The Family Makeover - Deuteronomy 6

  

Deuteronomy means “repetition of the law,” or “second law.” Our passage happens near the end of Moses’ life as he prepares Israel to enter the Promised Land. Moses keeps repeating the commands and laws that God has given Israel in order to shape them into his people so they can reveal him to the nations. Moses has guided the people for the past 40 years through the wilderness and knows them well. He sees that the children can be just as stubborn, rebellious, and forgetful of God as their parents were. It’s because of their parent’s stubbornness, fear, and lack of trust when they refused to enter the Promised Land, that they had to wander in the wilderness for 40 years until the parents died. Now it’s only their children and grandchildren who are preparing to enter the Promised Land.

We all want our families to be strong in our faith and trust in God, and yet we’re not that different from the Israelites. We don’t always make Jesus the center and foundation of our homes; we get focused on other things, many of them really good, but often give them more priority than we give God. Last week we were challenged to begin our home makeover by choosing with Joshua, “as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” This morning we’re turning to the “repetition of the law” to see what that looks like.

The Israelites don’t have memories of the Red Sea, and Mount Sinai, and the giving of the Ten Commandments. Moses reminds them of their history, emphasizing that they’re responsible for the next generations to know the Lord and his commands. Moses calls them to obey the “commands, decrees, and laws the Lord your God directed me to teach you to observe in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess.” He gives them a long-term vision for their families, “so that your children and their children after them may fear the Lord your God,” and “so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, promised you.” When you make the decision to be an “as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord,” family, and make this the foundation of your family, to live according to the laws and commands of the Lord, it will impact and shape your family: who you are, your values, priorities, and loves.

The Jews think in terms of generations. Moses mentions that God is the God of their ancestors, but also looks forward to their children and their children after them. Decisions and choices you make today impact not only yourself, but generations down the road. I’m sure you think of your children and grandchildren’s future; what values and priorities will shape their lives. If you want them to serve and love the Lord, it begins with you choosing obedience to the Lord’s ways. I think of how my grandparents immigrated to Canada after WW II so that that their children and their grandchildren would have a better life. I know from some of the stories you’ve shared with me, that this is part of your stories too. Part of the immigration story was to quickly build churches and Christian schools to center their lives on Jesus, growing our faith as an everyday faith.

Moses calls out twice, “Hear, O Israel.” The first time he calls them to obedience to the Lord so that it will go well for them. In the second “Hear O Israel,” Moses gives us what’s called the Shema, “The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.” 5 times Moses uses the word you or your; our family makeovers begin with you and your commitment to carefully obey the law of the Lord, to keep the commands of Jesus.

Obedience is rooted in the love of God, “Love the Lord with all your heart, soul, and strength.” This is the greatest commandment; Jesus uses this verse to summarize the first half of the Ten Commandments which Moses had reminded them of in the previous chapter. This is what God wants, a genuine love that flows through our whole life, a love freely given and expressed in our daily lives, leading to a blessed life for those who commit themselves to obeying God. Jesus later tells his followers, “If you love me, you will keep my commands.”

The Law was given to Israel as a gift at Mount Sinai right after God freed them from slavery to Egypt and her gods. Jesus’ commands keep us free from falling into slavery to the gods of our day. When we live in obedience to Jesus, we find freedom. “What would our family and friends say we love with all our heart, soul, and strength?” Remember, what you love is what your children will learn to love.  

Our family makeover is shaped by your commitment to carefully obey the will and commands of God. If you don’t, why would you expect the next generations to? How do we pass our faith on to our children and grandchildren and all the children and youth of our church family? As mentioned last week, it begins with you serving the Lord, loving the Lord with all your heart, soul, and strength. You can’t pass on what you don’t have. Then you have to model it out in your own life, walking the talk every day, not just on Sundays. This love is to be cultivated like seeds. The people are told to keep the words in their heart; to always be aware of them, to live them out.

But it’s not always easy to live this way. The Search Institute discovered that 48% of church youth see their mom as very religious, 23% of them see their dad as very religious, 28% of them have talked with their mom about faith, while 13% of them have talked with their dad about faith. I pray our statistics in Bethel are better than this, but it shows us that faith walk and talk isn’t happening nearly as often as it could or should. When we look at some of the reasons faith talking isn’t happening as often in our homes; we see how churches and family worship have changed over the past 75 years.

Shortly after WW II, churches began separating the family by age with younger children leaving part way through the service for Sunday School, hiring youth pastors that focused on youth worship and faith formation, and slowly parents began to expect the church to train up their children in the faith. Churches enabled this by creating ministries that are church centered instead of coming alongside the homes and equipping them to be the centers of faith formation, where “These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up,” are the normal part of our family life. We’re to do this by reciting them at home and away, that means everywhere! Car rides are great times to talk about faith and life. We’re to do this when we rise and lay down, all day long. The Jews were to bind them physically on their hands and fix them on their foreheads, to write them on their doorposts and on their gates. They’re to literally submerge their whole family each day in God. God doesn’t teach us to drop our children off for the church to teach them the faith, or for the church to not engage the parents and grandparents and extended family, but to join with them in raising our children in the faith.

Moses calls the people to “Fear the Lord, your God, serve him only and take your oaths in his name. Do not follow other gods.” Just like in Moses’ time, there are plenty of gods enticing us to follow them and they will give us our heart’s desires, but they only give us an illusion of what we want. When tragedy comes, they abandon us in our brokenness and hurt because their promises are all empty air. My brother and sister-in-law lost a son to SIDS. Do you really think any of the gods of today, whether they’re pleasure, wealth, beauty, sports, or work could have comforted them? No! It was their faith in God that carried them through, faith learned from our parents and grandparents who lived through hard times and shared how knowing that through Jesus’ death and resurrection, one day they’ll be reunited again with their son.

Parents and grandparents are the primary ones responsible for raising the family in the faith. Faith formation begins at home, but is strongly supported by the church. Church is responsible for coming alongside the parents, equipping them, encouraging them, being part of your extended family as mentors, friends, and non-bio family. What simple practical steps can you take to love and serve God as family; how can Bethel come alongside you?

The Extended Family Makeover - 2 Timothy 1:1-16; 3:14-17

When Joyce and I became parents, my younger sister always knew better than we did about how to raise our kids, even though she was only a teenager herself. I had lots of chuckles over her advice after she became a parent years later. Raising kids to grow deep and strong in the faith and in character is hard work, and honestly, parents need help. In Biblical times, most families lived together as multi-generational families; that’s not the norm today.

Paul takes a young man, Timothy, and disciples him. Paul’s more than a mentor, he sees Timothy as a son, investing in him like he’s family. Paul becomes a spiritual father to Timothy, helping him to pastor a difficult church in Ephesus. This was a city steeped in emperor worship, with a major temple to the goddess Artemis, and where you could find many magic cults. It’s in this city that Timothy’s preaching the gospel of Jesus which refuses to accommodate cults, creating pushback. Timothy needs someone like Paul to encourage him; to be a trusted person keeping him focused on Jesus.

A couple of weeks back, we looked at the major influences on a person’s faith and the importance of family: mothers influenced 81% of the males and 74% of the females, fathers 61% of the males and 50 of the females, pastors 57% of the males and 44% of the females, and grandparents 30% of the males and 24% of the females. When I became a youth pastor and then a pastor, I experienced how often I’m looked to as role model because of absent or busy fathers or family.

Paul’s reminded of Timothy’s faith, and like most children today, his faith comes from the Holy Spirit through his mother and grandmother. Paul becomes someone who fills an extended family role in Timothy’s life. Paul fills in for an absent father, grandparent, or extended family member role. Even when we as fathers or grandfathers are present, there’s still great value in our sons having another man of faith be like a trusted uncle, and for our daughters, having another woman of faith be like a trusted aunt to them.

We become an extended spiritual family when we embrace the responsibility of spiritually mentoring our church’s children. Paul refers to Timothy as a son in 1 Timothy, “my true son in the faith,” and in 2 Timothy, “my dear son.” Paul accepts his responsibility to help Timothy to grow in the faith, committing big-time. Do we? We’re responsible for the spiritual development and growth of the children and youth God puts in our lives and church. Paul writes to Timothy in what we call a circular letter, a letter meant to be read out loud to the church and then copied and shared with other churches. Paul takes a very public and personal responsibility for being in Timothy’s life, even though Timothy’s not related to him. Paul doesn’t have any children of his own, he’s single, yet he accepts his responsibility to pass the faith on to the next generation. Each one of us has a role to play in growing our children in the faith.

Maybe you’re a grandparent and your grandchildren live far away. There’s lots of children and youth here in Bethel who could use a spiritual grandparent, aunt or uncle, or spiritual friend. But you can also make a difference in your own grandchildren’s lives, even when they’re far away. In Allendale, Michigan, a group of grandparents got together once a month over the winter to write letters and cards to their grandchildren who lived away from home. It started for the university students, but over time it got extended to the grandchildren of all ages. They’d write to their own grandchildren, but then they would each take one or two of each other’s grandchildren to also write them a card or short letter. Other seniors began coming who didn’t have any grandchildren to also write letters to the children of the congregation. They prayed over all the letters and cards before placing them in the mail. When the grandchildren of the congregation would come home, they’d mention how important it was for them to receive these gifts of love from the congregation, knowing they’re being prayed for, and over, every month. It reminded them of God’s love for them. Own the responsibility of pouring faith and love into the lives of the children, even the adult children of Bethel. Your wisdom and experience are gifts from God: share them.

Prayer and Scripture need to be foundational in our extended family relationships. Paul writes Timothy, “I constantly remember you in my prayers.” Pray for our children. It’s powerful, praying for God to be part of their lives. Let them know that you’re praying for them. It’s so uplifting to know that someone is praying for you, taking time to regularly talk to God about you. Paul also prayed with Timothy in a number of his letters written with Timothy; Colossians 1:3, “We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you,” and 1 Thessalonians 1:2, “We always thank God for all of you and continually mention you in our prayers.” Praying together helps us grow closer together and with God.

Scripture’s important in our relationships. Paul reminds Timothy, “from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” Scripture’s the story of God and his relationship with his people. The Jews read Scripture as their family story, something we need to remember; it’s our family story too. At the heart of spiritual training is the Bible. Rely on it for truth, values, and direction to raise your children. Solomon teaches in Proverbs 22:6, “Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old, they will not turn from it.” Paul encourages Timothy to continue in what he’s learned, and in his first letter, to set an example in his life, and to devote himself to publicly reading Scripture, preaching and teaching.

The strength of a strong spiritual family is that it allows you to be vulnerable and humble. Paul writes, 1 Timothy 1:12-16: “I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me faithful, appointing me to his service. Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life.” Paul admits his past was anti-Jesus, sharing this with Timothy, trusting Timothy, taking the chance that Timothy might reject him because of his past. This takes deep humility, yet can lead to stronger relationships. Paul admits he needs God’s grace as much as everyone else.

George Barna writes, “Another teaching tool that helps many parents is their willingness to tell personal stories and integrate some degree of personal vulnerability into their narrative in order to capture attention and drive home a point . . . When parents effectively describe a compelling life event that resulted in personal transformation, children are more likely to glean valuable wisdom from the story.” When you share personal stories with some vulnerability of life events that brought change, it impacts children and helps them gain precious wisdom from the stories. Through your stories, you help them learn to recognize their gifts and how to use and develop them.

We underestimate the importance of having people in our extended families who show us how to live for Jesus. Paul writes, 1 Corinthians 4:16–17, “Therefore I urge you to imitate me. For this reason I have sent to you Timothy, my son whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church.” Paul reminds us that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, as my mom would say. Paul encourages Timothy to imitate him as he imitates Jesus. Timothy learns what living for Jesus looks like from watching Paul.

For me, it was a church elder, Jack. He loves God, but made mistakes. He never made excuses, always owned up to them publicly, and worked hard to change. His humility and integrity always encouraged me. Jack helped me see how repentance and sanctification are a life long journey, and to show grace for those who trying their best, even when they fail. Do kids see you as humble, learning, growing Christians who need God’s grace just as much as they do? If you want to know what kind of a follower of Jesus you’re raising up, look in the mirror. It’s easy to not be involved, we’re too much like our culture which tells us to do easy and shallow instead of deep and hard in our relationships and responsibilities.

When we intentionally take responsibility for growing our children spiritually, making prayer and Scripture foundational in our relationships, when we’re real and vulnerable and humble, and encourage and prepare our children to use their gifts while modelling the Chistian life to them, we become family. Are you in?

The Child’s Foundation - Psalm 127

                    

Psalm 127 is one of the psalms the people would sing as they walked up Mount Zion towards Jerusalem. This psalm’s written by Solomon using the imagery of building a house to describe building Israel with God as the builder, but it also applies to the family. The principles are the same, unless the Lord is the one doing the building, unless the Lord is the one we turn to for what the identity, values, purpose, and meaning for being family should be, we’re working in vain. We can build beautiful houses, but if the Lord isn’t the designer and foundation, the house will not last.

We’re in a series based on the book Faith Begins at Home and we’ve reflected on how it begins with choosing with Joshua, “as for me and my household we will serve the Lord.” Then we heard Moses’ call to obedience to God’s will, laws, and decrees. This morning we’re reflecting on giving our children a strong foundation for their faith and lives. As we raise our children to become adults equipped to engage the world with purpose and strength, it’s important to turn to the Lord to build them in the faith, so that their foundation is Jesus. Psalm 127 is a wisdom psalm, given to us to ground us in God’s wisdom and ways, showing us how God is involved in every part of our lives.

Pastor Holman quotes Chuck Swindoll, “The family is the place where principles are hammered and honed on the anvil of everyday living.” God’s the great builder and designer: look all around us; not only at creation, but at culture, art, science, politics, and how everything fits together and has its proper place and even time. Humanity has thrown a lot of glitches into God’s creation because we keep choosing sin and idols, but God continues working out his plan of redeeming everything through Jesus, including our families and homes. God wants to be the builder of our homes and families, the reality is that “unless the Lord builds the house, the workers build in vain.”

Jesus picks up on the image of building at the end of his Sermon on the Mount. Here he tells his listeners that if they don’t build their lives on his teaching, it’ll end in weaker homes and lives, Matthew 7:24–27, “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

Be honest. Are you building your home on the rock that stays solid through all of life’s storms, building your family on Jesus and his teachings? Jesus commands us to walk his way. What is his way? Start with the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew. Are you salt and light that transforms our world, are you true to the spirit of the Law and not just the letter, do you trust God and not repay evil for evil, are you generous with what God has given you, and quick to prayer and forgiveness? Do your lives show the fruit of the Spirit? This is all-in living for Jesus with the Lord both the builder and designer of our family, but the reality is we play games with Jesus’ call to walk his way, we don’t go all in, and our children see this and wonder why they should.

The church helps build up our children in the faith, but the home is the place where faith is made real and children learn to live their faith out. I love Sunday mornings and our times of worship, but we’re only together for 1 ½ hours. As families, it’s up to you to talk about and live out our worship in your homes. Take the time of praise and worship, confession, assurance, and committing ourselves to living out God’s will, our offerings, and going deeper into the Word and think about how to live it out through the week. 20 minutes of preaching can’t open up all that’s in God’s Word. If you’re only depending on Sunday mornings to be fed, you’re going to go hungry. We have a responsibility as families to continue to open God’s Word up regularly at home and carry our worship into the rest of the week. It's in our homes where God becomes Lord of our lives and Jesus the foundation of our households.

Solomon goes on, “Unless the Lord watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain. In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat—for he grants sleep to those he loves.” The warning is that without the Lord, you build in vain because of enemies and your sleep will never be restful. Jewish teachers often use the negative to emphasize a positive choice, here Solomon twice says, “Unless the Lord” to encourage the people to ask the Lord to build their houses, to watch over them and the promise is peaceful sleep, trusting in the Lord to keep them safe and providing for them. Worry and fear can make the world feel like it’s shifting under us. Jesus talks about trusting God and not worrying about having the things you need in Matthew 6 and he ends with, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

When we were going through seminary as a family, Joyce and I often turned to God to provide for our family because we couldn’t. Our children sometimes worried about how we would get by. God provided for us through many anonymous gifts, a place for Joyce to volunteer at that helped us out, and a seminary food bank. Even today, our kids remember how God always provided. It’s helped them to recognize God’s presence in their own lives still today, as we often talked about trusting God. The hardest was not being able to do what the other kids could do, but they also admit that it was part of them learning the importance of priorities.

Jesus “grants sleep to those he loves.” When we choose to serve the Lord and obey his will and laws which he’s given to help us flourish as his children, he gives us a sense of peace. You can give your children everything they want, but without the Lord, there’s no foundation, you’re building their lives and faith on shifting sand that can wash everything away without warning; that’s not loving them. You’re doing them no favours by teaching them that it’s alright to put God second for your own pleasure or to fit in. When your children see you practice real faith and trust God in everything you do, in your relationships, and how you live for Jesus, it strengthens your children’s foundation.  

Jesus loves our children; he holds children up as an example of faith we should be like. Our children are precious to God and he entrusts them to us. Raising our children in the faith is the most important task we’ve been given. Solomon tells us children are a blessing, a heritage from the Lord, a reward. He uses the Hebrew word “sakar,” which also means maintenance, to take care of. Our children are one of God’s greatest gifts, but they come with a responsibility, to raise them in the faith to know, follow, and love the Lord. He describes children as “arrows in the hands of a warrior.” For those of you who have done some archery, you know the importance of making sure your arrows are straight and true so you can hit your target. In Solomon’s day, archers made their own arrows, spending a great deal of time and effort to make sure they would fly true.

As families and as a church, our responsibility is to train up our children in the way they should go so they’ll fly true through life; true to Jesus with Jesus as their goal and target. A skilled archer spent a great deal of time in training and learning his craft, in learning how to be an archer and craft his equipment. As parents, to shape children who will fly true through life, dedicate yourselves to continual learning and growing in your faith and life. Just like an archer can impact a battle from far away, you can make a difference in the world well into the future through investing the time and effort to raise your children in the Lord.

When we teach and model faithfulness to the way of Jesus, when we teach the value of sacrificing the ways of the world for Jesus’ way, when we model to our children obedience to Jesus, God promises his blessings in his command in Exodus to not worship idols, “You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.” The impact you have in following the Lord’s design for your children’s faith built on the foundation of Jesus, can shape generations after you. What a gift of love to your children, and to the world!

The Home Makeover - Joshua 24

                                      

One of my favourite shows was Extreme Home Makeover where Ty Pennington and his crew would come in and transform a home for a deserving family in a week. Over the next 5-weeks, we’re going to be reflecting on making over our homes with Jesus as the foundation and cornerstone. This is for everyone, whether we’re a family with children, a single person, a senior citizen, empty nesters, newlyweds, or other form of household. We all need Jesus as the foundation and center of our homes. This series was inspired by a book called Faith Begins at Home.

A survey done a few years ago by the Christian organization, Search Institute, revealed that 48% of youth who regularly attend church view their mom as very religious, 23% view their dad as very religious, 27% have experienced either family devotions, prayer or Bible reading in the home, while 29% have experienced a family service project.

Our passage this morning is a covenant renewal story. Near the end of Joshua’s life, he calls the people together to call them to remain with God. Life’s good, but Israel makes a huge mistake. God told them to get rid of the altars to Baal, and Asherah, but they don’t. They got ensnared and started to worship Baal and Asherah alongside of God. It began a horrible cycle of embracing their neighbour’s idols, then repenting after the nations would overpower them, and each time God had to deliver them from their slavery. Jesus tells us we can’t serve two gods; we have to make a choice. Jesus also tells us to count the cost of following God, because it’s a whole life, everything in commitment to God relationship, no halfsies, as one of my kids used to say. We call mixing following Jesus while also trying to fit into our culture, syncretism, combining two religions together. As I look at our church and community, we also have it really good, but this is also a dangerous time faith wise; when life’s good, it’s easy to forget God.

Joshua looks out over the people and realizes that their relationship with God can use a makeover, so he leads them through a time of covenant renewal. We read about this in the previous chapter. Joshua reminds the people of God’s faithfulness and his covenants, calling the people to renew the covenantal promises they made to God in the past. His desire is for the people to renew their households with God as their foundation and center. Joshua challenges them, “Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

So many families are struggling. Families feel more pressure and stress today because the values and priorities on our culture also slip into our own families, and can cause us to question what we believe and why. Our culture turns to celebrities and self-help books for guidance. Even in the church, it sometimes feels as if we forget what God has done for us and what God can do for us. Joshua reminds the people of all God has done for them in the past and God’s consistent faithfulness to them. This is a reminder to us as well, to remember that our God created the heavens and earth, he parted the Red Sea when Israel was being chased by the power of Egypt, Jesus walked on the Sea of Galilee, made the blind man see, and raised Lazarus from the dead, and he gave hope to those who had lost hope. Jesus died and rose from the grace. If he can do all these things and so much more, he can help you and your family.

Joshua recognizes that we and our families have a choice to make. We can serve the gods of this world: materialism, pleasure, busyness, sports, and others. These gods demand all our attention and focus and keep demanding more from us while keeping us running our entire life to find meaning, satisfaction, and even our identity. I’ll warn you though, the more you get and work for, the more you will want and desire. When working in Second CRC of Allendale, I had the opportunity to meet with the people living in a new development behind the church. The people had huge houses, often with one or two children, but I heard over and over again how lonely most of them were, how worried they were about their children since each person in the house had their own spaces and they seldom talked together or ate together. They had all the things they thought would bring satisfaction and yet so many of them felt empty. This is what idols do, they promise you everything and only give you the appearance of having gained your dreams with no contentment.

The other option is the Joshua decision to serve the one true God who loves you, created you in his own image, adopted you into his family as his beloved children, the God who knows you better than you even know yourselves and loves you more deeply than you could ever understand. God, who is also our father, has plans to prosper you and not harm you, and desires to work in and through you to help you flourish as a person and in your relationships with God and others, and who offers you eternal life with him.

The choice begins with you, “as for me.” Before Joshua says anything about his household, he commits himself to serving God above all. You cannot pass anything on to your children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, or other family that you don’t have yourself. If we want our children to have a faith that impacts the decisions they make, and the life they choose, we need to have a faith that impacts and shapes our decisions and the life we live. Research shows the greater impact family has over church ministries: Mothers – 81% male & 74% female; Father 61% male & 50% female; Pastor 57% male & 44% female; Grandparent 30% male % 29% female; Sunday School 26% male & 26% female; Youth leaders 24% male & 25% female. As you can see, mom and dad are 2-3 times more influential than any church program. Marjorie Thompson writes, “For all their specialized training, church professionals realize that if a child is not receiving basic Christian nurture in the home, even the best teachers and curriculum will have minimal impact. Once-a-week exposure simply cannot compete with daily experience where personal formation is concerned.”

Have you and your family made the “As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord,” choice? It’s never too late, God keeps coming after us to choose him, to meet us and call us into a deeper relationship with him. That’s what the covenants in the Bible are all about, that’s why we’ve been given the Holy Spirit, to help us keep choosing Jesus first every day. I’ve often shared the impact my grandfather has had on me, encouraging me to keep my eyes and heart on God, that what we believe about God is important, but that what we believe has to show up in how we live and the choices we make, and the priorities and values we hold.

Joshua uses a stone to be a witness and reminder to serve the Lord. What do you have in your daily life that reminds you of your commitment to serve the Lord? Satan will not leave you alone just because you choose to follow Jesus, in fact, he’ll increase his pressure against you. This is why knowing what God has done in the past, knowing Jesus’ life stories, who he is and all he’s done, and teaching this to our children and grandchildren daily is so important. Bethel’s a valuable partner to help you remain in the Lord and to help all our generations in their life-long faith journeys with Jesus. We are a life-long partner, as we promised at baptism, but not the replacement.  

The home that follows Jesus reveals where our foundation, values, and priorities come from, and why we live the way we do. This is the Joshua challenge, that “me and my household we will follow the Lord, we will give our lives for the Lord, no matter the cost. We commit our homes to following Jesus because Jesus gave his life for us, showing us how valuable and important we are to him, and he calls us to follow him and walk his path and example, carrying our own crosses in the world today.”  

Our Faith Formation Coordinator Tammy and I studied the book Church + Home while she developed a Faith Formation plan to guide Bethel in partnering with the entire congregation to re-establish our homes as the primary place where faith is nurtured. A quote that has inspired and guided us, “The role of the Church isn’t to make sure that, as you look down on this community, you can see the light shining bright from our facility. Rather, the role of the Church is to make sure the light shines in each and every home, lighting the community for the world to see!”

Called to Leadership - Exodus 3

                                    

The Bible is filled with calling stories when God hears and sees what’s happening to his people, or he decides it’s time to move his plan of redemption forward, so he calls people to step up and lead through the challenge. In many of these encounters, the people God calls find excuses and reasons why they aren’t the right people, or aren’t worthy, or ready to step up. Moses is no exception.

God hears his people’s cries to be rescued, he sees the cruelty of the Egyptians, and responds by calling Moses. Moses seems to be the perfect choice to lead the people of Israel. He was raised in the household of Pharoah by Pharaoh’s daughter, given a good education and trained in leadership. He knows Pharoah and his family and the Egyptian culture. This gives him the ability to understand Pharoah and his court and the challenges facing Israel as they seek their freedom. Moses also understands that in his own strength there’s no way that he’ll ever be able to do anything so huge.

But Moses sees things differently. Even though God appears before him in a burning bush and calls Moses, Moses isn’t easily convinced to leave his father-in-law’s sheep and goats, or his quiet life as a shepherd behind. He remembers that his last time in Egypt, he killed an Egyptian soldier who was abusing a Jewish slave, but then the next day when he sees two Hebrews fighting, one of them challenges Moses, “Who made you ruler and judge over us? Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian?” The Jews didn’t accept Moses, likely because he was raised as an Egyptian. Leadership, especially among God’s people is not something Moses feels called to. Leadership’s not something everyone feels called to, many people resist becoming leaders because there’s always a cost to leadership, it’s seldom easy because many people resist being led.

The reality is that we can always find ways to not answer God’s call. When God tells Moses, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”

Moses comes up with 5 arguments: First Moses says to God: Look, I’m a nobody; Pharaoh will never listen to me. God replies: I will be with you. Then Moses says “Israel won’t believe me, who do I say sent me,” so God says my name is “I Am Who I Am.” Third Moses says the people won’t believe me, so God gives him a few signs to show the people God’s with him. Fourth Moses says that he can’t speak very well, so God tells him that he’ll send Aaron to go with him to do the talking, and finally Moses finally gets to the real reason and says that he simply doesn’t want to do it, and God tells him, you’re going, end of story.

A lot of times in the Bible the people God calls don’t feel qualified, but God doesn’t call the qualified because they’ll simply try to do everything in their own strength. Instead, God makes the unqualified, qualified, shaping them to be who they need to be for the time and situation. It simply takes humility and obedience on our part. Satan even tries in the wilderness at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry to get Jesus to think that he might not be the Son of God or qualified to do the work of the Father. Jesus chooses to listen to his Father’s voice instead of Satan’s quiet whisper. Our call is to listen to the Holy Spirit, not the voices of doubt. The Holy Spirit has placed wise people in your lives who can offer us good advice into what, who, or where God might be leading you.

Good leaders know that the willingness to sacrifice their wants for the best of the larger organization, combined with humility, produces strong organizations and churches. God calls us into all kinds of different places and situations and roles. Some are long term; others are short term. When we recognize that all of life is God’s and he uses all parts and areas of our lives for his plan, we can recognize how a job working at McDonalds, in a long-term care home, being a mother or father at home, a mechanic, builder, office worker, truck driver, a volunteer, or whatever work or job you are doing, is all a calling from God. The question is how are we going to answer him and use the talents, inclinations, or passions he’s given us, for the church or organization when he also calls us to a role of leadership and additional responsibility?

Paul talks about how we’re all one body in Romans 12, but that we’re not all the same, each bringing different things to the table to make us complete as the body of Jesus, as the church. Romans 12:3–8, “For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.”

We’re all different from each other, that’s what makes life and community together so wonderful and fascinating, and sometimes frustrating. What I love seeing is how our different gifts build beautiful church families as the body of Jesus. Think about cheerfulness as a spiritual gift: your cheerfulness can make the difference for someone struggling and needing encouragement or a word of hope. Think of patience or kindness, someone has just lost it and your response is to take time to listen to what set the person off and then helping them to regain themselves so they can carry on with their day. We’re all part of the body of Jesus and he’s our head. He guides us, giving us what we need when he calls us to lead. Our call is to trust in him and work with the rest of the body as we move forward in becoming who Jesus is calling us to be. Remember that our first call is to follow Jesus, to seek to imitate him in all parts of our lives, and to share the gospel news that Jesus came and took our sin to the cross and was resurrected so that we might have new life.

Are there times to say “no”? I’ll say yes, there are times to say no, it’s about using wisdom. If you believe you’ve been called to work or volunteer in a certain role and you know you are doing God’s will and work there, it may be wise to say “no” so that one part of the body doesn’t suffer for another part of the body. Perhaps you’re in a time of life that’s extra busy or stressful, or your spouse or family are going through a difficult time or need you to be around at this time in your life, it might be wise to say “no.”

For most of us, as we answer God’s call, whether in leadership such as council, or in other areas of ministry, it’s going to be the ordinary things you do every day where God uses us to lead, like when you’re a youth group leader, you need to teach bored or confused 9^th graders; staying cheerful when someone criticizes you for the 20^th time, soothing a crying infant who misses mom and dad who’s upstairs, doing the best you can because you know ultimately you’re doing it for the Lord.

Whatever it is we’re called to do or be, when we’re faithful, when we accept God’s call, God will use us and great things will happen. As Paul wrote to the Thessalonians, the one who calls you is faithful! God provided for Moses, not just when Moses went up against Pharaoh, but also for the 40 years Moses led Israel through the wilderness. Jesus provides for us through the Holy Spirit, through Scripture, and through fellow leaders and members who will support you, encourage you, and pray for you. A time may come when someone comes up to you later and says, “Thank you, you were there for me when I needed someone.” Take the time to prayerfully listen to God’s leading in this time as Bethel seeks out leaders for this time and this place on council and our various ministries.