Psalm 127 : 1-5
Text : v.1a
Unless the Lord builds a house, the work of the builders is wasted
Introduction:
We praise God for 2017 Mothers' Day celebration, Christian Home Week Revivals , and the impactful Couples Day celebration yesterday
Thanks to you all that attended these programs
Jesus said, "if you know these things, are you if you do them
The emphasis is on Doing
Luckily or coincidentally , there is children's service here for us today in preparation for the forth coming Children's Day this Saturday
FROM OUR TEXT
This is a serious assertion , "unless... "
Among others , this is saying that:
1. It is the Lord that builds House/Home
2. If it is not built by the Lord , our efforts are futile
3. We must allow the Lord to build the House/ Home
Remember, one character of building is , it must be according to pattern
BIBLICAL PATTERN:
Someone observed that the home must be built according to the Word of God , based on faith, love and unity.
He said :
Unity for believers must begin at the level of the family before it can truly characterize the Church. God created families long before He created the Church. He gave many specific instructions to families with the intent of unifying husbands and wives and children into a unit that would honor and reverence Him. His expectations were specific and straightforward whether in the Old Testament or the New: "Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength" (Deuteronomy 6:5). "[Jesus] answered: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’" (Luke 10:27).
Furthermorehe said:
Can you imagine how quickly God’s kingdom would grow if the Church was comprised of unified families obediently carrying out the Great Commandme and the Great Commission? If each individual family member, and each relationship represented within each family, would determine to live in unity, and if we were all committed to loving the Lord with a desperate passion, and to loving others as Jesus loves us…perhaps then, a watching world would be drawn to the Father. A family should and must begin with unity –connection, identity, building up of one another, etc. God has given much instruction to parents and to children about their relationships within their families. Only in unity are we able to carry out these relationships successfully, and in ways that are pleasing to the Lord. In order for unbelievers to truly know the love of Christ, they must see it in the unified, loving families that comprise Jesus’ Church.
From the above , can we posit that our home is not what God wants it to be because we have not followed God's own pattern
BUILDING BY UNITY
Husband and the wife must each and both unite in the Lord , by conversion
They must both desire to please the Lord
They must have the same focus of building a home for God and His glory
They must be united in the raising and nurturing of their children, v.4
UNDERSTANDING OF TIMES
The fact remains that some couples still have relational, or adjustment challenges , thereby discouraging him to move forward
Also it is a founded fact that many of us have not given our home what it requires of us to be called the house of God.
Could we consider very seriously what Jesus commented about human ( our ) heart? Read Matt 19:8 "... Your hearts are hard
Can the Lord build us with the hardness of heart?
Can we just pray here sincerely that God should finish His will in our life