Implementing the Gospel at Home: A Family's Transformation

In this message, Preston discusses bringing the gospel into the home, emphasizing its profound and lasting influence beyond superficial changes. Preston dives into Colossians 3:18 to 4:1, discussing the roles and attitudes of wives, husbands, children, and parents, and how each can reflect the lordship of Christ. By stressing love, submission, and mutual respect, he encourages families to embody Christ's teachings and let the gospel shape their everyday interactions.

00:00 Introduction and Personal Reflection
01:10 The Impact of Bringing Something New Home
03:06 The Gospel's Transformative Power
04:00 Paul's Teachings to the Colossians
05:50 Roles and Responsibilities in the Household
08:14 The Heavenly Mindset in Family Life
12:56 Applying Christ's Lordship in the Home
14:01 Wives and Husbands: Submission and Love
23:55 Children and Parents: Obedience and Fairness
33:47 Conclusion and Call to Action

Transcript

Good morning. If you would go and open up your Bibles to Colossians chapter three. That's where we'll be at this morning. And today is a little bit special day for Abby and myself. It's the 20th and that marks 365 days that we've been here in Lufkin. We moved here two hours before the Cowboy B show last year, and we moved in the next day.

We didn't make, I had to wait a whole year to get the Cowboy B show. B called me that afternoon, said, Hey, I got a show tonight. You wanna come? I was like, my wife will kill me if I forced her to go to a a country western show. Right after we just moved from Memphis. But I had to wait a full year.

And lemme tell you what, I have not ever met a group of Church of Christ who knew how to play so many instruments. We may not use 'em in here, but you know, I'll tell you what, y'all can use them out there. So pretty impressive stuff. Really enjoyed the show and, and everything Friday night. But we're so thankful that we've been able to be here.

We feel really blessed. A lot has changed in just a year of being here. But we're so thankful for the way that you guys have treated us and welcomed us here. And it's just been a blessing and we hope to be here for a long time in the future, as long as the Lord will will. So this morning I want to kinda start our list and thinking about things that you've brought home that have changed the dynamic in your household.

We've all brought things home with us before. Maybe for you that's a piece of furniture that really complimented a space or really comfy couch. One of those cool old lazy boys. You know, the old people have the thing that cranks it up so you can stand up. Those are pretty fun. Maybe you have a new appliance that you got a really cool refrigerator that just is the bomb.

Maybe you got a washer dryer that really just washes your clothes better and makes your life a whole lot easier. Maybe you brought a piece of art home, maybe you got Miss Debbie to paint you a picture of a blue bonnet field. And that's something that brings you joy when you step into the room and you see that painting on the wall.

These are all really good things. They're important things. Place is important. Home is important. The physical space, when you think about it that way. But all these things we might bring home, they're superficial. They're things that can be replaced, they can use lose their usefulness or they can just lose their appeal altogether.

But there's some things that come home with us that when they enter in, things are never going to be the same. There's no going back to the way they were before. And for me and Abby and just the last year, that was an Nadine. We brought Nadine home and she's changed everything about our life, the way and, and the time when we sleep, when we wake up.

How, and and when we eat and how we just go about our daily business, she isn't something that we can, you know, remove from the house. We can't do a yard sale and be like, who wants a baby? Can't go back to, you know, CHI and say, Hey Doctor e, we changed our mind. We don't really like this baby. She kind of cries a lot and she thinks she poops a good bit.

We kinda want you to take her back. They're not gonna take her back. And nor will we want to give her back because of the way that she's changed. Are lies and profoundly affected the way that Abby and I live. And so this morning I want to kind of think about that kind of question in terms of the gospel.

Thinking about, you know, kind of parallel to bringing a newborn home or something else that you've brought home that's totally changed the way that you've lived. Think about that in terms of the gospel itself. And I'm actually doing a trial run for a lesson that I'm preaching this Wednesday at Style Lands.

My mentor Memphis always told me, never go somewhere. You've never been and preach a lesson for the first time. And, you know, seen as three months of experience as a father. I feel like I've now become an authority on the fatherhood subject. I think I'm gonna share my insight with you this morning. No, I'm not going to do that.

I'm just gonna try and share what the scriptures say this morning. So if I'm erring in any way, or if I'm, you know, if you think I'm wrong about something, share with me of that before Wednesday, preferably. So I don't look like a dummy up in Nacodoches. But in Paul's letter to the Colossians, Paul's encouraged the Christians to really let the gospel renew their lives.

He talks about them being renewed in knowledge after the image of their creator In chapter three in verse 10, and here at the end, right before he kind of concludes his letter to the Colossians, he urges the colosians to bring the gospel home. And when the gospel comes home, as we've been saying, it's not a fixture, it's not a painting on a wall, it's not a new appliance that just makes things a little bit better.

It brightens up your day. No, it's, it's a fellow resident as we just kind of sang about just a second ago, that it is a resident that moves in and it drastically changes the way that we live. And so for Paul, the home is really somewhere special that it's most a place where the gospel is meant to be lived out.

And also witness to the transformative power of the gospel. And for us today, reading Paul's letter to the Colossians, the challenge remains, do our families really live out the ethics of the gospel? Or myself? Maybe you're the only Christian within your family. Maybe you're a child or a a parent within your home and you're the only faithful Christian there.

Do you witness to the transforming power to those within your family or those without, in the community, in the world? Have we really let Christ rule his king truly take control of our families and have we really brought the gospel home with us in, in a way that it is here to stay. It's not going back.

We're not selling it in the yard sale. Well, let's begin. Let's read our text here. We got a really short text this morning that we're gonna kind of look through. We're gonna make a couple observations from Colossians three 18 through four one, and then we're gonna look kind of, and make some applications towards the end of our lesson.

This morning. But let's begin in chapter three, verse 18, talking about bringing the gospel home. This is the effect it's supposed to have on the individuals in their different roles. Here he says in verse 18, wives submit to your husbands as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands love your wives and do not be harsh with them children.

Obey your parents in everything for this pleases the Lord. Fathers do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged. Bond servants, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters. Not by way of I service as people pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. Whatever you do, work hardily as for the Lord and not for men.

Knowing that from the Lord, you'll receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. For the wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he has done and there is no partiality masters. Treat your bond servants justly and fairly knowing that you also have a master in heaven. So there's a couple things.

Sorry I missed a slide there. A couple things we want to kind of point out here as we're reading. First that we just see six total roles are kind of listed here. Wives, husbands, children, fathers, bond servants, masters. And what we see is they're kind of alternating, they're related and they're in groups of two.

They're paired together, starting with a position of submission, and then the position of power or the position of authority within that kind of related role within the household. And what we see from there is that there's an interrelated attitude with each of these different roles, women and the children, they're given only a positive command.

They're told to either submit or to obey. While the husbands and the fathers, they're given both a positive and a prohibitive command. And so the the fathers are told, Hey, love, but don't be harsh. Our husband's love and don't be harsh. And then the last two the slaves and the masters, which is a little bit harder for us to relate to.

Thankfully, since, you know, slavery is something that's been abolished in our country for some time, though that still occurs elsewhere in the world. So that's a little bit harder for us to relate to. We're gonna apply those in a little bit different way tonight. We're gonna kind of, you could think about it maybe in a.

In terms of a boss or a worker kind of relationship today, but we want to keep our focus really in the home. Excuse me. Get some water here. Hmm. Get it out there. But I think really the key to our passage though. Even though we're not gonna totally cover it between the slaves and the masters, we're gonna, we're gonna focus on it in just a second.

That's where really Paul's point is gonna be. And so we will come back to that in just a second. But not only do we have roles and attitudes, but also there's this underlying motivation that's repeated over and over again. It's, it's really important to notice 13 times Paul uses the word Lord in this letter.

In six of those, almost half of them appear in just this tiny little section of scripture. And so that tells us that in Paul's teaching on the household, Jesus, Jesus Christ's Lordship is central to how he views the, the functions and the structure of the household. And in place of these kind of prohibitive commands this underlying motivation for, you know, the, the wives and the children and the servants instead of them getting like this negative prohibitive command, they're, they're given this reminder of their submission that it's fitting, it's pleasant, it's in the fear of, and the service of the Lord Christ.

Hopefully you can see that. You know, those in positions of authority, in terms of the husbands and the fathers, it's kind of blacked out there. They don't have that same type of reminder. Instead, for them, the emphasis with that prohibitive command is that they would not misuse their position of authority.

But in these final two relationships, again, this is where the emphasis Paul, really, he spends like over 50% of this section in terms of the, the relationship between the slaves and the masters here. And he emphasizes here the upward service of both. The one who leads and the other person who follows the servant, he says, serves the Lord Christ.

And for the leader for the master, they're reminded that they have a master in heaven. And even though this is directed just to the master and the slaves, it's something that's meant to really permeate the rest of the home as well. And so the, the emphasis on Jesus as the lordship is motivation within the family.

It's supposed to give all of the family members this kind of transcendent or, or heavenly mindset in the believers. And, and so they're supposed supposed to root their service in their relationship with one another in their service to Christ in heaven. And that's what Paul has started this whole section with.

Look back in chapter. Three verse one and two for me really quickly. And notice here I've tried to highlight some of the words in blue, kind of the earthly kind of situation that they're rooted in. Whereas in the yellow, this kind of heavenly mindset that they're supposed to have seeking the things that are above.

And he says, if then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on the earth. And so he says with this mindset, he, he goes on talking about the individual life of the Christian, the collective body of Christ, and the church, and how they operate together.

But now when he is turned to the family, right before there, he says, you know, in verse 17, this mindset, this heavenly mindset is supposed to impact everything in the way that you live. And he says in verse 17, in whatever you do in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

And so they're supposed to have this transcendent, this heaven focused kind of mindset. It's supposed to be reflected in all they do, and so the gospel, the good news of Jesus's lordship. It is given the Colossians, this new lens through which to, to look at their roles and their attitudes within their family life.

And so notice how Paul brings together both of these ideas, this transcendent focus where, and the, the service as well. Together here in our text, we first look at kind of the, the transcendent mindset In verse 22, in chapter three, when he says, bond servants obey in everything, those who are your earthly masters.

By way of I service as people pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. And then to the masters, he says, masters, treat your bond service justly and fairly. Why? Because know that you also have a master aware in heaven. And so they're supposed to have that same mindset even within their home.

I should expect their relationships. But then he says in verse 23 and 24 you know, again, this is supposed to penetrate not just your individual life as Christians, but your family life saying whatever you do, work, hardily as for the Lord and not for men. Knowing that from the Lord, you'll receive the inheritance as your award.

You are serving the Lord Christ. And so think about that. That's, this is kind of the, the mindset that Paul is trying to introduce to the Colossians in terms of their family, that they would have this heavenly mindset that would change the way they would bring that mindset home. And it would change everything about how their home function and how each member of the family relates to one another.

And so when we think about, for ourselves now, turning to kind of, these individual kind of roles and attitudes and applying them. Think about how has Christ Lordship really shaped the roles and the attitudes in your home? If you've really brought the gospel home, well then your family must be bearing the image of Christ, as Paul says in Colossians or or being.

Is your family fooled with the fullness fullness of Christ? Is your family walking in a manner worthy of Christ? That's his goal for the letter and that's his goal here for the teaching on the home as well. So let's turn now and let's kind of look at these individual different relationships. We're just gonna stick with the wives and the husbands and the children and the parents and, and we'll incorporate the, the bond servant and master relationships where it's fitting.

When we think about when the gospel is brought home, specifically between the wife and the husband, for the wife, she is called to submit to her husband as is fitting in the Lord. And, you know, submissions become kind of a really ugly word in our culture for a lot of reasons. Some may be good, some may be bad.

But nonetheless, people feel a lot of different ways when you start using the word submission. And, and that's trickled into some of our churches as well. And when people hear the word submission, they ultimately sometimes get a little bit uncomfortable these days. But Paul's words then, back in when he wrote this letter, were no less challenging than they are today.

Submission. It, it's a real command that that God is giving through Paul to these Christian wives. And a lot of people might try to paint submission godly submission of what it really looks like is you know, a caricature or a straw man that something that doesn't really actually represent what scripture says, but let's be cur clear, you know, submission is not meaning, you know, it's some sort of, you know, taming of the wife.

Or something like that. Don't misunderstand. We talk about wives submitting, there's a lot of ways inside and outside the church that it can be misunderstood. But there's a lot that we could say about all those misunderstands that's a sermon in of itself. I just wanna really note this. When it comes to the whys Paul's point here is that there's this God ordained hierarchy within the household in which the husband is the head and the wife is submissive.

Under that leadership and in Ephesians, Paul really expounds upon this idea, and he uses the metaphor of Christ as the Christ is the of the church as this kind of parallel metaphor. Then look in Ephesians five. 23 and 24 and keep your finger there 'cause we'll be flipping back and forth a little bit between these two passages as we go.

But a passage we know really well. Ephesians five verse 23. It talks about this kind of hierarchy that God has instituted within the household. When he says. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is head of the church, his body and is himself, its savior now as the church submits to Christ.

So also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. You know, we think about that, how practically, how it plays out. Of course there's never that that doesn't mean there's never collaboration or disagreement within marriages. I think we could all ask anybody who went in here is married. And know how that actually works, and we'll talk more about that when we get to the husbands.

But the point here is whether the wife really agrees or not with her husband on a particular issue, she's got to willingly forego her own right and allow the husband to lead the home and to really let go and to put your trust into the husband and his headship. That's a really serious sacrifice to ask of our wives.

By submitting, she's trusting that ultimately her husband's gonna lead on her behalf and that her interests are gonna be before his own. And so husbands, we ought not take this gift for granted because that's really what our wife's submission is. It is a gift to us. It's not something that can be demanded.

It's something that's freely given. I mean, Christ, he doesn't demand from us that we bow a knee to him, but he voluntarily calls us to accept that, and he will demand that at his second coming. But as of yet, for us, it's something that's voluntary and it should be as well in the husband and wife relationship, but the wife she's submitting, her submission is fitting in the Lord.

Both in God's plans, but also in her reflection of her own heavenly submission to the Lord Christ. And in her submission, the wife models Christ's own self-giving and trusting submission that he gave to his father in heaven as he was on this earth and as he came to die. So now after the wives, he jumps right in talking about the husbands and he says, well, husbands when the gospel is brought home, your leadership is challenged and it's challenge saying that you should love your wives and do not be harsh with them.

You know, husbands shouldn't be demanding some sort of blind submission from their wives as if she is, you know, treating, treating your child or your, your wife as if she's a child or your servant. You know, your wife may be submissive to you, but she is not less than you and she should not be treated as such.

Abuse can take a lot of forms, whether that's verbal or physical or sexual. In avoiding any type of abuse of power within the family. The husband is supposed to lovingly protect his wife and put her before himself, and that's, that's a picture. Again, turn back to Ephesians five. That's a picture of the relationship that that Paul paints in Ephesians five when he says in verse 28.

In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife, loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it just as Christ does. The church, because we are members of his body, you know, being in a position of power and authority within the home isn't free license to just do whatever you want.

In fact, when you're leading like Christ, it's quite the opposite. Leading like Christ means as a husband, that more often than not, you're not going to get to do what you want to do because you have to put other people before yourself in the home. It's funny, you know, we're thinking about meditating on scripture this this quarter for, you know, our walking like Jesus.

And this week as I've been studying, every time Abby will ask me to do something that may I'm on the couch comfortable and she's, you know, cooking or something. And I don't really want to get up. I just stand up and I say, husbands love your wives. It gives Abby a, a chuckle every time, but it, it, it started as a joke, but now it's kind of been like, oh, that's a helpful reminder.

I need to love my wife. I need to get up and do these little things for her just as I would any big thing. But the husband is putting the wife before himself and Philippians chapter two, turn over there for a second for me. You know, we think about if we're, if we're leading, if we're, if we as husbands are leading as Christ leads, well then how is it that Christ led himself?

How did he wield his authority here on earth and, and in heaven Now? And Paul is kind of recounting the gospel story here, and he says in verse three, trying to get again this heavenly mindset we're talking about. He's talking about the mind of Christ in Philippians. He says in verse three, do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility, count others more significant than yourselves.

Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this in mind among yourselves. Which is yours in Christ Jesus, who though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped. I like what the CSV says. The Christian Center Bible says something to be exploited, or the NIV says something to use to his own advantage.

Instead, what does he do? It says in verse seven, but emptied himself by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. You think about Jesus, he was in the highest position of power and authority ever that there ever will be. And yet, how did he choose to wield his authority? You know, we like to stress the authority that men have over women within the household.

And of course we do that for a number of reasons, and that's something we're trying to teach biblically. But we need to stress above all in these conversations what that power ought to look like. And that power is a cross shaped authority. Love in the home. It's an antidote for any type of harshness or some sort of abuse of power.

You know, if you love your wife, well, her concerns are gonna be really important to you. You're gonna seek out her thoughts and her opinions, and you're gonna communicate with her clearly and often, and. And when you're taking, while, while you might be the one taking initiative, while you might be the one leading in the home while listening and collaborating with your other half, it's not only gonna show love for her, but it's also gonna help you lead more effectively.

Like Ecclesiastes says, two or better than one, and the love flowing down from the head down to the wife. It's really what begins providing stability within the home. If there's love at the top well between man and his wife, it's gonna, it's gonna flow to all other parts of the body, and this is really the foundation of the household.

Even the love for children can't supersede this relationship. If the husband really loves his wife and this sacrificial Christ-like way, well, everything is gonna fall into place. Things may not be perfect. You'll still have trials and things we have to get through, but there'll be harmony and peace and look back in Colossians three, verse 14 and 15.

'cause this is what Paul says about love. He talks about all the different attributes that Christians are supposed to be putting on there in Colossian and Laia. And love was one that ultimately was kind of the glue that put all things together. And that's true for the individual in the church relationship, but it's also true for the father and the, or the husband and the wife and the rest of the home when he says in verse 14.

And above all these above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts to which indeed you are called in one body. And husbands, we ought to be leading in such a way that Christ can be seen in us. So his, his lordship power is being expressed through us in a way that Christ himself would lead.

Then if we start really leading like Christ does, well then you know he's gonna come. Jesus is gonna come into our house. He's gonna kick out that, you know, terrible tenant harshness, and he's gonna bring brother peace in with him and he's gonna take up residence and it's gonna bind things together as they ought to be.

And so that's the wife and the husband's relationship. Let's look at the children and the parents now as well. When the gospel is brought home, children are called to obey your parents in everything for this pleases the Lord. I like what really quickly, I don't have to turn over here, but Ephesians six, when Paul starts talking about the, the children, he says the same similar statement, but then he adds to it, quoting the fifth commandment from Exodus.

He says, honor your father and mother for this as right. Not only we obey in everything, but we're seeking to honor our parents by the way that we live. I'm sure you could talk to any where, where my high school, elementary school, any teachers, and we have any teachers. Where are my teachers? I just see Bucky.

I see. Okay. Lori back there. We got, yeah, Jared, we got several teachers. I'm sure if you talked to any of them you know, after this they probably say that and maybe it's different. Hudson. Hudson seems like a good school. I got a lot of good people working there, right? Well, some of our own but if you talk to some of our teachers, I'm sure you probably know that well, a lot of kids these days struggle with respecting authority.

And that's a real problem today. And so for you kids, think about this, the way that you obey your parents, the way that you interact when your friends are at your house, and when they see you talking, the way you talk to your parents, the way you respond to your parents, you know, in a world where the respect for authority is really a problem, well that's an opportunity for you really to minister and to share the, the true ethics and kingdom values of the gospel with them when you choose to live differently.

And so being in go, being to your parents, you're in good company. Jesus. Even after he had left the temple, he had amazed all of these people. They were scholars. They had learned, they, they were very learned men of the law, and he had amazed all these people with his knowledge of God's word. Even after that, his parents, after forgetting him visually, came back and got him who hasn't left their child at church before.

You know, everybody's done that once. I've been left at church when I was a kid. But even after that, it says in verse 51 of Luke chapter two, and he went down with them speaking of his parents, and they came to Nazareth and was submissive to them. Jesus even talks about the lowly place of children, and he, he talks about the, the humility of the child as something that really defines the, the, the ethics and the, the mindset that true kingdom citizens are supposed to have.

In Matthew 18 verse four, when he says, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Colossians here. Paul says, Hey children, you need to obey in everything what, what your parents say to you. It, it goes, and you might bristle at the statement, you know, in everything, but keep in mind, Paul's talking to Christian families.

So it's expected that what they're being asked to do is in accordance with the will of Christ. When you talk about obedience in a household, I think an important aspect to add to that is the mindset given to the servants. The idea of sincerity of heart as well. And everybody who's been a kid has been, you know, in those situations where you technically obeyed your parents, but then you know, they told you to go take out trash and you end up mumbling under your breath or something.

But what you do as a child is you ultimately are doing what your parents ask of you, and you trust them that it's better that it's, it's good for you even if you don't understand. And Paul talks about other insincere attitudes in terms of the bond service when he talks to them as being, doing things out of eye service or as people pleasers.

And, you know, not only does what your parents say goes when you're under. Their roof and in their direct eyesight or in their earshot. But when you're outside of their visibility you know, not only are your parents, you know, are you supposed to obey your parents when you're when you're right there by them, but also when you're alone in a room and the door is locked when you're out with your friends in public, or even when you go off to college, several hundred miles away.

Really all these things when you're a child, if you're a child of God, all these things don't really matter. If your obedience and your fear is transcendent of your parents, your reverence must continue even when nobody is looking or when you're not on your parents' roof. Because if you're serving the Lord Christ, he sees everything that you're doing.

Your parents might not see, but Jesus does. This really ultimately isn't gonna be a problem for you, or it won't matter if your obedience to your parents is superseded by your obedience to Christ and you know, children or young adults, some of you are, you know about to graduate and everything you know, the home for you is the place where you really start to learn what it means to obey Christ.

Lord, what you're doing now, your submission of your appearance is really, really important. Don't, don't think it's a small thing. If you can't obey your parents with sincerity of heart, well how are you going to obey Christ as your Lord if your children always aim not only to please your parents, but your Lord in heaven?

And again, you have a big responsibility. If you really truly live out the gospel values and your submission obedience to your parents, other people are gonna see, your friends are gonna see, and that's, it may not make a difference on them right now, but maybe a couple years down the road it might. Not only children, but what about the parents?

When the gospel is brought home, parents are challenged not to provoke their children unless they become discouraged. We'll include the teaching of the masters again here too, because it works really well. When he says to him, treat your bond servants, justly and fairly knowing that you also have a master in heaven.

And maybe Paul would say to the parents, Hey, remember you have a father in heaven. You might be a father or mother. Remember you have a father in heaven looking over you. In the idea of provoking. It can be something that's used in the New Testament positively to stir up somebody to a good activity. But also negatively to agitate.

And I think culturally, when we think about our, our kids being agitated or, or stirred up, they're very overstimulated these days. Excuse me. They're, they're pushed so hard in academics. They're pushed in their sports or their band programs. They're pushed in all these extracurriculars in their social life, often to the exclusion of their faith.

And then, you know, kids grow up but they haven't prioritized the gospel in their life. And then they, you know, growing up in leaving church and we wonder why that is. Not only are a lot of kids Christian lights burning out, but so is their energy as well. They're being provoked, they're being stirred up and agitated to the point of exhaustion and discouragement.

And I think Paul's parallel on Ephesians. Again, if you wanna turn their Ephesians six is really helpful here. It adds kind of not only it says the same sort of statement, but he adds a positive element when he says, fathers do not provoke your children to anger. But bring them up in the discipline and the instruction of the Lord.

You know, we need to be stirring up and agitating our children in the right things. I mean, a lot of parents out there do teach their children discipline and instruction, but ultimately, Christ's Lordship is not at the core of that instruction. Our kids need to step out of their activities from time to time and be reminded.

That their self-worth, it lies in them being made in the image of God. It doesn't lie in all of their good grades or their points scored or their special talents. As parents, we need to be careful that we're not breaking the spirit, that we're not exhausting the spirit of our children. We need to be clear.

We need to set consistent expectations for them, and we need to be just, and fair Children need to be able to rely on us as we rely. On our Heavenly Father and I liken the sermon amount when Jesus is talking about evil parents and how predictable they are, even, even evil parents give good gifts to their children.

I think what follows is really important. Turn in Matthew chapter seven. This will be our last verse here and we'll be coming up on our conclusion. I thank you for your patience this morning. This one's a little bit longer. I've done some 30 minute lessons recently though, so I've worked up a couple extra minutes.

I'm gonna cash in now. Matthew chapter seven in verse nine through 12, he says, or which one of you if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, we'll give him a serpent. If you then who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him?

And he says in verse 12, the golden rule. He says, so whatever you wish that others would do to you do also to them for this is the law and the prophets. And so Jesus has followed this teaching on, you know, evil fathers giving good gifts as being, you know, if they do that, of course God, if you ask him, will give good gifts to you.

I think this is really similar. If we apply the golden rule to, to parenting, it's very similar to, to Paul's previous teaching from the wi or the husbands treating his wives treating his wives, not that husband treating his wife as his own body. I think if we can treat our children according to the golden rule, well of course justice and fairness is gonna be taken care of.

And children, they're gonna get the rest that they need, the spiritual feeding that they hunger for in a life, in a stable, in a healthy household, where ultimately they feel safe. Parents for you, when you bring the the gospel home, you are the model of Christ-like leadership for your children and the way that you lead and you parent today is no doubt going to shape how they parent themselves in the future.

And so your challenge really is to show them that that encouragement, that justice, that fairness that you give them, where does that come from? Well, it comes from your allegiance, your serving the Lord in Christ. Helping them know that. And so this morning, when we think about bringing the gospel home, is Christ really lured over your home today?

Where do you and your family need to make changes? Maybe you're the only one in your family who's a Christian. How can you continue to hold the gospel there in your home and to, and to really shine the light even though it's incredibly difficult for you? Is the gospel a fellow resident in your home?

Or is it just a fixture? Is it a painting? Is it a washer dryer? If Christ isn't the Lord over your home, well then he certainly isn't the Lord over your life. And you know, we always say home is where the heart is, right? Well, if Christ is in your home, that's where your heart is. That's where he's gonna be reigning.

That's gonna extend outward to every other facet of your life. You know Jesus is gonna be Lord at the second coming. Whether you think so now or not. That's something we all believe and we professing. We professed his death this morning until we believe he's going to come again. Because we don't believe Jesus is still in the grave.

He's reigning. He's resurrected at the right hand of our father. Right now, he's calling you to, to let him rule in your life voluntarily. Now, he, he loves you. He's given himself for you that so you could be reconciled to God and that you could be adopted into his family. He wants to bring you home. He wants to make you his child, his fellow heir, his brother and sister within the household of the kingdom of God.

This morning, we want you to come and submit yourself. We want you to come and obey him in everything to the best of your ability because our God, our, our Christ that we're serving, he is a loving, he's a just and fair king, and he wants to renew you and his divine image, and he wants to fill you with his fullness bodily.

And so this morning, if we want you, if you want to begin. Starting your life, serving the Lord Christ, beginning to bring the gospel home with you today. You can do that today if you'll come and follow Jesus into the waters of baptism. If we can help you with that this morning, we'd ask you to come as we stand and as we sing,

Jesus of the law.