Family Essentials

Proverbs 24:3 New International Version (NIV)

By wisdom a house is built,
    and through understanding it is established;

1. Our faith must be Authentic.  

Proverbs 14:26 Living Bible (TLB)

Reverence for God gives a man deep strength; his children have a place of refuge and security.

Joshua 24:15 C Living Bible (TLB)

But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.”  

2. Our schedules must be intentional.  

Psalm 39:6 (NLT)

We are merely moving shadows,
    and all our busy rushing ends in nothing.
We heap up wealth,

    not knowing who will spend it.

Ecclesiastes 4:6 (GNT)

Maybe so, but it is better to have only a little, with peace of mind, than be busy all the time with both hands, trying to catch the wind.

3. We need to discover God's purpose for our lives.  

Acts 20:24  (NIV)

24 However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.

4. We must have the right relationships.  Show me your friends and I'll show you your future. 

Proverbs 13:20 (NIV)

20 Walk with the wise and become wise,

    for a companion of fools suffers harm.

2 Corinthians 6:14 (NIV)

Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?  

Mark 3:25  (NIV)

25 If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand.

5. We must share God's amazing grace with others.  

Ephesians 4:32 (NIV)

32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

A Time to Gather Stones...

Ecclesiastes 3:5 New International Version (NIV)

5     a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
    a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,

Genesis 31:44-46  (NIV)

44 Come now, let’s make a covenant, you and I, and let it serve as a witness between us.”

45 So Jacob took a stone and set it up as a pillar. 46 He said to his relatives, “Gather some stones.” So they took stones and piled them in a heap, and they ate there by the heap.

1. We must acknowledge our own mistakes.

Romans 3:23  (NIV)

23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Matthew 7:3-5  (NIV)

3 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4 How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

2. We must abandon our right to get even. 

Romans 12:19 (NIV)

19 Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord.

3. We must give God's grace to others.

1 John 4:8-11 New International Version (NIV)

8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

Chris Hodges, Church of the Highlands

https://www.churchofthehighlands.com/media/message/family-essentials