Covenant Family

 Goal: Build a culture in my home stronger than the culture in the world.



(Proverbs 22:6) “Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.” 



 Question: How do we “train up” our kids in the 21st century? 



5 QUESTIONS FOR COVENANT FAMILIES


1. Am I parenting by convenience? 


 Convenient parenting can brainwash kids and push them away.


2. Do I have a culture dashboard for my home? 


 Are we a media centered family or a relationship centered family?

 TV gauge. 

 Music gauge. 

 Cell phone gauge. 

 Home computer gauge. 

 Friends gauge. 


3. Who owns their heart? 

 Peers are drawing them away. 

 Culture is pulling them away. 


(James 1:19) “My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry.” 


4. Am I going through the windows of the heart? 


5. How am I communicating my values? 


 Establish a family covenant. 

 Build covenant friends. 

 Get them around to hear the echoes of others with your values.


Video
https://www.churchofthehighlands.com/media/message/covenant-family

Discussion Guide
https://www.churchofthehighlands.com/files/groups/guides/10-16-11.pdf

Ron Luce 

Unstoppable Family

(Genesis 12:1-3) “The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

Seven Dysfunctions of the Family

Discord.

Favoritism.

Hatred.

Jealousy.

Suspicion.

Division.

Murder.

Unstoppable Family

(Galatians 3:29) “If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.”

1. Go back to the Word of God. 

(Psalm 109:105) “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.”

2. Trust God through the good and the bad. 

(Job 1:21) “Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.”

3. Maintain character and integrity.

(Psalm 25:21 NLV) “May integrity and honesty protect me, for I put my hope in you.”

4. Believe that God wants great things.

5. Donʼt think youʼre the only one.

6. Remember the people of God.

7. Instill a sense of purpose and calling.

(Psalm 145:4) “One generation shall praise Your works to another, And shall declare Your mighty acts.” 

One Prayer Lord, start a new work in my family.

Video

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

Discussion Guide

https://www.churchofthehighlands.com/files/groups/guides/06-13-10.pdf

Billy Hornsby, Church of the Highlands

Kids that turn out Right

Luke 15:11-22 New Living Translation (NLT)

To illustrate the point further, Jesus told them this story: “A man had two sons. 

12 The younger son told his father, ‘I want my share of your estate now before you die.’ So his father agreed to divide his wealth between his sons.

1. Why did the younger son want to leave?

2. What was the relationship with the father like?

3. How much attention did he receive?

13 “A few days later this younger son packed all his belongings and moved to a distant land, and there he wasted all his money in wild living. 

14 About the time his money ran out, a great famine swept over the land, and he began to starve. 

15 He persuaded a local farmer to hire him, and the man sent him into his fields to feed the pigs. 

16 The young man became so hungry that even the pods he was feeding the pigs looked good to him. But no one gave him anything.

17 “When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, ‘At home even the hired servants have food enough to spare, and here I am dying of hunger! 

18 I will go home to my father and say, “Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, 

19 and I am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as a hired servant.”’

20 “So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him. 

21 His son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son.’

22 “But his father said to the servants, ‘Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet.

1. Give your kids attention. 

A. Spend 15 minutes of quality time every day with each one of them. 

B. Get involved in what they like to do.  

C. Monitor the relationship on family nights together.

2. Use your authority wisely with accountability. 

A. Say to them "What are you doing?"  

B. As a parent you need to be an unmovable object to your child.  

C. Don't rescue them from their consequences.  

D. Let them reap the consequences.  Use consequences for boundaries.  

E. Pain changes character.

3. Shown your affection for them and tell them daily that you love them. 

When you take 1 step toward God, he takes 1 million steps toward you.  

Larry Stockstill, Bethany House of Worship

https://www.churchofthehighlands.com/media/message/kids-that-turn-out-right 

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