Sunday, May 19, 2024
FAMILY MATTERS 2024: Family Under Attack
Mike Teel, Pastor
Focal Passage:
1 In the Lord I take refuge. How then can you say to me: “Flee like a bird to your mountain. 2 For look, the wicked bend their bows; they set their arrows against the strings to shoot from the shadows at the upright in heart. 3 When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?” —Psalm 11:1-3
1 Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain. —Psalm 127:1
THE
FAMILY
1. THE
OF THE FAMILY
–When God finished creating the first couple, He called what He had made “very good.”
–God required from the married couple a level of separation from others and a commitment to each other which will provide a stable foundation for the family unit.
2. SATAN’S
OF THE FAMILY
–Satan’s initial attack on the family occurred in the Garden of Eden where the old serpent worked his evil deception on Eve and Adam therefore destroying the harmony of the first marriage.
1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” 2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’” 4 “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. —Genesis 3:1-7
–Satan knew that God created marriage as a beautiful, living picture of Christ and the Church.
–Satan knows the value of the family, how it is the fabric of a good solid society, the foundation of vibrant growing churches and the future of God’s work on earth.
–Satan’s attack on the family has continued through today.
–There are signs all around us.
MORE RECENT
OF THE ATTACK ON THE FAMILY
1.
HISTORY
–The Communist Manifesto that was written by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in 1848, is the foundational basis for today’s push toward Socialism.
–One of their proposals was to abolish the family.
2. ATTACK SINCE THE
–In the 1960’s America was in the beginning years of the Sexual Revolution and free sex.
–The concept of the sexual revolution grew from a conviction that the erotic should be celebrated as a normal part of life and not repressed by family, morality, religion and the state.
–Another thing that promoted the explosion of sex outside of marriage was the promiscuousness of the Vietnam War.
–In addition, the hippie movement introduces the concept of “free sex” into the culture of the drug usage.
18 Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body. 19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; —I Corinthians 6:18-19
3.
ATTACKS OF THE FAMILY
–Under the new paradigm of wokesim, the Biblical definition of the traditional Nuclear Family (mom, dad and kids) is considered to be racist, bigoted, xenophobic, or an outdated cultural depiction.
4. THE END
OF THESE SOCIAL ISSUES
–What is Satan’s goal in the idea behind the LBGTQ (especially the transsexuals)?
27 So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
—Genesis 1:27
–This is what Satan has been and is now attempting to do – in his effort to destroy the family as God created it!
OUR
: “What Can the Righteous Do?”
3 When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do? —Psalm 11:3
1.
WE ARE UNDER ATTACK
–Satan will continue to intensify the attack on us in order to “bind us” and then “spoil our house” – primarily our family and our church.
–We must be vigilant and keep ourselves aware of what is taking place in our society, elect officials that will stand against evil and keep others informed.
2. RESIST THE
OF THE WORLD AFFECTING OUR LIVES
1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. —Romans 12:1-2
8 See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ. —Colossians 2:8
–How can we guard against conforming to the patterns of this world or being captivated by hollow and deceptive philosophy?
LIVE IT OUT
–What worldly philosophies have crept into your home?
–What steps do you need to take today to protect your family?
–Is Christ the Lord of your family?
1 Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain. —Psalm 127:1