WEBVTT 00:00:09.839 --> 00:00:12.300 Thank you for listening to this message from 00:00:12.300 --> 00:00:39.109 Lifehouse Church. And there is power in family. 00:00:39.250 --> 00:00:41.590 Second week, we talked about the testimony in 00:00:41.590 --> 00:00:45.009 family and how powerful it is to hear one another's 00:00:45.009 --> 00:00:47.350 testimony. That should happen all the time in 00:00:47.350 --> 00:00:49.490 this house. We need to hear the story of what 00:00:49.490 --> 00:00:52.189 Jesus is doing. Last week, we went to Genesis 00:00:52.189 --> 00:00:55.030 chapter two, really unfolded the entire chapter, 00:00:55.070 --> 00:00:57.030 talked about some of God's system structures 00:00:57.030 --> 00:01:00.030 and plans in there and how his provisional work 00:01:00.030 --> 00:01:03.850 is there in our lives and the gift of work itself 00:01:03.850 --> 00:01:07.670 and the gift of choice, right? Love is choice. 00:01:07.909 --> 00:01:09.430 How many know if you love somebody, there's a 00:01:09.430 --> 00:01:12.030 choice involved in all that? Amen? It's true. 00:01:12.390 --> 00:01:16.469 And at the end of last week's message, I landed 00:01:16.469 --> 00:01:19.409 on something I just began to touch on, what the 00:01:19.409 --> 00:01:23.189 God glue is in family. I don't know if you know 00:01:23.189 --> 00:01:26.129 it or not, but there's God glue in family. And 00:01:26.129 --> 00:01:29.829 that particular term that I came up with, that 00:01:29.829 --> 00:01:35.609 God glue, is unity. Say unity. Unity. Being one. 00:01:36.000 --> 00:01:38.239 Being one, all right? So I'm getting ready to 00:01:38.239 --> 00:01:39.640 take you into Matthew. We're going to go into 00:01:39.640 --> 00:01:42.120 the New Testament this week, into Matthew 12, 00:01:42.359 --> 00:01:44.659 verse 33. So I'm going to ask you, if you would, 00:01:44.760 --> 00:01:47.400 I want you to stand just one more time this morning, 00:01:47.480 --> 00:01:49.459 and then I'll let you sit down. I want to do 00:01:49.459 --> 00:01:51.140 a couple of things. You can head to Matthew 12. 00:01:51.760 --> 00:01:54.120 We're going to start at verse 33. And while you're 00:01:54.120 --> 00:01:55.420 standing, hey, listen, you're already standing 00:01:55.420 --> 00:01:56.780 up. Turn to somebody. Give them a high five. 00:01:56.980 --> 00:01:58.700 Tell them it's good to see you in church. Good 00:01:58.700 --> 00:02:00.819 to see you at LifeHouse today. Tell them they're 00:02:00.819 --> 00:02:02.920 looking okay. They cleaned up okay on a Sunday. 00:02:03.400 --> 00:02:06.159 Yeah, come on. You can even tell them it's going 00:02:06.159 --> 00:02:08.000 to get sticky in here, all right? We're going 00:02:08.000 --> 00:02:10.620 to talk about glue today. But I want, we're going 00:02:10.620 --> 00:02:12.680 to pray and then we're going to read God's word. 00:02:12.740 --> 00:02:14.840 Father, thank you for this day. Thank you for 00:02:14.840 --> 00:02:16.439 each person that's in the house and the opportunity, 00:02:16.659 --> 00:02:19.000 God, to dive into your word that is truth and 00:02:19.000 --> 00:02:22.560 it is life. And God, Lord, God, it opens us bare. 00:02:22.759 --> 00:02:25.759 It lays us open to you. And Lord, I pray that 00:02:25.759 --> 00:02:27.599 you would touch our hearts. God, you would touch 00:02:27.599 --> 00:02:30.219 our minds. God, that you would, Lord, minister 00:02:30.219 --> 00:02:32.439 in our souls. God, that it might change our actions 00:02:32.439 --> 00:02:34.300 and that we might be pleasing to you. And we 00:02:34.300 --> 00:02:36.680 just give you praise. We give you glory and honor 00:02:36.680 --> 00:02:39.419 in Jesus' name. And amen. you would just stay 00:02:39.419 --> 00:02:41.560 standing for the reading of the word. And just 00:02:41.560 --> 00:02:43.580 to give you just a little background as we go 00:02:43.580 --> 00:02:46.120 into this scripture, this is where Jesus is talking 00:02:46.120 --> 00:02:50.539 about this serious nature of unity. While in 00:02:50.539 --> 00:02:52.560 the middle of a tension -filled conversation 00:02:52.560 --> 00:02:56.360 with Pharisees, he really... blurts out or talks 00:02:56.360 --> 00:02:59.879 about what is so important about unity. Matthew 00:02:59.879 --> 00:03:03.039 12, 22 says this, then one was brought to him 00:03:03.039 --> 00:03:05.340 who was demon possessed. Now, what took place 00:03:05.340 --> 00:03:08.099 is the Pharisees are questioning Jesus because 00:03:08.099 --> 00:03:11.080 Jesus heals a man who is demon possessed and 00:03:11.080 --> 00:03:14.539 blind and mute. He casts out the demon and heals 00:03:14.539 --> 00:03:16.879 this man of the blindness and this mute tongue 00:03:16.879 --> 00:03:19.319 that he has. So then one was brought to him who 00:03:19.319 --> 00:03:22.210 was demon possessed. blind and mute, and he healed 00:03:22.210 --> 00:03:24.689 him, so that the blind and the mute man both 00:03:24.689 --> 00:03:27.729 spoke and saw. And all the multitudes were amazed 00:03:27.729 --> 00:03:30.210 and said, could this be the son of David? They 00:03:30.210 --> 00:03:32.250 were saying, could this be the Messiah? Now, 00:03:32.270 --> 00:03:34.250 when the Pharisees heard it, they said, this 00:03:34.250 --> 00:03:37.189 fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, 00:03:37.250 --> 00:03:41.090 the rulers of demons. The Pharisees were against 00:03:41.090 --> 00:03:43.870 Jesus, and they came and they actually accused 00:03:43.870 --> 00:03:46.729 him of casting out this demon by the prince of 00:03:46.729 --> 00:03:50.509 demons, really Satan himself. Verse 25 says, 00:03:50.629 --> 00:03:52.870 But Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, 00:03:52.969 --> 00:03:56.050 Every kingdom divided against itself is brought 00:03:56.050 --> 00:04:00.349 to desolation, and every city or house, say house, 00:04:00.550 --> 00:04:03.930 divided against itself will not stand. If Satan 00:04:03.930 --> 00:04:06.050 casts out Satan, he's divided against himself. 00:04:06.349 --> 00:04:09.189 How then will this kingdom stand? And if I cast 00:04:09.189 --> 00:04:12.349 out demons by Beelzebub, whom do your sons cast 00:04:12.349 --> 00:04:14.759 them out? Therefore, they shall be your judges. 00:04:14.879 --> 00:04:17.540 But if I cast out demons by the spirit of God, 00:04:17.740 --> 00:04:20.959 surely the kingdom of God has come upon you. 00:04:21.000 --> 00:04:24.740 You may be seated this morning. What's the truth? 00:04:25.220 --> 00:04:27.579 What's the principle that Jesus is teaching? 00:04:27.759 --> 00:04:32.040 What is the universal law that Jesus is placing 00:04:32.040 --> 00:04:36.160 out as he begins to debunk the argument of the 00:04:36.160 --> 00:04:38.959 Pharisees and the accusations that came against 00:04:38.959 --> 00:04:43.519 him? And it is this, a house. divided against 00:04:43.519 --> 00:04:49.060 itself cannot stand. A house divided cannot stand, 00:04:49.220 --> 00:04:54.279 right? Jesus said that a house, a kingdom, a 00:04:54.279 --> 00:04:59.879 city that is not united is going down. Sooner 00:04:59.879 --> 00:05:02.279 or later, it's going to divide. It's going to 00:05:02.279 --> 00:05:05.759 split. If the house is good or the house is evil. 00:05:06.160 --> 00:05:09.040 Either one, if there's division in the house, 00:05:09.199 --> 00:05:13.279 it's going to go down. Jesus was really kind 00:05:13.279 --> 00:05:17.220 of moving us into a universal law of God. It 00:05:17.220 --> 00:05:19.439 really is. He was letting the Pharisees know 00:05:19.439 --> 00:05:23.339 that this is a universal law that applies. It's 00:05:23.339 --> 00:05:26.019 a spiritual law that applies. It includes everyone. 00:05:26.180 --> 00:05:29.300 It includes him. It includes me. It even included 00:05:29.300 --> 00:05:32.120 Satan and his kingdom, right? And this is a spiritual 00:05:32.120 --> 00:05:34.680 law that holds true whether you believe it or 00:05:34.680 --> 00:05:37.800 whether you don't. believe it. Some things you 00:05:37.800 --> 00:05:39.620 might believe and some things you might not believe. 00:05:39.740 --> 00:05:42.240 You may not believe this, but it's true anyway. 00:05:42.980 --> 00:05:45.360 It's a little bit like the law of gravity, all 00:05:45.360 --> 00:05:47.899 right? How many know we all are under the law 00:05:47.899 --> 00:05:50.220 of gravity if you live on this planet? Raise 00:05:50.220 --> 00:05:52.490 your hand if you know that. All right, the rest 00:05:52.490 --> 00:05:54.029 of you are going to figure it out soon, okay? 00:05:54.870 --> 00:05:57.730 There's a law of gravity that's in place, right? 00:05:57.889 --> 00:06:00.209 And it's the truth whether you believe it or 00:06:00.209 --> 00:06:03.350 not. It's not relative to my circumstance. It's 00:06:03.350 --> 00:06:06.269 not relevant to my situation. It's not even relevant 00:06:06.269 --> 00:06:09.850 to my bias. It doesn't even matter what I think 00:06:09.850 --> 00:06:13.250 about gravity. Gravity exists. If you're a human 00:06:13.250 --> 00:06:15.490 located somewhere on this sphere that we call 00:06:15.490 --> 00:06:19.810 Earth, right, gravity affects you. You stay firmly 00:06:19.810 --> 00:06:22.870 planted on the ground. this morning because of 00:06:22.870 --> 00:06:26.629 gravity, whether you believe in it or not. How 00:06:26.629 --> 00:06:30.269 many know I can flap my arms as long as I want 00:06:30.269 --> 00:06:32.970 to, and I'm not going to fly off at this stage, 00:06:33.050 --> 00:06:36.149 right? If I go off at the end of this stage, 00:06:36.329 --> 00:06:39.689 gravity is going to take me down. Now, I might 00:06:39.689 --> 00:06:42.350 fall gracefully, all right? I may bounce and 00:06:42.350 --> 00:06:46.329 roll right out and jump right back up on my feet. 00:06:46.860 --> 00:06:48.819 I might try to make it look good, but I'm not 00:06:48.819 --> 00:06:51.100 going to fly. I'm not going to shoot up through 00:06:51.100 --> 00:06:54.540 that dome in some kind of manner because gravity 00:06:54.540 --> 00:06:57.420 is a universal law. And this is a universal law. 00:06:57.540 --> 00:07:01.420 If you lack unity in your house, if there's division 00:07:01.420 --> 00:07:05.199 present, cracks are going to come. And Jesus 00:07:05.199 --> 00:07:08.379 said, if that goes long enough, desolation's 00:07:08.379 --> 00:07:10.120 in your future. I know, nobody's going to say 00:07:10.120 --> 00:07:15.060 amen to that, right? Right? Any group of people. 00:07:15.550 --> 00:07:20.430 Larger than the number one is a family. Actually, 00:07:20.550 --> 00:07:24.490 if you're a Christian and your number is one, 00:07:24.569 --> 00:07:27.029 you're single, and you're a Christian, you've 00:07:27.029 --> 00:07:29.769 already got two in your family because it's you 00:07:29.769 --> 00:07:34.269 and Jesus, right? It's Jesus and you. And there's 00:07:34.269 --> 00:07:37.449 already two in your family. So there can't be 00:07:37.449 --> 00:07:42.220 division because division creates problems. If 00:07:42.220 --> 00:07:45.779 the house is divided, how many of you get in 00:07:45.779 --> 00:07:49.139 a rowboat and you start rowing? If there's two 00:07:49.139 --> 00:07:51.879 people in the rowboat and each person has an 00:07:51.879 --> 00:07:55.000 oar, the idea is this, right? You want to row 00:07:55.000 --> 00:07:57.579 the same direction and you want to row with the 00:07:57.579 --> 00:08:00.860 same cadence. What happens if one person isn't 00:08:00.860 --> 00:08:03.720 in unity with the other person? One person's 00:08:03.720 --> 00:08:06.300 tired. You're like, I don't want to row. And 00:08:06.300 --> 00:08:08.019 the other one's going, I'm going, I'm going for 00:08:08.019 --> 00:08:12.129 it. What do you start to do? You start to turn, 00:08:12.230 --> 00:08:14.110 right? You're going to head for the riverbank. 00:08:14.329 --> 00:08:16.550 You're going to smash. What happens if one's 00:08:16.550 --> 00:08:18.209 rowing one direction and one's rowing the other 00:08:18.209 --> 00:08:21.069 direction? Oh, yeah, you're going to spin in 00:08:21.069 --> 00:08:23.970 circles. I use this analogy all the time. You're 00:08:23.970 --> 00:08:26.009 going to spin in. If you've got division, you're 00:08:26.009 --> 00:08:28.310 going to spin in circles. And how many know if 00:08:28.310 --> 00:08:30.089 you spin in circles long enough, you start to 00:08:30.089 --> 00:08:32.830 get angry? Because you can't get anywhere, right? 00:08:33.110 --> 00:08:35.090 And how many know if you stay in the boat long 00:08:35.090 --> 00:08:37.730 enough, instead of paddling water with that oar, 00:08:37.769 --> 00:08:39.309 you're going to get it out and smack each other 00:08:39.309 --> 00:08:41.190 with it, right? You're going to get irritated 00:08:41.190 --> 00:08:45.649 with it. And it's division. So if there's division 00:08:45.649 --> 00:08:48.110 in the house, if you're going two different directions, 00:08:48.210 --> 00:08:50.330 if you're not in the same cadence, if there's 00:08:50.330 --> 00:08:53.330 not unity, right, and it happens long enough, 00:08:53.649 --> 00:08:55.529 you're going to have, you're going to come to 00:08:55.529 --> 00:08:58.149 a place of desolation. You're going to abandon 00:08:58.149 --> 00:09:01.379 ship. You're going to dive out of the boat and 00:09:01.379 --> 00:09:05.700 head for swim for sure. Desolation is a complete 00:09:05.700 --> 00:09:09.299 emptiness or destruction of something. That's 00:09:09.299 --> 00:09:11.139 what Jesus said. I didn't say it. He said it. 00:09:11.990 --> 00:09:14.990 And people like to think, well, that's not really 00:09:14.990 --> 00:09:19.809 true in my family. You know, that's not us. You 00:09:19.809 --> 00:09:21.830 just got to understand who we are. You know, 00:09:21.850 --> 00:09:24.610 we just fight all the time. We got division all 00:09:24.610 --> 00:09:27.509 the time, right? That doesn't apply to us. That's 00:09:27.509 --> 00:09:30.169 just how we roll, Pastor. That's what we do in 00:09:30.169 --> 00:09:32.750 our house, right? Let me tell you something. 00:09:33.049 --> 00:09:35.929 Gravity applies to you too, right? This is a 00:09:35.929 --> 00:09:41.559 universal law. In any family, between one and 00:09:41.559 --> 00:09:44.259 100, and I don't know anybody in this house that's 00:09:44.259 --> 00:09:46.059 got 100 people in your family right now, but 00:09:46.059 --> 00:09:49.480 it could be, right? But unity is the glue in 00:09:49.480 --> 00:09:52.960 your family. If you're single and you're following 00:09:52.960 --> 00:09:56.519 Jesus and it's just Jesus and you, unity is the 00:09:56.519 --> 00:09:59.059 glue. If you're married and it's your husband 00:09:59.059 --> 00:10:02.480 and your wife and Jesus, unity is the glue. If 00:10:02.480 --> 00:10:04.559 you've got children and the circle starts to 00:10:04.559 --> 00:10:07.799 expand out with all the kids, whether that's 00:10:07.799 --> 00:10:10.700 one, two, three, or a dozen, right, unity is 00:10:10.700 --> 00:10:13.620 the glue. If you're following Jesus with a body 00:10:13.620 --> 00:10:17.440 of other believers in this house, unity is the 00:10:17.440 --> 00:10:21.289 glue. that holds us together. We have to be in 00:10:21.289 --> 00:10:25.690 unity. We got to get ready. If you're not in 00:10:25.690 --> 00:10:30.029 unity, we start to become unglued. We start to 00:10:30.029 --> 00:10:34.289 separate. So here's the thing. You got to stay 00:10:34.289 --> 00:10:38.330 vigilant when it comes to unity. In your home, 00:10:38.450 --> 00:10:41.730 in this church, when we're together, we got to 00:10:41.730 --> 00:10:45.370 be vigilant about what we're unified on. We got 00:10:45.370 --> 00:10:48.529 to be checking. the glue on a regular basis. 00:10:48.669 --> 00:10:51.289 We got to be talking with one another. We got 00:10:51.289 --> 00:10:54.350 to be inspecting, right? We should be looking 00:10:54.350 --> 00:10:58.049 for the cracks in unity. We should keep our eyes 00:10:58.049 --> 00:11:00.509 peeled for these things. We should guard against 00:11:00.509 --> 00:11:04.950 division and disunity and spot it as soon as 00:11:04.950 --> 00:11:07.490 it starts to take place and catch it on the front 00:11:07.490 --> 00:11:10.789 end before it gets too far. We got to root it 00:11:10.789 --> 00:11:15.179 out, right? We got to be watching. Don't tolerate 00:11:15.179 --> 00:11:19.440 division of the house. Don't dismiss it. Don't 00:11:19.440 --> 00:11:22.259 downplay it. Don't pretend it's not happening, 00:11:22.379 --> 00:11:25.980 right? Don't say that's just how we roll. Don't 00:11:25.980 --> 00:11:31.080 excuse it because division is the enemy of the 00:11:31.080 --> 00:11:34.240 family. Amen? I know it's tough preaching this 00:11:34.240 --> 00:11:37.720 morning, right? And many times it's Satan's attack 00:11:37.720 --> 00:11:41.580 to take down the house. He knows that this is 00:11:41.580 --> 00:11:44.220 a universal principle. He knows that this applies 00:11:44.220 --> 00:11:47.740 in good or evil. He knows that if he can get 00:11:47.740 --> 00:11:50.700 division, if he can get cracks, if he can start 00:11:50.700 --> 00:11:53.200 to make things go this direction, one go one 00:11:53.200 --> 00:11:55.379 direction, one go the other, one get out of cadence 00:11:55.379 --> 00:11:57.700 from the other, if he knows if he can make that 00:11:57.700 --> 00:12:01.179 happen, that if he can do it long enough, desolation 00:12:01.179 --> 00:12:04.809 comes, right? I ran a survey this week. Super 00:12:04.809 --> 00:12:08.470 interesting. This is from Forbes Advisory Survey. 00:12:08.590 --> 00:12:12.090 This was taken in 2023. And the interesting part 00:12:12.090 --> 00:12:15.450 of this is that Forbes typically is a financial 00:12:15.450 --> 00:12:19.129 survey group. And this is a secular group. This 00:12:19.129 --> 00:12:21.370 isn't a Christian survey group. But listen to 00:12:21.370 --> 00:12:24.470 what they say. It says this, that only 5 % of 00:12:24.470 --> 00:12:27.049 divorcees say that there was no way their marriage 00:12:27.049 --> 00:12:30.480 could have been saved. Only 5%. out of everyone 00:12:30.480 --> 00:12:33.320 that gets divorced. A whopping 63 % said that 00:12:33.320 --> 00:12:36.240 if they had a better understanding of commitments 00:12:36.240 --> 00:12:38.320 prior to marrying, they could have helped them 00:12:38.320 --> 00:12:42.360 avoid divorce. And 54 % said if they had a better 00:12:42.360 --> 00:12:44.299 understanding of their spouse's morals and values, 00:12:44.440 --> 00:12:47.940 priorities to getting married, they might still 00:12:47.940 --> 00:12:50.840 be together. Do you know what that survey reveals? 00:12:51.120 --> 00:12:54.679 That 95 % of couples who are divorced said they 00:12:54.679 --> 00:12:57.080 could possibly still be married if they were 00:12:57.080 --> 00:12:59.340 in unity, if they were on the same page about 00:12:59.340 --> 00:13:03.659 something. 95 % of them. And this article goes 00:13:03.659 --> 00:13:07.570 on to spell out the reasons. For the divorce. 00:13:07.669 --> 00:13:10.710 And it's not what I thought. Honestly, I read 00:13:10.710 --> 00:13:13.429 statistics many years ago, and it really isn't 00:13:13.429 --> 00:13:15.629 what I thought it was. Number six is this. They 00:13:15.629 --> 00:13:18.529 give the top six. Number six is finances. Number 00:13:18.529 --> 00:13:21.309 five is relationships with friends. Number four 00:13:21.309 --> 00:13:24.009 is relationships with family. Number three is 00:13:24.009 --> 00:13:27.990 division of household labor. Chores, man. Chores 00:13:27.990 --> 00:13:31.289 will mess you up in your house. All right? Parenting 00:13:31.289 --> 00:13:35.149 differences is number two. Number one is career 00:13:35.149 --> 00:13:38.519 choices. I was shocked when I saw all these. 00:13:39.059 --> 00:13:42.440 The reason for division of the house is not that 00:13:42.440 --> 00:13:44.539 the other person in the marriage is this horrible, 00:13:44.659 --> 00:13:47.519 morally bankrupt person. That's only 5 % of them, 00:13:47.559 --> 00:13:50.259 right? It's not some degenerate that somebody 00:13:50.259 --> 00:13:53.419 married, and it's just a total mess. It's all 00:13:53.419 --> 00:13:56.259 these reasons. It is the God glue of family. 00:13:56.460 --> 00:14:00.289 People are out of unity with each other. They're 00:14:00.289 --> 00:14:03.470 not stepping with one another. They're not working 00:14:03.470 --> 00:14:06.110 this out. Jesus said it. Every kingdom divided 00:14:06.110 --> 00:14:09.169 against itself is brought to desolation. And 00:14:09.169 --> 00:14:12.149 every city or house divided against itself will 00:14:12.149 --> 00:14:17.190 not stand. The God glue of family is unity. So 00:14:17.190 --> 00:14:19.149 we got to ask ourselves. We got to ask ourselves 00:14:19.149 --> 00:14:20.710 the question, right? You got to ask yourself 00:14:20.710 --> 00:14:23.149 the tough question. How united is my family? 00:14:24.370 --> 00:14:26.690 Come on. Some of you got to say amen. I'm getting 00:14:26.690 --> 00:14:29.159 scared up here. Nobody's saying anything. How 00:14:29.159 --> 00:14:34.039 united is my family? How united is our church, 00:14:34.159 --> 00:14:40.159 right? Unity in the house. Listen, if we're gonna 00:14:40.159 --> 00:14:42.759 stand, Jesus said it. If we're gonna stand, we 00:14:42.759 --> 00:14:47.240 gotta be united. So how do we do it? How do we 00:14:47.240 --> 00:14:50.419 do it? How do we produce this God glue right 00:14:50.419 --> 00:14:53.340 for family? Because Lord knows we have plenty 00:14:53.340 --> 00:14:55.799 of division. We have plenty of division in our 00:14:55.799 --> 00:14:58.340 personal families. We've got plenty of division. 00:14:58.989 --> 00:15:00.909 Sometimes it takes place in churches, right? 00:15:01.409 --> 00:15:04.590 How do we get this God glue? Well, I'm going 00:15:04.590 --> 00:15:06.090 to give you some basic ingredients. I'm going 00:15:06.090 --> 00:15:08.110 to give you one today. You got to come back two 00:15:08.110 --> 00:15:09.090 weeks from now. I'm going to give you another 00:15:09.090 --> 00:15:11.090 one. All right. That was a little teaser, by 00:15:11.090 --> 00:15:13.490 the way. Get you back. Father's Day is going 00:15:13.490 --> 00:15:15.269 to be awesome. Desmond Wellington is going to 00:15:15.269 --> 00:15:17.470 be here. Bishop Desmond. But come back the second 00:15:17.470 --> 00:15:20.629 week. But what are the basic ingredients of this 00:15:20.629 --> 00:15:23.190 God glue for family that I'm talking about? For 00:15:23.190 --> 00:15:26.269 unity. Well, the first one is this. It is leadership. 00:15:26.669 --> 00:15:32.340 Say leadership. who is leading this family who 00:15:32.340 --> 00:15:35.440 is leading the individuals that make up this 00:15:35.440 --> 00:15:40.279 family who are the individuals um believing is 00:15:40.279 --> 00:15:43.159 leadership right it's what you believe who are 00:15:43.159 --> 00:15:45.259 the individuals in the family who do they believe 00:15:45.259 --> 00:15:47.379 that the leader of the family is who do they 00:15:47.379 --> 00:15:52.289 perceive that is leading the family, right? Leadership 00:15:52.289 --> 00:15:56.570 is one of the ingredients of God glue, of unity 00:15:56.570 --> 00:15:59.429 in the family. And you could go around this church. 00:15:59.529 --> 00:16:02.870 You could ask any three -year -old, amen? We 00:16:02.870 --> 00:16:04.610 got a lot of three -year -olds here. You could 00:16:04.610 --> 00:16:07.090 go and ask any three -year -old who the leader 00:16:07.090 --> 00:16:08.649 of the family is, and they're probably not going 00:16:08.649 --> 00:16:10.490 to be able to give you an answer. But how many 00:16:10.490 --> 00:16:14.409 know they think they are? Come on, at age three. 00:16:14.759 --> 00:16:16.179 They think they're leading the family, right? 00:16:16.379 --> 00:16:18.580 Sometimes until they're about 13 and then beyond, 00:16:18.820 --> 00:16:20.919 right? They think they're leading the family. 00:16:21.100 --> 00:16:23.399 And if they're not sure who the leader is, they're 00:16:23.399 --> 00:16:24.879 just going to go ahead and lead anyway, right? 00:16:25.279 --> 00:16:27.779 And, you know, a three -year -old, when they 00:16:27.779 --> 00:16:29.840 want to lead, they don't do it like you and I. 00:16:29.899 --> 00:16:32.919 They don't command and demand. They just begin 00:16:32.919 --> 00:16:36.419 to scream and cry and howl, right? We call that... 00:16:36.970 --> 00:16:38.929 having a hissy fit. Anybody seen a kid have a 00:16:38.929 --> 00:16:41.009 hissy fit? Anybody know what that is, all right? 00:16:41.110 --> 00:16:42.870 It's when they throw themselves down, right? 00:16:43.009 --> 00:16:45.009 And you know what they're doing right then? They're 00:16:45.009 --> 00:16:47.269 trying to lead, all right? They're like, you're 00:16:47.269 --> 00:16:49.370 not doing what I want you to do. You need, you 00:16:49.370 --> 00:16:51.129 got to follow me right now. That's what a three 00:16:51.129 --> 00:16:53.029 -year -old's saying. Just slide in behind me. 00:16:53.090 --> 00:16:54.470 I'll take you where we're going to go to the 00:16:54.470 --> 00:16:56.409 promised land, all right? Whatever that is for 00:16:56.409 --> 00:16:58.509 a three -year -old. That's what they're saying, 00:16:58.649 --> 00:17:01.309 right? And how many of you got some children 00:17:01.309 --> 00:17:03.409 in your house that are over five feet tall and 00:17:03.409 --> 00:17:05.750 they still having hissy fits? Come on, yeah, 00:17:05.809 --> 00:17:07.650 amen. Don't look at anybody right now. Don't 00:17:07.650 --> 00:17:11.390 say anything, all right? It's true. It's true. 00:17:12.340 --> 00:17:14.920 You know, but the moment the family members start 00:17:14.920 --> 00:17:17.880 looking to different individuals as leaders in 00:17:17.880 --> 00:17:19.500 the home and they're not sure who's leading, 00:17:19.660 --> 00:17:21.900 they're not sure what's going on, they'll start 00:17:21.900 --> 00:17:23.460 to decide or they'll make themselves leaders. 00:17:23.519 --> 00:17:25.900 They'll call it out themselves, right? That's 00:17:25.900 --> 00:17:27.519 what leaders do. And some of your kids are leaders, 00:17:27.660 --> 00:17:29.079 right? Some of you know what I'm talking about. 00:17:29.119 --> 00:17:30.480 Some of you kids, you got strong willed kids. 00:17:30.619 --> 00:17:32.619 They're like, hey, nobody's gonna lead. I'll 00:17:32.619 --> 00:17:34.440 take command right now, right here. Give me the 00:17:34.440 --> 00:17:37.829 controls, all right? They'll do it, right? But 00:17:37.829 --> 00:17:40.470 it's about who's leading. Division of the house 00:17:40.470 --> 00:17:44.049 will occur on some level in your household if 00:17:44.049 --> 00:17:47.329 we don't know who is leading, who the ultimate 00:17:47.329 --> 00:17:50.210 leader is, right? E. Stanley Jones, a missionary 00:17:50.210 --> 00:17:52.910 theologian and author said this, talk about what 00:17:52.910 --> 00:17:55.630 you believe and you will have disunity. Talk 00:17:55.630 --> 00:17:58.130 about who you believe in and you're gonna have 00:17:58.130 --> 00:18:02.250 unity. Unity is a product of believing in the 00:18:02.250 --> 00:18:05.940 same leader, following the same leader. Unity 00:18:05.940 --> 00:18:09.279 is a product of believing in the same leader. 00:18:09.559 --> 00:18:12.200 If you're looking for unity in your family, any 00:18:12.200 --> 00:18:15.119 family, we got to discernment. We got to decide. 00:18:15.339 --> 00:18:18.140 We got to honestly answer who's leading the family. 00:18:18.299 --> 00:18:21.619 Is it Jesus leading your family or is it someone 00:18:21.619 --> 00:18:24.519 else leading your family, right? We got to look 00:18:24.519 --> 00:18:28.480 to who that ultimate person is. You know, is 00:18:28.480 --> 00:18:31.819 Jesus leading the way as we go forward in family? 00:18:31.960 --> 00:18:35.039 Are we modeling that? Are we seeing that? Are 00:18:35.039 --> 00:18:38.200 we talking that? Are we teaching that? Are they 00:18:38.200 --> 00:18:42.480 catching? this right? Or is someone else? John 00:18:42.480 --> 00:18:47.900 Maxwell says, leadership is influence. Who's 00:18:47.900 --> 00:18:51.359 influencing the people in your house? Is it Jesus? 00:18:51.880 --> 00:18:55.220 Because different leaders will divide the path. 00:18:55.480 --> 00:18:57.779 They will. Now, I was going to do this morning. 00:18:57.880 --> 00:18:59.480 We don't have time for it. But I was going to 00:18:59.480 --> 00:19:00.839 get two people up here and make them leaders, 00:19:00.980 --> 00:19:03.200 a couple three -year -olds. Get them up here 00:19:03.200 --> 00:19:05.519 and make them leaders, right? And have people 00:19:05.519 --> 00:19:08.480 come in behind them. And no matter what two leaders 00:19:08.480 --> 00:19:10.140 I got up here, if I got two adults up here and 00:19:10.140 --> 00:19:11.400 I said, you're the leader, you're the leader. 00:19:11.559 --> 00:19:13.880 And I said, six other people will follow in behind 00:19:13.880 --> 00:19:15.779 them. Now I want you to lead them somewhere. 00:19:15.859 --> 00:19:17.079 And I tell them, just walk around the church. 00:19:17.339 --> 00:19:18.819 How many know they'd be on two different paths, 00:19:19.019 --> 00:19:21.480 right? They're not going to walk the same way. 00:19:22.039 --> 00:19:24.420 If you've got two leaders, if you've got three 00:19:24.420 --> 00:19:26.519 leaders, they're not going to take the same path. 00:19:26.660 --> 00:19:28.680 Even if I told them to walk down the middle aisle, 00:19:28.839 --> 00:19:30.920 one would be on one side of the aisle and one 00:19:30.920 --> 00:19:32.920 would be on the other side of the aisle, right? 00:19:33.640 --> 00:19:36.539 Different leaders. You've got to determine who's 00:19:36.539 --> 00:19:39.240 leading this deal, who's leading this family. 00:19:39.519 --> 00:19:43.299 So many times in families, we're addressing the 00:19:43.299 --> 00:19:46.559 symptoms of division when we never get down to 00:19:46.559 --> 00:19:49.900 the core of the division. We're trying to figure 00:19:49.900 --> 00:19:53.880 out, we're trying to patch up all the fights, 00:19:54.079 --> 00:19:56.299 right? We're trying to make sure everybody comes 00:19:56.299 --> 00:19:58.480 to a place of peace. And we're trying to make 00:19:58.480 --> 00:20:00.420 peace. We're trying to do all things. But we 00:20:00.420 --> 00:20:03.059 don't get down to what's cracking the glue. You 00:20:03.059 --> 00:20:05.599 know, what's causing the fissures? What's causing 00:20:05.599 --> 00:20:08.839 the chasms in the family? And I'm telling you, 00:20:08.859 --> 00:20:11.480 it's leadership. It's one of the reasons. You 00:20:11.480 --> 00:20:14.500 don't have God glue without leadership. You've 00:20:14.500 --> 00:20:16.640 got to determine who we're following in this 00:20:16.640 --> 00:20:20.970 house. What's this look like, right? Are the 00:20:20.970 --> 00:20:23.130 members of my house following Colossians chapter 00:20:23.130 --> 00:20:29.190 3? Let me read Colossians chapter 1, verses 9 00:20:29.190 --> 00:20:52.380 through 20. It says this. And for all patience 00:20:52.380 --> 00:20:55.539 and long -suffering with joy. Giving thanks to 00:20:55.539 --> 00:20:57.680 the Father who has qualified us to be partakers 00:20:57.680 --> 00:21:00.259 of the inheritance of the saints in the light. 00:21:00.400 --> 00:21:02.400 He has delivered us from the power of darkness 00:21:02.400 --> 00:21:05.039 and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of 00:21:05.039 --> 00:21:07.299 His love, in whom we have redemption through 00:21:07.299 --> 00:21:11.279 His blood and forgiveness of sins. Jesus is the 00:21:11.279 --> 00:21:14.319 image of the invisible God, the firstborn over 00:21:14.319 --> 00:21:17.420 all creation. For by him all things were created 00:21:17.420 --> 00:21:19.420 that are in heaven and on the earth, visible 00:21:19.420 --> 00:21:22.559 and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or 00:21:22.559 --> 00:21:25.480 principalities or powers. All things were created 00:21:25.480 --> 00:21:28.700 through him and for him. And he is before all 00:21:28.700 --> 00:21:32.740 things, and in him all things consist. And he 00:21:32.740 --> 00:21:35.940 is the head of the body, the church who is the 00:21:35.940 --> 00:21:39.119 beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that 00:21:39.119 --> 00:21:44.940 in all things that he may have preeminence. Say 00:21:44.940 --> 00:21:50.039 preeminence. Do all the family members believe 00:21:50.039 --> 00:21:55.109 that Jesus has preeminence? In the family, right? 00:21:55.450 --> 00:21:58.630 Do I believe and act like Jesus is preeminent? 00:21:59.170 --> 00:22:01.650 Preeminent means that he's supreme. He's the 00:22:01.650 --> 00:22:03.970 supreme leader, right? He's the first leader. 00:22:04.109 --> 00:22:07.650 He's the most powerful. He surpasses all other 00:22:07.650 --> 00:22:10.230 leadership in the house, including myself, right? 00:22:10.470 --> 00:22:13.549 Do I believe and not just recognize that Jesus 00:22:13.549 --> 00:22:16.910 holds the highest rank in his family, that he 00:22:16.910 --> 00:22:21.970 calls it, what he says goes? Do I live, move, 00:22:22.190 --> 00:22:27.630 and have my being in this? Because if Jesus is 00:22:27.630 --> 00:22:31.210 the preeminent leader in our home, right, there's 00:22:31.210 --> 00:22:33.670 going to be unity if everyone believes that. 00:22:34.230 --> 00:22:38.309 It holds true. And if not, there's division. 00:22:39.390 --> 00:22:43.069 Luke 12, 49, sometimes people really wrestle 00:22:43.069 --> 00:22:46.589 over this scripture. And Jesus said this, and 00:22:46.589 --> 00:22:49.400 it's true. Let me read this for you. And it came, 00:22:49.500 --> 00:22:53.160 and it says this. I came, Jesus talking. I came 00:22:53.160 --> 00:22:55.240 to send fire on the earth and how I wish it were 00:22:55.240 --> 00:22:58.380 already kindled. But I have a baptism to be baptized 00:22:58.380 --> 00:23:01.380 with and how distressed I am to what's accomplished. 00:23:01.779 --> 00:23:03.900 Do you suppose that I came to give peace on the 00:23:03.900 --> 00:23:06.640 earth? I tell you not at all, but rather division. 00:23:07.220 --> 00:23:10.059 From now on, five in one house will be divided. 00:23:10.359 --> 00:23:13.019 Three against two and two against three. Father 00:23:13.019 --> 00:23:15.299 will be divided against son and son against father, 00:23:15.440 --> 00:23:17.440 mother against daughter and daughter against 00:23:17.440 --> 00:23:19.839 mother, mother -in -law against her daughter 00:23:19.839 --> 00:23:22.259 -in -law, and daughter -in -law against her mother 00:23:22.259 --> 00:23:28.019 -in -law. Wow. Why did Jesus come and speak this 00:23:28.019 --> 00:23:30.960 with an agenda to break up families, to dissolve 00:23:30.960 --> 00:23:34.819 the glue of unity between us? No. A thousand 00:23:34.819 --> 00:23:40.039 times no. But Jesus knew this. As he came as 00:23:40.039 --> 00:23:43.460 God in the flesh, as he came to be the Prince 00:23:43.460 --> 00:23:46.079 of Peace and the price that would pay for our 00:23:46.079 --> 00:23:49.279 salvation, as he came to reconcile us back to 00:23:49.279 --> 00:23:52.500 God and to be the preeminent leader in our lives, 00:23:52.619 --> 00:23:56.220 he knew that some in the house would not receive 00:23:56.220 --> 00:23:59.829 or believe in him. He knew that. He knew that 00:23:59.829 --> 00:24:02.529 in one household, there will be three that will 00:24:02.529 --> 00:24:04.789 believe that he's the preeminent leader, and 00:24:04.789 --> 00:24:06.690 there will be two that won't, or there'll be 00:24:06.690 --> 00:24:10.069 two and three the other direction. He knew that 00:24:10.069 --> 00:24:11.829 there would be mother -in -law and father -in 00:24:11.829 --> 00:24:15.569 -law, you know, or daughter -in -law divided 00:24:15.569 --> 00:24:18.549 on this. He knew that. He knew that this would 00:24:18.549 --> 00:24:22.230 not always be true in families, right? That it 00:24:22.230 --> 00:24:27.460 would cause opposition. He's the glue. He's the 00:24:27.460 --> 00:24:32.359 leader in their family. But also, right, it can 00:24:32.359 --> 00:24:35.819 be a place of division. It's a place of division. 00:24:36.900 --> 00:24:40.220 And I know this is difficult, right? This is 00:24:40.220 --> 00:24:44.259 not amen kind of preaching. I wish it was. All 00:24:44.259 --> 00:24:47.099 right? I know this is hard things to hear, but 00:24:47.099 --> 00:24:51.000 it's true and it's universal. It's a law that 00:24:51.000 --> 00:24:54.200 applies to all of us. And I'd love to say, you 00:24:54.200 --> 00:24:56.319 know, well, if you just got the right intentions, 00:24:56.400 --> 00:24:58.759 and, you know, if you're a Christian, you get 00:24:58.759 --> 00:25:01.559 excluded from all this. I'd love to say that, 00:25:01.640 --> 00:25:04.619 but it's not true. Jesus said this is how it's 00:25:04.619 --> 00:25:07.500 going to be. So you've got to learn how to work 00:25:07.500 --> 00:25:09.420 through this. You've got to learn how to wade 00:25:09.420 --> 00:25:12.880 through this at every level of family, right, 00:25:13.000 --> 00:25:16.960 at every stage of family. How do I navigate this? 00:25:17.160 --> 00:25:19.559 What's this look like? If it's not always perfection, 00:25:19.779 --> 00:25:21.480 right? It's not always that everybody's serving 00:25:21.480 --> 00:25:23.740 God in our families. It's not that everybody 00:25:23.740 --> 00:25:26.119 believes that he's the preeminent leader. So 00:25:26.119 --> 00:25:28.859 what do I do with this? Well, I'm going to break 00:25:28.859 --> 00:25:31.299 this out in three things, all right? I'm going 00:25:31.299 --> 00:25:33.059 to talk to parents of young children. If you've 00:25:33.059 --> 00:25:34.839 got young children, raise your hand, all right? 00:25:34.960 --> 00:25:37.039 Raise your hand. A bunch of you got young children. 00:25:37.400 --> 00:25:39.720 I'm going to tell you this right now. Leverage 00:25:39.720 --> 00:25:41.660 this truth as much as you can when your kids 00:25:41.660 --> 00:25:45.019 are young. You are a huge influence in your children's 00:25:45.019 --> 00:25:47.799 lives. You are almost the exclusive influence 00:25:47.799 --> 00:25:51.200 till they get up to age seven or eight years 00:25:51.200 --> 00:25:54.859 old, intentionally move to make Jesus the supreme 00:25:54.859 --> 00:25:58.490 leader of their life. Walk them through. Explain. 00:25:58.930 --> 00:26:01.089 Show them the Word of God. Lead them to a place 00:26:01.089 --> 00:26:04.390 of salvation. Live it. Talk it. Model it in every 00:26:04.390 --> 00:26:07.369 way that you can. Let it be your obsession while 00:26:07.369 --> 00:26:09.690 your children are young, right? Make it a top 00:26:09.690 --> 00:26:13.470 priority to model that Jesus is the preeminent 00:26:13.470 --> 00:26:16.829 supreme leader in this household. Make it possible. 00:26:17.210 --> 00:26:19.789 And let me tell you right now, that doesn't guarantee 00:26:19.789 --> 00:26:21.690 that your child's going to believe when they 00:26:21.690 --> 00:26:24.619 come to a place of faith on their own. But you 00:26:24.619 --> 00:26:27.140 do everything you can. Adopt, can I tell you 00:26:27.140 --> 00:26:30.039 something? Adopt a Joshua mantra, all right? 00:26:30.640 --> 00:26:33.799 Joshua said this. Joshua was surrounded by individuals 00:26:33.799 --> 00:26:37.299 in Israel who did not want to serve God. And 00:26:37.299 --> 00:26:40.519 he said, but as for me and my house, he said, 00:26:40.539 --> 00:26:42.990 we're going to serve the Lord, right? In this 00:26:42.990 --> 00:26:45.490 house, we serve the Lord while your children 00:26:45.490 --> 00:26:48.089 are young. Mom and dad, you call it when your 00:26:48.089 --> 00:26:50.329 kids are young. You call what happens in your 00:26:50.329 --> 00:26:52.569 house. You call what doesn't happen in your house. 00:26:52.690 --> 00:26:54.869 I like to tell parents, listen, when your kids 00:26:54.869 --> 00:26:56.869 are little, you are the king and she is the queen. 00:26:57.049 --> 00:27:00.069 Amen? Come on. Now, listen, that makes them, 00:27:00.089 --> 00:27:03.170 right, princes and princesses. But you got to 00:27:03.170 --> 00:27:05.490 call it. You got to lead in this. You got to 00:27:05.490 --> 00:27:09.430 show them that Jesus is preeminent. Right? Walk 00:27:09.430 --> 00:27:13.140 it out. But how many of those little ones, they 00:27:13.140 --> 00:27:16.200 grow up? They don't stay little. I've been through 00:27:16.200 --> 00:27:18.200 all these stages, by the way, all right? I know 00:27:18.200 --> 00:27:23.059 what I speak. They turn into teenagers. Glory 00:27:23.059 --> 00:27:28.039 to God, I'm praying for you. They turn into teenagers, 00:27:28.380 --> 00:27:33.559 these little people, right? And it changes when 00:27:33.559 --> 00:27:36.779 they turn into teenagers. It shifts. And a lot 00:27:36.779 --> 00:27:38.160 of times parents, sometimes parents don't want 00:27:38.160 --> 00:27:39.819 to make this shift or they don't even recognize 00:27:39.819 --> 00:27:43.420 it. You got to, when it changes and when they 00:27:43.420 --> 00:27:44.960 start thinking and working through their own 00:27:44.960 --> 00:27:47.440 belief systems and what they believe and what 00:27:47.440 --> 00:27:49.599 they don't believe, you got to get a little more 00:27:49.599 --> 00:27:52.200 investigative in nature and not just calling 00:27:52.200 --> 00:27:54.220 it, right? You got to start asking good questions. 00:27:54.420 --> 00:27:56.460 You got to find out what your teenager believes 00:27:56.460 --> 00:27:58.380 and what they don't believe. And here's how the 00:27:58.380 --> 00:28:00.519 conversation is going to go. So what do you think 00:28:00.519 --> 00:28:04.180 about that? Eh, nothing. How was your day? Eh, 00:28:04.299 --> 00:28:08.809 okay. Right? You got to get them talking. How 00:28:08.809 --> 00:28:10.490 many know out of the buns of the heart the mouth 00:28:10.490 --> 00:28:13.789 speaks? You've got to get in conversation. You've 00:28:13.789 --> 00:28:16.029 got to find out where the cracks are. You've 00:28:16.029 --> 00:28:18.809 got to find out what they believe. What do they 00:28:18.809 --> 00:28:21.509 believe? Don't let them just say something. If 00:28:21.509 --> 00:28:22.970 they say something that's completely contrary 00:28:22.970 --> 00:28:25.150 to what you're saying as a parent and following 00:28:25.150 --> 00:28:27.690 Jesus, don't let them just walk away. You don't 00:28:27.690 --> 00:28:29.789 got to yell at them and say, well, I hear what 00:28:29.789 --> 00:28:31.369 you're saying now. You need to sit down and defend 00:28:31.369 --> 00:28:33.670 that. Because I'm going to defend what I believe, 00:28:33.769 --> 00:28:35.809 what Scripture says and what Jesus says, right? 00:28:35.990 --> 00:28:37.990 You've got to get in conversations with them. 00:28:38.430 --> 00:28:40.809 You've got to be a living example. You can't 00:28:40.809 --> 00:28:42.950 put down being a living example. Listen, if you're 00:28:42.950 --> 00:28:45.269 being a hypocrite in your own life, how many 00:28:45.269 --> 00:28:46.950 know teenagers will sniff that out in a heartbeat? 00:28:47.569 --> 00:28:50.130 I used to be a youth pastor. I used to work with 00:28:50.130 --> 00:28:53.289 youth. Adults, they're nice. If you're a hypocrite, 00:28:53.369 --> 00:28:55.369 they'll say, God bless you, shake your hand and 00:28:55.369 --> 00:28:56.869 move on. They'll talk about you behind your back. 00:28:57.230 --> 00:28:59.329 Teenagers won't do that. They'll call you out. 00:28:59.740 --> 00:29:02.640 All right? You cannot be a hypocrite in front 00:29:02.640 --> 00:29:04.700 of teenagers. You've got to live what you believe, 00:29:04.819 --> 00:29:06.519 and you've got to believe what you live. And 00:29:06.519 --> 00:29:08.680 you've got to speak it out. If it is a teenager, 00:29:08.880 --> 00:29:11.839 get in conversation. Get godly influence around 00:29:11.839 --> 00:29:14.480 them outside of you. Young parents, hear me in 00:29:14.480 --> 00:29:18.140 this. So many young parents, I know your kid 00:29:18.140 --> 00:29:20.900 is three or four, and the whole world revolves 00:29:20.900 --> 00:29:23.460 around mom and dad. But I'm telling you, when 00:29:23.460 --> 00:29:25.700 they start getting older, you're not the only 00:29:25.700 --> 00:29:28.309 influence in their life. And sometimes parents, 00:29:28.329 --> 00:29:30.990 they just keep going with blinders on, and they 00:29:30.990 --> 00:29:33.150 think that's true. When a kid is a teenager, 00:29:33.390 --> 00:29:35.670 when they start moving towards teenager, get 00:29:35.670 --> 00:29:37.910 them around godly influences because they're 00:29:37.910 --> 00:29:40.210 starting to listen to other voices. You've got 00:29:40.210 --> 00:29:42.130 to get them around people who are rowing the 00:29:42.130 --> 00:29:44.230 same way you're going. It is one of the most 00:29:44.230 --> 00:29:47.509 important things you'll do. My daughter, Alyssa, 00:29:47.549 --> 00:29:49.960 is sitting on the front. And I remember when 00:29:49.960 --> 00:29:51.880 they were in the house, the teenagers, and they 00:29:51.880 --> 00:29:53.380 would get around some of the preachers that I 00:29:53.380 --> 00:29:55.359 knew, and they would hear preaching, and they'd 00:29:55.359 --> 00:29:58.059 be like, Dad, you should hear this message. And 00:29:58.059 --> 00:29:59.740 they're like, they're expounding on it, and they're 00:29:59.740 --> 00:30:01.900 explaining it. And I'm thinking, I just preached 00:30:01.900 --> 00:30:08.579 that last week. They didn't even hear me. You 00:30:08.579 --> 00:30:11.480 got to get them around other influence. You got 00:30:11.480 --> 00:30:13.480 to get them around people who are going to speak 00:30:13.480 --> 00:30:15.740 into their lives and speak over their lives. 00:30:16.349 --> 00:30:18.789 push in that direction, make them, drop them 00:30:18.789 --> 00:30:22.369 off, get them there. They've got to hear other 00:30:22.369 --> 00:30:24.869 influences in their lives. They need to hear 00:30:24.869 --> 00:30:27.650 it. You're not going to be the only voice. They're 00:30:27.650 --> 00:30:30.369 going to look to other leadership and other environments. 00:30:30.609 --> 00:30:32.950 You're still a big part of their life. You're 00:30:32.950 --> 00:30:34.910 still big influence in your life, but you're 00:30:34.910 --> 00:30:39.430 not the only voice. Amen? Come on. It's true. 00:30:40.170 --> 00:30:43.109 Now, let me talk to parents that have late teens, 00:30:43.269 --> 00:30:47.559 18, 19s. Sometimes 17, right? And young adults 00:30:47.559 --> 00:30:51.240 in your home. Your young adults are going to 00:30:51.240 --> 00:30:55.660 make decisions. Everybody decides what they believe. 00:30:55.779 --> 00:30:57.180 Everybody decides if they're going to follow 00:30:57.180 --> 00:31:00.200 Jesus. Jesus, I preached on this last week. You 00:31:00.200 --> 00:31:02.200 have choice, right? That's why Jesus put the 00:31:02.200 --> 00:31:04.059 tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the 00:31:04.059 --> 00:31:06.319 garden. Because Adam had a choice because God's 00:31:06.319 --> 00:31:09.819 love and love always has a choice. And your teenagers 00:31:09.819 --> 00:31:11.579 are going to choose, or your young adults are 00:31:11.579 --> 00:31:13.339 going to choose whether they're going to follow 00:31:13.339 --> 00:31:16.000 God or not. So the past is a little bit different 00:31:16.000 --> 00:31:18.559 when they come to age, when they get to that 00:31:18.559 --> 00:31:20.980 place. First, you've got to pray, all right? 00:31:21.450 --> 00:31:23.289 If they're not following God, if there's division 00:31:23.289 --> 00:31:25.529 in the house, you got to pray for a change of 00:31:25.529 --> 00:31:29.170 heart. You got to call out to God because it's 00:31:29.170 --> 00:31:32.069 the Holy Spirit and you at this point. They need 00:31:32.069 --> 00:31:34.650 the Holy Spirit. You got to pray over them. You 00:31:34.650 --> 00:31:36.329 got to pray that God will reach them. You got 00:31:36.329 --> 00:31:38.009 to pray that God's going to open their ears, 00:31:38.109 --> 00:31:41.809 right? You got to continue to live the life. 00:31:42.009 --> 00:31:44.509 You cannot be hypocritical at this point. You 00:31:44.509 --> 00:31:47.130 can't. If you thought they could figure it out 00:31:47.130 --> 00:31:48.950 when they're teenagers, when they're young adults, 00:31:49.109 --> 00:31:51.650 they see everything. They understand what's going 00:31:51.650 --> 00:31:54.650 on around. Hypocrisy will get you nowhere. But 00:31:54.650 --> 00:31:57.250 you've got to pray. You've got to put them in 00:31:57.250 --> 00:32:02.250 God's hands. And then secondly, you've got to 00:32:02.250 --> 00:32:04.970 manage the division. You've got to manage the 00:32:04.970 --> 00:32:08.700 division. All right? How you're handling that 00:32:08.700 --> 00:32:11.619 son or daughter who does not believe that Jesus 00:32:11.619 --> 00:32:13.940 should be the spiritual leader of life, you got 00:32:13.940 --> 00:32:16.819 to handle and manage the division. Now, let me 00:32:16.819 --> 00:32:18.880 take you to a verse of scripture that will help 00:32:18.880 --> 00:32:22.140 you with this. Colossians 4 .2 says this, continue 00:32:22.140 --> 00:32:24.759 earnestly in prayer. There it is for the first 00:32:24.759 --> 00:32:28.299 step, right? Got to pray. Be vigilant in it with 00:32:28.299 --> 00:32:30.759 thanksgiving. You got to pray. Meanwhile, praying 00:32:30.759 --> 00:32:33.160 also for us that God may open to us a door for 00:32:33.160 --> 00:32:35.240 the word to speak the mystery of Christ. This 00:32:35.240 --> 00:32:37.730 is Paul writing to the... Colossians, for which 00:32:37.730 --> 00:32:40.170 I am also in chains that I may make it manifest 00:32:40.170 --> 00:32:42.869 as I ought to speak. Now he gives some instructions. 00:32:43.170 --> 00:32:46.329 He says, walk in wisdom towards those who are 00:32:46.329 --> 00:32:50.589 outside, outside the faith, right? Who don't 00:32:50.589 --> 00:32:53.690 believe, redeeming the time. Let your speech 00:32:53.690 --> 00:32:59.950 always be with grace, say grace, and seasoned 00:32:59.950 --> 00:33:03.589 with salt. Say seasoned with salt. Worship team, 00:33:03.670 --> 00:33:06.930 if you start to make your way. You have to be 00:33:06.930 --> 00:33:11.930 a spiritual sweet and salty bar with young adults. 00:33:12.710 --> 00:33:14.589 You got to be a spiritual sweet and salty bar. 00:33:15.730 --> 00:33:19.950 Your speech has to be with grace. Now, how many 00:33:19.950 --> 00:33:21.890 know when sometimes when the young adult in your 00:33:21.890 --> 00:33:24.470 home is not living like you think they should 00:33:24.470 --> 00:33:27.990 be living, the last thing we give is grace. Amen. 00:33:28.690 --> 00:33:31.950 We get fired up, man. I'm with you. I blew this 00:33:31.950 --> 00:33:35.220 a million times. You get fired up. You want to 00:33:35.220 --> 00:33:37.380 tell them how it is, right? You want to pretend 00:33:37.380 --> 00:33:39.799 they're like five again, and they think the world 00:33:39.799 --> 00:33:44.160 revolves around you. The Word of God says, this 00:33:44.160 --> 00:33:46.440 is the Word of God speaking, let your speech 00:33:46.440 --> 00:33:52.680 be full of grace. Grace. Grace is favor, kindness. 00:33:52.940 --> 00:33:56.039 It's attractive. It is beauty. There's elegance. 00:33:56.039 --> 00:33:58.400 There's gratitude. Are you hearing the Word of 00:33:58.400 --> 00:34:01.650 the Lord this morning? Let it be full of grace, 00:34:01.809 --> 00:34:05.809 not contempt, not frustration. Go vent that somewhere 00:34:05.809 --> 00:34:08.130 else. Get your head together and then come back 00:34:08.130 --> 00:34:11.690 and talk, right? Not a judgmental tone. Just 00:34:11.690 --> 00:34:15.929 come in with grace. And if you blow it, ask forgiveness 00:34:15.929 --> 00:34:19.510 and come back again. But once you come with grace, 00:34:19.610 --> 00:34:25.889 that should be seasoned with salt. Salt. Salt 00:34:25.889 --> 00:34:29.150 has a lot of different qualities. Salt adds flavor 00:34:29.150 --> 00:34:31.769 to something, right, if you sprinkle it on. But 00:34:31.769 --> 00:34:34.150 how many know if you add too much salt onto something 00:34:34.150 --> 00:34:36.730 you're trying to flavor, it ruins it? You ever 00:34:36.730 --> 00:34:39.469 have the top come off of a lid, and you're putting 00:34:39.469 --> 00:34:41.070 salt on instead of sprinkling, you dump the whole 00:34:41.070 --> 00:34:43.849 thing on, and you just mourn the steak right 00:34:43.849 --> 00:34:46.630 there. You have a mourning, a moment of mourning, 00:34:46.769 --> 00:34:50.409 and then you gather yourself, like, if I scrape 00:34:50.409 --> 00:34:52.550 it off, I think it'll still work. And you scrape 00:34:52.550 --> 00:34:54.349 it all off, and you put some steak sauce on it, 00:34:54.369 --> 00:34:58.070 right? But it'll ruin it. Too much salt, right? 00:34:58.730 --> 00:35:00.909 But if you put the right amount of salt on something, 00:35:01.030 --> 00:35:04.349 salt preserves. If you put the right on, it heals 00:35:04.349 --> 00:35:07.250 what it touches. The right amount of salt will 00:35:07.250 --> 00:35:11.230 purify and soften water. It will melt. ice and 00:35:11.230 --> 00:35:13.809 it will crack concrete. It'll crack something 00:35:13.809 --> 00:35:16.829 that is hard. So when we come to young adults 00:35:16.829 --> 00:35:19.590 and we're speaking to them in our home, you got 00:35:19.590 --> 00:35:22.070 to have full of grace. You got to be, but you 00:35:22.070 --> 00:35:24.170 better have some salt with it, right? You better 00:35:24.170 --> 00:35:26.289 bring some truth with it. You better bring something 00:35:26.289 --> 00:35:28.769 that is solid from the throne room of grace and 00:35:28.769 --> 00:35:31.170 you mix those together. So it's what you want 00:35:31.170 --> 00:35:33.230 to just confuse the daylights out of them. You're 00:35:33.230 --> 00:35:35.250 just as kind as can be. And then you nail them 00:35:35.250 --> 00:35:37.750 with salt, right? Little sweet, little salt, 00:35:37.849 --> 00:35:41.920 little sweet, little salt. Sweden, Saudi, for 00:35:41.920 --> 00:35:45.860 those who don't believe, you gotta show the love 00:35:45.860 --> 00:35:48.880 of God. Jesus was a master at this. He was a 00:35:48.880 --> 00:35:53.179 master at it. He was always gentle with the person 00:35:53.179 --> 00:35:56.119 who was far from God. He was always gracious 00:35:56.119 --> 00:35:57.840 with the person that was far from God. Look at 00:35:57.840 --> 00:36:00.940 it in scripture. But man, the hypocrites, the 00:36:00.940 --> 00:36:03.500 Pharisees, the ones who should have known better, 00:36:03.619 --> 00:36:07.940 he was salt and he poured it on. Amen, it's true. 00:36:09.190 --> 00:36:12.889 This is what you do. Every level of family. Every 00:36:12.889 --> 00:36:38.659 level. visit our website at