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Dufresne Ministries Podcast
Establishing A Godly Home, Part Three | Morgan Dufresne | World Harvest Church | Murrieta, CA
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Hi, I'm Grant Dufresne and welcome to Dufresne Ministries podcast channel. We believe that as you listen to this message, your faith will be stirred and you will be encouraged in whatever you are believing God for today. Stay tuned at the end of this message to find out more information about our ministry.
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So why don't you turn with me this evening? Let's go back to our primary text because I want again, everything to be in context. Genesis, chapter 22. We won't take long here, but we've read this every week. I'm so happy this week. I'm so excited. My mom is here. Mom, stand up. My mom's here. Go ahead, stand up, Mom. So teaching on raising a family is a little intimidating in front of your mother, especially when she's raised successfully. Two daughters. I think my sister is successful. No. And now my sister's. She finally let everybody know she's going to be having a baby. So I'm very excited about that. Yes, it's exciting times. It's exciting. But yes, I thought about it, I thought, I want to wrap up this series, but teaching in front of my mom, I think I'd rather teach on faith or something than. If there's anything you need to correct. You can have the mic later. Genesis. What did I say? 22. Excuse me. Go to Genesis 18. Because God showed me this. I'd never seen it this way before. And it's a good reminder for all of us. Good Foundation. Genesis 18, 18. And it says, and since Abraham shall surely become great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed through him, and shall bless themselves by him. For I have known, chosen, acknowledge him as my own, so that he may teach and command his children and the sons of his house after him, to keep the way of the Lord and to do what is just and righteous, so that the Lord may bring Abraham what he has promised him. Now, just so we know the importance of this, Abraham lived in a very well developed city. It was not some, you know, tent dwelling city, some desert city. It was very well developed. Lot of scholars, lot of, you know, they, they had streets, they had. You would look back at it maybe similar to maybe what the Egyptians had. I mean, it was very progressive for their age. So when God tells. And he had money. So when God tells Abraham to pack up, get a tent, get your wife and leave, oftentimes we kind of go back to the pictures that we think of, you know, just dusty desert, you know, ancient city. And that's not at all how it was, they had sewer systems, they were, they were like, they were very progressed. And so for him to step out in faith and say, God, I'll leave my family, everybody, you know, the family, he's setting out for a land that he has no idea what this land has to offer, but God said, it's going to be yours. He was going to the promised land as an, really as an act of faith to lay claim for the children of Israel because that was going to be the land that was going to be given to them, which is what we know as Jerusalem today Israel. And so he sets out to this land, but that was not developed, that was not the Israel and Jerusalem we, we see later on when Jesus shows up that that's not what it looked like when he packed up and left his family and left all the education and the scholars and the wise men and all those that were around him where he could have had a city, safe, solid future with a family, wealth, status. He packs up and he leaves. And I'm sure he wasn't sent off, you know, unless somebody in his family had some kind of faith. God speaks him and he goes. And there probably wasn't a whole lot of support. So this is such a great act of faith. Faith is a journey for the lifetime. Faith is not a one time moment. It's a journey you cannot think of. Faith is this moment. I have a need, so I need faith. Faith is for every day. We must learn how to wake up every day by faith. Make breakfast by faith. And I'm not talking about being religious, but you understand you got a purpose in life. I eat breakfast, I go to work, I do, you know, you do laundry, you take care of your yard, what you're doing, everything. You're tending to your family, you're tending to your business because you believe greater things are, are ahead and there's progress being made and increase is coming. You act as though the word of God is true for your life. And so Abraham sets out on a pilgrimage that nobody has ever done before. Nobody's ever done this. And yet God still says to us through his word. God still says that for him to receive the promise after this great exploit of faith, that he can't receive the promise unless he does right through his children. Think of the things that you're believing for now, I've said this in the weeks past. You may not have children. You may have children, your children may be grown, you may have grandchildren, you may have nieces and nephews. You may work here in a children's department. You may have neighborhood kids around you. All of us can say that there is some child in some form or fashion watching our lives or that we are coming in close encounters with these children, that they are going to have an, we're going to be an influence, we're going to have an impact on them. So don't just dismiss yourself. Could be a brother, could be a sister. Like I said, niece, nephew, grandchild. Think though of your life as still being an example. And I've shared with you my upbringing, the fact that it wasn't just my parents that were setting an example, but there was such a significant impact made on my life from the obedience of God that, that those were around me, their obedience to God. It really made an impression on my life to watch God move in their life. You know, the testimonies that they would get up and share and how they would step out in faith, all of those things, they resonate with you. As you're growing, you're growing up in the things of God, or you're endeavoring to walk with God yourself, or you drift and you realize, wait a second, I can't lay claim to some of these things, the manifestations that these have seen in their life. If I step away from God, those are not mine to claim. I, I, I'm out of God's will. So it's going to be very difficult for me to receive my testimony and receive my help if I'm not in God's plan. You know, that's not God's fault. But he cannot reach you if you're not in his plan. He would like to, but he can't. So with that being said, we, we can see here with these scriptures that something that I had never seen and began to study out that it says in verse 19, for I have known chosen acknowledge him as my own so that he may teach and command his children and the sons of his house after him to keep the way of the Lord and to do what is just and righteous so that the Lord may bring Abraham what he has promised. Now we know we're part of the promise of Abraham. Were the seed of Abraham spiritually. The children of Israel, of course, were the Jews. They were his descendants, naturally, you know, naturally by bloodline. But it was going to take obedience in raising his children and doing right by the next generation. We have a responsibility to the generations to come. How we live our life, how disciplined we are, how closely we hold to the Word of God, how closely we follow to the word of God. It is so important. And to receive natural promises at the end of one's life will mean nothing. If the generations around you are going to hell, are suffering, struggling, it will mean nothing. That's the sad. The way society is kind of today, everything is about the moment. We used to never have fast food, we used to never have instant Internet, social media, everything where you can in a moment get information and see and get updates. And you're on the cutting edge every moment. There's something new coming out. You had to nowadays because of that, everybody's always trying to keep up with somebody else. And it always seems to be about right now, right now, right now, right now. Nobody wants to think about tomorrow, next year, next five years, next 10 years. If I do this, if I say this, if I act this way, it's going to be permanently somewhere. Well, we have to understand too that what we do every day and what we say every day and how we live every day will permanently make an impression on a young person's heart for the future. But because of the instant gratification, we are not as aware of the generations to come because we can have everything right now. We can be so happy and satisfied and go get our instant, you know, frosty at Wendy's if we want to, and pick up and go do what we want when we want because everything is so readily available and we can neglect the things that are important and the things that are really most important in the longevity. And so I want to encourage with this series, that's what it's meant to do to stir us to think about the future and the generations to come and the impact of those children that are here at this church, the impact of those children that are connected to your life, the young people that are connected to your life that you come in contact with, that we're not just going to live for the moment, we're not just going to be for right now, live for right now and do what we want right now. But the Word is eternal. It's everlasting. It's the same yesterday, today and forever. It never changes. And so therefore, we want to become people that never change. We want to be steadfast. You're young, young children. They learn early on if you, you, you bring them, if you're bringing them to this church, they learn, they learn early on who Jesus is, who he was, who he is to them now. Jesus loves them. But you understand as parents and as members of this church and being a part of a church family, to understand that Jesus is a rock, they can stand on. They're going to first look at the people around them. And if you're shaky ground, what is that going to do for their confidence in Christ? Well, you're putting too much pressure on me. Good, good. You know, what are they? What's the saying? Diamonds are made under pressure. I mean, it takes refining. I love the example my pastor gives about the local church. He said, if you go to a river and you pull out rocks, river, rock, what are they? They're so smooth because they've been tumbled through with the water over and over and over again, tumbled over each other. They've smoothed out all the edges. And he said, that's what it's like being in a church family. We are just living together and rubbing off those edges. If you'll allow God and allow one another, because we're not perfect. We just rub off being a part of a church family with the washing of the water of the Word. It rubs off those. Those harsh edges that we have. You want to be a lone ranger. You'll live with sharp edges that can hurt people, cut people and do damage. But if you'll give yourself time in a local church, in the word of God, in the washing of the water of the Word, God will smooth out those edges. And so you become something that's pleasurable to hold and to be around and don't do damage. And so I want to encourage us tonight to recognize, as we've done had this series, the spirit of God has dealt with us with this series that we're looking into the future. We're seeing that some. My life is a rock on which a young person might need to stand for a little while. They need to see that Jesus and understand who Jesus is. And they'll know who Jesus is by the way I represent him. I can't just expect, and I said this last week, I can't just expect the pastor to show my child who Jesus is and not me. I must represent, because as parents, as aunts, uncles, grandparents, friends, you're with the children far more than I'm with the children, than Pastor Nancy, than my husband, more. We have our own children we're responsible for. And if your child is grown tonight, we're gonna look at a couple more scriptures and maybe wrap this thing up if we can. But I want us to look at some new scriptures tonight so that you can see that even if you have grown children, that there are promises still. If they're not serving God, you still have some promises for them. And there's still things you can do to, of course, make power available for their life. So I don't know if we'll get all that way. I think we will, but if not, because I don't want to keep you too late. We'll at least get started. So turn with me, if you would. Let's first go back to second Timothy, chapter three, because I want to read this. It's always good to go back to the scriptures. We've already been through this passage. 2 Timothy, chapter 3. We know that Paul told Timothy that the faith that was in his. He's doing what he's doing because the faith that was in his grandmother and in his mother. So he was there because the generations before him had faith and he was fulfilling the will of God in a significant way. The call on his life. Second Timothy, chapter three, verse 14. This is Paul's instruction to Timothy, a man raised by a household of faith. But as for you, continue to hold to the things you have learned and of which you are convinced. I'm reading out of the amplified knowing from who you learn them. So he's saying, remember who you learn these things in the Word. It's so important. Those of you who work maybe in a children's department, you're helping these young people to learn about who God is, what he's done for them, what he will do for them, so that one day maybe God can say them. Remember who you learned from. There's some basics even with pastoring, some basic things that I was able to implement and incorporate from those that I served under in ministry of Helps, and I brought that into pastoring. So I was able to take in my years of growing up and serving in ministry of Helps, not even being a department head. The department heads I served under, there were so many things I saw them do and I watched that were just so steady. They were steady men and women of God. Consistent, you know, not perfect. And we've talked about there's no such thing as a perfect parent. There's no such thing as a perfect child. So let's get perfection out of the way. Because if you're looking for perfection, reaching for perfection will always either lead to one of two things, fear or pride. Either you think you're perfect and now you're in pride, or you're afraid you won't be perfect and now you're in fear and you don't want to open the door to fear and you don't want to open the door to pride. Both of them will cause failure. Both get your eyes off of God and His grace. I lean on God's grace, which is God's ability to help me to parent. But if I'm trying to be perfect now I'm in fear and I'm. I can't receive of God's help and his grace. The Holy Ghost can't speak to me. I can't hear the Holy Ghost speak if I'm listening to the voice of fear. Amen. That goes, that goes for any arena in life. And then the moment you think you've arrived as a parent, as a, you know, somebody within a local church and ministry of help, the moment you think you're right now you stop depending on his grace because you think it's your ability. So we want to be careful of that. But I, I want you to see here that there many are watching. Many are watching all of us. In verse 15. And how from your childhood you have had a knowledge of and been acquainted with the sacred writings which are able to instruct you and give you the understanding for salvation which comes through faith in Christ Jesus, through the leaning of the entire human personality on God in Christ Jesus and absolute trust and confidence in his power, wisdom and goodness. Every scripture is God breathed, given by his inspiration and profitable for instruction and reproof and conviction. And I had us to underline those three things. If you haven't do that if you will. Profitable for instruction for reproof and conviction of sin and for correction of error and discipline and obedience. Underline those if you do not have them online. Correction and discipline in obedience or which means into obedience for training and righteousness and holy living in conformity to God's will and thought, purpose and action. That means if there's no instruction, reproof, which means showing disapproval. That's all reproof is, is you're showing disapproval. No instruction, no reproof, no conviction of sin or correction and discipline that you the. We can say this. It's going to be difficult for one to conform to God's will and which is his thought, purpose and action. You're going to struggle to be in God's will. What happens if we're not in God's will will? Then we're on the devil's territory. If we're not in God's will, then we're subject to whatever the devil wants to bring into our lives. But we can close that door. You understand? We don't have to be afraid of what the devil has. We can know that that door is closed as long as we're receiving instruction. Reproof Changing conviction of sin or repentance means a changing of ways that we're receiving correction and that we have discipline in our lives. But what he's saying is, is Timothy has been living according to this his whole life. Timothy is where he's at because he understands every scriptures God breathed and has brought to him. Correction, reproof, instruction. He's on the path that God has because all these things were made available to him. When you bring your child to local church, when you teach them the word of God at home, you must expect that, that discipline, instruction, correction is going to come to them. And that's a good thing. Don't shy away from that verse 17 so that the man of God may be complete and proficient, well fitted, thoroughly equipped for every good work. Isn't that what we're trying to do? We're trying to raise our children and raise up this next generation to be well equipped for the plan of God. Now I want us to go to a very important passage. Go to Psalms. This is where we want to get to tonight. Psalms 127. Remember I said children's flesh. We've talked about disciplining the flesh. Children's flesh, I said, is like dough play doh. You know, if not kept in some kind of mold, it just kind of spreads out everywhere. So does our flesh. If not kept, kept tight, what happens? We just let loose. And however, whatever we want to say, whatever we want to do, whatever the flesh wants to do, kind of spreads out and takes, takes over. So we're here to keep our children's lives, you know, as we say, high and tight. We're keeping that flesh high and tight because they don't know how to do that for themselves. Children don't know how, you know, and I don't mean this in a negative, bad way, so don't take it that way. But there's oftentimes we compare our children to our dogs because both of them are just, you know, all of them are everywhere. They're just all over the place. You know what I mean? Dog is like, oh, squirrel, what's my kid? Oh, I. You know, just whatever looks good. That's where they're going, you know, whatever. If the flesh isn't kept in check, then boom, they're off doing their own thing. I didn't call my kid a dog, but you know what I'm saying? You know what I mean? A young child, if not reined in and brought reproof. I don't of that behavior. Mom and dad are disappointed in that behavior. I don't agree with that. And you've disappointed us. You've embarrassed the family. I shared stories about how I've expressed to my child. You've embarrassed this family by the way you acted here. You know, it's not right. So if I don't bring that, who's going to bring that? Who's going to help them to learn? Oh, my flesh next time it wants to do that. Not doing that again because I. There was disapproval and I don't want to disappoint my parents. It's important what my parents think about me. It's important what people in this church think about me. We've taught our children and we will continue. It's important what the people in the church think about you. You know, not to the point where they're so self conscious and self aware, but it is important. Important because how you act affects this church family and you're not going to affect this church family in a negative way. You're representing God, you're representing us, and you're representing everybody in this church. So we will raise them again. Not in a prideful way, not in, you know, I got to look at myself. But you need to be aware we're a body fitly joined together. And what you do, it affects the, the body. Amen. So I look for my, I said this before, I look for my child's flaws, not their perfections. If you spend more time praising their perfections, they're. They're going to foul up because their flaws have gone unnoticed. I'm going to say that again. If you spend more time praising their perfections, they're going to foul up because their flaws were not brought in check. I'm always looking. Where's the flaw? Where's the meaning? Where's the flesh? Out of control. When I talk about flaws, I'm talking about the flesh. I'm not talking about, you know, one struggles to read, one struggles in math. I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about fleshly flaws. Does one have a quick temper? Does one tend to talk back? Does one. Everybody has one of these. They look at you and they wait to see if you're going to say it again. That's my daughter. She just looks at you with her thumb in her mouth, waiting to see if you're going to really mean what you say. You know what I mean? You know what I'm talking about? Because she's going to try to call our bluff and see if we mean what we just told her to do. You Know. And so these are the flaws. I'm talking. I'm looking for these. I'm always watchful for these daily. Can I say this? Faith is every day. Faith is every day. What I do with them every day has to be done by faith. What you do in your life every day must be done by faith. Remember, we keep saying this. There is an end result. I am looking for an end result. There's a goal with these children's lives. There's a goal. Amen. So I. I said that the spirit of God. I also. The spirit of God. We talked about how to talk about your child is your offspring. And we'll talk about tonight your blessing from God. But blessings are not to be worshiped. They're not to be worshiped. You know, we don't go out and get our car. And you shouldn't. We know that you get blessed with a new car and then you go out and you sit and you talk to it all day and praise and how wonderful you are and how great you are. And you. One day you understand that engine's going to mess up, then what are you going to be doing? You'll be praising that car. You'll be dragging it down to the auto shop. It's going to need every wonderful blessing of a car is going to need an oil change. It needs some. But new tires need some kind of overhaul at some point. But we know we don't go out and worship our car, worship our house. It's a tool. It's something that can bring joy to us, but we don't worship it. What has happened with children, they're a blessing to us. They're a tool. And I don't mean in the same way, but they are a tool for the kingdom of God to get a job done. They are God's tool. And I am a steward of this tool that I have been given and what I do and how successful and skillful I am with my three tools that I've been given. It's going to mean something to the body of Christ. I'm not worshiping my children. They're a blessing to me and it's an honor to be their parent. But I do not worship. I do not live. You know what they'll make one day. Right now, the big thing is who has the biggest cannonball, okay? That's the big thing in the house. Who can make the biggest cannonball. And so they always want my praise and my, you know, acknowledgement when it was just really big. They want it filmed, you know, they want. They couldn't wait to show my mom. This is a big deal now, do you see, you know, in, you know, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 years, that's not going to be so. If you spend on right now praising them over every little wonderful, perfect and special little thing they do, then as they get older, that's what they're going to live for and that's what they're going to need from other people. And that's what they're going to strive is to always have praise and seek the approval of other people for their accomplishments, their medals, their trophies. Instead of what am I doing for the body of Christ? How is. What am. Am I doing something to be a blessing to somebody else's life? If we're always looking to put them in a position where they can look good and succeed in natural things, then they've missed the whole point of what this life is all about. This life is about others around us. What are you doing for somebody that's around you? What kind of impression, what kind of testimony are you giving? What kind of light are you shining? Or is your light hidden by your gift and your talent? Maybe God doesn't. Well, God wants my gift and my talent. Maybe he doesn't. Maybe you took a gift and a talent, you developed it and you're using it and calling it what God wants. Every gift and talent, God did not give you and nor does he want, nor does he want you to say that he gave it to you for your praise and the glory and all the attention you're going to get from it. You better know which gifts and talents he is asking you. And often, oftentimes, can I say this oftentimes, the gifts and talents that he has given us and the things he expect of us require our faith to progress and to get better in. You know, I'm not saying, you know, for instance, I don't sing. I don't like to sing. I'm not good at singing, you know, But Grant is good at singing. That is a gift that he has been given that he's brought bringing to the body of Christ, bringing to the local church that he has developed in. I don't. I'm not going to go out and say, I would like to become a singer. So I'm going to develop in this gift and trust that God's going to bless it. It's not going to happen. It's not going to happen. But also he has sent. He's always been singing from the time he was young. Pastor said he was always singing. He'd sing in the shower, he'd sing when he played with his toys, he'd sing in the car. He loved to saying, but if not pointed in the right direction, you know, then that. Then. Then he's going to say, well, I can take this gift and building. Go bring glory to God doing something else other than where it should be. You understand what I'm saying? Okay, now where'd I say Psalms 127. Let's look at this. Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain who build, except the Lord keeps the city. This is very verse one. The watchman wakes, but in vain. It is vain for you to rise up early, to take rest late, to eat the bread of anxious toil. For he gives blessing to his beloved and sleep. Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb, a reward. As arrows are in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one's youth. Happy, blessed, and fortune is made. Whose quiver is filled with him. They will not be put to shame when they speak with their adversaries in gathering gatherings at the city's gates. I like to also look at it this way. Blessed, happy and fortunate is the man who's filled with him. They will not be put to shame. Also. Whose church is filled with children? Not just a man's household. This is a household. What a blessing that we have so many children here, serving, having. That's why it's important things like vacation, Bible, school activities for them. Because God is calling them, saying, if a man is blessed to have so many, what about a local church? How blessed we are. And that you must remember those of you who have children or you bring family members here, it's a blessing for them to be here. They're a blessing in your household, and they're a blessing here. Amen. But behold, verse 3. The children are heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb, a reward. As arrows are in the hand of a warrior, so are children of one's youth. And arrows. It's likening children to arrows. Arrows have to be pointed and aimed and released with skill. So when we talk about faith is every day, every day, every single day. Parents, aunts, grandparents, those of you who are close with children, every day, you must need the help of the Holy Spirit to be skillful with those arrows. Skillful, you know. Well, let's see here. If you look in verse. Well, behold, children of the heritage, Lord, as arrows are in the hand of a warrior, you don't become a warrior. You don't take one Taekwondo class and say I'm a warrior. You know what I mean? You don't watch one MMA fight and say I'm a warrior. I can do this right. You don't get one successful punch at your sibling and say I'm a warrior. You never know, that sibling might get a little bit bigger and older, you know, bigger and taller than you. And you're not so warrior like anymore. So in the same way as parents, as those of us in the soul church, we don't become warriors overnight. We develop. We should be. And we talked about this, I think the last week we should be, the week before, we should be developing ourselves in the word. That's what warriors do. They're always learning, they're always developing, they're always honing their skills. What are we being doing? Transformed by the renewing of our minds. The greatest gift you can give your children is a renewed mind that you are not the mom and dad that maybe you were raised with. That you aren't the parent that you saw neighbors have. That you aren't the same person when they were born, that when they're 20 years old, you're the same person that they see. My parents have grown in faith. I see what God has done for them. You know, you don't have a warrior one day and he takes a whole year off and eats whatever he wants, does whatever he wants, and he's still a warrior. Doesn't happen. They're not going to have the same skills. They're not going to be sharp every day. The Holy Spirit is leading us and guiding us right now by faith when it comes to the arrows that are in our household. Amen. They are arrows, as to a word now. It didn't say they were released. You understand? When it's time for me to leave my parents household, they have pointed me in the direction I'm to go. But when I am now under my own covering and I'm accountable to God for myself and, and no longer is my parents, they've pointed me in the direction that I am to go. It's now my job to travel to that target. But I appreciate that they, with the accuracy that they did, kept me pointed in the right direction always, you know, bringing back, bringing back, bringing back. You know, when, when, when that arrow wanted to veer like this, you know, you, you pull back and it wants to. Anybody ever see that movie Brave? Have you ever seen Brave? And that girl, the, the one guy goes to pull it and it goes and goes like this and he Looks like a total doofus. And he's like, like this. And then, and then he goes and he pulls it back in. You know, that's what arrows, you know, if you're, you're not, they're, they're tough, they're. You got to be strong. There's a weight, a resistance. We're talking about old fashioned ones, not the ones that you can lock in now. And they say set. They didn't have those back when this was written. Okay. Skilled warrior knows how to keep without something locking in his arrow and keep that pointed at the target. What's the target for your children's lives, you have to know these things. Where are you aiming them? They don't know how to aim. This is saying for parents, for those with children, it's your job. They're in your quiver, they are in your pocket, they're in your pouch ready to be pulled out and set on target. Whether they hit the target or not is not up to you. It's up to them. If you pointed them at the target and when they step out now, can they make it back? Sure. And will some come back? Absolutely. So don't get discouraged if you feel like I pointed them in the right direction, but they did their own thing there. At some point when that arrow flies, it's on its own. It's on its own. Mom and dad did their their part and they will be held accountable. God for their part. But now you'll be held accountable, young people. You'll be held accountable for your part. My mom and dad pointed me in the right direction, but did I decide to veer off and miss the mark? So arrows have to be pointed, aimed and released with skill. Let's not get skillful. Believing God for finances, believing God for our business, and leave the children neglected, Leave the next generation neglected. That all of our skill has gone to our needs, has gone to our careers, have gone to our personal success. And that is the mistake many people make. All the skill goes towards the benefit of the parent and the benefit of the money and the benefit of how we look in society. And the benefit of, you know, is my business going to succeed or not? Your business means nothing if your children do not fulfill the plan or you've not done your job. And, and getting your children pointed in the direction of salvation, it'll mean nothing. You cannot lay that business on your child and get them healed with that business. You cannot save anybody. You know, I'm talking about your family. You'll have. I'm just warning you, if you don't take heed now and you're putting everything and all your faith goes to the career, goes to what's around you and does not go to the family first. And let's just be honest. Let's talk about the marriage for those of you who are married. Same thing goes for the marriage, because it means nothing. I've told this to many people. The level and the success of your business is going to be gauged by your marriage. I don't care how much money you bring in. If the family fails, you failed. If the children fail, you failed. Why? Because if we go back to our foundational scripture, the promise is going to be fulfilled through the generations. If the promise stops with you, who will ever know about it? What kind of fruit comes to heaven? It stops with you. And I've shared this. We're responsible for the fruit to remain. You know, should Jesus tarry and we're here and Pastor Nancy goes home, we're responsible for that fruit. It's not just about us. It's about the generations and teaching our children. You know something? One day you're gonna have to stand in front of your dada and you're gonna have to tell him, what did you do with the fruit that was here? What did you do with the plan that he. He pointed us the arrows. We were arrows pointed in the right direction. You've been arrows. And what are you going to do? You can be the one that wants to veer off and go end up in the woods somewhere to be forgotten. Nobody notices the arrow that misses the target. Nobody sees that anymore. They just see the one that hit. That's the one that makes the news. Right? An arrow can't arrive at its target if the one with the control doesn't know or can't see to aim. How are we to see? The Word is our lamp unto our feet and a light to our path. We need the word to know in a renewed mind, to know how to aim the next generation. I can't tell you the reward and the blessing. You know, I heard this just. Just from my own grandmother. And she. She was denominational, but I remember talking to her. She was so. This was my. My dad's mother. She was so proud when I. She didn't want me to move, of course, and get married, but she didn't have a problem with it. She never said anything against it. And of course she loves Stephen, but she was so proud. And from. From what she. What she understood with the knowledge of the word that she had, she knew What I was doing was right and it was a good thing. And because she was seeing fruit in my life, she didn't know to call it that, but because of what she was seeing, she was so pleased, she was so happy. You could see when we come around. I lived how many? 2,000 miles away. And she was so happy with me. She was so, so pleased. At the end of her life, she was. There was no complaint about you didn't come visit enough, you haven't been here, you left. I used to spend lots of time with her. We talked on the phone all the time. I would go to her house all the time. And yet when it came time for me to move, not one complaint, not one gripe. And she was thrilled to the very end of her life. I was able to call her and talk about to her. She, she became coherent when I got on the phone, she understood and I was able to tell her that we were naming Bear. He had my grandfather's name, he was going to be named after my grandfather. And she understood all that. She had not really been coherent understanding a whole lot, but she understood, she was so thrilled. Why? Because she at least at the end of her life had peace, that my life was doing something for somebody else. It was bearing fruit. I remember. I mean she's not, they're not here anymore. So I think it's appropriate to tell this story. But I remember my pastors telling me, I'm sure you know this, that my, my grandparents, because myself, my sister and my four cousins, we were all raised in the church together, the Anderson's church. They told me this only a couple years ago, said that because my dad and my aunt of. And if I get this right, because of the change, the impact they, they saw the change really in my dad. My aunt was an easy lady, you know, my dad wasn't hard, but he just was a little bit more wild than my aunt because they saw the change in my dad and the way myself, my sister and my cousins were being raised. They brought a check. What Was it, like 10,000 something? I think they said it was pretty significant, the Anderson's told me and for them it was very significant because at that point you're on a fixed income, they don't understand faith. You know, they're, they're living on retirement. They brought an offering to our church. Don't understand offerings. You know, they knew tithing. My dad had taught them, a man taught them tithing. They got ahold of that and I've talked about that how they, they, they moved to bigger homes. Even after they retired, God moved for them because they, they, they started tithing. But they brought an offering because they saw the change in my dad and my aunt, and they just were so thrilled. And, and their grandchildren. We're talking about people at the end of their life understanding what's really important. You must understand what's really important. Parents, use your faith first for your family. Grandparents, please use your faith first for your family. What are you doing every day to impart into your own. Don't wait for me to impart. They should know how to receive impartation from the pulpit based off how they receive impartation from a parent. Okay? If they don't know how to receive an impartation, I'm talking verbally and physically. You know what I'm talking about. They will never receive what Paul said to Timothy. Correction, reproof, discipline, instruction. They can never. The, the. I can get up here and give them a word of knowledge and a word of wisdom and the greatest warning they've ever heard in their life, but if they don't know how to receive instruction at home and discipline at home and an impartation at home, it's going to be very difficult for them to receive an impartation from this pulpit. Do not leave it up to the pastor to raise your children. I cannot. I cannot do that. My parents did not leave it up to the pastor to, to raise me and my sister. They did the raising, they did the instructing. They didn't wait for somebody else at the church. They didn't wait. They did it. They. You know, my mom was very skillful. I think she was. You know, she was raised in a. You know, there was good discipline in her home, you know, for, from just her dad, and she just understood some things about children. She caught on quickly when she started renewing her mind to flesh and to different things, all the right elements. You know what I'm saying? And then she wasn't afraid of us. She wasn't afraid to upset us. She wasn't afraid to make us mad because she knew if, if she was afraid to discipline us or if she shied away from disciplining us, how was God ever gonna reach us? How would he ever get his. His point across? If she was too afraid to get her point across, she wasn't afraid. But being raised by faith, I understood as I got older how she raised us by faith. And some of the things that she did that I didn't realize were faith at the time. It's faith to tell your Children, no parents. It's faith. Faith says, no. Faith says, absolutely not. Faith says, never in this household. Faith says, never in this lifetime. Faith says, you're never going to talk to me like that. Faith says, you're never going to treat an adult like that. Faith says, you're not going to act like that. That's faith. You just think, I love what Dr. Sumrall says. Faith is simply obedience. If you can't teach your children obedience, they'll never know faith. Isn't that all faith is? God says, isn't that all faith was for Abraham? Obedience, Obedience. You take your son up and you're going to present him as a sacrifice. It took faith just to obey God. We think faith is calling in the millions. We think faith is receiving our healing. Faith is obedience. What did we talk about Sunday? Faith is an act. What is faith? God's going to give you acts to do. Faith without works is dead. What are the works? Works of obedience? Everything goes back to obedience. So I must teach my children obedience if I. If I'm going to expect them to live by faith. Amen. Faith for our children means focused attention on where we have them pointed. Where do I have my children pointed? That's. That's going to require a discipline of faith on my part. Amen. Always pointing to the word of God. It's not up to the arrow, where to point itself. Do not expect too soon of your child to hear from God and know what God wants them to do just because they turn 13. Okay? It's not going to happen just because they've been in this church. It's not going to happen automatically. My mom used to do this. She would let us make decisions. Depending on the age, she would let us make decisions. She would see what decisions. Well, what do you have in your heart? If we made a certain decision and it was God and we heard right, fantastic. If it was wrong and we made that decision, she would step in and say, now that was the wrong decision. And I'm going to tell you why that was the wrong decision. And you can see that that's the wrong decision. But she. You know what I'm saying? We were eased into hearing. She didn't just say, well, tell me. Time for you to, you know, hear from God and go out on your own. And you know you're gonna make it. Why? Because she was tired of parenting. Because she was tired of the fight. Because she was tired of saying no. Because she was tired of the restriction. Because she was tired. And that's what happens. Parents get tired of the effort of faith. They get tired. Don't tell me you're tired of your children and you're tired of the attitude. If you're tired of disciplining them, then you're tired of faith, because faith has no problem getting up every day and handling that attitude five times, 20 times, however many times a day you got to deal with it. Faith is patient. Faith works by love. If you don't have love, if you don't love them enough to have the faith, to say, we're not doing that, because I'm not let. I'm not letting you point yourself in that direction. I'm going to do the pointing that means I love you because I live by faith and it works by love, and I love you and I have faith enough to help you make your decisions till I can see. You know, even my husband and I, we. We saw. When we were in the process of looking for home, we found a home that we just. We really liked. It was a great size. It was a fantastic price. Price. The market was still low, and we just. We were going to move on this thing. And, you know, not as doctor and pastor, but his parents, his mom and dad stepped in because we were so excited about it. But it was our first, you know, it was. This is our first rodeo, so to speak. And we hadn't moved or done paperwork or anything like that, so it's not like we really even had a chance to kind of hear. But, you know, once you really like something and then you want to go back and see it again, you start muddying the waters, so to speak. But I remember just as a parent, his mom stepped in and said, you know, I woke up and I had a check. You know, she wasn't coming up to his pastor, Nancy. She was coming in at breakfast. Just as a parent, you know, we all went together. Something doesn't seem right. And she goes, but I'll let y' all make the decision, but I'm just letting you know. And so, you know, even as grown children, we're still open to what our parents have to say because we've seen the success in our own lives of listening to them and following them. They've done something right, so why stop now? You know what I mean? So we'll go ahead and we'll stop there. I don't know if we'll go any further, but I just want us. We might continue with this if the spirit of God has more. But I want to leave you with that passage of scripture so that we Understand how God sees children in the local church, in your home, in your family, what he thinks of them and sees of them. There is warriors or arrows in the hand of a warrior. What are we doing? We're fighting the good fight of faith. We're laying hold of the promise of God, the eternal promise. And so our children have a part in that. They're not just, you know, fun little people that we have around that make us, you know, we're living vicarious through them and they just bring, you know, entertainment or they're just, oh, they're our world. They're not my world. My kids aren't my world. My kids aren't my everything. You all for me say that they're not my why. Jesus is my why. And when Jesus is my why, when he's my everything, then my kids are being pointed in the right direction because their salvation is the most important thing in my life. My children's salvation. You may have to go home and decide. I need to regroup. I need to, I needed to regroup on what's a real priority in my life. I need to know where my time is best spent. Where is my time going to be for the generations to come? Best spent. And you know something? You'll never. And I saw this in my own family. I'm so appreciative. I've got, my sister, of course, is going to have her first child, but I've got three cousins, two of them, you know, our guys and one of them is girl. And all of them, the mom stays home. They all have college degrees, high paying careers, high paying, successful careers. And once they start having kids, went down one income, mom stays home. It was something that I believe because of proper training in our local church, the importance of a child's life. And I'm not saying that's for everybody. And you all have heard my mom worked our lives. And that was a few weeks ago when I shared my life. And my future was dependent on my mother taking the job to be the secretary at the church, taking a pay cut, taking a career, you know, something that she was in that was going to, you know, be a career for her. Stepping away from that, not to something lesser, but stepping into the plan of God. I believe I would not be here had she not made that sacrifice. So there's going to be sacrifices for each family. There's going to be things that by faith, we're going to have to give up. By faith, we're going to have to. In, I'm talking about in the raising of your children. Be willing to make the faith. I don't want to call them hard decisions. Be willing to make the faith decisions so that your children's lives can be blessed. And I've seen it now with my parents. Now it's in the next generation in my myself, my cousin, my sister, every. You know, we're all focused on the next generation because we saw our parents did it right with us and we're going to do it right for our kids. Amen. Not perfection, but by the word of God and the help. The Holy Spirit is going to be our help or by the grace of God. Amen. Well, go ahead and stand with me to your fe. Turn to somebody before you're dismissed and say, I'm so grateful for God's word and I'm going to follow it. And we will see you on Sunday.
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