Turning Points,
Part 2 Sunday,
July 13, 2014
“Turning Points for the Family”
To everything there is
a season, a time for every purpose under heaven: Ecclesiastes 3:1 (NKJV)
24 “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. 25 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. 26 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. 27 The
rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that
house, and it fell with a great crash.” 28 When Jesus had finished saying these things, the
crowds were amazed at his teaching, 29 because
he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law. Matthew 7:24-29
(NIV)
Current
state of the family.
A. Family
values
What are Family Values?
There are several lists, but they generally all
include the following:
1. Promotion
and support of traditional marriage between a man and a woman.
2. Opposition
to all attempts to re-define marriage away from the one man/one woman model.
3. Opposition
to sex outside of marriage.
4. Support
of a complementarian view of role relations in the home.
5. Belief
that parents should have the final say in raising and educating their children.
6. Opposition
to legalized abortion on demand.
7. Belief
in the sanctity and primacy of the home.
B. Original
Design vs. Current Breakdown
1.
Two-career
families
2.
Single-parent
families
3.
Blended
families
4.
Proliferation
of no-fault divorce
5.
Abortion
6.
Infant
day care
7.
Latchkey
children
8.
The
rise of same-sex marriage
Like John Denver we’re “coming home to a place
he'd never been before.”
Journey
Illustration:
Saroo Brierley
In 1986, five-year-old Saroo Munshi Khan and his 14-year-old
brother were searching the streets for spare change in their home city of Berhanpur, India. Saroo's older brother
Guddu wandered beyond the station and Saroo fell asleep waiting for his
brother's return. A few hours later, Saroo woke up 1,500 kilometers away, in
Calcutta, eons away from his home and family. He survived on the streets for
weeks, was taken into an orphanage, and was adopted by an Australian family and
grew up in Hobart, Tasmania.
Twenty-six years later, he found his way back to his hometown with
the help of Google Earth. An article explained Saroo's journey back home:
In 2011,
using vague memories and Google Earth imagery, Saroo identified his home town.
Using the ruler feature in Google Earth, he mapped out a search radius by
making an educated guess about how far he traveled by train. After countless
hours of scouring this area of Google Earth imagery, he came upon a proverbial
needle in a haystack. Saroo spotted one vague landmark that led him to the
next, helping him unlock a five-year-old child's memories. He eventually
spotted a neighborhood, street, and tin roof that looked familiar.
In
Saroo's words, "It was just like being Superman. You are able to go over
and take a photo mentally and ask, 'Does this match?' And when you say, 'No,'
you keep on going and going and going."
In 2012,
Saroo embarked on a trip from Australia back to India. Once he arrived, he
shared his story with locals, who helped him find his way back home to his
mother and surviving brother and sister. Twenty-six years after accidentally
leaving home, he finally found his way back.
Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother
and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. Genesis 2:24 (ESV)
LEAVE
CLEAVE
BECOME
1 The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and
your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you. 2 I will make you into a great nation. I will bless
you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. 3 I will bless those who bless you and curse those who
treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through
you.” Genesis
12:1-3 (NLT)
Repair BROKEN RELATIONSHIPS.
Reclaim LOST STANDARDS.
If the foundations are
destroyed, what can the righteous do? Psalm 11:3 (NKJV)
Resist the WORLD’S
WAYS.
Luke 19:1-10
1Then Jesus entered and passed through
Jericho. 2Now behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus who was a
chief tax collector, and he was rich. 3And he sought to see who
Jesus was, but could not because of the crowd, for he was of short stature. 4So
he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Him, for He was going
to pass that way. Luke 19:1-4 (NKJV)
5And
when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and saw him, and said to him,
“Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house.” 6So
he made haste and came down, and received Him joyfully. 8Then Zacchaeus stood and said
to the Lord, “Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have
taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold.” 9And
Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is
a son of Abraham; 10“for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save
that which was lost.” Luke 19:5-10
(NKJV)
No comments:
Post a Comment