Resurrection Power

A sermon based on Luke 24:1-12 and preached by Dr. Terry W. Dorsett at Faith Community Church, Barre, VT on April 4, 2010

Verse 1 - On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came to the tomb, bringing the spices they had prepared.

• The resurrection of Jesus Christ happened on Sunday, which was the first day of the week.
• In the Old Testament, the Jews worshipped on Saturday, which was the Sabbath.
• Some people still worship on Saturday, and that is still okay.
• But in the New Testament, many believers began to worship on Sundays in honor of Christ's resurrection.
• What matters more than the day, is that we regularly worship the Lord. (see Romans 14:5-6)
• Far too many people have allowed themselves to get so busy with life that they no longer worship the Lord regularly.
• Though any amount of worship is better than no worship, to really gain the benefits of worship, we must be involved in it regularly.
• Some ladies came to the tomb of Jesus early in the morning.
• The Gospel of Matthew says it was 5 AM.
• These ladies started their day by coming to Jesus.
• This is something we should consider as well.
• Though we can pray and read our Bible any time, when we start our day with a quiet time with God, it makes the whole day go better.
• The ladies brought spices in order to preserve the body.
• They did not have modern embalming techniques like we do today.
• Instead they would preserve a body using natural spices.
• The fact that the ladies come to the tomb with spices to preserve the body means that they were not expecting Jesus to rise from the dead. They thought they would find His body in the tomb.
• What a shock they were about to get!

Verse 2 - They found the stone rolled away from the tomb.

• In that time period, they did not dig graves in the ground like we do today. They buried people in caves instead.
• They would roll a huge stone in front of the mouth of the cave to keep animals away from the body and to keep grave robbers from stealing the personal items families sometimes buried with the body.
• The stone would have been large enough to cover the entrance, which would have been about waist high for an adult.
• The stone would have been fitted into a slot in the ground that sloped down.
• That made the stone easy to move as it rolled down into the slot to block the entrance, but very difficult to get back out.
• It would have taken quite a force of strong men to open the tomb. There is no way these ladies cold have expected to be able to do it themselves.
• The Gospel of Mark tells us the ladies actually discussed how they would move the stone as they walked to the tomb.
• They did not know the answer, but they went to the tomb anyway, trusting that somehow God would work it out.
• When they got to the tomb, the problem was already solved because the stone had already been rolled away.
• We all have questions about God and the world around us and wonder why certain things happen to certain people.
• Sometimes those questions are like giant stones that keep us from believing in the Lord as firmly as we should.
• We must journey toward Jesus anyway, not knowing how our questions will get answered, but trusting that God will work them out.

Verse 3 - They went in but did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.

• The ladies were expecting to see the dead body of Jesus.
• In their minds, it was all over and all that was left to do was put the ritualistic spices on the body.
• It was not until that moment they realized that the adventure had just begun!
• How many of us have written off "church" as being boring or just empty ritual?
• While some churches may indeed seem more like tombs, there are many churches that are quite vibrant and alive.
• We need to become involved in a vibrant church in order to have the strong faith that is needed to endure the difficulties of life.
• Anyone who came this morning looking for rituals, we hope you are pleasantly surprised as you encounter the Living Lord!

Verse 4 - While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men stood by them in dazzling clothes.

• While the ladies were trying to figure out what was going on, they suddenly saw two men in dazzling clothes.
• The other Gospels tell us these were angels.
• In the Bible, angels were messengers sent from God to give people special messages from Him.
• God still sometimes uses angels to do special things in our lives.
• But most often God uses people to help other people.
• Who has been an "angel" in our lives?
• Who does God want us to be an "angel" to?

Verse 5 - So the women were terrified and bowed down to the ground. "Why are you looking for the living among the dead?" asked the men.

• The ladies were terrified by what they were experiencing.
• An encounter with the divine should be encouraging, but sometimes it scares us because we do not know what the result is going to be.
• We don't need to fear what God is doing in our lives because God will always do the right thing.

Verse 6 - He is not here, but He has been resurrected! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee

• The angels told the ladies that Jesus was not in the tomb. Jesus had come back to life.
• This must have seemed like an incredible impossibility to the ladies.
• People have always struggled with the concept of a dead person actually rising again from the grave. Can this actually be true?

Ten Proofs of the Resurrection of Christ:
1. The Bible itself says the resurrection actually happened. For many Christians, this is the only proof they need.
2. The resurrection is also well documented by numerous historical sources. Josephus, Ignatius, Justin Martyr and Tertullian were all historians who wrote about the resurrection of Christ in the first 100-150 years after it happened.
3. There were numerous eyewitness of the resurrection who both talked and wrote of their experiences. If it was fake, someone would have exposed them immediately. At one point Jesus appeared to 500 people at once. How do you deny that?
4. The Roman soldiers would have never allowed anyone to take the body of Jesus. They would have been killed if they had.
5. All but one of the apostles died terrible deaths for their faith in the resurrected Jesus. If they had known it was a fraud, they would have never endured such torture.
6. The community at large had turned against Jesus and His followers. Why would thousands of those same people suddenly become Christians unless they had seen Jesus after the resurrection, or personally knew someone who had seen Him?
7. For 2000 years skeptics have set out to "disprove" the resurrection and after examining all the evidence, a vast number have decided to become Christians.
8. If Jesus did not rise from the dead, where is His body? All the Jews had to do to stop the spread of Christianity was produce the body. They never did because there was no body to produce!
9. There have been thousands of documented miracles that have happened since Jesus was resurrected that prove the reality of His power.
10. Many people in this room can give testimony of how Jesus changed their lives. If He were not alive and in possession of real spiritual power, how could He change the lives of people sitting all around us?

Verse 6 - He is not here, but He has been resurrected! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee

• It is the very truth of the resurrection of Christ that separates Christianity from all other world religions!
• Though many world religions share various good concepts and seek to make the world a better place, only Christianity has a resurrected Savior.
• Buddha founded Buddhism. He was born around 563 BC. He taught that mankind could find enlightenment, be reincarnated and find peace within themselves. He died around 483 BC. His tomb is occupied.
• Confucius founded a philosophy of life that is practiced by hundreds of millions in Asia. He was born around 551 BC. He taught that rituals provide balance, you must govern yourself first and you must respect your ancestors. He died around 479 BC. His tomb is occupied.
• Muhammad founded Islam. He was born around 570 AD. He taught that he was the last messenger of God and that good works lead to paradise. He died in 633 AD. His tomb is occupied.
• Joseph Smith founded Mormonism. He was born December 23, 1805. He taught that what man is, God once was and what God is, man may become and that good Mormon men will populate a planet with their spiritual offspring. He died June 27, 1844. His tomb is occupied.
• Charles Darwin founded the evolutionary theory. He was born February 12, 1809. He taught that mankind was just an animal that resulted from millions of years of cosmic accidents. He died April 19, 1882. His tomb is occupied.
• Jesus Christ founded Christianity. He was born around 4 BC. He taught people to have a personal relationship with God through faith and said we should love our neighbors as well as our enemies. He died around 30 AD. His tomb: unoccupied!!!!!!
• The angels told the ladies to remember what Jesus had said.
• Jesus had taught for months that He would be killed, buried and rise again.
• But His followers had not been ready to hear that message until Resurrection Day!
• Whether we grew up going to church every Sunday or whether this whole Jesus thing is new to us, sometimes we don't get the point until we are ready to hear it.
• Are we ready to hear this message today?
• Are we ready to experience Resurrection Power today?

To experience Resurrection Power we must:

• Worship the Lord regularly
• Spend time daily with God
• Have faith even when we don't understand
• Not fear what God is doing in our lives because it will ALWAYS be the right thing!
• BUT it all begins with a commitment to the resurrected Savior, Jesus Christ!

Those who have never known Christ in a personal way might consider this Prayer of Acceptance:

Dear Lord, I believe in You and in Your resurrection. Right now I turn from my sin and place all my hope in You. I commit my life to You and will follow You for the rest of my life. I realize this is a big commitment and that I will need Your help to accomplish it, but I trust You to help me do it. Amen.

Those who once felt close to Christ but have wandered from the faith might consider this Prayer of Rededication:

Dear Lord, There was a time in my life when You were very important to me. But I've let myself get so busy that I have wandered from You. But I now realize that was not a good idea and I am coming back to You. Lord help me make You a priority in my life once again. I need You! Amen.

The Sufferings of Christ

A reflective sermon based on Matthew 27:45-54 and preached by Dr. Terry W. Dorsett on Good Friday, April 02, 2010, at Faith Community Church, Barre, Vermont.


Matthew 27:45-54 (Holman Christian Standard Bible)

 ⁴⁵ From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over the whole land. ⁴⁶ At about three in the afternoon Jesus cried out with a loud voice, "Elí, Elí, lemá sabachtháni?" that is, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" ⁴⁷ When some of those standing there heard this, they said, "He's calling for Elijah!" ⁴⁸ Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge, filled it with sour wine, fixed it on a reed, and offered Him a drink.⁴⁹ But the rest said, "Let's see if Elijah comes to save Him!" ⁵⁰ Jesus shouted again with a loud voice and gave up His spirit. ⁵¹ Suddenly, the curtain of the sanctuary was split in two from top to bottom; the earth quaked and the rocks were split. ⁵² The tombs also were opened and many bodies of the saints who had gone to their rest were raised. ⁵³ And they came out of the tombs after His resurrection, entered the holy city, and appeared to many. ⁵⁴ When the centurion and those with him, who were guarding Jesus, saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they were terrified and said, "This man really was God's Son!"

Why did Jesus have to die?

• Jesus died for our sins. (1 Corinthians 15:3-4)

What is sin and why is it bad enough to cause death?

• Sin is anything we say, think or do that is wrong.

Why is sin wrong?

• Sin is bad because of the hurt that it causes.
• Sin hurts other people.
• Sin hurts us.
• Sin hurts God by rejecting His perfect plan. 

Verse 45 - From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over the whole land.

• Sin was so bad that when it was piled on Jesus, it caused darkness to come over the entire land.
• When we think of what sin has done to our nation and to our state, we understand that darkness is coming over our land.

Verse 46 - At about three in the afternoon Jesus cried out with a loud voice, "Elí, Elí, lemá sabachtháni?" that is, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?"

• Sin is so bad that the Father had to look away from Jesus once the sins of the world were resting on Him.
• God the Father just couldn't look at that much sin.
• Think of how much this must have made Jesus suffer.

The Suffering of Christ:

• Crucifixion was a common form of capital punishment used by the Romans.
• The Romans liked to use crucifixion because it was so gruesome and terrible that it scared people into obeying the Romans.
• Crucifixion began with beating Jesus' back with a whip called a flagrum. It had small pieces of bone and metal attached to a number of leather strands. During the beating, the skin was ripped from the back, exposing a bloody mass of tissue and bone.
• Roman soldiers also ripped Jesus' beard from his face and slapped him over and over again.
• They then crammed a crown of thorns onto his head. They crammed it on hard enough that it stayed on while he walked through the city carrying his cross. This means the thorns must have been embedded in his scalp.
• Jesus was then forced to carry his own 100 pound crossbar on his bloody back through the streets of Jerusalem to the execution site.
• Then spikes about 7 inches long and 3/8 of an inch in diameter were driven into the wrists. The spikes would hit the area of the nerve, causing shocks of pain up the arms to the shoulders and neck.
• The crossbar was then lifted on to a 7 foot tall post that was already on the site.
• Jesus' feet were then awkwardly turned so that the feet could be nailed to the post.
• At this point, there was tremendous strain put on the wrists, arms and shoulders, resulting in a dislocation of the shoulder and elbow joints.
• The position of His nailed body held His rib cage in a fixed position, which made it extremely difficult to exhale, and impossible to take a full breath.
• To breathe on a cross, Jesus was forced to push up on His feet to allow for inflation of the lungs. As the pain in His feet and legs became unbearable, Jesus was forced relax His legs and hang by the nails in his wrists again.
• Having suffered from the beatings, Jesus was described as extremely weak and dehydrated. He was probably losing significant amounts of blood.
• As time passed, the loss of blood and lack of oxygen would cause severe cramps, spasmodic contractions and probably unconsciousness.
• Jesus' lungs began to fill up with fluid.
• His heart began to fail.
• Depending on how strong the person was, crucifixion could last a couple of hours, or could drag on many hours. Jesus was on the cross at least six hours. Some say longer.
• Jesus suffered numerous hours of horrible and sustained torture on the cross of Calvary.
• And at any moment, He had the power to simply step off the cross and heal himself.
• It was not the nails that held Him on the cross; it was His love for us.

Verse 54 - When the centurion and those with him . . . saw . . . the things that had happened, they were terrified and said, "This man really was God's Son!"

• The people witnessing the crucifixion were deeply moved by it.
• How would we have felt if we had been there?
• What thoughts would have been running through our minds?
• More importantly, what should our response to the crucifixion be today?

Conclusion:
Jesus made a great sacrifice for us in order to pay for our sin.
Though we can never pay Jesus back for this sacrifice, we should seek to live our lives in such a way that demonstrates our deep appreciation of His sacrifice for us.

Into Jesus But Not the Church

Sometimes people tell me that they believe in Jesus but not the organized church. Such people normally go on to tell me some story of how they were hurt by the church at some point in their past. That negative experience soured them on the institutional church but did not make them abandon their belief in Jesus.

I can relate to these people because I understand how it feels to be hurt by a church. I have been underpaid and overworked by the church since I began working for my first church at the young age of 18. Often the people in church who demand the largest portion of my time and energy are the same ones that complain the most about how I go about doing my ministry. There is nothing more frustrating than pouring your life into someone only to have them turn on you when you least expect it. I know exactly what it means to be hurt by the organized church because I have experienced such hurt more times than most people could endure.

Yet, I continue to remain loyal to the organized church. Perhaps it is because I understand that a church is made up of people. And people are not perfect. Even Christian people make mistakes. I have learned the value of forgiveness and the need to keep my eyes focused on Jesus, not people. If I focus on the actions of people in the church, I will be frequently disappointed. But if I focus on the Head of the Church, Jesus, then I will love the church, even when its people disappoint me.

When thinking about the organized church, one must be practical. From a practical perspective, it would be difficult to accomplish much without some kind of organizational system to help make it happen. Think about how many soup kitchens, homeless shelters, crisis pregnancy centers, youth groups, job training programs, after school programs, and other community programs are operated by churches. Churches have facilities and structures already in place to help those programs operate efficiently and effectively.

On the other hand, how many of those same types of programs are operated effectively or consistently by an "unorganized" group? While the church might not be perfect, it seems to me that if we dismantle the institutional church, we would just have to turn around and recreate something quite similar in order to accomplish the same things. Why not just keep the organized church to begin with? Perhaps instead of complaining about the institutional church, we should become more involved in the church. We should become part of the solution instead of just a complainer about the problems. After all, WE are the church, so if it is to be fixed, we are the ones to do it!

Contemplating Baptism

Baptism has been an important part of the Christian faith since Jesus walked into the Jordan River to be baptized by John the Baptist. Jesus was baptized to set an example for us and to bring glory to His Father. We know from the Scriptures that God the Father was pleased with Jesus when He was baptized.

There are many different ideas of what baptism means. There are also a number of views on when a person should experience baptism. Though we want to be respectful of the sincere beliefs of others, according to the New Testament baptism was the way that Christians publicly proclaimed their faith in Christ. It was not a covenant with the parents, but it was the outward expression of the individual's inner commitment to Christ. In the New Testament people were not baptized until they were old enough to make the decision for themselves. In the New Testament, people were always baptized by being immersed or dipped completely under the water. The word "baptism" actually means to immerse or dip under. If that was what baptism meant in the New Testament, why would it have a different meaning today? Much of the confusion concerning the meaning and timing of baptism would be cleared up if we simply practiced baptism when and how it was done in the New Testament.

Baptism is a picture of how Christ died for us, was buried for us, and rose again for us. When we stand in the water we are saying that we are taking our stand for Christ. As we are dipped under the water it symbolizes us "dying and being buried" to our old way of life. When we come up out of the water it symbolizes how we are raised to "new life" through our faith in Christ.

Baptism does not save us from hell; instead it shows the world that we have already been saved from our sin and received new life in Christ. The New Testament makes it very clear that every person who has trusted Jesus as their Savior and made a commitment to follow Him should be baptized after making that decision. If we have never been baptized, then we should be baptized after making a sincere commitment to Christ. This is how we publically proclaim our faith in Christ. Baptism will enhance our connection to God and improve our personal spirituality. Occasionally I meet a person who tells me they publicly professed their faith in some way other than baptism. While it is not my place to judge others, it seems that God already has shown us the way He wants us to publicly profess our faith in Him. Efforts to "edit" God's clearly declared system seem unwise to me.

Some people were baptized as infants before they are old enough to understand what baptism meant. While that may have been a very lovely ceremony to watch, we cannot find any examples in the Bible of an infant or small child being baptized. There are some examples in the Bible of children being "dedicated" to the Lord. So we know it is appropriate for parents to dedicate their children. But we should not confuse a baby dedication with the ritual of baptism. People who were baptized as infants should get re-baptized when they are older as a testimony of their own faith. Being re-baptized does not mean they do not appreciate what their parents did for them; it simply means that now they are making the decision themselves to be a Christian.

There is something powerful about being baptized. It gives us a sense of spiritual cleansing. It makes us feel closer to God. It is also a step of obedience to God, since He is the one who told us to do it once we had trusted His Son as our Savior. If we have not been baptized at all, we should do it as soon as we can. If we were baptized as an infant but it had no real meaning to us, then we should consider being re-baptized as our own expression of faith in Jesus Christ.

Anyone living in Central Vermont who is interested in being baptized, Faith Community Church of Barre will be holding their next baptism service on Sunday, August 8, 2010 at the annual church picnic. If you are interested in being baptized, please contact Pastor Terry Dorsett so that he can set up a time to meet with you to make sure you understand baptism and are ready for this exciting spiritual experience.

Things We Don’t Understand

A youth lesson based on Hebrews 11:1 and Romans 8:28. Written by Dr. Terry W. Dorsett and presented at the Faith Community Church area wide Youth Rally on March 21, 2010.

There are many items that we use every day that we don't really understand how they work.
(I had each of these items on the platform to use as props.)

• Cell Phone
• Memory chip
• Wireless Internet
• Medicine 

There are many things we experience frequently that we really don't understand.
(I talked about an experience I had recently in each of these areas.)

• Wind
• Fear
• Love
• God's Presence

Hebrews 11:1 - Now faith is the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen.

• Real faith is built on reality.
• There are certain things that we know are real, even if we do not fully understand them.
• God is one of those things that deep down we know is real, even when we don't know how to explain it.
• Faith that is built on reality gives us hope.
• That hope becomes the proof of our faith even when we do not see how it will work out.
• Those who place their hope in God through a commitment to Jesus Christ will begin to see how God works good things out of experiences that we do not understand when they first happen to us.  

Romans 8:28 - We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God: those who are called according to His purpose.

• This is a powerful verse. But it is important to understand what it really says, and what it does not say.
• This verse does not say that ALL THINGS are good.
• It says that all things WORK for good.
• This means that some things are bad but they produce good results in the lives of those who love God.
• Notice that this promise is given only to those who love God and are looking for God's purposes in their lives.
• Those who do not love God cannot claim this promise.
• If we want this verse to be true for us, we must have faith in God even when we don't understand what is happening to us and we must love God no matter what.

Do we have faith in God even when we don't understand what He is doing in our lives?

• If not, we might want to consider sincerely praying this prayer:
• Lord, I don't always understand what You are doing in my life, but I believe that You love me and have a plan for my life. Help me to trust You even when life does not make sense. Help me to love You no matter what. When my faith begins to fail, help me to remember that You will somehow make it all work out. Amen.

The Faces of Heaven

For the past 16 years I have served the Lord as a pastor and church planter in Vermont. Vermont is the least churched state in America, so there is much work to be done. Vermont is also the second "whitest" state in America, with 95.2% of our population being white. Only Maine has a higher percentage of white people than Vermont.

But as our minority population in Vermont has grown ever so slightly in recent years, my own heart has been burdened to reach out to our non-Anglo neighbors in the name of Christ. It is actually a lot harder than it sounds because we can't exactly put up a sign in front of the church that says "non-white people wanted!" How does a middle aged white pastor attract minorities to his mostly Anglo congregation? Not knowing what to do, mostly I've just prayed and asked God to help us connect with minority groups. And when God has sent someone to our church who was not white, I made a point to ensure they felt welcome. I have tried to work this theme into sermons when it was appropriate. I have tried to encourage the handful of minorities that we do have in our church to bring their friends. Not exactly the most ambitious plan, but it was the best I could do given the racial make-up of our state.

Over the past five years we have had a small presence of minorities in our congregation and God has been answering our prayers as that portion of our congregation has slowly been growing. But I guess I did not realize just how much God had answered my prayers until this morning. Leaving an elders meeting, I walked past one of our children's Sunday School classes and realized that the Anglo children were only 1/3 of the attendees in that particular class. The other children were African American and Asian American. I stopped in my tracks and just stood looking through the window into the class thanking God for showing me a picture of what the faces of heaven would be like. Thinking that class might be an anomaly, I walked across the lobby to look into another class. My smile got bigger as I realized that class was evenly split between Anglo children and African American children. We only have three children's Sunday School classes at our church, so I decided to go look in the third class and see what it looked like. I was pleased to notice that it was evenly split between Anglo children and Asian American children. Admittedly, these three classes are all small, so the total number of children in them was limited. But the racial mixture represented must be something like the faces we will see in heaven and it was deeply moving to me as a pastor.

I am reminded of what the Apostle John wrote in Revelation 7:9-10, "After this I looked, and there was a vast multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language, which no one could number, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were robed in white with palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: Salvation belongs to our God."

My prayer of gratitude today is, "Thank you Lord for showing me the faces of heaven! Help us be faithful in serving You as one people."

Family Matters

A lesson for teenagers about healthy families based on Ephesians 5:22-6:4 and written by Dr. Terry W. Dorsett
Note: this lesson was prepared for teenagers who primarily come from families who are not active in an evangelical church. The same scripture might be presented another way in a different setting.

Verses 22-25 - Wives, submit to your own husbands as to the Lord.
for the husband is head of the wife as Christ is head of the church. He is the Savior of the body. Now as the church submits to Christ, so wives should submit to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for it.

• When we hear the phrase "wives submit to your husbands" our mental picture is:
  

• But the Bible says that the husband is the head of the wife like Christ was the head of the church.
• How did Christ lead the church?
• The "picture" of Christ's leadership is:

This is a different picture of leadership!

• Ladies, if your husband loved you so much that he was willing to carry a cross for you, have nails driven in his hands & feet for you, hang on a cross between two thieves and literally sacrifice his life for you, would you be willing to follow him then?
• In our modern world, it is unlikely that husbands will be called upon to actually carry a cross for their wife. But what if a husband loved his wife so much that he was willing to miss his favorite ball game on television so he could help around the house, or give up a job promotion so he could spend more time with the family, or stop hanging around with a friend that did not respect you properly?
• Biblical submission is not about one person "controlling" another.
• Biblical submission is about letting a loving and sacrificial person lead us.
• A person like that must lead the family for it to be healthy.
• If there is no one like that in our family, maybe we need to become that kind of person in our family.
• Can we be part of the solution instead of adding to the problem?

Ephesians 6:1 - Children, obey your parents in the Lord, because this is right.

• I've never met a young person who likes this verse!
• The reason we should obey our parents is because it is the right thing to do.
• Are our parent's always right?
• NO!!!
• But it is always right to obey them unless they ask us to do something illegal, immoral or that will hurt us.
• This verse says that children should obey their parents "in the Lord."
• It is especially important for Christian kids to obey their parents. It shows the parents how Christ is working in their lives.
• This is even more important if our parents are NOT Christians. They need to see Christ in us. That may make them desire to become a Christian too, which will make the whole family better.

Ephesians 6:2-3 - Honor your father and mother, which is the first commandment with a promise, that it may go well with you and that you may have a long life.

• This verse tells us to honor our parents.
• What is the difference between obeying and honoring?
• Obeying means doing what they tell us to do. Honoring means to respect them.
• Will there come a day when we no longer have to obey our parents?
• Yes, when we move out of the house and start paying our own bills then we will no longer have to obey our parents.
• Will there come a day when we no longer have to honor our parents?
• No, we should always respect our parents.
• What promise does the Bible give if we honor our parents?
• Life will go well and will be longer.
• People who do not have a good relationship with their parents seldom have a good life.
• The stress from such a poor relationship often shortens their lifespan.
• If we obey and honor our parents, life will be better and longer.
• If we disobey and disrespect our parents, we can expect a lifetime of pain, relational difficulties and additional stress that may lead to an early death.
• Do our parents have any obligations in this or do they just get to be bossy and psycho?

Verse 4 - And fathers, don't stir up anger in your children, but bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.

• Parents are not supposed to "stir up anger" in their children.
• This does not mean that our parents should never make us mad. They will probably do that a lot!
• What it means is that they should not purposefully do things JUST to make us mad.
• When Christian young people obey and honor their parents and Christian parents don't purposefully do things to make their kids mad, life is very GOOD!!!!!
• When one (or both) side fails to act the way Christ wants us to, then life is NOT so good.
• Sometimes life can be REALLY BAD!!!!
• What can we do when life is not as good as we wish it was?
• Notice this verse talks about training and instruction in the Lord.
• We can grow our inner spirit even if our family situation is less than ideal.
• Our faith can help us be better parents when our time comes to lead a family.

What Kind of "Family Material" Will We Be?
Adapted from LXVI™, Vol. 21 • Copyright 2006 • LifeWay Press® • Permission granted to reproduce this page for use with LXVI.

Let us each rate ourselves: Our options are NEVER, SOMETIMES, ALWAYS.

• When I don't get my way….no problem.
• The people in my life would describe me as loving and kind.
• I like to hear other people's opinions.
• I have a growing relationship with Jesus Christ.
• I can forgive people who have disappointed me.
• I feel good about who I am.
• I am making wise choices now so that I can have a healthy family later.
• I am certain my relationship with my parents will change once I get married.
• It is easy for me to love others as much as I love myself.
• I see an example of a healthy marriage relationship in my own home.
• I see an example of a healthy parent-child relationship in my own home.

Let's each add our scores up for the results:

• If most of our answers were NEVER, our future family may be Headed for Disaster if we don't make changes in our relationships NOW!!!!!
• If most of our answers are SOMETIMES, then our behavior and attitudes are too dependent on our circumstances. This means our future family could go either way, good or bad.
• If most of our answers are ALWAYS, then our faith in Jesus Christ has obviously affected our views and behaviors. Our future family is looking good.

Conclusion - For a family to be healthy:

• It must be led by a person who loves that family enough to sacrifice for them.
• The rest of the family must follow that sacrificial and loving person's leadership.
• Children should obey and honor their parents as a way to demonstrate their Christian faith and in order to have a happier life.
• Parents should not do things to purposely make their kids angry.
• If our current family is not doing so well, we should improve our own spirituality so that our faith can help us be better parents when we start our own families.