This Sunday we will continue
in Hebrews 12 with one last look at Hebrews 12:28 -29:
“Therefore
let us be grateful for receiving
a kingdom that cannot be shaken,
and thus let
us offer to God acceptable worship,
with reverence and awe, for our God is a
consuming fire.”
Specifically
what I seek to do this week is follow-up last week’s message by making a
Mother’s Day / Family application from this passage. That application is this: The fear of God is an essential
characteristic for effective parenting.
A key aspect of offering to God “acceptable worship” is walking with Him
in reverence and awe, and teaching our children (and grandchildren) to do the
same. “Throughout Scripture God makes lavish promises to the parents who
learn to fear Him. More than any other
virtue, the fear of God attracts God’s favor to our parenting. God blesses the children and grandchildren of
the parents who learn and practice the fear of God.” (Gospel Centered
parenting by William Farley, p. 55&67)
This
Sunday we will look at what God says in His Word about the fear of God. We will seek to further define the fear of
God and see why it is so essential to the wellbeing of our families.
A
key word in our text is “worship”. This
word is also translated as “service” (Rom 1:9 & 12:1), and can refer to
every aspect of our lives being offered to God is service (or worship). Our worship of God is inclusive of
everything we are and everything we do.
This service (worship) is to be done with a deep awareness of God’s
holiness. Our God is a consuming
fire. Therefore our lives should be
characterized by a love for God that is grounded in profound reverence and awe
of Him.
In
the message this week I will refer to the book quoted above: Gospel Centered Parenting, by William
Farley. Copies of this book are in our
bookstore and I would encourage every family to have one. It is a great parenting tool. In chapter three of the book Farley writes
about Gospel Fear. He makes an important
distinction about the fear of God that helps us understand a concept we
addressed in last week’s message: How do we walk in balance between Mt Sinai consuming
holiness and Mt Zion’s consuming love?
How do we experience his love and fear him at the same time?
Based on the account of
Israel’s encounter of God at Mount Sinai (Exodus 20) Farley makes a helpful
distinction between the “slave-fear” of God and “Son-fear” of God. The Israelites had slave-fear. Slave fear does not motivate obedience. It causes us to run away – to draw back from
God. There is no conviction that God is
good – that He rewards those who draw near to him in faith. (Heb 11:6)
On the other hand Moses
exemplifies “son-fear”. Son-fear
motivates us to pursue God. Moses went
right up the mountain to be near God.
Son-fear comes with the new birth – and attracts us to God. Son-fear is
like the Grand Canyon – whose beauty and vastness draws us to the edge. Son-fear compels us to look closer at God– to
get nearer to Him.
Son-fear teaches us to sing
the Psalms like we see in Psalms 103. As
you prepare for worship this week prayerfully read Exodus 20 and Psalm
103. Specifically meditate upon verses
11-18 of Psalm 103.
This Sunday we will sing an
old hymn some of us grew up singing, but is not often heard today. It is appropriate for this week’s passage and
our celebration of Mother’s Day. Let
these lyrics be the prayer of our herat as we prepare for this Sunday’s worship.
God Give us Christian Homes
God,
give us Christian homes!
Homes where the Bible is loved and taught,
Homes where
the Master's will is sought,
Homes
crowned with beauty Your love has wrought;
God, give us Christian homes;
God,
give us Christian homes!
God,
give us Christian homes!
Homes where the father is true and strong,
Homes that
are free from the blight of wrong,
Homes
that are joyous with love and song;
God, give us Christian homes,
God, give us
Christian homes!
God,
give us Christian homes!
Homes where the mother, in caring quest,
Strives to
show others Your way is best,
Homes
where the Lord is an honored guest;
God, give us Christian homes,
God, give us
Christian homes!
God,
give us Christian homes!
Homes where the children are led to know
Christ in His
beauty who loves them so,
Homes
where the altar fires burn and glow;
God, give us Christian homes,
God, give us
Christian homes!
No comments:
Post a Comment