Missional Family: God's Mission for Our Families
Greater Things • Sermon • Submitted
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· 24 viewsFamily shapes who we are. We become like our parents in so many ways, often times in ways we regret, but also in ways we are proud of. Our view of the purpose of our family will define the culture and activity of our families. If family is meant for mission then the choices we make for our families, the way we raise our children, the conversations we have around the dinner table, and the way we spend our time will reflect the purpose we are living for.
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Dream for our kids
Dream for our kids
Gymnast Aly Raisman, parents during her routine.
Trained 6-7 hours a day 6 days a week for years
Lived, breathed, slept gymnastics.
Worth $2 million and one of the most successful athletes of all time.
Imagine the hours and dollars invested by her family in her becoming a gymnast.
Odds of becoming an Olympic swimmer .0013%
NBA .02%
NFL .03%’
MBL .05%
Article about kids in athletics:
“I really do pray that my son doesn’t become the next Michael Jordan. I would weep over and over again if he did. Every time his Nike employees called him “Yahweh.” And every game he won, because I would know it was a fading glimpse of the glory he was forfeiting.”
“But, oh, if he can learn the ways of Jesus. I’ll shed better tears. If he can recite 26 verses of Scripture on his last day of kindergarten like his big sister did, I’ll sleep well. If he learns to love his neighbor, walk in wisdom, stand up for the poor, worship with gladness, live in purity, and serve Christ’s church, I’ll beam with a joy that will outshine every day in Rio. That’s what we’re training for.”
God’s Mission for Family
God’s Mission for Family
1) Family was His creation
1) Family was His creation
1)
1)
gen 1:
26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
God created the first husband and wife and tasked them to multiply and fill the earth WITH KIDS.
The mission of God started with a family.
2) Family was God’s means for mission
2) Family was God’s means for mission
1 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
1 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.
God chose Abraham’s family to be His means of bringing His glory to the nations.
- the genealogy of Christ points to God’s plan to spread His glory to the nations through His chosen FAMILY
3) God’s commands were given to families
3) God’s commands were given to families
5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.
5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.
This is the central commandment everyone in the world is called to live by.
deu
6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.
This commandment (the culmination of all the commandments) is to be at the center of your home, the conversation around the table, the guiding principle in all we do.
God wanted families to teach and train their children in His ways and His commands.
4) God’s plan rests on His family
4) God’s plan rests on His family
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
God’s plan to save us from our sin came through His son.
The relationship between the Father and the Son is meant to magnify Gods love for us by highlighting the familial relationship. THIS WAS A BIG SACRIFICE!
12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,
When we are saved through Christ we are brought into the family of God.
jn 1
We are children of God
This analogy is used throughout the NT to display our relationship to God through Christ.
Family is central to God’s Mission in this world.
Family is central to God’s Mission in this world.
But is God’s mission to make His glory known central to your family mission?
How often do you talk with your family about spiritual things?
How often do you read and study the bible with your family?
How often do you pray with your family?
Do you pray daily for your kids to know AND FOLLOW Jesus?
Do you study and learn in order to help your kids understand how to decipher issues they deal with in a Godly way?
How often do you sing worship songs with your kids?
Have you ever shared the gospel with your kids, parents, brothers or sisters?
It was never God’s plan to outsource teaching kids to follow Jesus.
Reorienting our Family Toward Mission
Reorienting our Family Toward Mission
Practical suggestion for leading your family toward greater things:
1) Seek God’s plan rather than your own
1) Seek God’s plan rather than your own
What do you hope for and pray for for your kids?
Success, happiness, popularity, safety, security...
Not saying pray for the opposite, but can our kids be popular, successful, happy, safe…if they are following the ways of Christ?
21 But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me.
20 Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. 21 But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me.
jn 15
Perhaps our prayers and our plans for our kids and our families are not in line with God’s plan.
2) Read and study God's word with your family
2) Read and study God's word with your family
You have to be diligent to study the Bible yourself, equipped to lead and answer questions.
But we must teach our kids the Words of God!!
Develop a plan to read and fight to keep it.
Satan wants to disrupt this time for your family.
Find an appropriate translation and JUST START READING
Get a devotional for families.
3) Pray for and with your family
3) Pray for and with your family
Pray for your kids regularly
But also pray with your kids regularly.
Plan and protect this time.
Teach them to pray
Pray boldly in front of them.
Pray that God would save them from their sin
Pray that He would help them obey and learn
Teach them to trust prayer and practice it.
4) Develop a family mission statement
4) Develop a family mission statement
What does God want your family to be about?
A family mission statement can help establish a family's identity even as it reinforces what is important.
Example statements:
Know God and His Word
Develop the skills necessary to live in society
Value relationships and treat others with kindness and respect
Seek God's will for direction and purpose in life
Example
Example
We believe God wants us to ____________ this year, which we will intentionally do by concentrating on these areas:
With each other, we will ____________.With our neighbors and friends, we will ____________.With our extended family, we will ____________.With our church body, we will ____________.When people think of our family, how do we want them to finish this sentence: They are a family that ____________.
5) Lead your family to think missionally
5) Lead your family to think missionally
How will you use your house to make Jesus known to your neighbors?
What can you give to make the Gospel known to others?
How can you serve as a family in the church? in the community?
How can you train your kids to think less about what they want and more about how to be grateful and generous?
Land the plane
Land the plane
God's mission for your life and our lives is to make his glory known among the Nations
What are you praying for for your kids?
That your kid would be the next Michael Jordan or the next Chipper Jones
For your kid to be popular or safe in school
That they would have a good job, comfortable life, and not have problems?
What are we creating our children to be?
what are we training our children to do?
are we training them to glorify the Father in Heaven in whatever he may call them to do
Or are we trying to mold them and shape them into what the world says is really successful?
My Hope and prayer for this sermon is
My Hope and prayer for this sermon is
it changes conversations around your dinner table
that it would changes the prayers that you pray at night
that it would change how you spend your time and your money
Most importantly, that it would change the trajectory of our families.
That we would embrace the Mission of doing GREATER THINGS for Jesus in this world we live in!!