Family Resources
Blog | Pastor Duane Smets
Family is a big deal to God. God himself is the great and perfect father who handles a lot of responsibility in ruling over and caring for all of his creation. God has a son named Jesus whom he has forever been in healthy and happy relationship with. God sacrificially gives away his son Jesus to come to earth where he lives and dies in order to save God’s wayward human children. God then allows these wayward children to be adopted into the holy family through belief in the person and work of his son. Family is definitely a big deal to God. In many ways you might even be able to say the whole story of the Bible is about the story of God’s family.
For those who have experienced the pain of broken or lost relationships in their family, knowing God’s so big on family can have one of two effects. It can either create great difficulty since family is a sore subject and the result is a person distances themselves from God. Or it can create great hope and healing since we are designed for family and can experience redemption and grace by belonging to God’s special family through his son Jesus.
Not surprisingly, the Bible also has a lot of practical instruction on family. For many who are new to family or come from a family who did not know or exhibit the loving principles of God’s family the Bible is a great aid and resource to turn to for instructions on how to do family well. Below is a list of resources (books, articles, sermons & key Bible passages to study) I highly recommend for learning about family from God’s perspective as he has revealed in the Bible.
Family & The Gospel
Practical Ecclesiology Series | Selected Texts | James Martin
This week is an systematic theology sermon on the topic of family. Genesis 1:26-31, Deuteronomy 6:4-7 and Ephesians 6:1 are looked at for the exegetical insight on the reason and source for ministry. Special attention is given to God’s creation of family, the roles of family and the carry over of those roles in how the church is set up to function. This sermon was originally preached on February 6th, 2011 at The Resolved Church in San Diego, CA.
Family Ministry
At our last church member meeting we introduced James Martin as an elder candidate to be watching and praying for in the next year. This fall James will be leading the charge in ramping up our ministry to children and equipping parents in the home. Below is a brief blog from James about the heart, vision and plan of The Resolved Church (TRC) Family Ministry. – Pastor Duane
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Blog | James Martin
I have grown convinced that my understanding of the Gospel (my sinfulness, need for a savior and dependence on God) impacts every aspect of my life. And as a husband and father I know that as my head and heart go, so goes my home. For example, if I’m confident in my rightness before God as a result of the finished work of Jesus, I feel close to my Heavenly Father and can confidently face anything. The struggles of life won’t hold me long and even if they do, they don’t define me. In seasons such as this it is easy for me to lead my family and demonstrate my dependence on a savior. On the flipside, when I feel distant from God, I am sure we are at odds and I’m constantly seeking his approval.
Obviously these beliefs seep into every aspect of my life. As a man my identity and view of self, as a husband in the way I resolve conflict and love my wife and as a father the way I discipline and disciple my children. In short, every aspect of my life comes back to my working theology and belief in the Gospel. In the years I’ve been in discipleship and in community with other men I have learned that I am not alone in these experiences.
Several years ago God radically changed my life. He converted my heart at a time that my wife and I were headed for certain divorce. At the time we didn’t have kids and frankly I didn’t want any. I was a punk dude who loved and served me. The gospel grabbed my heart and I didn’t have a choice but to change. Over the next several years my wife and I grew in our love for each other and for the Church. My heart broke for families (and punks like me) who were working through their theology while balancing the stresses of life. I found myself in countless conversations with young men a lot like me. Conversations that often centered on our inability to effect change and the resulting struggles that seemed to easily beset us. Conversations that revealed our true beliefs. I saw men who were weak and confused. Marriages and relationships setup for and defined by failure. Kids who were told they couldn’t earn favor with God or change their own hearts yet dads who insisted they change their behavior to win their approval (or at least that’s what the kids heard). Over time and with the help of godly men who had come before me it became very clear that change starts and ends with our grasping the Gospel.
I’m very excited about the season ahead of us at The Resolved Church. Starting this fall we are rolling out our Family Ministry and starting pre-school classes on Sunday mornings with the Show Me Jesus curriculum. While we believe that dads are ultimately responsible for the spiritual nurturing of their households we know they can’t go at it alone. God has saved us through community and into community and we are called as the church to make disciples and love one another. The Family Ministry will seek to call and equip the dads of TRC to be shaped by the gospel and lead their homes with Jesus at the center.
I’ll leave you with a message from Paul who wrote to the church in Ephesus (Chapter 6:1-4), Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.” Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. And in Deuteronomy 6:6-7 we read; and these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.
Men, let us love and lead well. Let’s start with grasping the Gospel.
- James
Jesus Deals With The Demise of Marriage & Family
Matthew Series | Matthew 19:1-15 | Pastor Duane Smets
This week is an exegetical sermon on Matthew 19:1-15 where we Jesus addresses the importance of marriage and family as well as the pain and hard heartedness of divorce. Current statistics, the story of Genesis, cultural trends, and joy and purpose of children are all highlighted in grappling with Jesus’ words in this passage. This sermon was originally preached on September 5th, 2010 at The Resolved Church in San Diego, CA.
