Hope for the Broken

The focus in this passage is the Father's love. The example that the author of Hebrews uses is the personal relationship we have with God. We are God's children, His sons and daughters. And because of that relationship, God disciplines us. And again, we are to take the example set by our Heavenly Father in providing discipline for our kids.

When it comes to the topic of discipline, we realize that we are a family under construction. There are many different views and approaches to discipline. Some views might tend to be more controversial than others. The thing that we all share in common, those of you that are parents, is that the biggest heartaches and heartbreaks we've ever experienced in our lives is over our kids. And when it comes to the topic of disciplining our kids, we often feel like failures, or we just don't know what to do. Well, the Bible gives us a framework, a construction plan, a blueprint to how we can accomplish the goal of disciplining our kids and the next generation. And today we are going to look at that framework by looking at Hebrews, chapter 12.

A healthy marriage is like walls in a home.  Walls protect the home from the outside elements.  They also provide structure and support inside the home.  God gave us the design for a healthy marriage in Genesis chapter 2.  As we look at The Blueprint, God's design for family, we should aim to build walls of healthy marriages.

We are going to look at an amazing story in Matthew chapter 15. It is a story about the incredible faith and prayer of a mother. It illustrates the power of praying parents and grandparents. And her faith will serve as an example to us to make use of the power tool of prayer for our families.

We're launching a new teaching series this week called Blueprints: Building Families by God's Design. Over the next several weeks, we are going to look at God's design and purpose for the family, the power of prayer, investing in a healthy marriage, developing discipline with your kids, instilling a positive self-esteem in your family, how to counter the culture we live in, principles for healthy communication, encountering challenges, and leaving a lasting legacy. In part one of the sermon series, we are going to press into God's design for family, the foundation on which we are to build our families. Understanding that the structure that is built will not look the same for all of us, but the foundation must be solid and established according to God's design.

There is so much to The Prodigal Son, often called the pearl and crown of all parables. It's probably the most familiar of all of Jesus' parables. Even if you don't call yourself a Christ Follower, chances are you probably know this story. There are three main characters in this parable: the younger son, the one we call the prodigal, the older son, who is often overlooked (both of the sons are wayward for different reasons), then there's the father. While it is called the Parable of the Prodigal Son, this really is more about the father than either of the sons. And while the sons' attitudes are outlandish, the father's love is extraordinary.

We all have situations when we ask God for the same thing over and over again. "God, my job." "God, my diagnosis." "God, my marriage." "God, my kids." "God, my finances."  Yet, He seems unmoved. We even turn to God's Word and say things like, “But God, You said...." "I've brought this to You for years.” Yet, you're not getting an answer. You're left wondering, “What am I to do?” What do you do when it seems like God is not answering your prayers? Maybe you're at a crossroads and you feel like giving up. Well, Jesus gives us an incredible answer. He tells a parable, illustrating how we are to navigate one of the sources of great frustration in our faith journey.