |
Now, if that's you, there has to be this question. 00:28:25.440 |
Has this more scheduled in my spiritual life? 00:28:33.760 |
saying, "Oh, I can't even fit in my quiet time. 00:28:43.080 |
And yet you've got the next four seasons scheduled. 00:29:07.640 |
Basically what it is, you have these two young guys, 00:29:10.160 |
they say, "Okay, we're gonna see what's worth it. 00:29:12.000 |
"We're gonna go in and try three types of tacos. 00:29:23.140 |
And basically what these guys do is they go and eat it. 00:29:32.980 |
'Cause they just sit there and they slobber away. 00:29:36.500 |
But what's really cool about it is they start talking, 00:29:40.100 |
it's like, "Man, it's $2 for an amazing taco, 00:29:43.780 |
"but it's the greatest and the most expensive, the best?" 00:29:52.180 |
When people talk about Orange County Christianity 00:30:19.740 |
Orange County Christianity and its difficulty. 00:30:25.380 |
You want a manageable home, you want a manageable church, 00:30:36.700 |
And what's really interesting about that show 00:30:50.380 |
There are some of us that have a hard time choosing 00:31:01.420 |
Is our family going to fulfill the Orange County dream 00:31:11.420 |
Or are we going to, by necessity, pick our priorities? 00:31:20.620 |
You need to start thinking through that, yes? 00:31:24.420 |
where are going to be some of our top priorities 00:31:28.860 |
it might not be sinful, it might not be wrong, 00:31:36.300 |
We're just going to be all the more dedicated. 00:31:48.260 |
So by a quick way of review, the application builds. 00:31:51.940 |
The last application was this application of, 00:31:55.420 |
we know Christ is the anchor, can you link to it? 00:32:04.900 |
Does your vision for your family show a linkage to Christ? 00:32:08.260 |
Here, in this second point, we're summarizing and saying, 00:32:14.780 |
does it show that you've tied yourself to Him? 00:32:17.940 |
Does it show that you have linked yourself to the Lord? 00:32:22.380 |
Now, I just want to give further motivation and oomph to that, 00:32:29.460 |
the last several years of my life, I've been really busy. 00:32:32.580 |
And so there is this knee-jerk reaction in me. 00:32:34.580 |
Every time somebody says, "Hey, Pastor Mark," 00:32:37.500 |
or, "I see you're really busy, you've got to start prioritizing stuff," 00:32:40.660 |
automatically, my defense comes up, and I'm like, 00:32:49.860 |
And then there's this knee-jerk defensiveness that comes up 00:32:52.660 |
that just wants to say, "I'm really, really busy." 00:32:55.740 |
Now, I think what I need is a moment of humility to say, 00:33:05.180 |
like, the last study in the book of Colossians, 00:33:09.900 |
If you guys recall, in Colossians 1, verse 18, 00:33:26.140 |
He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, 00:33:28.500 |
so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything." 00:33:37.620 |
I've got to have the humility to sit there and say, 00:33:45.300 |
has some kind of correlation to church and people. 00:33:48.820 |
But is Jesus Christ having first preeminence in everything, 00:34:07.220 |
and how the Pharisees had a question of first place. 00:34:17.500 |
And then they were stumped, and then Sadducees was like, 00:34:30.620 |
He was asking for what is the first priority in life. 00:34:39.220 |
Because they didn't care for that kind of stuff. 00:34:50.020 |
This is what I'm going to say as a point of conviction. 00:34:54.020 |
It is to our humbling and our implication to the Lord. 00:35:02.220 |
is that your priorities are automatically set 00:35:13.300 |
I believe that the Pharisees had an operating principle. 00:35:20.060 |
was the operating principle that is most common in our day and age. 00:35:36.940 |
who's talking and doing some kind of interview, 00:35:41.020 |
I just got to do what's best for me when I'm picking a team and doing all this stuff." 00:36:04.180 |
he's like, "LeBron's got to do what's best for LeBron." 00:36:12.540 |
I believe that the Pharisees operated on the exact same principle. 00:36:16.300 |
"Pharisee's got to do what's best for Pharisee." 00:36:26.300 |
woe to you because you love the places of honor. 00:36:29.220 |
You love to sit atop and put people beneath you. 00:36:55.460 |
our priorities are typically already set by the principle, 00:36:58.180 |
"I got to do what's best for me and my family." 00:37:02.260 |
one of the biggest challenges for our family. 00:37:17.700 |
and say, "I'm satisfied with my family and serving God," 00:37:28.420 |
"You know what, family got to do what's best for family," 00:37:33.100 |
because that is not the priority God's giving you. 00:37:36.540 |
Now, my next point's going to be a little bit shorter. 00:37:43.420 |
that's how we end up deciding what to do next. 00:38:00.060 |
And the way I'm going to describe it is this. 00:38:03.700 |
is essentially your values and desires plus opportunity. 00:38:08.340 |
Your actions are essentially your values and desires 00:38:28.300 |
And the guy just completely and blitterly forgets. 00:38:43.260 |
We still need convincing that that's a worthwhile doing. 00:38:46.180 |
We still need convincing that it's important, okay? 00:39:11.300 |
in terms of your identity, in terms of your priority, 00:39:17.140 |
But it's things that I just want to encourage you 00:39:21.340 |
And to revisit and do the work of maintaining, right? 00:39:45.860 |
I'm going to assume your desires are there, right? 00:39:50.420 |
We're not making like a classic male excuse of like, 00:40:00.580 |
we want to more so fulfill the desire of God, 00:40:18.660 |
Because the expectation is you would do it, right? 00:40:24.100 |
I can't make the opportunity for you in your home. 00:40:29.620 |
where we all take rotations to come and serve at church? 00:40:33.860 |
I can't make that opportunity for you all the time. 00:40:38.180 |
"Oh, I'm going to structure this whole thing for you." 00:40:48.500 |
So I want to have a little bit of a motivation time 00:41:24.340 |
We have to make sure that we make those opportunities. 00:41:31.620 |
"we need to sit down and talk about these things." 00:41:35.300 |
These are the moments when we have to hear the explanation. 00:42:14.580 |
The Bible does give a great, great pattern, example, 00:42:21.620 |
That the husband leads the family in thinking about God, 00:42:24.300 |
worshiping him and saying, "Thank you for all this." 00:42:50.580 |
"Yeah, we should have some family time worship." 00:42:55.940 |
At the time, you know, I'm gonna read a passage, 00:43:03.980 |
I was very, very like insecure in my own ability 00:43:15.540 |
What if I teach stuff that's just not kosher? 00:43:56.780 |
a regular part of our growing maturity in faith. 00:44:06.100 |
because if there is a passage that talks about, 00:44:26.380 |
because it challenges so many individuals who are driven, 00:44:29.820 |
whether because of the worries of persecution 00:44:33.220 |
or just because of their individual lack of growth. 00:44:46.540 |
"let us also lay aside every encumbrance and sin 00:44:52.480 |
"Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 00:45:04.100 |
"and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 00:45:07.500 |
"For consider him who has endured such hostility 00:45:12.500 |
"so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. 00:45:22.060 |
"'Oh, God, people are gonna point the finger. 00:45:30.460 |
"of those possible scenarios and possible excuses, 00:45:44.580 |
And then verse four is one of the most convicting passages 00:45:53.380 |
Verse four, it says, "You have not yet resisted 00:46:00.020 |
We live in a generation where people are constantly, 00:46:04.780 |
constantly seeking to be affirmed in their weakness. 00:46:32.820 |
It challenges us beyond what we think is capable 00:46:37.380 |
and says, "You have not yet gone to that degree." 00:46:57.940 |
"My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, 00:47:04.420 |
"For those whom the Lord loves, He disciplines, 00:47:07.420 |
"and He scourges every son whom He receives." 00:47:17.820 |
these moments of testing, the storms that may come. 00:47:31.660 |
"for what son is there whom his Father has not disciplined? 00:47:38.180 |
"then you are illegitimate children and not sons. 00:47:40.420 |
"Furthermore, we have earthly fathers to discipline us, 00:47:57.500 |
"All discipline for a moment seems not to be joyful, 00:48:00.180 |
"but sorrowful, yet to those who have been trained by it, 00:48:03.660 |
"afterward, yield the peaceful fruit of righteousness. 00:48:18.780 |
"may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed." 00:48:33.660 |
of good family life is going to be the regular business 00:48:38.460 |
and you saying, "Goodness gracious, I am tired." 00:48:45.900 |
God desires us not to simply concede to that and say, 00:48:50.300 |
"Ha, yeah, if you live life, if you've gone through this, 00:48:57.860 |
The great temptation is to just simply assume, 00:49:01.780 |
although yes, God wants to strive for unity in our marriage, 00:49:05.820 |
although God wants us to strive to be true, to be filled, 00:49:08.700 |
although God wants us to be rejuvenated by joy, 00:49:21.620 |
is to look at the various things that go wrong 00:49:34.260 |
that God's plan for you is so much more than what it is now. 00:49:41.540 |
And it's really a challenge and hesitation for us 00:49:43.980 |
to not only accept that, but to make the opportunities, 00:49:50.660 |
and to pursue those things with all our heart. 00:49:53.780 |
And so by way of conclusion, by way of conclusion, 00:49:57.140 |
we know that there's various tides, temptations, 00:50:11.740 |
And although the temptation might be to look around 00:50:14.540 |
and be like, "Whoa, everybody else is like this." 00:50:22.540 |
when the Scripture challenges and commands us to hold on, 00:50:33.540 |
I saw the various priorities that Christ has set 00:50:35.820 |
for the families, and I tied our family's schedule to that, 00:50:39.540 |
and what's more, rather than conceding a week, 00:51:11.900 |
And I pray, Father, Lord, that every single one of us 00:51:16.220 |
will be on this path of walking together as a family 00:51:20.740 |
according to the design and measure of Christ. 00:51:26.500 |
if any of us have thought like we've either grown this way 00:51:39.660 |
God, if there be anything that we need to repent of, 00:51:43.460 |
Lord, I pray you would convict us of the spirit 00:51:51.740 |
And then, Father, God, with your spirit, empower us, 00:52:06.180 |
that you would then all the more provide, Lord, 00:52:12.420 |
and, God, that you would be our necessary supply 00:52:16.820 |
We thank you, Lord Jesus Christ, and we pray.