Sermon Tone Analysis

RBBC, San Diego                                                                                       I Peter 3:7

5-13-07                                                                                                          Family Relationship

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*Extreme Makeover #1: The Family*

 

*"G*ood morning, Cox family!" "Good morning, Harris family!"

That perky male voice shouting through a bullhorn isn’t exactly the most tranquil start to your day, but for the Cox and Harris families, it was a very-welcomed one.

For Extreme Makeover host Ty Pennington was giving them the confirmation that they'd hoped for.

In the span of one week (or an hour for TV viewers) the reality show would remarkably transform their dilapidated houses into extravagant dream homes.

At the end of the week when Ty Pennington shouts “Move that Bus” to reveal their new home, the Cox Family leaped into the air, embrace one another and jubilantly shout.

The Harris family on the other hand, just stood quietly with tears running down their cheeks, unable to express the flood of emotions they were feeling.

Both responses reveal the life-changing impact that they were experiencing through the extravagant generosity of others who cared for them.

What if God’s voice were to awaken you this morning?

And you knew when you heard “Good Morning, Marcy” or “Good morning, Steve!” that He was offering you a much-welcomed makeover in your life.

It would bring a whole new transformation promising to exceed your wildest dreams!

Wouldn’t it be great?

Wouldn’t it be huge!

Well, let’s ask God for that in these next few weeks as we study the book of Ephesians.

He can do it, you know!

For in Eph 1:3 we are reminded that we are blessed in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.

And then a few verses later in Eph 3:

We are starting our new six week series on relationships today focusing mostly on Ephesians 5-6 but using other passages as well.

We’re are shamelessly using this familiar TV show’s title and logo calling it “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” because we are dealing with relationships that affect the home over these next several weeks.

And because today is Mother’s Day, it’s a great time to talk about families.

The Census Bureau defines a family as people who live in the same house.

Others would define a family as people who share the same last name.

But most of know that a family setting is much broader than the traditional idea of a mom, dad, kids, and possibly a dog.

The fact is only one out of every six people in the United States live in a traditional setting.

So, what about the remaining 84%?

If your home has been broken by death or divorce, God has not turned his back on you.

Whatever your family situation is, He wants to help you be the strongest family you can possibly be.

And a good place to start is to acknowledge that there are no perfect families out there.

Have you noticed that yet?

Did you hear about the eight-year-old son of an obstetrician~/ gynecologist?

Twice he was heard telling a caller on the phone, "Sorry you have the wrong number.

There's no plumber here."

Finally his mother took the phone.

The voice on the other end was so relieved, "Thank goodness I got you.

I’ve been trying to tell your little boy that… my water's broken."

Or what about the little girl who came home from school and announced, “We learned how to make babies today!”

Her apprehensive mother asked, "Well, how do you do that?"

And the little girl answered, "Easy, just change the y to i and add es." Children keep us on our toes.

What do women or mothers want from men in their families?

A group of them got together and wrote: “Every now and again, we want somebody else to pick the restaurant, arrange the playdate, plan the seating, buy the tickets, do the laundry, schedule the appointment, pack the bags, balance the books, send the gift, walk the dog, fill out the forms, break the silence, lift the ban, make the payment, count the calories, hold the phone, explain the joke, beat the odds, hit the ground running, win the race, and save the day while we sleep past noon in high-thread-count sheets and a cashmere blanket.

In other words,” these women wrote, “we want time off for good behavior.”

And so there are no perfect families today but there is a way for imperfect families to thrive during challenging times.

One of the best places to look for advice on the family is in the Bible.

Families for generations have turned to it.

They have found advice on how to build stronger family relationships.

And the principles found there are rock solid and time tested.

This morning we’re going to take a look at I Peter 3:7 as well as a few other verses which highlight some timeless principles for building family relationships.

Sometimes these verses are applied to specific relationships in the home but we are going to simply acknowledge this and apply them to all of us in the home.

And in the process, we’ll discover some great INVESTMENT TIPS for growing strong families.

Warren Buffet is one of the richest men in America.

Many look to him for investment advice.

He’s written a book about his investment strategies called The Warren Buffet Way.

\\ \\           If you could sit down with Warren Buffet and learn some investment tips, wouldn’t you be interested?

Now imagine for a moment that you could sit down with God and learn some investment tips from Him on growing family relationships.

Wouldn’t you be interested in that too?

What kind of investments does the Bible recommend?

\\             I.

*Investment Tip #1* is to… *be considerate*.

Turn with me to I Peter 3:7.

I Peter is a book in the New Testament that was written by one of Jesus disciples about 30 years after Jesus’ death.

It is considered one of the best loved and most read.

It’s distinctive characteristic is that of “warmth.”

It was written to a group of Christians coming from Greek and Jewish backgrounds who felt marginalized living in outskirts of the Roman in Asia Minor.

They were living at a time when the Roman Emperor Nero would begin to persecute them.

It was not easy to live as a Christian in Roman society and model what it would be like to be a Christian family.

And so Peter instructs them on how to live in difficult times.

\\ \\ In chapter three, Peter talks about husbands and wives.

He tells husbands in 1 Peter 3:7 (read).

Peter urges husbands to be considerate of their wives.

They are to live with them in such a way that they show consideration.

\\ What does that mean?

What does it mean to be considerate of someone in your family?

One way you show consideration is by… Listening to them!  Good relationships are built on mutual understanding!  Understanding begins with….

listening!

If you feel that someone is listening to you, you feel respected and understood!

Shakespeare said in Hamlet “Give every man your ear but seal your tongue!”  James urges in his book, “Be quick to listen, slow to speak.”

An old Irish proverb says, “God gave us two ears and one mouth, so we ought to listen twice as much as we speak.”

Chris Conway is a single parent, the father of two teenage sons.

The boys had gotten involved with a youth group and were very enthusiastic about it.

Mr. Conway asked them what they liked about the group, and the older son answered, "We can tell the leaders really care about us by the way they listen to us."

This surprised single parent dad said, "I listen to you."

His son replied, "I know that.

But you are always doing something else.

All you ever say is 'yes' 'no' or 'I'll think about it.'"

At that moment, Chris Conway decided that he was going to focus on listening to his sons.

At dinner each night, whenever one of the boys would speak, he would stop eating, set down his fork, turn to him and listen.

This revolutionized his relationship with his sons.

And since he spent so much time listening at the dinner table, he lost fifteen pounds during the first five weeks.

Most importantly, the average length of their evening meal went from less than 10 minutes to almost 45.

Sometimes in a family we need to listen more.

Concentrating on what a family member is saying shows consideration and communicates that they are important.

A second way you show consideration in your family is by just being kind to them!

Prov.

4:3 portrays a neat picture of how kindness can permeate the home life, “   Kindness is looking toward other family member’s needs and doing what is good for them in light of their needs.

One of the best ways to show kindness is by empathizing with them.

We need to know that others are on our team.

We need to know that our motives are understood,  especially when they make mistakes.

One morning, David Leroy's mother announced that she needed to take some clothes to the cleaners.