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Guest (Female): Welcome to PowerPoint with Jack Graham. When you pray for your family, whether it is over a meal, whether it is by your bedside, when you pray for your family, when you get up each day, most likely you're praying something like, "Lord, bless our family."

On today's PowerPoint, Dr. Graham brings a message about the blessing and benefits of a Christian family. Now, here's Dr. Graham with his message, "The Blessing of a Christian Home."

Jack Graham: Everything in life is based and built upon relationships. Life is all about relationships. Someone said the rest is details, and I believe that's true.

When God made the man and the woman, He put them together in a relationship. Over the years, over the centuries, over the millenniums, God has established families and has given us the blessing of a home. The blessing of a family and the blessing of our homes. That's the title of the message today: "The Blessing and the Benefit of the Christian Home."

Every person ought to have three homes. Number one, you ought to know that you have a heavenly home. Do you know that? Do you know for certain that if you were to die today, you would go straight to heaven? To be absent from the body, according to the Bible, is to be present with the Lord.

So, do you know that if you were to take your last breath today, or if Christ could come and rapture His church, do you know that you would instantaneously, miraculously be in His presence? Do you have a heavenly home? This is so very important.

Do you have a family home? That's the second kind of home. That's, of course, the family home. God sets the solitary in families. Whether you are a family of one with the Lord or a family of many, God puts us together as families and has blessed the family throughout the generation. A man and a woman married in covenant relationship before God and blessed as God would bless them with children all around them.

Then everyone ought to have a church home. A church home. You say, "How do you get in the church?" By being born again into Christ. When you are in Christ, you are then in the church (Big C), but you ought to also be in the church (little c), that is, the local church. If you don't have a church home, a church family, you should attend to that immediately and raise your children up to know and love the Lord and to love the church.

Jesus is the way to heaven. He's the way to the family, and He's the way to the church. That's why we're talking about the way home. Home is not in the way; home is the way of happiness in our lives. Jesus is the door to all three: your heavenly home, your church home, and your family home.

I want us to concentrate today on the happy home that should be celebrated, dedicated, and consecrated to Christ. Turn in your Bibles to Psalm 128. This Psalm is all about the family.

A Christ-centered home should be the happiest place on earth. I said a Christ-centered home should be the happiest place on earth. Our friends and our neighbors ought to be looking at our homes and our families and saying, "What is the difference?" Their home seems to be so happy.

Now, there are no perfect homes. We know that. But there can be a happy home, a blessed home. People should notice that. We should live out our testimony with our families intact. Psalm 128 paints a picture. A beautiful, if you've seen a family portrait, and maybe you have one in your home.

But if you've seen a portrait of a family, here it is in the Bible: a happy, healthy, flourishing, faithful family. In that family, we're going to see there is a godly husband. There is a faithful and flourishing wife. There are happy and healthy children, and there is an eternal legacy with that family from generation to generation.

Verse 1, Psalm 128: "Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in His ways. You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands and you shall be blessed, and it shall be well with you. Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house. Your children will be like olive shoots around your table. Behold, there shall the man be blessed who fears the Lord. There, in that family, will the man be blessed who fears the Lord."

"The Lord bless you from Zion. May you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life. And may you see your children's children. Peace upon Israel." And peace upon every child of God who's blessed with a family like this.

As we paint this picture of the family today, this family portrait, I want you to note several things about the family. First of all, let's talk about the consecration of the home or the consecration of the Christian family.

Verse 1, look at it again, says, "Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord." Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord. What we have in front of us today is not a fight, but a lot of fun because it's all about the blessing of the Christian home and the Christian family.

Now, the word "blessed" can mean a lot of different things as it is translated from the Hebrew language. But most simply, it can be given to the word happiness. It means total and complete happiness. When it is written here, the word "blessed" here, "Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord who walks in His way," and it speaks about verse 4 again, to be blessed, those who fear the Lord.

That can mean happy, and it's written in the plural in the language of the Old Testament. So, it could actually be translated: "Happy, happy, happy." Happy, happy, happy. Blessed, blessed, blessed is this kind of family.

Now, again, not every family is perfect. Mine isn't, nor is yours. But when we know Christ and we consecrate our homes, our families to the Lord, then genuine happiness comes. True happiness comes our way. It is the blessing of God.

I dare say, when you pray for your family, whether it is over a meal, whether it is by your bedside, when you pray for your family, when you get up each day, most likely you're praying something like, "Lord, bless our family. Lord, bless our children." That's what he's talking about right here.

When we consecrate our lives to the Lord and live in the fear of the Lord and walk in His ways, then our families will be blessed. That's why I'm calling this first point the consecration of the home. This is how you build a home. The construction of the home, without the Lord, those who labor, labor in vain. Psalm 127, right in front of this Psalm.

They labor in vain who build it. But with the Lord, there is life, there is love. The reason that every Christian home, Christ-centered, Christian home can be so happy is because of the love of Jesus Christ. The love of God that is with us, poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit.

We have a different kind of love in Christ. It is the love of God, who is love. So, how are we then to consecrate our families? He tells us, and He's really speaking to dads, but He includes moms and everyone in the family. It says, "Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord and who walks in His way."

Now, what does it mean to fear the Lord? We've lost the fear of God in our nation and in the world. Often, we've lost it even in the church. We used to talk about a God-fearing man, a God-fearing woman. You don't hear those terms that much anymore. It seems antiquated. It seems off.

What does it mean to fear the Lord? Does that mean we are to dread God? Absolutely not. The fear of the Lord is our faith in the Lord. It is our worship. When we consider the wonder and the awe and the adoration of our God, we live in the wonder, we live in the worship.

A man, a woman who fears the Lord then walks in obedience. That's what it says right here. If you want a definition of what it means to fear the Lord, someone who fears the Lord walks in His ways. That is, we live in obedience to the Word of God and walk in the will of God.

It is our love of God. If you fear God, you love God and will want to obey God in everything and to teach your children and your children's children to fear God and to walk in His ways. So that begins our message today, the consecration of the home.

Guest (Female): You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and the message, "The Blessing of a Christian Home." This summer, America turns 250 years old, and Dr. Graham wants to mark it with you. That's why we're releasing a 21-day devotional series called "One Nation Under God."

Beginning June 14th, Dr. Graham will trace the faith at the heart of America's story all the way through the 4th of July. Walk with us through the faith that built our nation, the scripture that shaped her founders, and the God who is still sovereign over her future. To sign up, text FREEDOM to 59789. It's absolutely free to join, so text FREEDOM to 59789.

Every gift given to PowerPoint Ministries before June 30th will be doubled through a $200,000 matching grant. This is a crucial moment as we close out the financial year because your support helps ensure that the truth of Jesus continues reaching people who are searching for something real they can trust.

As our thanks for your gift, we'll send you "The Jesus Discoveries" by Dr. Jeremiah Johnston, a resource designed to strengthen your confidence in the truth of the gospel. To give your gift and request your copy, text JUNE to 59789. That's JUNE to 59789. Now, let's get back to today's message, "The Blessing of a Christian Home."

Jack Graham: But then let's talk about the celebration of the home. The home should be celebrated. And by that, I mean so often today, because our families are under attack and homes, the Christian home is under attack, we've almost given up in some ways on the future of the family.

Don't do that. Celebrate your home. Make your home and everything that goes on within it a place where there is love, where there is life with a capital L, and yes, where there is laughter. Where there is joy.

Our children ought to grow up, our marriages ought to be filled with joy. Therefore, we celebrate and we cherish the home. And that's what it means to be blessed. Now, I know parenting will put you on your face before God. And it's hard sometimes. But don't lose the excitement, the joy, the blessing you have with your family and your children.

Deb and I have learned over the years not to own, to really own anything, but to realize that everything we have from the house we have, the furniture, the stuff that we have acquired over time, that we don't own any of that. It all belongs to God.

We're just managers. We're just stewards of what we have been given by the Lord. So when you lose things, you understand, "Well, Lord, that's yours anyway. It's up to you to find it."

All this stuff that we accumulate, we work so hard to get, it's all going up in smoke anyway. So what I'm trying to tell you is the contentment of the home and the construction of the home and the celebration of the home is in knowing who's in the home, not what's in the home.

It's the laughter and joy and the memories that are there. So that brings me to the companions in the house. Because look at verse 3. It says, "Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house." Now, what on earth does that mean?

Well, a vine is a source of life. So describing the wife as a vine is a beautiful thing. It's a picture of a faithful, flourishing woman. A wife that is fruitful, a life and wife that is blessed.

Could I just tell you, men, that if God gives you a faithful and flourishing woman as your wife, you are a blessed man. And you ought to tell her so. I've had too many men, single men over the years tell me, "I'm just so lonely."

God has blessed us with companions, both men and women in the home, that we should cherish that relationship and walk through the decades together, hand in hand and heart in heart. So a godly man, a man who fears the Lord, a godly husband, coupled with a faithful, flourishing wife, what a blessing that is.

Now, again, we know that families get broken. Unfortunately, separations take place, and you may be a family of one with your children. You may be a single parent. We understand that in our church and are doing everything that we can to support every person, including single parents.

But in this message series on the home, the ideal home as God has designed it is the prayer of every man and woman who is centered in Jesus Christ. And so we ought to pray for the blessing of God. And for the wife that God has given us.

If God gives you a wife, love her, cherish her. You know, the picture of a vine is clinging to the wall. So a wife is someone who cherishes and clings to her husband, not like a wallflower, but a beautiful vine that wraps herself around the heart of her husband and is there through the years.

Let's talk for a few minutes about the children of this home, this blessed home. For it says in that same verse, verse 3, "Your children will be like olive shoots around your table." Well, that's a good picture as well.

When God gives you children, whether it is by birth into your family, conception as husband and wife, or whether it is by adoption, or whether it is by fostering, when God gives you children, you are blessed indeed. Because children are a gift from the Lord.

Look at Psalm 127. It's the Psalm right in front of you, which says children are a gift from the Lord. A heritage from the Lord. Your life is the legacy of your family and your children.

Sometimes we put the children aside to climb the career ladder or to do something that is personally enriching or something that is personally indulgent rather than to take the responsibility of loving our children and leading them in life.

Children are a gift from the Lord. Like these olive shoots that come from the vine. And when children are given to us, they don't make a rich man poor; they make a poor man rich. Because when it's all said and done, it is your children that will make the difference in your future. Better treat your children nice because someday they might have to take care of you.

One father put it this way. He said, "If I had it to do all over again, here's what I would do. I'd love my wife more in front of my children. I'd laugh with my children more at our mistakes and our joys. I'd listen more, even to the youngest child."

"I'd be more honest about my own weaknesses and stop pretending perfection. I would pray differently for my children. Instead of focusing on them, I'd focus more on me. I would do more things with my children. I would be more encouraging and bestow more praise."

"I'd pay more attention to the little things: deeds and words of love and kindness. And finally, if I had it to do all over again, I would share God more intimately with my family. I would use every ordinary thing that happened in every ordinary day to point them to God."

Isn't that good? Psalm 127 says that children are like arrows in the hands of a mighty warrior. And so children are to be cherished, children are to be polished, and children are to be propelled then into the world to make a difference for Jesus Christ.

The goal of every parent is not just to provide for our children or even to protect our children, though these things are important, but rather to propel our children into the world. We are disciple makers. The role of the parent is to make disciples of our own children.

Start there. Start there. Teach them the Word of God. Tell them the story of Jesus. Lead them to personal faith in Christ. Raise up your children to know and love the Lord. This is the blessing.

You want your home to be happy? Godly husband who fears the Lord and who walks in His ways, with a wife who is flourishing and faithful by his side, and children who are growing up in the nurture and the admonition of the Lord, like little shoots, olive shoots. Children must be grown, they must be governed, but then they must be given to the world as a testimony of the faith of our family. Amen?

Well, we've talked about the consecration of the home, the celebration of the home, contentment of the home. We've talked about companions in the home, children in the home. Let's talk finally about the continuance of the family, the continuance of the home.

I love this. Look down again, verse 4, and let's finish the chapter. It says, "Behold, thus shall the man be blessed who fears the Lord. The Lord will bless you from Zion, and may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life. And may you see your children's children."

You walk with the Lord in the ways of the Lord, you raise those children the best you can in the grace of God, and then if you are blessed, the grandchildren show up. And they are God's reward to you for putting up with your children all those years.

But isn't this good? Because your family lives on, and your faith lives on in your family. This is your legacy. A legacy is not something you leave. I've said it many times, but something you live.

And the greatest thing you can give to your children, not possessions, not things, not all that stuff. The Bible teaches us that it is a good thing to give an inheritance to our children, to save for our children and to support our children's future. The Bible teaches that. So we're not discounting the impact of a physical or a monetary inheritance if God gives you that to give.

But much more importantly, not your possessions that you give them, but that you give them a faith, like a relay race where you are passing the torch and passing the faith to the next generation. Make that your constant prayer.

If your children are young, pray for their spouses before you even meet them, before they even meet them. Pray that God will lead godly spouses into their lives. Pray for your grandchildren in advance. The best chance your kids and the future of your kids, your children have, is for you as a parent, a mom and a dad to do exactly what we're told in the very first verse here. And that is: Happy, happy is everyone who fears the Lord and who walks in His ways.

Guest (Female): You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and the message, "The Blessing of a Christian Home." When you support PowerPoint Ministries, you help share God's Word with people around the world through programs just like this one.

And as a thank you for your gift this month, we'll send you "The Jesus Discoveries" by Dr. Jeremiah Johnston as our thanks. This powerful resource walks through real historical evidence that points directly to Jesus, helping strengthen your faith and giving you confidence in the truth of God's Word.

And right now, every gift given before June 30th will be doubled through a $200,000 matching grant. To give your gift and request your copy, text JUNE to 59789. That's JUNE to 59789.

This summer, America turns 250 years old, and Dr. Graham wants to mark it with you. That's why we're releasing a 21-day devotional series called "One Nation Under God." Beginning June 14th, Dr. Graham will trace the faith at the heart of America's story all the way through the 4th of July.

Walk with us through the faith that built our nation, the scripture that shaped her founders, and the God who is still sovereign over her future. To sign up, text FREEDOM to 59789. It's absolutely free to join, so text FREEDOM to 59789. Pastor, what is your PowerPoint for today?

Jack Graham: Perhaps you've made some mistakes in your family, maybe even some big-time mistakes. But I want you to know that in Jesus Christ, because of His grace, His love, His forgiveness, that it is never too late to start over. It's never too late for a new beginning.

I want you to know that our God, because of the cross, the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, is a God of second chances, multiple chances, as many chances as you need when you come sincerely repenting of your sin and returning to Him.

You know, it's never easy to start over with your family. It takes humility, commitment, and dedication. It means following God's game plan for your marriage by reading His Word, and I mean really ingesting His Word, getting it into your life, into your heart, changing your mind, and then applying God's Word to your life, walking and living in obedience to God's Word.

So let me remind you of a few important points. One is if you have married out of the faith, in other words, if you are married to someone who is not a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, then what you should do is to live for Jesus Christ in the power of His Holy Spirit and to so walk with Christ that your mate will see your love and experience the love of Christ in their own lives.

You can make a difference in the heart, the life of your mate. I know that sometimes your mate is hard and hard-hearted towards your faith and towards the things of God. But you keep living for Jesus. You keep serving Him. Be active in your church. Take your children with you and set the example. And God in His own time and in His own way will work sovereignly in the life of your family.

Now, for some who are looking for that very special someone to be married, I want to really challenge you at this point to find someone who is compatible and not only compatible emotionally, but compatible spiritually.

The Bible is very clear: "Do not be unequally yoked together with an unbeliever." That is a spiritual principle that you must never break. To break this commandment of God is to be broken upon it. And I've seen so many people through the years who have tried to live apart and outside the will of God only to experience disaster, hurt and heartache, and brokenness.

So I want to challenge you to raise the highest possible standards as you seek the one that God has planned and prepared for you. Live God's way and follow Him, and you will find real happiness in life.

And that is today's PowerPoint. And join us again next time as Dr. Graham brings a message about the importance of being a father who is a man of character. That's next time on PowerPoint with Jack Graham. PowerPoint with Jack Graham is sponsored by PowerPoint Ministries.