All right. Well, we're in Genesis chapter 12,
and I'm here in Genesis 12 because in my devotions
this morning, the Lord scrapped the message that
I was going to preach, which was on prayer. I
was going to finish our prayer and fasting teaching
on prayer and fasting. Imagine that. Because
God has been speaking to me and showing me things
throughout this week, and I was going to relay
those to you. I will hold that message from Acts
chapter 6 and different places in the Word of
God that call the church to prayer. Let me just
give one point from that message. I believe that
the single greatest verse for the church today
is in Matthew chapter 6. And it's right before
Jesus teaches us the Lord's Prayer. And He says
this, and what the Father sees in secret, He
will reward openly. And Jesus is calling all
of us To personal, private, secret prayer. Now
I love what happens when we gather because gathering
is key as well. And it's part of the word that
we gather together often. But that personal,
private, secret place prayer, by and large, by
believers, is neglected. And the Lord is calling
you and I to personal prayer time. And so I'm
going to preach that message at a later date.
Take that and run with it. Meditate in Matthew
6. There's a lot in Matthew 6, but the portion
on prayer. Say, God, help me apply this to my
life. Because discipleship is not about just
knowing that Matthew 6 is in there and that the
Lord's Prayer is there. Discipleship is about
actually applying it to your life and doing it.
Amen? Disciples do. Amen? Amen. Now, this morning
early, I was reading, and a series of scriptures
just flooded my heart. And I noticed this morning
as we were praying that the sign that many of
you flock to, in fact, there were more people
at this sign during that five or seven minutes
of prayer, there were more people at this sign
than any other sign. What sign do you think it
was? Family. The sign right down here. Family.
And God began to speak to me this morning from
this passage about family. Now this is the call.
At this point his name is Abram. It was later
changed to Abraham. Father Abraham. How many
of you have heard of Father Abraham? And so he
is the first patriarch of the nation of Israel.
The people of Israel. God made a covenant with
Abraham. Abram at this point. And in Genesis
chapter 12, this is what the Lord spoke to Abram.
Get out of your country, from your family, and
from your father's house. And go to a land that
I will show you. I will make you a great nation.
I will bless you and make your name great. I
will bless those who bless you and I will curse
him who curses you. And in you, all the families
of the earth shall be blessed. I want to read
that last line one more time. And in you, all
the families of the earth shall be blessed. Hallelujah.
Now this covenant that God made with Abram, so
what did Abram do? So Abram departed and he went
just as the Lord had commanded and he obeyed
God. And because he obeyed God, God did what
he said he would do. Now, just as a side note,
our blessing of the nation of Israel is important.
It does not mean that everything that Israel
does is right. It does not mean that every decision
that Netanyahu and the people of Israel make
is godly or good. It doesn't mean that. It doesn't
mean that you have to personally agree with everything
that the nation of Israel does. But the nation
of Israel is God's chosen people. And the greatest
blessing of Israel, the gift that God gave to
us, as we're going to see as I preach through
this message, is that our Messiah, Jesus, came
through the nation of Israel. And so God gave
Abram a blessing. At this point, he was childless.
He had no children of his own. And God showed
him, spoke to him, In you, all the families of
the earth shall be blessed. Now, how many of
you are part of a family? Now, your family might
be, it just might be messed up. Some of you are
laughing because if you don't laugh, you'll cry.
Our families can get crazy. Our families can
be broken. You are part of a family that you
did not choose. I didn't choose my mom and dad.
You didn't choose yours. I didn't choose my brothers
and sisters. I have one sister. Sister. I didn't
choose them. The only one I chose that's in my
family is my wife. We wanted children, but we
didn't even choose them. God chose them. God
gave us kids. We don't choose the family that
we're a part of. And for some of you, when I
say that word family, it just automatically brings
a lot of pain because it's messed up. The promise
is still for your family. And in you, all the
families of the earth shall be blessed. Hallelujah.
Hallelujah. Are you with me so far? All the families
of the earth shall be blessed. Three other times,
God spoke a similar promise to Abraham. he substituted
the word family with nations. Three other times
God met with Abraham and said, in you all the
nations of the earth shall be blessed. There
was another time when God met with Abraham's
grandson, Jacob, in a dream. And God spoke to
Jacob in Genesis 28, 14 and said the same thing.
And said, also your descendants shall be as the
dust of the earth. You shall spread abroad to
the west and the east, to the north and the south.
And in you and in your seed, all the families
of the earth shall be blessed. Hallelujah. And
so there's this promise. All the families of
the earth shall be blessed. We need to be convinced
of this. That God wants to bless my family. You
need to be convinced of that. I need to be convinced
of that. That God wants to bless my family. And
so let's all say that together. God wants to
bless my family. There are several stories in
the Scriptures where God does not just bless
individuals, but where God blesses entire families.
And I began to think about that this morning,
where God blessed Zacchaeus. And you remember
when Jesus came, if you know the story where
Jesus came to Zacchaeus, Zacchaeus was notable
in the New Testament because he was a short man
and he could not see through the crowd. And so
he climbed a tree so that he could see Jesus
in the crowd. And Jesus saw Zacchaeus climb the
tree just so he could see him. And Jesus made
a beeline for Zacchaeus and said, I'm coming
to you. house. And the Bible says in Luke 19,
9, that salvation has come to you, that salvation
has come to your house. I love that. I love that.
Later on in the book of Acts, after Jesus had
ascended and Peter was given a dream by God,
that he was not supposed to call unclean that
which God had made clean. And then he was led
to the household of Cornelius. And Cornelius,
the unique thing about Cornelius is that he was
not from the land of Israel. He was not a Jew.
He was a Gentile like most of us in the room.
And normally, Peter never would have... even
talked to a Gentile, but God wanted to break
down the wall between Jews and Gentiles, because
salvation was not just for Jews. Salvation was
also for Gentiles. And so Peter preached the
message. Everybody that was there, which was
Cornelius's family, Cornelius's servants, all
the people that worked in Cornelius's house,
everybody that was there gave the their life
to Jesus, got filled with the Holy Spirit, and
Peter was stunned that God would love the Gentiles
too. And Cornelius and his whole household came
to God. Wouldn't it be awesome if your whole
household came to the Lord? Wouldn't it be awesome
if your whole household came to the Lord? Now,
there's one more that I want to turn to in Acts
chapter 16. If you can turn there. Now, Paul,
in Acts 16, Paul and Silas were put in jail for
preaching the word, which is common today around
the world. We live in a bubble called America.
But around the world, people are being jailed
and killed for their faith in Jesus Christ, even
today. Paul and Silas were jailed for preaching
the good news of Jesus Christ. And verse 25,
let's pick it up there. At midnight they were
praying and singing hymns to God and the prisoners
were listening to them and suddenly there was
a great earthquake so that the foundation of
the prison were shaken and immediately all the
doors were opened and everyone's chains were
loosed and the keeper of the prison, awakening
from sleep and seeing the prison doors opened,
Supposing the prisoners had fled, drew his sword,
and was about to kill himself. Because he knew
what would happen to him if his bosses found
out that the prisoners escaped on his watch.
He would be tortured and killed. But Paul called
with a loud voice. Saying, do yourself no harm
for we are all here. Can I just say another aside
here for a moment? Just because a door opens
doesn't mean you should walk through it. The
angel opened up the door. But Paul and Silas
had a check in their heart. No. We've got to
stay right here. And the prison guard woke up,
was about to kill himself, and Paul screamed
out, don't do it. We are all here. I just find
this story stunning. And the prison guard called
for a light, ran in and fell down trembling before
Paul and Silas. He brought them out. Now they
can walk through the door. He brought them out
and said, sirs, what must I do to be saved? What
must I do to give my life to the Lord? You've
got something that I need and I want what you
have. So they said to him, believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ and you will be saved, you and your
household. They spoke the word of the Lord to
him and to all who were in his house. And he
took them the same hour of the night and washed
their stripes. And so now this guard that had
participated in beating them, that had participated
in putting them in the prison, now he's washing
their wounds and bringing healing to them. Salvation
has come to his house. And immediately he...
and all his family were baptized. Isn't that
an awesome story? God wants every single one
of your family members to be saved. I've got
family members that are not saved. Most of you.
have family members that are not saved. Most
of you, your salvation did not happen like this.
You came alone. But God wants to bless entire
families. I believe there are families out there,
families out there that need the Lord, that are
ripe. When Peter preached the first message,
they asked the same question, what must we do?
And Peter said, repent and let every one of you
be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ
for the remission of sin and you shall receive
the gift of the Holy Spirit for the promise is
to you, your children, and to all who are afar
off, as many as the Lord our God will call. You
see, the blessing of Abraham was fulfilled in
Jesus Christ, where salvation would be open to
every family. God is in the business of turning
around families. So what should I do, Pastor?
The first thing that you need to do is this.
Follow Jesus with your whole heart, even if your
family does not. I want to read a tough scripture
now. Matthew 10, verse 34. Jesus said this, Do
not think that I came to bring peace on the earth.
I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For
I have come to set a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother, a daughter -in
-law against her mother -in -law, and a man's
enemies will be those of his own household. He
who loves father or mother more than me is not
worthy of me. He who loves son or daughter more
than me is not worthy of me. He who does not
take his cross and follow after me is not worthy
of me. He who finds his life will lose it, but
he who loses his life for my sake will find it.
This is a tough scripture. What Jesus was saying
is that he has got to have first place in your
life. And again, around the world, In fact, in
the religion of Islam, if one converts to Christianity,
they are cut off from their family. Well, do
you think that it's God's will for that person
to come to Christ? Absolutely. Islam is a demonic
religion leading people astray. The fastest growing
religion in America right now. Drawing people
away from God. And Jesus said this, you might
have to pay a high price to follow me. But if
you will pay the price, God will begin to work.
And he will begin to move. Friend, the best thing
that you can do for your family, even if your
family does not understand you, even if they
don't get it, even if they don't see, the best
thing that you can do is follow Jesus with your
whole heart, even if your family does not. Hallelujah.
Hallelujah. I have seen again and again and again
couples Backslide together. And so I believe
that God wants couples to walk together in unity.
Amen? I believe that God wants couples to be
one in Christ. Hallelujah. But I'm telling you
this. I said this a couple of months ago and
I'll say it again today. That if I stray from
Jesus, my wife is not going to follow me. And
if she strays from Jesus, I am not going to follow
her. I am not going to use my family as an excuse
to stray from God. I have a son right now that
we're believing for God to get a hold of his
heart and get a hold of his life. We love him
incredibly. But I will not compromise the truth
of God's word for my son. I cannot do that. I
cannot do that. The best thing that you can do
is without compromise, devote your life wholly
to Jesus. The second thing that you need to do
is kind of like it. And that is this. Get rid
of that secret sin. Go with me to Acts chapter
3. And Peter and John are preaching. Peter again.
And they had just seen the man at the gate beautiful
healed. And they were explaining what had happened
at that healing. May the church have to explain
healing again as God does incredible things in
our midst. And listen to what Peter says in verse
19. Repent therefore and be converted that your
sins might be blotted out so that times of refreshing
might come from the Lord, from the presence of
the Lord. And that he might send Jesus Christ
who was preached to you before. whom heaven must
receive until the times of restoration of all
things, which God has spoken by the mouth of
his holy prophets since the world began. And
then he goes on, and then verse 25 says, you
are sons of the prophets, and the covenant which
God made with our fathers, saying to Abraham,
this is where the message comes full circle,
saying to Abraham, and in your seed, all the
families of the earth shall be blessed. To you
first, God having raised up His servant Jesus,
sent Him to bless you in turning every one of
you From your iniquities. Turning every one of
you from your iniquities. So the blessing of
God. Is opposed. To that secret sin. And that
secret sin. Is opposed. To the blessing of God.
Jesus wants to bless your family. But you've
got to get rid of that secret sin. Jesus didn't
die on the cross so that you could continue in
your sin and just be forgiven every Sunday and
live. Continue to live however you want. He shed
his blood on Calvary not only to forgive you,
but to set you free from it. So that it no longer
has dominion in your life. We've got to confess
that thing. And we've got to get it out of our
heart. The greatest harm a father brings to a
family is when he refuses to turn from secret
sin. But the greatest blessing a father gives
to his family is when he humbles himself before
the Lord and says, God, I'm following you with
my whole heart. And please, it's not about perfection.
Because I've been walking with Jesus for 39 years.
This summer it will be 40 years that I've been
walking with Jesus. And last week, last week,
God brought conviction to my heart about a sin.
And I'll tell you what it was. I read of a pastor
who had fallen. And was removed from the ministry.
And in the back of my heart, I was feeling good
about myself. Because I've not done that. And
the Holy Spirit convicted me of that wickedness.
Because it's not because of my own goodness that
I am what I am. It is only because of the grace
of God. And I had to confess that thing before
the Lord. The greatest thing I can do for my
family, for my church family, is to walk uprightly.
And it doesn't mean perfection, but it does mean
this. To respond to the conviction of the Holy
Spirit. And it means that I am walking with Christ.
And so I repented of that thing and I said, God,
forgive me. Wash me and cleanse me. And get that
thing out of my heart. Peter. Coupled the blessing
that God spoke to Abraham with repentance from
iniquity. And I want to call. Not because you're
bad or I'm bad. You know, the Holy Spirit doesn't
convict me of those things because I'm bad. He
convicts me of those things because He wants
to make me more like Jesus. And so I don't say
that, I don't preach this part of the message
to declare people that are bad and I want them
to feel horrible. No, I want you to feel drawn
to the Lord and to say, God, God, have your way
in my heart and in my life. Amen. God, I'm doing
my best to follow you. I know I've got a long
way to go. But God, I want you to have your way
in my life. And when you convict me, and when
you speak to my heart, I want to respond. A teachable
and moldable heart. If you want the blessing
of God to come on your family, have a teachable
and moldable heart. Hallelujah. Glory to God.
And then the third thing is from Malachi chapter
4. Malachi chapter 4. And this is the last verse
of the Old Testament before Jesus came on the
scene, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. It's about
300 years. between Malachi and the coming of
Jesus. And this is what Malachi prophesied in
verse 5 of Malachi 4. Behold, I will send you
Elijah the prophet. That was John the Baptist.
Before the coming of the great and dreadful day
of the Lord, this is the judgment of God. And
he will turn the hearts of the fathers. to the
children, and the hearts of the children to their
fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with
a curse. Do you know when we are praying for
end time harvest, I believe that many people
are about to come into the kingdom of God. I
believe that many people are going to turn to
Jesus for salvation. And some of you are seeing
that in your lives. You know of people who are
getting hungry for God. Hallelujah. I talked
with a young man yesterday who has known his
whole life that God has been knocking on the
door of his heart and is saying, I'm trying to
respond to God in my life. And there are many
people that are like that. And they don't really
know what to do, but God is knocking on the door
of their heart. One thing that happens when you
meet the Lord is that your heart turns to your
heavenly Father. And the book of Romans chapter
8 says that when you come to Christ, that your
heart will cry out, Abba. Father. And in response
to that, as your heart turns to your heavenly
Father, guess what happens? Your heart begins
to turn in a new way to your family. Where before
you could only think evil about your family,
but now your heart is getting healed. God is
healing all the hurt and the pain of your past,
and now you're suddenly having thoughts that
you didn't have before of affection and love
for your family. It is not always natural for
the hearts of children to turn to their fathers.
It's not natural because of what that father
might represent. But can I tell you this? It's
supernatural. It doesn't mean that you're agreeing
with everything that your father does. It doesn't
mean that you like everything your father represents.
It doesn't mean that you appreciate the past
that you've had in your life. You might have
walked through some hard things, but you have
a heavenly father that is healing your heart.
And you're beginning to have different emotions
and different affections. And you're beginning
to forgive people in your family. Woo! The heart
of the father who's been separated from his kids.
My kids have cut me off. And part of it might
be my own heart. Oh, but... You've given your
life to Jesus. And your father has begun to heal
you. And you're beginning to repent of your own
iniquity towards your kids. And you're starting
to have feelings again. That you didn't have
before. And your heart. Is turning towards your
sons and daughters. Do you know what this is?
This is revival. This is the moving of God's
spirit. And you begin to pray differently. And
you begin to say, God, I don't deserve it. But
would you give me a relationship with my kids
again? Would you give me an opportunity because
there's no way they'll listen to me right now?
But would you somehow open the door for us to
just even talk again? And the hearts of the fathers
turn to the children. And the hearts of the children
turn to the fathers. And God heals a family.
This is what he does. I believe in 2026. that
some of your families are going to turn around.
I believe that in this year, some of your kids,
God is going to answer your prayer. I believe
that God is going to move mightily in our messed
up families. I want to close with a verse I've
been meditating in. I shared it at the funeral
for Catherine's sister yesterday, the celebration
of life. And I want to close with 1 Peter 4 and
verse 7. And I want you to think about society.
I want you to think about what's been happening
in the news, in Minneapolis. In Portland, in
hard places. It has been crazy, hasn't it? And
then we hear the words of Peter. 1 Peter 4, 7.
But the end of all things is at hand. How many
of you can sense that? The end of all things
is at hand. And so then he gives some instruction.
What should we do now that we know that, now
that we see that? We're reading the end of all
things in the news every day. Therefore, be serious
and watchful in your prayers. And then verse
8. And above all things. Everybody say all things.
Above all things. Have fervent love for one another.
For love will cover a multitude of sins. Whoo!
Hallelujah. Do you know what the news is trying
to steal from you? Your love for people. Do you
know how the world responds right now? If you
don't agree with me, get out of my life. That's
what the world does. Friends, that's not Jesus.
They do that to their own families. If you don't
agree with me, get out of my life. That's not
the response of the believer. You be careful.
You be careful as you watch the news. You be
careful that you filter it well because if you
don't, it will harden your heart. It will harden
your heart and you will not be able to love people
that do not agree with you. But Peter... commands
us, Peter's in my message a lot, and here's in
his letter that he's written here, 1 Peter chapter
4 and verse 7, he commands us that in these end
times, we need to do something above everything,
and that is this, guard our ability to love one
another. Guard our ability to love one another.
What did Jesus say? They will know that you are
my disciples because you go to church on Sunday.
No. Now that's important, but that's not what
Jesus said. They will know you are my disciples
because you sing so beautifully. They will know
that you are my disciples because you love one
another. Love one another. If your relationship
to God does not affect the people around you,
what are we doing? For your family member just
might cover a multitude of sins. Just might cause
them to want what you have. Just might bring
them near. Hallelujah. We have a prayer wall
back here in the corner. You see if you turn
your head and look, you see things stuck to it.
Those are prayer requests from people in our
church. We call that our prayer circle, that
carpet back there. My wife posted a prayer need
on there. Last night I was back there just praying
over the needs in this body. You can write the
name of your family member on a card, and they're
going to get prayed over. You can write a need
on that card. In fact, Kathy's going to be back
there after the service to help you if you want
a card and you want to write down a prayer need.
You can do that. The body will be praying for
you. God spoke to Abraham and said, in you all
the families of the earth will be blessed. And
I want to remind God of that every day as I pray
over my sons and daughters, as I allow Him to
work in me. Have your way, God. That's why I
sang that song this morning because I knew what
I would be preaching about. That song said that...
The enemy has no authority in my family. Because
God has designed my family for blessing. Amen?
Amen. How many of you would say, I want this
to be a part of my family? Just lift up your
hand. Oh, come on. I feel like God wants to do
something right now. Most of you raised your
hand. Because you know the hidden parts of your
family that you won't tell anybody. And you want
God to do a work. You know that you can't straighten
it out because if you could, it would be straightened
out already. You need God to do it. You need
God to do it. There's Goliaths in your family.
You need God to help you slay. David didn't do
that on his own. He came in the name of the Lord
God of Israel. There's healing in brokenness.
And here's what I want you to stand for. Don't
stand yet. Here's what I want you to stand for.
If you have a conviction in your heart, that
God really will work in your family. I want you
to take a moment. I don't want you to just respond.
I want you to take a moment. And if you have
a conviction that in 2026, God will really work
in my family, then I want you to respond by standing.
In faith. Because this is not an empty promise.
This is the whole reason Jesus came. To bring
families near to him. Sons and daughters, moms
and dads. All of it. Healing. And restoration.
He is working. He is moving. Hallelujah. Father,
I just ask that you would put faith in the hearts
of your people. Grandparents. Believing for their
grandsons and granddaughters. People here believing
for their moms and dads. People here believing
for their sons and daughters and spouses. God,
I am declaring over this house that 2026 is a
year of healing for the family. Blessing for
the family. In Jesus' mighty name.