The Christian Home

The Christian Home

Ephesians 5:22-26

Sermon by Jack Nazary
West Jackson Baptist - 1963
Colonial Hills - 1966 & 1971

Introduction: The future of our nation is very decidedly at stake. J. Edgar Hoover says "As goes the Christian homes of America, so goes our nation."

Over five million of the more than thirty million public school age boys and girls come from broken homes. 150,000 additional boys and girls go to psychiatrists each year for mental treatment - their difficulties arising from the broken home situation, resulting in a lack of love, care, and security.

Divorce rate in America is 3 1/2 percent higher than that of England, 3 % higher than that of France (the percentage is now almost one out of 2 marriages goes on the rocks). The divorce rate is over 800% since the Civil War. Yet the majority of marriages succeed.

I. Reasons for Divorce

A. Contractual attitude toward marriage - this influenced largely by Hollywood. Marriage is a commitment for life, not a contract to be broken by either party. Most people who get divorces should never have married at all.

B. They marry for physical attraction alone. Love at first sight...Love Story magazine...Love story book.

C. Failure of the home, church, and school to prepare for marriage. Little do we care for the marriage of our children inside the will of God.

II. Responsibility of parents to children

A. A cordial welcome
1. Genesis: "Be fruitful and multiply"
2. Psalm 127: "Children are an heritage of the Lord."
3. The Home should: want children, expect children, and plan for children
4. God's will should be considered in the number of children.
5. Some couples lavish love on a dog or a cat instead of children. Twice as much is spent in America on dog food as on preacher's salaries. (two preachers to one dog)
6. It is good for both to work for a while - provision for children (going on to school)

B. Careful Protection
1. Babies are helpless
2. They need protection from:
a. loneliness
b. Hunger
c. Harm
d. Disease
3. Teenagers need to be protected from:
a. Temptation
b. Trouble
c. Harm
4. Teenagers need good recreation:
a. Fellowship
b. Shuffleboard
c. Badminton
5. The blindest people to the problems of teenagers are the parents of teenagers.
6. The homes should be congregating places for teenagers.
7. People can be brought to Christ through a recreational program.
8. "The Devil as a roaring lion walketh about seeking whom he may devour"
9. A seven day ministry is needful for the church today.

C. Christian Affection
1. Example - Newlywed and "hen pecked" husband meet. Newlywed: "I have the sweetest wife." I've named her after a flower - Rose." "Hen - pecked": "I named my wife after a flower too - Snap dragon."
2. Some husbands and wives use crude common expression to refer to their mates "My ol man" "my ol woman" Children use these terms also in referring to their parents.
3. Terms of love, affection, and deep respect should be used.

D. Corrective Discipline - not police action
1. Example - a 16 year old once said, "mother was always on talking terms with God and spanking terms with me."
2. Susan Wesley, the mother of 19 children said: 1. "I always broke a child's stubborn streak by the time he was one year old" 2. "I never gave a child anything that he continued to cry for."
3. Psychiatrists have said that all sex deviates have one thing in common, they were spoiled, pampered children.
4. Some say don't spank a little child; you will warp his personality.
5. The child should not be expected to make decisions on his own at an early age. He needs help from his parents in making them.

E. Christian Example
1. Example: A man, his wife and two teenage children came on profession of faith one Sunday (First Church, Dallas). 16 year old son had died in a car wreck the week before and gone to hell because of the influence of his mother and father.
2. Boys and girls will go to hell because parents tell them to - by their example.
3. Example: A farmer was asked if his son could go to the Training Union Assembly. He replied, "I don't have to make a crop, but I sure got to make a man out of that boy."
4. Example: A mother had led her daughter to the Lord. When the preacher came to visit, the daughter ran out to meet him and said, "Brother Williams, I have the dearest mother in the world. She has always loved and cared for me, and now she has led me to Christ and I am a Christian."
5. Example: The 11 year son of a dedicated Memphis lawyer was in the hospital and doctors had reported that he was soon to die. When the dad went in to see his son, the son said, "Dad, I'm not going to live long, but if God's anything like you, I'm not afraid to die."

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In the 45 years since my Granddaddy preached this sermon, things have gone from bad to worse. It is sad to think of the trend in our country. At age 9, I was a child of divorce. I was in the minority. Most of my friends lived with both mom and dad. I lived with mom and step-dad. It is weird to think how things have changed just in my lifetime. It is so evident in working with teenagers everyday that most of the problems they face are directly related to home. Almost all of our students come from broken homes.

Here are some of the statistics I found on-line:

"Half of all children will witness the breakup of a parent's marriage. Of these, close to half will also see the breakup of a parent's second marriage."
Furstenberg, Peterson, Nord, and Zill, "Life Course," 656ff. Cited on page76 ofThe Abolition of Marriage, by Maggie Gallagher

"The number of children involved in divorces and annulments stood at 6.3 per 1,000 children under 18 years of age in 1950, and 7.2 in 1960. By 1970 it had increased to 12.5; by 1975, 16.7; by 1980, the rate stood at 17.3, a 175 percent increase from 1950. Since in 1972, one million American children every year have seen their parents divorce. "
Brian Willats, Breaking Up is Easy To Do, available from Michigan Family Forum, citing Statistical Abstract of the United States, 1993.

"The number of children living with both parents declined from 85 to 68 percent between 1970 and 1996. The proportion of children living with one parent has grown from 12 percent to 28 percent during this same time span."
Quoted from Census Bureau's release about its report on MARITAL STATUS AND LIVING ARRANGEMENTS