The Family

I believe that the family is a foundation for the Church and society as a whole.

It is the smallest governmental structure in society.
Strong families = strong communities.
Strong communities = a strong country.

Families are made up of men, women and children.

I had someone say to me the other day, “I don’t know how you and Pastor Andrea do it?” in reference to us carrying our responsibilities outside of the family as well as the responsibilities of raising 5 children.

I thought, “We’re responsible adults,” That’s what we’re supposed to do. It’s normal
I just smiled and said, “Thank you.”

A problem with most families is selfishness.


Here's the video of the message!

Excerpt from an Article in USA Today
For many of USA's inmates, crime runs in the family
"This is much bigger than just a police issue," Joyce says. "It's about thinking differently. If we don't do something, this cycle will just continue."
Eddy, the Oregon psychologist, says most of the 400 inmates in his study, which focuses on their return to their families and young children, also have considerable generational links to crime.
At least 20% of the inmates reported that their mothers had been in prison. At least half said their fathers or siblings had been in prison.
"If you want to break the cycle, the current generation (of family members) has to be linked with education and jobs," Eddy says, adding that many need basic information on how to be good parents.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-01-28-crime-families_N.htm


The following information is taken from America is Too Young to Die, by Leonard Ravenhill. The book contains this startling quotation:

Max Jukes, [an] atheist, lived a godless life. He married an ungodly [woman], and from this union there were 310 who died as paupers, 150 were criminals, 7 were murderers, 100 were drunkards, and more than half of the women were prostitutes. His 540 descendants cost the State one and a quarter million dollars [before inflation].

Then there is a record of a great man of God, Jonathan Edwards. He lived at the same time as Max Jukes, but he married a godly [woman]. An investigation was made of 1,394 known descendants of Jonathan Edwards, of which 13 became college presidents, 65 college professors, 3 United States Senators, 30 judges, 100 lawyers, 60 physicians, 75 army and navy officers, 100 preachers and missionaries, 60 authors of prominence, one Vice-President of the United States, 80 public officials in other capacities, 295 college graduates, among whom were governors of states and ministers to foreign countries. Jonathan Edwards' descendants did not cost the state a penny (quoted in America is Too Young to Die by Leonard Ravenhill, Minneapolis, Minnesota: Bethany Fellowship, 1979, p. 112).

Responsible Fatherhood and the Role of the Family
Wade F. Horn, Ph.D., Assistant Secretary for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health And Human Services, at the Serious and Violent Offender Reentry Initiative Grantee Conference, September 30, 2002

By some estimates, 10 million children—one in seven—will, at some point before reaching age 18, have an incarcerated father.
What’s the impact of this? Having a father in prison is a powerful predictor of antisocial behavior in general and of criminality in particular. Put the father in prison and, by some estimates, you make the child five to six times more likely to end up in prison than otherwise. Most of us can barely imagine the pain, shame, disruption, and despair that children experience when their father gets incarcerated. These are what U.S. News & World Report a few months ago called "the most at-risk of at-risk kids."
http://www.reentry.gov/responsible.html

I believe that Christ can break generational behavioral patterns and give the new believer in Christ a fresh start at life.

Look up some scriptures that support this statement.

In Christ past paradigms of thinking and attitudes are subject to change at the new believers submission to God’s ways.

Proverbs 3:5
Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;

What the Bible say in direct reference to the word family

1. Your Blood family Can misunderstand your commitment to Christ and his ministry.

Mark 3:21
When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, "He is out of his mind."

When Jesus Mother and brothers heard he wasn’t eating (Mark 3:20) they decided to take him with them because he’d lost his mind. This “Christianity” thing had gotten out of hand. Jesus then said his family was really those who do God’s will.
Jesus’ redefined his family
Mark 3:34-35
34Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, "Here are my mother and my brothers! 35Whoever does God's will is my brother and sister and mother."


Hebrews 2:11
Both the one who makes men holy(Jesus) and those who are made holy(his people) are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers.

Mark 6:4-6
4Jesus said to them, "Only in his hometown, among his relatives and in his own house is a prophet without honor." 5He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. 6And he was amazed at their lack of faith.

One of the biggest enemies to the miraculous flowing through men and women of God you know if familiarity. It can lead to offense and blocks to the miracle working flow of God.
Knowing someone’s background and dismissing their ability to do something spiritual. Knowing too much about them or allowing that information to de spiritualize that person’s life. This prohibits the flow of God even through Jesus!

1 Corinthians 1:18
18For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

Same message (of the Cross)
Different response
To the perishing - Foolishness
To the Christian - Power of God

What makes the difference is the Rhema voice of God. The believer has connected with the voice of God and the unbeliever has not and only sees things with the natural eye. This radically affects a person’s priorities. This change in priorities will bring division.

Luke 12:51-53
51Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. 52From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three. 53They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law."

2. The family must be cared for

1 Timothy 5:4
But if a widow has children or grandchildren, these should learn first of all to put their religion into practice by caring for their own family and so repaying their parents and grandparents, for this is pleasing to God.

Children who have adult parents who are in financial need should take care of their parents. Specifically widowed mothers.

1 Timothy 5:8
If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

This caring for family is so important that if it’s not done, judgment is already decreed that this person has denied the faith with their actions and is worse than an unbeliever!

3. The family of an overseer

Timothy 3:1
Here is a trustworthy saying: If anyone sets his heart on being an overseer, he desires a noble task. 2Now the overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 3not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. 4He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect. 5(If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God's church?) 6He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil. 7He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil's trap.

How your family functions is a good indicator of the level of responsibility you should have in the church.
A person who’s family is falling apart needs to focus their energy on making the family work properly. First things first. Trying to minister in a leadership role when things aren’t right at home is a recipe for disaster.

4. A promise from God’s Word for your children.

Proverbs 22:6
Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.

When we raise our children in the Lord they have an internal deposit in their hearts that they can never really get away from.
When the time is right they will come back to Christ. You can know that. Stand on the word for your children.

Acts 11:14
He will bring you a message through which you and all your household will be saved.‘
Acts 16:31
They replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household."

Keep believing for your household to be saved. The message of the gospel is effective at reaching lost family members.

Jubilee Family Church