Recent Sermons
I’m working on the potential for importing an audio transcript of my sermons— Stay tuned
I’m working on the potential for importing an audio transcript of my sermons— Stay tuned
Membership class— 2022
We were privileged to provide a basis for the church membership over the next three consecutive weeks in June. The Syllabus will be composed of the following sessions.
Session 1– The Church as a gift of God and His members of the Body
Session 1– The Church as a gift of God and His members of the Body
| lcbc_membership_class_2022.pdf |
Advancing the Church
A short class on the importance of the church, its doctrines and its make-up
Lake Community Bible Church
Dr. Mark Congrove
June 12, 2022
June 19, 2022
June 26, 2022
Session 1- How should I think about the church,
and my place in it?
Opening thoughts
What I intend to do and not :-)
The primacy of The church drives me.
The Church’s cancellation in the minds of men
WHAT GUIDES MY THINKING ABOUT THE CHURCH— Talking points
Considerations
As a tool for putting the relationship with a church in perspective
Summary
The Church, its priorities and its practices are very important to me and therefore I believe it valuable and necessary for members and non members alike to understand the church, and its necessary place in a culture that has lost its way. Our church seeks to be Gospel centered, Spirit led, and living out the truth of God’s word as followers of Jesus. Many of our positions in regard to doctrine are built from the texts of Scripture we have, and by comparing Scripture with Scripture, we are led to a logical or reasonable decision for the doctrines we believe. We have therefore concluded as a leadership that membership in a local church is consistent with the greater teaching of the Scripture. That said, I certainly recognize not all will agree; I for one, seek not be be heavy handed or unruly in our handling of God’s people, but purposeful in pursuing the goal of membership as one of it core values. MJC
Notes and thinking for later…
A short class on the importance of the church, its doctrines and its make-up
Lake Community Bible Church
Dr. Mark Congrove
June 12, 2022
June 19, 2022
June 26, 2022
Session 1- How should I think about the church,
and my place in it?
Opening thoughts
What I intend to do and not :-)
The primacy of The church drives me.
The Church’s cancellation in the minds of men
WHAT GUIDES MY THINKING ABOUT THE CHURCH— Talking points
- How God is viewed: A shift in how we view God from, who He is, to what He is doing. We must recover an understanding of Who He is as we think about what he requires of us.
- The Priority for thinking about the church
- The Church possesses the Gospel, the Good News, and the world, which is lost and separated from Christ, can only be “saved” or reunited with him by hearing the gospel, and responding to it (Not accepting it). This amounts to believing it, being justified, and regenerated.
- Our mission is Gospel first, “mission second”. We are not merely building a community of “nice people” but a called assembly of redeemed people. Put another way— who we are is more important than what we do. Peter calls us a peculiar people…
- The church as an assembly
- (OT: Duet 9:10; 10:4; 23:1-3); An assembly and a gathered congregation (OT: Ex.12:3)
- The church (NT) (Ekklesia) A called out body….. Used by Paul to primarily designate a group of believers in a certain place. (I Cor. 1:2; Gal. 1:2)
- A definition: The church as the whole body of those who through Christ’s death have been savingly reconciled to God and have received new life. It includes all such persons, whether in heaven or on earth. While it is universal in nature, it finds expression in local groupings of believers which display the same qualities as does the body of Christ as a whole. — Millard Erickson, Christian Theology
- The Church as an image of the Apostle Paul’s conception
- The people of God: Created as a people for Himself: Called out. ( 2 Cor. 6:16). It’s His initiative. (2 Thess.2:13-14)— Requiring a particular quality of holiness: (Eph. 5:25b-27)
- The Body of Christ: The Church is the locus of Christ’s activity now: Used of an universal nature (Eph. 1:22-23), and of local congregations (I Cor. 12:27). There is present here— a connection with Christ, an interconnection between all who make up the church, Fellowship, unity, the universal nature of the entity (Col. 3:11), and an extension of Christ and his ministry. (Col. 1:27) and more.
- The Church as the Temple of the Holy Sprit: The church now indwelt by the Holy Spirit collectively and individually. (I Cor. 12:13), (I Cor. 3:16-17). (Believers as a spiritual house. (I Peter 2:5)
- The Spirit imparts life (Gal. 5:22-23), conveys power (Acts 1:8), provides for unity, creates a sensitivity to the Lord’s leading, provides the Lord’s guidance (Romans 8:9-10), and serves as a sovereign of the church (I Cor. 12:11), and makes the church pure ( I Cor. 6: 19-20)
Considerations
- There is no 11th commandment for membership, but there are indications that provide the basis for building an argument— similar to my position on Trinity… No direct statement, we build an argument.
- Historical precedents:
- OT: God numbers his people for a specific purpose: Numbers 1:1-3; setting the stage for a distinction of those with God and those without.
- NT: As imitators of God (Eph. 5:1), we function in an environment of distinctiveness, those within the family of God and those without.
- (Acts 2); added to the church— I think that means something more than added to the universal church. Many letters directed to specific “churches”
- Represents meaningful commitment: (Num.1: 1-3): Those who could be counted on— Live out life in a community of committed believers who are bound together by common belief system and desire for church life, done, “decently and in order.” Such was the process involved in the implementation of directions from Acts 15.
- The biblical metaphors for church life: The flock in I Peter 5:3; and “family” of I Tim.3:15; There is responsibility here; and Ephesians 4:25, where the members are part of a larger body.
- It’s connection for discipline: Mt. 18:17 (Tell it to the church); I Cor. 5:12; 2 Cor. 2:5-6; Hard to “put someone out” who is not presently “in”. If you can apparently be removed from “it”, you must have been part of “it”
- Accountability: (Heb.13:7) Who is the flock that I am responsible for? All of Baldwin, GR, etc? (I Peter 5:2) Who am I responsible to shepherd? Everyone?
- Additional references: In Acts 6, when leadership are chosen, who are they leading?
- (I Tim. 5:3-16) What about the widow’s list? It seems like it was part of an organized church system working out a plan for the care of those within.
- What did it mean for the 1st century believer to acknowledge “Christos” as Lord? I would suggest it was a far more compulsory commitment than anything asked of modern day parishioner. It often cost them their lives.
- An argument from silence: To say that the Bible does not require local church membership is an argument from silence. It appears to me that they did but even if not, we have added organizational structure to the church throughout history; the presence of Sunday School, specific order of service, and ministries to the youth, as well as a number of different leadership options (pastors, assistants) meant to improve ministry and widen the church’s reach; as well as create an environment where family can be lived out. Imagine a marriage sustained only by “common law.”
As a tool for putting the relationship with a church in perspective
Summary
The Church, its priorities and its practices are very important to me and therefore I believe it valuable and necessary for members and non members alike to understand the church, and its necessary place in a culture that has lost its way. Our church seeks to be Gospel centered, Spirit led, and living out the truth of God’s word as followers of Jesus. Many of our positions in regard to doctrine are built from the texts of Scripture we have, and by comparing Scripture with Scripture, we are led to a logical or reasonable decision for the doctrines we believe. We have therefore concluded as a leadership that membership in a local church is consistent with the greater teaching of the Scripture. That said, I certainly recognize not all will agree; I for one, seek not be be heavy handed or unruly in our handling of God’s people, but purposeful in pursuing the goal of membership as one of it core values. MJC
Notes and thinking for later…
SERMONS OF LATE
Here I'll be posting insights from messages, guidance, longer articles, and the link to my website which includes articles and resources that you might find interesting or helpful.
Recent sermon excerpts or full sermons
March 6, 2022: Sunday AM
What do I want my children to know, and everyone else who follows me?
The power of a godly Family
A number of years ago, both of my parents died just ten days apart from one another, which brought to the forefront an issue that had never really been settled in our family. Many years ago, my parents had secured a burial plot through the Veterans Administration that would provide for them a pair of plots in a veteran’s cemetery in Arizona. But that transaction was completed some twenty years ago and my parents had since relocated to Michigan to live out their years closer to us. Now with their death, our family was presented with a dilemma. If we were somehow able to sell the plot in Arizona, we could locate my parents’ remains in a military cemetery in Battle Creek at a fraction of the cost for a local burial. But as my son argued, how often would we really visit the graveside when it is located one hundred miles from our home? Recognizing that as Christians, we believe the soul and spirit of our loved ones now reside with the Lord Jesus in heaven, it is their bodies alone that remain interred and as such, our visits to any cemetery are merely to honor their memory of their lives and instill that memory in our progeny’s lives. My son’s argument continued, that this area, where our family has resided now for over twenty-five years has become our little corner of the world where we have established roots and built our family. We have a connection to this part of the state, this county, this township and although neither Debbie or I were born in this state, this area has long been our home and a natural point of connection for the remainder of our family. Therefore, my wife and I made the decision to spend the additional funds, to sacrifice cost for something more intangible but nevertheless important— a family heritage, and a local burial, if only to establish this as the place where our family sojourned for the last quarter of a century.
Notwithstanding the recent interest in genealogy and discovering ones roots, God has long been interested in the family and its perpetuation as pursuit of God’s righteousness and hastening the coming of the kingdom of God.
J. I. Packer is quoted as saying that the Puritans created family in the English speaking world. Our predecessors to this continent saw their role as one of perpetuating the institution of family: a husband, a wife and children as the Christian’s appropriate response to the mandate of Genesis. And they did it well, incorporating their children into the daily fabric of adult life.
In an insightful book, author John Demos provides a picture of the overarching role of the family in the life of Plymouth colony in New England in the seventeenth century. He writes,
But what about before, before the puritans, before even the advent of western civilization; what did God do that assures us that family was on His mind? God’s command to populate the earth and perpetuate the race, given in Genesis two and soon tainted by the sin of Adam and Eve, still resulted in the growth of the race. Family disfunction reared its ugly head soon in the context of Scripture, as evidenced in the murder of Abel by his brother, Cain. Even though now in the pangs of established death, God protected the first extended family that we’re made aware of through His provision for Noah’s family during their year-long stay in the Ark.
Abraham ventures out of Ur with a family unit, and the text of Genesis is very clear in noting the development of each patriarch’s family line, by repeatedly saying, “Now these are the generations of ….” Particular to the Old Testament and the Hebrew language, the collective hope of the larger family unit was deemed of greater importance than individual aspirations— the family, and ultimately, the nation under God’s leadership is the priority for the Children of Israel.
Equally important is the phrase noted first in Exodus 12:26, “And it shall be, when your children say to you, ‘what do you mean by this service?’ That you shall say…”
It appears again in Joshua 4:6; in this case the subject is a memorial for Israel’s passing over the Jordan, but the phrase, “ that this may be a sign among you when your children ask in time to come…”
Notice the emphasis here; when your children ask you. It suggests an impetus for conversations about the Exodus, the crossing of the Jordan and the redemption of Israel, are initiated by the children and as such, deemed necessary as a part of the transmission of the faith.
It likewise appears in Exodus 10:2;13:8,14; and in Psalm 44:1, specifically here, “Our fathers have told us the work you did in their days, in days long ago.”
And not only this, but when the patriarchs in Genesis are passing from the scene, the Old Testament frequently uses the expression, “They were gathered to their fathers.” It is used this way of Abraham (Genesis 25:8), Isaac (Genesis 35:29), Jacob (Genesis 49:33, Aaron (Numbers 20:24), and Moses (Numbers 27:13). The text could have simply said, “ He died” as it does in referring to the now habitual pattern of death evident in Genesis 5. But instead, the text says, “He was gathered to his people.” In Old Testament death, there is a gathering of believing souls to their destination in Sheol, all united by their faith in God. Appearing as it does before the coming of Christ and the creation of the believer’s heavenly home, it suggests a family united forever by their belief in the God of Israel. Even the term, the Children of Israel suggests the God of the ages is establishing a family of worshippers who will love and worship the father, together with multitudes of others for ever.
And What about Job
Job provides an intimate if not early examination of a believer’s life, before the establishment of his covenant with Abraham, before the formation of the law, the anointing of kings, the establishment of the priesthood or the commanded blood sacrifices. It’s likely Job’s life overlapped with that of Abraham, and his home in Uz was somewhere Southeast and Southwest of the Dead Sea. It was a time of increasing spiritual decay among the nations and because of this, Job’s desire to pursue a holy life with God for his family remains relevant to our own time and circumstances. In time, Job will come to grips with God’s ultimate purpose for his life, suffer through bad counsel and his own doubts; only to pass through the difficulties with a reaffirmed trust in his loving and sovereign God. But it’s his family that is of interest to us here. While the Scriptures do not elaborate, they leave little to question about his interest for his family.
1 There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job; and that man was blameless, upright, fearing God and turning away from evil. 2 Seven sons and three daughters were born to him. 3 His possessions also were 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 female donkeys, and very many servants; and that man was the greatest of all the men of the east. 4 His sons used to go and hold a feast in the house of each one on his day, and they would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. 5 When the days of feasting had completed their cycle, Job would send and consecrate them, rising up early in the morning and offering burnt offerings according to the number of them all; for Job said, “Perhaps my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” Thus Job did continually. (Job 1:1-5)
Job is compelled. by five pursuits driving his interest in family.
What happens next
With the settlement of the land come problems, largely because of the lack of godly, consistent leadership, and at its core a failure to enthrone God as their only object of worship and final authority. As evidenced in the Judges account, at least several of the judges are identified as failing to establish the proper relationship with a spouse, and or, refusing to compel their children to follow the Lord, wholly. A cursory reading of this transitional book reveals that this was evident at some level in the lives of Gideon and Samson resulting in a breakdown of the culture throughout the various stratums of corporate and family life. The failure of leadership among the Judges manifested itself in a failure of the home and family as well. Michael Smith writes
As with Gideon, so with Jephthah: while not purposefully passing on the faith by planning for a godly heritage, they were destroying not only their own families but Israel as well. Problems in the home ultimately impacted the nation…The clause "everyone did what was right in his own eyes" (17:6; 21:25) indicates that this family failure was common in Israel. People did what seemed right to them rather than obeying God… The failure of the home to perpetuate a godly heritage is seen in intermarriage, concubinage, polygamy, rebellious children, child sacrifice, gross depreciation of women, homosexuality, rape, mass murder, and kidnapping. (Michael Smith Bib Sac, July- September, 2005)
The establishment of the Kingdom under Saul and then David, Solomon and beyond did not render the sins of the fathers null and void but only provided an environment where family life was inconsistent, tumultuous, and unfulfilling. The experiences of Daniel, Esther, many of the prophets only reinforce the challenges facing those who would desire to perpetuate a godly line from their family. Freedom and captivity pose their own unique problems when it comes to passing the godly heritage from one generation to the next.
The New Testament world was not generally favorably inclined toward the advancement of family life. Marriages were largely viewed in name only and The Roman world seemed no friend to marriage, children and family, but with the advent and advancement of the Gospel, a Scriptural basis for a family’s existence and purpose, and now the church to provide the environment for growth and stability, the opportunity to build a life and a godly heritage was now a reality.
And then there was Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who lived until the onset of his adulthood and ministry in a home, bathed in the love of his mother and earthly father, where according to Luke’s gospel, he lived in favor with God and man. The very church itself, to whom God joined himself, is constructed on the loving image consistent with marriage and family. A loving God, joined to his bride, the Church, where we as his children thrive in the favor of His sacrifice
The New Testament family of God is certainly inclusive of the immediate family but incorporate those who now by faith, have been added to the kingdom of God and form an eternal family of believers that extend beyond the bounds of earthly life and supersede the constraints of earthly existence. The church body is often referred to as the “Family of God” and as such, charged with the responsibility for providing fellowship, admonition, rebuke, and compassion. The early local assemblies met regularly together, took many of its meals together, met each other needs, financial and otherwise, and even shared their possessions with others who might have found themselves in need.
And it's that life, the balanced interaction between the home and church, that our forefathers, commended to this continent, sought to introduce to the country they now called their own. If we recognize that their model of home, community and church could not survive intact in its earliest form, we should not fault them for trying to build what has been referred to as “The City on the Hill.”
What do I want my children to know about our part of the larger family we call our own?
Applications:
MJC
Recent sermon excerpts or full sermons
March 6, 2022: Sunday AM
What do I want my children to know, and everyone else who follows me?
The power of a godly Family
A number of years ago, both of my parents died just ten days apart from one another, which brought to the forefront an issue that had never really been settled in our family. Many years ago, my parents had secured a burial plot through the Veterans Administration that would provide for them a pair of plots in a veteran’s cemetery in Arizona. But that transaction was completed some twenty years ago and my parents had since relocated to Michigan to live out their years closer to us. Now with their death, our family was presented with a dilemma. If we were somehow able to sell the plot in Arizona, we could locate my parents’ remains in a military cemetery in Battle Creek at a fraction of the cost for a local burial. But as my son argued, how often would we really visit the graveside when it is located one hundred miles from our home? Recognizing that as Christians, we believe the soul and spirit of our loved ones now reside with the Lord Jesus in heaven, it is their bodies alone that remain interred and as such, our visits to any cemetery are merely to honor their memory of their lives and instill that memory in our progeny’s lives. My son’s argument continued, that this area, where our family has resided now for over twenty-five years has become our little corner of the world where we have established roots and built our family. We have a connection to this part of the state, this county, this township and although neither Debbie or I were born in this state, this area has long been our home and a natural point of connection for the remainder of our family. Therefore, my wife and I made the decision to spend the additional funds, to sacrifice cost for something more intangible but nevertheless important— a family heritage, and a local burial, if only to establish this as the place where our family sojourned for the last quarter of a century.
Notwithstanding the recent interest in genealogy and discovering ones roots, God has long been interested in the family and its perpetuation as pursuit of God’s righteousness and hastening the coming of the kingdom of God.
J. I. Packer is quoted as saying that the Puritans created family in the English speaking world. Our predecessors to this continent saw their role as one of perpetuating the institution of family: a husband, a wife and children as the Christian’s appropriate response to the mandate of Genesis. And they did it well, incorporating their children into the daily fabric of adult life.
In an insightful book, author John Demos provides a picture of the overarching role of the family in the life of Plymouth colony in New England in the seventeenth century. He writes,
- The Old Colony family was first of all, a business— an absolute central agency of economic production and exchange. Each household was more or less self-sufficient; and it various members were inextricably united in the work of providing for their fundamental material wants. Work, indeed, was a wholly natural extension of family life…The Family was also a “school.” “Parents and masters” were charged by law to attend to the education of all th children their immediate care— “at least to be able duels to read the Scriptures.”
The family was a “vocational institute.” However deficient it may have been in transmitting the formal knowledge and skills associate with literacy, it clearly served to prepare it young for effective, independent performance in the larger economic system…
The family was a “church.” To say this is not to slight the central importance of churches in the usual sense… Daily prayers and personal meditation formed an indispensable adjunct to the more formal devotions of the whole community.
The family was a house of correction. Idle and even criminal persons were “sentenced” by the Court to live as servants in the families of more reputable citizens. - The family was a “welfare institution”; in fact, it provided serval different kids of welfare service. It was occasionally a hospital… an orphanage… an old people’s home… and it was a poorhouse…. Family and community, private and public life, formed part of the same moral equation. The one supported the other and they became in a sense, indistinguishable. (Demos, pg. 183-184)
But what about before, before the puritans, before even the advent of western civilization; what did God do that assures us that family was on His mind? God’s command to populate the earth and perpetuate the race, given in Genesis two and soon tainted by the sin of Adam and Eve, still resulted in the growth of the race. Family disfunction reared its ugly head soon in the context of Scripture, as evidenced in the murder of Abel by his brother, Cain. Even though now in the pangs of established death, God protected the first extended family that we’re made aware of through His provision for Noah’s family during their year-long stay in the Ark.
Abraham ventures out of Ur with a family unit, and the text of Genesis is very clear in noting the development of each patriarch’s family line, by repeatedly saying, “Now these are the generations of ….” Particular to the Old Testament and the Hebrew language, the collective hope of the larger family unit was deemed of greater importance than individual aspirations— the family, and ultimately, the nation under God’s leadership is the priority for the Children of Israel.
Equally important is the phrase noted first in Exodus 12:26, “And it shall be, when your children say to you, ‘what do you mean by this service?’ That you shall say…”
It appears again in Joshua 4:6; in this case the subject is a memorial for Israel’s passing over the Jordan, but the phrase, “ that this may be a sign among you when your children ask in time to come…”
Notice the emphasis here; when your children ask you. It suggests an impetus for conversations about the Exodus, the crossing of the Jordan and the redemption of Israel, are initiated by the children and as such, deemed necessary as a part of the transmission of the faith.
It likewise appears in Exodus 10:2;13:8,14; and in Psalm 44:1, specifically here, “Our fathers have told us the work you did in their days, in days long ago.”
And not only this, but when the patriarchs in Genesis are passing from the scene, the Old Testament frequently uses the expression, “They were gathered to their fathers.” It is used this way of Abraham (Genesis 25:8), Isaac (Genesis 35:29), Jacob (Genesis 49:33, Aaron (Numbers 20:24), and Moses (Numbers 27:13). The text could have simply said, “ He died” as it does in referring to the now habitual pattern of death evident in Genesis 5. But instead, the text says, “He was gathered to his people.” In Old Testament death, there is a gathering of believing souls to their destination in Sheol, all united by their faith in God. Appearing as it does before the coming of Christ and the creation of the believer’s heavenly home, it suggests a family united forever by their belief in the God of Israel. Even the term, the Children of Israel suggests the God of the ages is establishing a family of worshippers who will love and worship the father, together with multitudes of others for ever.
And What about Job
Job provides an intimate if not early examination of a believer’s life, before the establishment of his covenant with Abraham, before the formation of the law, the anointing of kings, the establishment of the priesthood or the commanded blood sacrifices. It’s likely Job’s life overlapped with that of Abraham, and his home in Uz was somewhere Southeast and Southwest of the Dead Sea. It was a time of increasing spiritual decay among the nations and because of this, Job’s desire to pursue a holy life with God for his family remains relevant to our own time and circumstances. In time, Job will come to grips with God’s ultimate purpose for his life, suffer through bad counsel and his own doubts; only to pass through the difficulties with a reaffirmed trust in his loving and sovereign God. But it’s his family that is of interest to us here. While the Scriptures do not elaborate, they leave little to question about his interest for his family.
1 There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job; and that man was blameless, upright, fearing God and turning away from evil. 2 Seven sons and three daughters were born to him. 3 His possessions also were 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 female donkeys, and very many servants; and that man was the greatest of all the men of the east. 4 His sons used to go and hold a feast in the house of each one on his day, and they would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. 5 When the days of feasting had completed their cycle, Job would send and consecrate them, rising up early in the morning and offering burnt offerings according to the number of them all; for Job said, “Perhaps my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” Thus Job did continually. (Job 1:1-5)
Job is compelled. by five pursuits driving his interest in family.
- There is the pursuit of God’s presence. The writer describes Job’s pursuit of God in four ways. He loves God with his whole heart and seeks what is good in the world around him. Secondly, in his thoughts and actions, he is motivated by what is right. Thirdly, his heart is constrained by the fear of God, which he knew was the beginning of wisdom. And finally, he was sensitive to the dangers of evil and sought to keep it at a distance. He understood clearly that his own life lacked biblical perfection (9:20), but aimed his actions toward it; Matthew Henry noting, “ his heart was sound and his eye single… He feared God, had a reverence for his majesty, a regard to his authority, and a dread of his wrath.” (Henry, pg. 3)
- There is the pursuit of a good name. His family and his financial resources appear great and explained in terms of livestock; all of this meant to convey his importance to the area. In fact, his prosperity was not at odds with his piety, but rather only strengthened it. According to Job 29:25, Job was one of Uz’s leading citizens and highly respected among its inhabitants, and by his own testimony, “I lived like a king among his troops, like one who comforts mourners.” (Job. 29:25) He was the greatest of all the men of the east.(Job. 1:3)
- There is the pursuit of a distinctive spiritual family. Without a doubt, Job was a wealthy man but his wealth exceeded possessions and investment; his wealth being understood in terms of family. He sees the family as a the real and lasting treasure of his life. He proved to be as good as the affirmations about him; his resources providing no impediment to his spirituality. Matthew Henry suggests that “it was an instance of his prosperity that his house was filled with children, which are a heritage of the Lord and his reward.” ( Ps. 127:3; Henry, pg. 3) Job notes in (29:5) that his children were all about him. His children had grown to adulthood and entered into families of their own. Additionally, the children were interested in pursuing a protracted and consistent fellowship together; the sons looking beyond their own needs to those of their sisters. Kiel and Delitzsch suggest that, “The seven sons took it in turn to dine with one another the week round, and did not forget their sisters in the loneliness of the parental home, but added them to their number. There existed among them a family peace and union which had been uninterruptedly cherished.” (K&D Job, 50)
- There is a pursuit of sanctification. When the days of feasting had completed their cycle, Job would send and consecrate them, rising up early in the morning and offering burnt offerings according to the number of them all; for Job said, “Perhaps my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” Thus Job did continually. Because there is no formal priesthood as of yet, Job assumed the right of priesthood for his family and maintained its altar. And taking this responsibility seriously, he offered ten sacrifices, one for each of his children, on the beginning of each week. Not leaving anything to chance, Job is concerned that the days of celebration and life in a pagan world might have dulled his children’s senses, causing them to drift from their otherwise consistent walk with God. His desire for his kids extends beyond the perfunctory and finds its focus in the innermost attitudes and actions of their hearts. Keil and Delitzsch again comment: In Job’s family, therefore, there was an earnest desire for sanctification, which was far from being satisfied with mere outward propriety of conduct. Sacrifice (which is as old as the sin of mankind) was to Job a means of grace, by which he cleansed himself and his family every week from inward blemish. (Pg.51)
- There is pursuit of consistency. Hence the phrase, thus Job did continually. There is a diligent effort to establish a daily and devotional walk with God; then to look outwardly from himself into the lives of his children. It’s the same consistency that Paul argues for in Philippians 4 when admonishing us to meditate on what is truthful and honoring, and the consistency that Peter argues for in his second letter to make the presence of the Divine nature in the Christian’s life a practical reality (2 Peter 1: 4-11). A lack of consistency within the Christian life is a characteristic that can thwart the best intentions of our heart.
What happens next
With the settlement of the land come problems, largely because of the lack of godly, consistent leadership, and at its core a failure to enthrone God as their only object of worship and final authority. As evidenced in the Judges account, at least several of the judges are identified as failing to establish the proper relationship with a spouse, and or, refusing to compel their children to follow the Lord, wholly. A cursory reading of this transitional book reveals that this was evident at some level in the lives of Gideon and Samson resulting in a breakdown of the culture throughout the various stratums of corporate and family life. The failure of leadership among the Judges manifested itself in a failure of the home and family as well. Michael Smith writes
As with Gideon, so with Jephthah: while not purposefully passing on the faith by planning for a godly heritage, they were destroying not only their own families but Israel as well. Problems in the home ultimately impacted the nation…The clause "everyone did what was right in his own eyes" (17:6; 21:25) indicates that this family failure was common in Israel. People did what seemed right to them rather than obeying God… The failure of the home to perpetuate a godly heritage is seen in intermarriage, concubinage, polygamy, rebellious children, child sacrifice, gross depreciation of women, homosexuality, rape, mass murder, and kidnapping. (Michael Smith Bib Sac, July- September, 2005)
The establishment of the Kingdom under Saul and then David, Solomon and beyond did not render the sins of the fathers null and void but only provided an environment where family life was inconsistent, tumultuous, and unfulfilling. The experiences of Daniel, Esther, many of the prophets only reinforce the challenges facing those who would desire to perpetuate a godly line from their family. Freedom and captivity pose their own unique problems when it comes to passing the godly heritage from one generation to the next.
The New Testament world was not generally favorably inclined toward the advancement of family life. Marriages were largely viewed in name only and The Roman world seemed no friend to marriage, children and family, but with the advent and advancement of the Gospel, a Scriptural basis for a family’s existence and purpose, and now the church to provide the environment for growth and stability, the opportunity to build a life and a godly heritage was now a reality.
And then there was Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who lived until the onset of his adulthood and ministry in a home, bathed in the love of his mother and earthly father, where according to Luke’s gospel, he lived in favor with God and man. The very church itself, to whom God joined himself, is constructed on the loving image consistent with marriage and family. A loving God, joined to his bride, the Church, where we as his children thrive in the favor of His sacrifice
The New Testament family of God is certainly inclusive of the immediate family but incorporate those who now by faith, have been added to the kingdom of God and form an eternal family of believers that extend beyond the bounds of earthly life and supersede the constraints of earthly existence. The church body is often referred to as the “Family of God” and as such, charged with the responsibility for providing fellowship, admonition, rebuke, and compassion. The early local assemblies met regularly together, took many of its meals together, met each other needs, financial and otherwise, and even shared their possessions with others who might have found themselves in need.
And it's that life, the balanced interaction between the home and church, that our forefathers, commended to this continent, sought to introduce to the country they now called their own. If we recognize that their model of home, community and church could not survive intact in its earliest form, we should not fault them for trying to build what has been referred to as “The City on the Hill.”
What do I want my children to know about our part of the larger family we call our own?
- I want them to know something of their grandparents path to faith in Jesus Christ. Why should they wait until someone eulogizes us, or an unknown pastor attempts to illuminate what really mattered to us about our walk with the Lord? I want them to know about how I came to respond to the Gospel, how and why Debbie became my wife, and how we came to surrender to full time vocational ministry.
- I want them to know something of their grandparents’ struggles with sin, their subsequent victories over it, and their challenges advancing the kingdom of God. I them to realize that life is a marathon, full of seemingly small decisions that will prove of great consequence for them in the future. I want them to understand the destructive power of sin without having to fall prey to its damming consequences. I want to be able to offer them wisdom for the challenges they will face, and perspective from both the mistakes of my youth and the monumental decisions that have changed the face of our family for the good.
- I want them to know something of the value and challenge of relationships. We were not created to be alone, and yet much of the Christian life involves extended periods of loneliness and at other time facing the challenges of maintaining consistent, growing relationships over time. I want them to know that friends will come and go and they should cherish and work hard to sustain those relationships that prove to stand the test of time.
- I want them to know the value of elevating Christ over things, over money, and over possessions. One wag once noted correctly, “I’ve never seen a U-Haul following a hearse.” I want them to know that at times, its difficult, and our own attitude toward others must be sifted through the filter of priorities, choices, and God’s best path for our lives. Those who are rich, while facing challenges unique to my own are not evil, shortsighted or greedy, in fact, they might be the most generous people I know. Likewise, to be poor is not immediately a badge of honor; coming with an automatic enrollment into the highest place in heaven, but an opportunity to discover the real wealth that God has for us in choosing the best things and being satisfied with those choices.
- I want them to know the joy, challenges, and pushback in the culture to having children, especially, if they choose to have more than two. There were particular and valid reasons why my parents had just one child, but my life has been impacted in countless ways because of that decision. I want them to think about their priorities, their vocational calling in life, and the giftedness of their own lives, but I want them to take seriously God’s command to replenish the earth. In the absence of biological children, I want them to consider the possibility of foster or adopted children, to both extend the kingdom of God, to offer the option of life to parents considering abortion, and to provide them the growth that God wants for most of us in our lives. Children provide that kind of stretching and growth that most of us need to navigate life well.
- I want them to cherish the times their parents say, “Now I want you to remember this, it is important and you will need to know this when I’m gone.” Sadly to say, I allowed too many of those times to pass me by and I suffer regret because of it.
- And no matter what else, I want them to appreciate the value of family and the importance of passing on to their sons, daughters, grandsons, and granddaughters, the great doctrines of the Faith once delivered to us, the redemption that is only possible in Jesus Christ, and the new and better way to live our lives, through the development of God’s Fruits of the Spirit, and His continued sanctification of our relationship with God the Father, His Son, Jesus, and God’s Holy Spirit— the three for which we all must deal.
Applications:
- I would do well to think about the God I communicate to others. Am I comfortable with the lessons others take away from me? If we ask our children to describe God, would they have enough to go on from us? Have we created sufficient interest so as to create curiosity in them about the truth surrounding our faith?
- I would do well to think about the strength of family evident in my children. They aren’t likely to care about family if you don’t
- I would do well to think about the view of Church I leave behind. Do your children value the local assembly? Does the Church serve as a competitor to the family or its compliment? Do they see it as a force in the world, a lighthouse in times of darkness, and a beacon of hope? Do your grandchildren have a concept of Christ’s creation of the church and his necessary defense of it? What will become of our church and who will become its leaders?
MJC