Ephesians 6

Good morning, Revolution Church, we are so happy to see you. We hope you're ready to encounter the presence of God this morning, sing with us. Over my heart and mind I am healed by your stripes Your blood declares that I am free In the mighty name of Jesus I pray, calling on the power of heaven I proclaim, every weapon formed against me I must pray, in the mighty name of Jesus I draw a permanent boundary line The enemy has no right to come near my family No scheme could ever run to God's plans No matter the circumstance The cross has sealed my destiny In the mighty name of Jesus I pray, calling on the power of heaven I proclaim, every weapon formed against me I must pray, in the mighty name of Jesus In the mighty name of Jesus I know, all the power of fear and darkness It must go, cause every key to every victory I hold, in the mighty name of Jesus I will not fear, I will not fear When the enemy comes near On the doorframe of my life Is the blood of Jesus Christ I will not fear, I will not fear There's an army of angels here I'm protected, come on, you can sing this this morning I will not fear, I will not fear When the enemy comes near On the doorframe of my life Is the blood of Jesus Christ I will not fear, I will not fear There's an army of angels here I'm protected on all sides By the blood of Jesus Christ In the mighty name of Jesus I pray, calling on the power of heaven I proclaim, every weapon formed against me I must pray, in the mighty name of Jesus In the mighty name of Jesus I know, all the power of fear and darkness It must go, cause every key to every victory I will not fear, I will not fear When the enemy comes near On the doorframe of my life Is the blood of Jesus Christ It is us, in the mighty name of Jesus You have all the authority All dominion God, it's in your name All power, all the power It's in your name Jesus The power to save, deliver

And heal the sick one name. And if you've never cried out to that name, today is the day. Today is the day. Sing. I will not fear, I will not fear when the enemy comes near. On the doorframe of my life is the blood of Jesus Christ. I will not fear, I will not fear, there's an army of angels here. I'm protected on all sides, thank you, of Jesus Christ. I will not fear, I will not fear, there's an enemy comes near. No, on the doorframe of my life is the blood of the precious blood. I will not fear, I will not fear, there's an army of angels here. Yes, I'm protected on all sides by the mighty blood of Jesus Christ. I will not fear, I will not fear, when the enemy comes near. On the doorframe of my life is the blood of Jesus Christ. So I will not fear, I will not fear, there's an army of angels here. Oh, I'm protected on all sides by the blood of Jesus Christ. In the mighty name of Jesus, I pray, calling on the power of heaven. I proclaim, every weapon formed against me, oh, it will, it will break. In the mighty name of Jesus, in the mighty name of Jesus. I know, I know, I know, I know, all the power of fear and darkness, oh, it must go. Cause every key to every victory, oh, I hold. In the mighty name of Jesus, in the mighty name of Jesus, Jesus, in the mighty name of Jesus. Come on, sing His name this morning, Jesus. Thank you, God. Christ is my firm foundation, the rock on which I stand, when everything around me is shaken. I've never been more glad that I put my faith in Jesus. Yes, He let me down. His name flowed through generations, so why would He fail now? He won't, He won't. And I've still got joy in chaos. I've got peace that makes no states, so I won't be going under. I'm not held by my own strength, cause I've put my life on Jesus. Cause He's never let me down. He's faithful in every season, so why would He fail now? He won't, He won't, He won't fail. He won't. No, no, no, no, no. He won't. He won't fail. He won't fail. He won't fail. Let's sing this out! Christ is my third foundation. The rock on which I stand. In everything I'll be shaken. I'll never give for nothing.

I put my faith in Jesus. He's never let me down. He saved my new generation. So I would give it all now. He won't fail. He won't fail. He won't fail. He won't fail. Rain came and wind blew. My house was built on you. I'm safe with you. I'm gonna make it through. Rain came and wind blew. My house was built on you. I'm safe with you. I'm gonna make it through. Rain came and wind blew. My house was built on you. I'm safe with you. I'm gonna make it. I'm gonna make it. I'm gonna make it through. Cause I'm standing strong. I'm gonna make it. I'm gonna make it through. Cause my house was built on you. Oh, I'm gonna make it through. Oh, my house was built on you. Christ is my first foundation. The rock on which I stand. When everything around me is shaking. I've never been more glad

That I put my faith in Jesus. He's never letting down. He's lived more than generations. So why would he bail now? He won't. He won't. He won't fail. He won't fail. He won't. Oh, no, no, no, no. He won't. He won't fail. He won't fail. He won't. He won't. He won't fail. He won't fail. He won't. He won't. He won't fail. He won't fail. He won't. ♪ He won't, He won't fail, He won't fail, no He won't ♪ ♪ He won't, He won't fail, He won't fail, no He won't ♪ Can we give glory to Jesus this morning? Thank you, Lord. The name above all names. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Lord. Hey, I got a question.

Is this weird? Hey, it's good to see you guys this morning. Thank you so much for coming to Rio Revolution Church. It is such a good day to be in the house of the Lord. Amen. Amen, amen. You guys can be seated. Real quick, I got a super, super important announcement. Are y'all ready? We got cupcakes. All right, cupcakes. Listen, in order for me not to get diabetes, I need y'all to go get some cupcakes after service. We have a station at this store and this store and also in the back on the way out. Get two, get three. I heard we didn't get enough first service. So make sure y'all grab those. They're more like muffins, somebody said, because they don't have icing. But let me tell you something. Icing or not, those things are fantastic because Miss Patty made them and some friends. Yep, yep, and some friends. So thank you guys so much for doing that. Also, we're home. And I can't tell you guys how excited that myself and my family, they've kind of grown up a little bit if you didn't notice over a year's time. And we're just so excited for what God is about to do

at Rio Revolution Church, amen. Hey, God did some crazy stuff in Texas. Let me tell you, if you're gonna be here next week, well, you better be here next week because I'm gonna be preaching and I'm gonna be telling y'all everything that happened along with some other God stuff. But I wanted to share real quick, man, we saw miracles. We saw marriages restored. We saw addicts that were born into a family of addicts who did, their parents did drugs with their kids. We saw them get saved and then quit everything cold turkey, amen. God moved in a powerful way. And when me and my family left, we left and we burnt the ships. And what that means, we didn't look back. We sold our house, we sold a bunch of other stuff because we had to. And we went, not thinking, hey, you know, in a year, you know how crazy God is? He does everything that you don't expect, right? And what I wanna encourage you with today, me and my family, because we were obedient and we took a step of faith, we got to inhabit this training ground for the next season. And what was awesome is the Lord did amazing things. We got to see it with our eyes. We will have lasting memories for the rest of our life to refer back to, okay?

But here's the deal. None of that happens without faith. God said, trust me when you don't see the ending. Trust me when you don't see the next step. Trust me even when you think you're ready. You guys hearing me? So here's what I wanna do today. This is a time of giving an offering. You know, the hardest thing to do is to give your money, give your livelihood. But I got great news for you. You're not giving to me. You're not giving to this church staff. You're giving to the Lord God Almighty. And I wanna encourage you today that if you have never given, if you have never tithed, if you have never sowed an offering, don't expect to see faith things in your life because God is waiting for you to step out of the boat, to have a faith moment, to walk on the water. And I wanna just say today is a great opportunity to sow. You're at a church. We don't pass the plate. We don't pass the offering. We're not trying to, ooh, give me that, give me, give me, give me that money, right? What do we do here? We encourage you to give, because when you do, the Lord will fill your cup. Amen?

All right, y'all, we're happy to be home. I'm going to shut up. I had to say that, because I usually said that, you know, before. I'm going to shut up. So we're going to pray real quick, and we'll continue on with the service. But thank you guys so much for accepting us back into the Rio Revolution Church family. And listen, don't miss next week, because you're going to miss something awesome. I can't wait to share all the stuff with you guys. So let's pray. Heavenly Father God, we love you. We thank you for provision. We thank you for your faithfulness. God, we thank you that you're a powerful God, and Lord, that you see the next step before we do. So Father, I pray for those people today that are trusting you in their tithe, that are trusting you in their offering. Lord, I pray that you give them faith to take the next step. Lord, we love you. We give you all the glory. Christ, we lift your name to the highest place in this room, and we invite your Holy Spirit to engulf us, Lord. We love you so much in Jesus' name, amen. Good morning, church. My name is Sherri, and this is Amy, and we want to welcome you here today. We have a lot going on, so please go to our church center app or to the website, scan the QR code at the bottom of the screen. Amy, what's all going on? Sherri, we love our volunteers, and we want to show them that we appreciate them. So volunteers, you can join us on July 29th at Springbrook Pool for our volunteer appreciation from 7.30 to 9.

That is going to be awesome. We greatly appreciate all that you've done. We can't do this without you. So we have a free gift for you. We have bingo. We have silent disco. We have sweets. So please go to the website, register, and join us that evening. Soccer registration is open now for our fall season. We are so excited for that. We always have a great turnout. It's a great ministry. We are also adding in a summer soccer camp this year. You can visit the church center app or the website for more information on that. Also, we have a grief support group starting. It's going to be on August 6th. It's going to be on Thursday nights from 6.30 to 8.30. Please go to our website and register for that. If you need someone to support with you through the grieving process, this is going to be the support group that's going to help you out. So with that being, I don't think we have anything else. We have a lot. Church, we are so glad you're here with us today. If you need prayer or you want to pray, our prayer team will be happy to pray with you at the end of the service. Good morning. How's everybody doing today? Man, what an exciting weekend. I hope you've had a great fourth. I hope you enjoyed your time yesterday, whatever you were doing.

But we've been celebrating our 250th anniversary as a nation. And I don't know about you, but man, we live in a blessed nation. Can I hear an amen to that if you believe it? And as long as we are a nation under God, it will continue to be blessed. Amen? It will. And so what I'd like to do right now is I'd like to honor a group of individuals, and that's the veterans in the house. If you're a veteran, would you please stand up right now? We want to honor you. Come on, let's give it up for all of our veterans. Come on, stand up if you would. Let's give them the honor that's due to them. Thank you, thank you, thank you for your service. Thank you, every single one of you, and God bless you, all of our veterans we love, we honor. And again, as Pastor Chris said earlier, I want to honor someone else, and that's Miss Patti Tidwell for making 2,500 cupcakes. Come on, stand up Patti. Come on. This woman is an incredible woman of God. She's a volunteer. She cooks for CR. She cooks for different ministries. You're amazing, and obviously she knows that she can't do it alone. She had Teresa Fry, Colleen Rosenow, and probably some other volunteers, but we appreciate all of you and what you do, and as we said earlier, make sure you grab your cupcakes before you leave today. They're red, white, and blue, amen? So make sure you get those before you leave.

Also we're celebrating today the welcoming home of Pastor Chris Craig and his family. Come on, let's give it up for them, guys. I want all the family to stand if you would. Come on, stand up. Man, don't you love these guys? Absolutely incredible family. We're so glad that you're back home. You know, 10 years ago. to go. God brought him here, did an incredible job leading the worship, and then today he brings him back. Amen. And we're excited because there's so many things going on here at the church, and he's going to be such an instrumental part of what's happening here at Broadcast Campus. But really, the greatest thing that we're here to celebrate today is the fact that Jesus Christ is alive. He's at the right hand of the Father. Come on. He's making intercession. Let's give Jesus honor right now. Come on. Let's give him the honor that honors. Praise your name, Lord Jesus. Glory to God. There's no one like you. We love you. It's all about him today. Amen? Before I dive into the word, I do want to say, next two weekends, make sure you put this on your calendar. I need you to help me pray. Sincerely pray, next two weekends we're going to be receiving our annual Helping Hands offering. And as you guys know, these offerings are going to go to buying, purchasing new shoes, school supplies, things like that, backpacks for the children in Blount County, for any kid in Blount County that has a need. And right now we have record number of children that have signed up, and what an opportunity for this church to minister to its community. Amen? So would you guys please be praying. What can I do that's significant? What can I do that's extraordinary? What can I give? What can I sow? What am I able to do? And so as we do this, we're going to, you know, the budget is up there. It's $150,000 plus is what we're going to need to raise. And every year I say, and I look at that number, and it honestly kind of gets me a little nervous, but you show up and you give, and everybody collectively comes together, and we've never lacked one year. Seventeen years, eighteen years, we've never come up shy one time. So I'm just trusting God that it's going to happen again, but would you please be praying? Be praying, you know, God, what can I do and also what can the church do to make this happen?

So anyway, we're ready now to dive into Ephesians chapter 6. We're in the last chapter of Ephesians, the book study, the book of Ephesians. It's been so much fun going through it. Hopefully you guys have learned a lot about Ephesus, about Paul, about the doctrine that he laid out for the church in Ephesus, and then the application that he shared. And last weekend, Pastor Brian did an amazing job. Come on, let's give it up. Let's honor Pastor Brian because I don't know how many phone calls, texts, family members say, man, Brian just killed it. And you did, thank you, because he did, he reminded us the importance of laying down our old nature and laying down that old man and then taking up the new and living for the Lord. And he even used the term level up. I like that word, level up. It's just time that the church levels up in Christ and becomes all that he's called us to be. So a couple weeks ago on Father's Day, I finished up chapter 5, and that was the husbands and the wives, and we were talking about the relationship between husbands and wives. And then when we go into chapter 6, Paul continues on the family subject. And so what I want to do in chapter 6 is talk about Paul as he addresses children. How many children do we have in the second service today? If you consider yourself a child, raise your hand. Come on. Come on, raise your hand. Yeah, that's okay. That's okay. That's good. We have some older children. We have some younger children. And that's perfectly fine. We're going to understand a little more about children today. But let's go ahead and start. If you have your Bibles, let's look at verse 1, chapter 6, verse 1, as he addresses now the children. He said this. He starts out and he said, children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Now, this verse is pretty clear. It's pretty straightforward. But what I'd like to do is dive a little deeper into the Greek words here that he uses. First of all, let's look at the Greek word for children is technon. Technon, it almost sounds like technology. And as I was thinking about that, you know, I have to get my grandkids to show me how to operate apps on my phone. And there are, you know, children seem like they're more advanced when it comes to technology. But technon is the word in the Greek, and it actually means child or children. But in the New Testament, it also refers to pupils or disciples of their teachers. So, really, it could apply to any of us who are being taught, who are being discipled, who are children. And so, 1 John, chapter 2.

2 verse 1, he starts out with this phrase. He says, my little children. Now he's not talking about adolescence. He's talking about the people in the surrounding area of Ephesus. John says, my little children, these things I write to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous. How many of you guys today are grateful that you have an advocate with the Father? Amen, that he's like our attorney, our lawyer, fighting for us or presenting our case. So anyway, when we look at these verses right here, we understand that children here is not limited to an age. And it's not limited to an age group, as a matter of fact. But he says, children are to obey their parents. Now, how many of you guys realize that obedience doesn't come natural for children? Everybody with me? How many of you have children? Let me see your hand if you have children. OK, how many of you guys that have children realize obedience doesn't come natural? It's not naturally, right? And so it's because that we have all inherited the sin nature. And because of that, that is naturally we're disobedient people. Obedience must be taught. Sometimes it is a challenge.

Can I hear an amen, parents? Sometimes it is a challenge. But today, I have a sermon illustration. I like to do illustrations. You know that. And so I have a sermon illustration I'd like to share with you. But to do that, I'm going to have to invite one of my grandkids to the stage. Miss Lydia, where you at? Miss Lydia, would you come up to the stage for a second? Let's give it up for Miss Lydia. She's 11 years old. Come here, girl. Miss Lydia is 11 years old. She's accepted Jesus Christ. She's been baptized in water. She loves to pray. She's a good girl. But she's not always been obedient, OK? And so as I was thinking about this message, I just recalled 10 years ago. Connie and I are driving down the road, and we're having a conversation with Lydia. Now, she's just about a year old. She's in the car seat. She's buckled in. And we're having a conversation about being potty trained. So I want you to hear how that conversation went. If you would, show the clip.

Say no. You say yes. Say no. I know. Say no. You've got to pee in the potty. Say no. You've got to pee in the potty. Say yes. Yes. You've got to pee in the potty. I don't. Yes, you do. I don't. Yes, you do. You've got to pee in the potty. No, I said. That's awesome. Thank you. Thank you, Lydia. I appreciate you. Let's give it up for Lydia. I love the way she ended that. I said. It's like, Poppy, can you not get it? I don't have to pee in the potty. So we're having this conversation. I said, Connie, you've got a phone. Connie gets it out and she starts videoing it. And now this week when I'm working on this sermon, I'm

thinking of, you know, kids and how you have to train them to be obedient. And that came to my mind. And so a while back, somebody bought me a shirt and it said, anything you do or say might be used in my sermon. Okay? So if you're close to us, you hang out around, I may use something you do or say and then ask for forgiveness later. So anyway. But let's move on to verse 2 and 3. He started off with obedience. We understand obedience has to be trained. It doesn't come naturally. Now he moves from obedience to honor. And he says, honor your father and mother, which is the first commandment, with promise that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth. So this command right here, he's quoting from the Ten Commandments. And he references right here that this commandment is with a promise. The promise is that things will go well with you. Now go well with you is a Greek word that means to prosper and it means to be well off. So essentially what he's saying here, if you honor your parents, and you are obedient to your parents, that life is going to go well for you and that you're going to be well off. This is a promise that God placed in his word. And obviously, God thought that it was important. Now, go ahead and look at Deuteronomy 5.16 at the original command.

He said it this way. He said, Honor your father and mother as the Lord your God has commanded you that your days may be long and it may be well with you in the land which the Lord is giving you. So, honoring your father and mother is extremely important to God. As a matter of fact, I started referencing and looking through the Scripture of how many times that honoring father and mother is talked about. Fifty-one different times throughout the Bible, God says that we are to honor our father and mother or father or mother. So, why is it so important? And why does God place such an emphasis on honoring our parents? I believe this, is that God knows if we train our children to honor their parents, that they're more likely to honor Him, to honor God. Okay, you guys with me? More likely to honor His Word, to honor their school teachers, to honor their bosses that they work for someday, to honor their pastors, to honor those people in authority. But in today's society, I feel like we have digressed somewhat when it comes to honor. I feel like we've raised up generations that lack honor. And so as a result of that, it actually creates problems in the community. I was at Trail Life, Mac, this last week, and you guys had all the kids here and I loved the honor and the respect that they were showing. And you guys went through the Pledge of Allegiance. They gave out the awards, the Trail Life here. By the way, if you have children, if you have boys, and they would like to be in something that's designed for boys, come and join our Trail Life. Boy Scouts changed their philosophy somewhat a few years ago, and now we have a Trail Life here that's for boys. Amen?

And we believe that's important. Boys and girls are different. One's not superior, one's not better, but they are different, and we recognize that and realize that. But honor is important. Honor is extremely important, I believe, in our society. As a matter of fact, where there's not honor in society, there's a ripple effect and it's negative throughout the community. We can see that all the way back in the New Testament. As a matter of fact, do you guys remember when Jesus went into his hometown and was preaching the gospel and teaching in the synagogues? The Bible says he went to Nazareth and he was teaching there, but the people, instead of honoring Jesus, they dishonored him. They said, oh, he's the son of the carpenter. You remember that? Oh, yeah, he's the son of Mary. He's a brother of James. He's got some sisters. They weren't honoring him, and as a result, Jesus made a comment, and I want to share what he said. Jesus said this. He said a prophet is without honor in their hometown. And as a result of that, Scripture says that Jesus couldn't do many great works because of their unbelief and dishonor. So when honor is not in a society, it actually shuts down a society from the move of God. And so it's important that we start this and we teach this from a young age, from our children, and we raise them up that when there's an adult, they should be honored. I was talking earlier to someone, and they were sharing about in their Christian school. They said in their Christian school in Louisiana that if an adult walked into a classroom,

all the students stood up in honor of that adult. Wow, how far have we gotten from that? I mean, we've gotten a ways from it, have we not? But honoring is actually valuing someone else. So the Greek word for honor is tamahu. Tamahu is the Greek word, and it actually means the value or the worth of someone or something. So when you honor someone, you're saying they are of great value. On a regular basis here at this church, I honor my mentor, which is Don Stevenson. I honor him because he is of great worth in my life and in your life and in our church's life. And so what happens when you do that, when you pay honor, it opens up God's blessing into your life and into the church's life. And so our church really needs a spirit of honor in it. where that our church honors whether it's a guest speaker as a matter of fact a first-time guest walks through our doors we should honor them we should greet them out in the foyer and and pay them honor because they chose to come and worship with us and it's a good thing and as a result if our church has a culture of honor it's going to release the favor of God on our life and on our church amen and it's and it's it's important as a matter of fact Timothy he wrote these words Timothy said an elder in your church is worth double honor their value is worth double he said especially those who teach and preach the word so honors important again it's the value you put on something and and the value that you place on you know you have some things maybe in your in your life that you value at like you would take nothing for certain things in your life that you have that you possess right and from a monetary standpoint it may not be worth a whole lot but to you it's highly valued you guys know what I'm talking about and so so it doesn't just have to be a monetary thing it can be something that just means a lot to to you or to someone so and he said again especially those that preach the word look at verse 4 he continues on talking to the fathers here's what he said he calls this is specific to fathers if your father in the house let me see your hand come on hold it up I hold it up I

we have a lot of fathers here today so so all the fathers listen closely said fathers do not provoke your children to wrath and I'm gonna pause right there in this verse do not provoke your children to wrath now what does it mean what does that even mean to provoke your children direct right first thing I want to do is I want to I want to touch on what it doesn't mean number one it doesn't mean that you shouldn't correct your children it doesn't mean that you shouldn't discipline your children it doesn't mean that you shouldn't spank your children can you guys hear me okay it's it's these are important I know some of this is not politically correct but if you want to raise good children do it the Bible way and not society's way if you want to raise good children do it God's way and so correction is sometimes needed I'm gonna ask you a question I just want you guys to get real everybody ready to get real how many of you I know it's the older crowd because they don't do it anymore but how many of you ever received a paddling in school hold up your hand oh my goodness somebody get a picture of that we've got the room the most rebellious church in the country my goodness it's all the Deacons Lord but now they've discontinued I was talking to Timber earlier and she said in Texas they still do it you sign a what do you call a pop you agree to a pop and and they'll pop your kid at school if you agree to it we may need to implement that at Revolution Academy I don't know the pop but but honestly I I think I could have been maybe the last or one of the last students to ever get popped I did yeah I was in high school I was at Heritage High School and and I don't know maybe it was up for debate maybe they're talking about it but they hadn't implemented it yet so they the law was not passed and I got in trouble and it wasn't really my fault the lady will be in the third service that instigated it yeah anybody knows Monica she sits back here on the fourth row Monica yeah she it was her fault and and here's the crazy thing about Monica is she's the senior and she's taking freshman science so I tell everybody she must have failed science three years she's having to get her fourth year she said I just didn't take it I waited till my senior year but anyway here she is instigating the young

crowd now I sit on the front row I'm I'm right on the front seat in the rolls and and I'm right up here and I was a little rowdy I'll be honest with you and so so I watched the the clock set right outside the door in the hallway and the clock had a second hand on it you guys know what a second hand is okay and so I had watched that clock long enough that I could tell you you the second that the bell was going to ring. I knew it. I had it down pat. And as soon as it rang, I was, boom, I was out of there. Had my stuff ready. I think I was the only one in the class that was observative. But I was observing the wrong thing. So I'm watching that. And so I decided one day, OK, I'm going to have some fun with this. And I tell everybody it's Monica's fault. But I decided to have a countdown. And so when I seen it was 10 seconds, I just started. I said, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, baa, it's a bell. And boom, out the door I went. And I know the teacher was, he was furiated. I mean, he was so mad. And so I was gone. Next day, we're rolling right on. And it became a trend. It became catchy. So it came time, 10, 9, help me, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, bell rang. And there we start to go. Now, this time, Mr. Ralston wasn't too happy with me.

And he yelled, hepperly. Sit down. Everybody sit down. He said, you do that again. And he didn't say pop. He said, I'm going to bust you. That was his words. He said, I'm going to bust you. Well, I got the message. I don't want busted. They still bust. And so here we are. We're back in class. And I'm sitting there. And you know how the devil tempts you. Anybody ever been tempted by the devil? I'm not the only one, right? And I'm not trying to give you young guys ideas. I'm just telling you what I did that wasn't smart. So I'm sitting there. Next day rolls around. He said, I couldn't count down. So I didn't. Verbally, I went. And the class started tamping with me. And it got louder. And the bell rang. And we grabbed our stuff. And I'm busting out the door. His face was red.

He was mad. Everybody sit down. Hepperly with me. He marched me out in that hallway. And the hall was full of people being dismissed out of class. And he bends me. He said, touch the wall. That's not a good word. It's like, this may not be good. And he's got a paddle this long. I'm telling you, they have paddles. When he hit me the first time, everything went numb in my body. I didn't even feel the second and the third. But I'm going to tell you one thing. I didn't count down anymore after that, OK? That was the last countdown. And so what am I saying? I'm saying, correction is not bad. Correction is actually good. And he speaks right here to fathers. And he says, fathers, he said, we're to correct, but not provoke. Now, what are ways that we could provoke our children? By being harsh or verbally abusive. That's not God's way to correct our children. Constant criticism is bad. Don't criticize your children. Don't be doing that. Another thing that provokes children to wrath

is when you show favoritism to siblings. Don't show favoritism to one child over another. They are different, but don't show favoritism. And here's one of my big things right here is another way that we provoke children to anger is if we are hypocritical. That's if I show up on Sunday morning here on the stage, and I tell all you how to live right, and then we walk out this door, and I get in my car, and I'm a different person. Or I go home on Monday morning, and I'm sitting around the table, and I'm a different father. Are you guys with me? The one thing that will create a rebellious child is people, parents, being hypocritical. Be consistent. Follow Christ. As Pastor Brian said last week, let's throw aside the old man, and let's walk in the new nature all the time. Say all the time. At home, say at home. In the workplace. Everywhere we go, let's do that. In the car, amen. So what is the correct way of parenting? Look at verse 4. He continues on. Remember, he's teaching the church in Ephesus just the correct way that a family should function. He moves on in verse 4, and he says this.

But bring them up, highlighted those three words, because it's one word in the Greek. He said, but bring. them up, talking to the fathers, both, I mean, mothers, it's obvious, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord. So, what does it mean to bring them up? Let's look at the Greek word. And I've got this on the screen for you. It's ectrifo. Ectrifo means to nourish up to maturity. Let's bring them up. Let's raise our children until one day they're mature and they can mentor others. So, our role as a parent, a grandparent, a pastor, teacher, life group leader, whatever it may be, is to nourish our children into maturity. Can I hear an amen? Bring them up in the training of the Lord. Notice right here, he's talking to fathers. Do you realize that in my house, in my home, and all of you fathers that raise your hand in your home, that you are responsible for the spiritual welfare of your family? It's not your wife's responsibility primarily. It's the father's. It's the husband's. It's your role. You know, when devotion is led at my house, it should be my idea and my thought as the father. Now, that's not the case. Most women are the ones leading the devotions, leading the spiritual family, but it shouldn't be that way. And this is what Paul's saying. If you want the family to function correctly God's way, fathers, step up. Lead your families in prayer. Lead them in devotions. Teach them the way.

You know, here I am now. My sons are in their mid-30s, upper 30s. So, we have seven grandkids that are around me a lot. And so, I'm always looking for ways. How can I spiritually impact my grandchildren? You guys are with me. You grandparents. How many grandparents do we have here today? All right, we got a bunch of grandparents. So, this is important. And I'm going to say this is you don't have to stand behind, you know, a lectern or a pulpit to teach your children. I will tell you some of my best training with my children are in a tree stand with my grandchildren. We'll set up in a tree stand before daylight comes. I'll have one on both sides of me in a tree stand, and I'm teaching them the things of God, and I'll show them how that nature declares the glory of God. You can't see that animal. You can't see that tree. You can't see that plant without seeing God. Can I hear an amen to that? So, there's multiple ways. You can do it on the ball field. You can do it in your hobbies. You can do it fishing. You can do it however, fathers. But the Bible tells us right here that we're to train them up in the ways of the Lord because here's the end goal. We want our children to follow God, do we not?

It's important, and they will. But I will say that bringing them up is not easy, and it is not cheap. Can I hear an amen to that? How many of you realize raising kids are not cheap? It's not cheap. As a matter of fact, I was looking just this week, and I read an article that said that on average, to raise a child from birth to 18 years old is $330,000 per child. You guys are like, I thought it was way more than that. It feels that way. And here's something else I'll say. After 18, it only goes up. If that's any consolation, you know, just know. But training and admonition, they go together. The words training here and admonition imply that we should educate our children, cultivate that education, and then motivate our children to be who God's called them to be. Are you guys with me now? Educate, cultivate, and then motivate. Do you guys realize that many times your children are just waiting on a little motivation from you? You know, they're wanting to do something maybe big, something that you never were able to do or accomplish, and then you can motivate them by faith and tell them you can do this. And you know what? I'm going to help you get there. I've got one granddaughter, and her plans are to be a doctor. I said, you're going to be a doctor, and I'm going to help you get there. You know, whatever it is that you want to be. And we as parents and grandparents, we can encourage that, and we encourage that with people around us. And that's what Paul was telling here. And I love the fact that Paul addresses the whole family,

husbands, wives, and now children, parents. So let's look at verse 5. Moving on. Now he's moving on into the workplace. Into the workplace. Here's what he said. Bond servants, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh. With fear and trembling and sincerity of heart as to Christ. Be obedient to your to those who are your masters according to flesh. Not with eye service as men pleasers but as bond servants of Christ. Doing the will of God from the heart with goodwill doing service as to the Lord and not to men. Knowing that whatever good anyone does he will receive the same from the Lord. Did you hear that? Whatever good that you do you're going to receive from the Lord the same whether he is a slave or free. Now today we don't have bond servants we don't have slaves and masters. Okay so what I want to do is I want to substitute those words and reread that passage to where I believe it's applicable to us today. Let's go back through it and look at it this way. Employees. How many employees do we have here? Hold up your hand if you're an employee. Okay I'm an employee this is to us all of us. Employees be obedient to those who are your managers according to the flesh with fear and trembling and sincerity of heart as to Christ and then he goes on he says not with eye service as men pleasers but as employees of who? Help me. Employees of Christ. Doing the will of God from the heart with goodwill doing service as to the Lord and not to men. Now I recently heard that the average worker in America waste 20% of their workday. I got an amen right there. Now that came from a manager and she is a manager and she's getting ready to seal our parking lot and strap it here. Come on we're looking forward to that. All of our parking lot's gonna be sealed and strapped soon and by the way hopefully the fences are down next next Sunday morning and the doors are open. Come on. Praise the Lord. So 20% do you realize that 20% of wasted time is equivalent to one day a week? And as I was studying

this and looking like how are people wasting their time and and it was a lot of different things. It's you know surfing the internet. It's social media. Duh-duh-duh. Grabbing the phones. Whatever they're doing but but anyway I just thought that was was pretty incredible and here Paul's saying that that we're to be obedient to our bosses. We're to listen to them. We're to honor them and again we see the word obedient that we've learned as children but he also said right here is to do this not with eye service as men pleasers. Now in East Tennessee the way you would interpret that is don't be a brown noser and and and I'm gonna move on to verse 8. Knowing that whatever good knowing that whatever good anyone does he will receive the same from the Lord whether he is an employer or an employee. And you employers. Now he's speaking to your managers. You guys listen. He's saying and you employers do the same to them. Giving up threatening. Knowing that your own master also in heaven and there is no partiality with him. So essentially what he's saying right here is that we are to work hard as unto the Lord and then he's going to reward both the employee and the employer as we work hard. So these things are are great principles that he's teaching the church in Ephesus. Now some people may say well that's not super spiritual. I'm gonna tell you it's way more spiritual than you can imagine. Until you've I was a manager at the city of Maryville and one thing that really frustrated me is these people that came in with their Christian badge on and they were horrible workers. I mean they wouldn't do anything and then but I'm a Christian and I'm gonna step back here in the corner I'm gonna talk about Christianity and da da da da while the other guys are working. That's a that that really turns everybody else off. No one wants to be part of that. But I will tell you something when you jump into your job and you do a great job and you do it better than anyone else it doesn't only bless you but it brings honor to God and people say you know I want to be like her. I want to be like him. What is it that's different about them? It's they have God in their life. So what I want to do right now is I want to leave you with three takeaways. Three things that you can take home with you today and if

you're taking notes or if you have a great memory remember these three things because I think these are our game-changers. Number one, remember this obedience is a foundational principle that unlocks God's purpose, favor, and direction. Look at that. Look at it real well. Let it soak in, take it into your mind. Obedience is a foundational principle that unlocks God's purpose, favor, and direction, and it doesn't come naturally. You guys with me? How many of you want God's purpose? How many of you guys want God's favor? How many of you want God's direction? We can learn right here in our church, we can learn. Number two, second takeaway, is honor. Honor is a biblical principle that invites God's blessings into your life. When you honor others, it's like opening up heaven's windows for God's blessings to come your way, because naturally, we don't honor. See, what was it that kept the miracles, the mighty works of God out of Nazareth? Dishonor and unbelief. When we believe and we honor people, I'm gonna tell you something, guys, listen to me. It opens up God's favor in your life. Try it. If you're not one who naturally, you don't honor people, start honoring. Honor your wife, honor your husband, honor those in authority, honor those around you,

because God is the one that's placed them there. And then number three, the last takeaway is this. Godly parenting doesn't just shape children, it shapes the world we live in. It does. It shapes the world we live in. As I look today at young students, younger kids, I realize that, man, we have such a responsibility on how we act in front of them, how we teach and train, how we bring them up. And guys, we all fail at times. And it's okay to fail, but let's own it. You guys with me? Just own it. You know what? I've not been the best father in this area. I've not done the best, but I'm gonna do better. See, kids respect that. And here's another thing is that maybe today your kids are older. It never changes. Here's another thing I'll say. Maybe you had a parent that wasn't honorable. Honor them anyway. Quit speaking negative about your upbringing. Stop talking bad about things from your past with your parents. Don't do it again. See, he doesn't give an option right here. He just simply said to honor them.

They gave birth to you. You wouldn't have life today if it wasn't for them. So let's try honoring them. God, I honor my mother, my father. I honor them. I'm not gonna speak negative because again, what happens is it opens up God's blessings in my life. Let's stand. Three things that I get out of this teaching. Next week, by the way, listen, you do not want to miss next week because we're diving. Pastor Chris is taking us into the armor of God. Come on. That's good. I was a little bit jealous, Chris, because I was kind of wanting that, but you're taking us into that and it's gonna be awesome. And he wraps up chapter six with the armor of God and how we should dress. Again, all this is application. It's how, things that'll make us better. But obedience, honor, and parenting that we've talked about today is impossible without God. You know, we can't do it God's way without God. And some of you today may be saying, well, I fail miserably. Hey, listen, don't beat yourself up. This message is not to condemn. Jesus never condemned.

It's to leave today being better than I walked through these doors. How many of you want to leave better than you came in today? Amen? That's it. That's really it. Jesus, see, Jesus didn't condemn. Religion condemns. Jesus never did that. When he found the woman had been married five times, it's just simply just go and don't do it anymore. Today's gonna be the best day of your life because you just met Jesus. I wonder how many people are here today that this may be your first time of truly meeting Jesus. I'm not talking about religion. I'm not talking about putting your name on the church roll. I'm talking about really meeting Jesus, coming in relationship with him. I wonder how many people are listening today of 888 correctional facilities. The individuals here in person, this is their first time of truly, truly saying yes to Jesus. I'm going to ask the church. There's power in prayer. How many of you believe there's power in prayer? I'm going to ask the church. I'm going to ask all of you if you would right now to just bow your heads and pray a prayer for the lost people that's listening right now or that will listen to this archive message in the future that God would draw them to the cross.

Would you pray that? Let's all pray. Father, if there's anyone today who's lost away from you, whether it's a prodigal, they've never known you. We pray today, God, that you draw them to the cross. Let them know that they're loved, that they're cared for, that you want them to be saved. You want them to be in eternity with you. And right now as we're all praying, I just wonder, is there anybody right here today that you'd just say, Pastor, I need this Jesus you're talking about. And I believe that God's brought me here today for a purpose. If that's you right now and you'd just say, remember me in prayer, you're speaking to me. Hold up your hand across this building. Hold it up high and I'll just remember to pray. Thank you, man. Thank you, sir. All across this building. Hold it up high. Let God see your hand because you mean business. You're not ashamed of him. You're ready for change. You're ready to see God move. You're ready to receive Jesus as Lord. You can put your hand down. Everybody look at me if you would for a second. You know salvation? Pastor Brian did a great job last week leading us through the gospel and here's what he said. He said, it's simply believing that Jesus died for your sins, that he rose on the third day and that he's at the right hand of the Father. It's that simple.

It's not that difficult. But yet people continue to reject that message over and over and over again. It's the best decision you'll ever make in your life. Can I hear an amen to that? So if you raised your hand today, do that. Believe that Jesus loves you. He died for you. He rose on the third day and you'll be saved. I'm going to ask the worship team to come forward, the prayer team to come forward and here's what I want you to do. Today, you would just like to pray for your children. Maybe you have prodigal, you have some prodigal children. Maybe you want to pray a blessing over your children. I'm going to ask you to come and agree with these individuals that are here in this altar who have been praying and I want you to just come up and say, pray for my children. They're going to agree and we're going to speak blessings over them. You guys good with that? Let's worship with the team as they sing this last song and if you'd like to come forward, please do. Maybe we made this complicated more than it was ever meant to be. Hasn't it always been about the same thing? Lord, bring us back to sympathies. You'll be the center of it all. My heart belongs to You. My Savior of it all. You're the one I hold on to. For the beauty of the night. My soul will live to say, Jesus I love You. Teach us to deserve the moment. When to say and when to sit here at Your feet.

Keep us aware of what's important. Just like Mary chose the battlefield for You. ♪ You are the center of it all ♪ ♪ My heart belongs to You ♪ ♪ My Savior of it all ♪ ♪ You're the one I hold on to ♪ ♪ For the beauty of Your name ♪ ♪ My soul is there to say ♪ ♪ Jesus, I love You for You ♪ ♪ You are the center of it all ♪ ♪ My heart belongs to You ♪ ♪ My Savior of it all ♪ ♪ You're the one I hold on to ♪ ♪ For the beauty of Your name ♪ ♪ My soul is there to say ♪ ♪ Jesus, I love You for You ♪ ♪ I love You, oh, I love You ♪ ♪ Jesus, I love You, oh, I love You ♪ ♪ Oh, I love You ♪ ♪ I love You, oh, I love You ♪ ♪ My whole life for Your glory ♪ ♪ My whole world for You only, every day ♪ ♪ For the honor of Your name ♪ ♪ And if my days turn to story, let it be ♪ ♪ For the honor of Your name ♪ ♪ My whole life for Your glory ♪ ♪ My whole world for You only, every day ♪ ♪ For the honor of Your name ♪ ♪ And if my days turn to story, let it be ♪ ♪ For the honor of Your name ♪

♪ My whole life for Your glory ♪ ♪ My whole world for You only, every day ♪ ♪ For the honor of Your name ♪ ♪ And if my days turn to story, let it be ♪ ♪ And if my days turn to story, let it be ♪ ♪ For You only, every day ♪ ♪ For the honor of Your name ♪ ♪ Oh, how I love You ♪ ♪ Oh, how I love You, Jesus, I love You ♪ ♪ Oh, how I love You, oh, how I love You ♪ ♪ Oh, how I love You, oh, since my whole life ♪ ♪ My whole life for Your glory ♪ ♪ My whole world for You only, every day ♪ ♪ For the honor of Your name ♪ ♪ And if my days turn to story, let it be ♪ ♪ For You only, every day ♪ ♪ For the honor of Your name ♪ ♪ My whole life for Your glory ♪ ♪ My whole world for You only, every day ♪ ♪ For the honor of Your name ♪ ♪ And if my days turn to story, let it be ♪ ♪ For You only, every day ♪ ♪ For the honor of Your name ♪ ♪ Oh, how I love You, oh, how I love You ♪ ♪ Jesus, oh, how I love You ♪ ♪ You belong, oh, how I love You ♪ ♪ For You are the center of it all ♪ ♪ My heart belongs to You, my Savior, oh ♪ You're the one I hold on to, for the beauty of your name. My soul will live to say, Jesus, I love you.

My soul will choose to say, Jesus, I love you. My soul will live to say, Jesus, I love you. Oh, how I love you. Oh, how I love you. Oh, how I love you. Oh, how I love you. Oh, how I love you. Oh, how I love you. Oh, how I love you. Oh, how I love you. Oh, how I love you. Oh, how I love you. Throughout the world. I pray against the enemy, Lord, that he would come in and try to bring in restrictions, Lord, over the things that we speak, over the things that we say, and over even the things that we stream through the television, Lord. I pray against those things that the enemy is working in the dark places. And we pray for those that he is working through, Lord. We pray for the hearts and the minds of people that don't know you, Lord, that they would be changed. I pray, Father God, for them to have an encounter with you, and they would go from being a Saul to a Paul. And I pray that they would change their ways, and then they would stand for your kingdom, God. And so we don't want to take our freedom for granted, that we get to worship you, because in certain parts of the world, they can't do that. And it would be the enemy's pleasure to continue to take that more and more from us, because he knows where he goes in the end, Lord. And he only has satisfactory in putting more pressure, more control, and more oppression on the people of God. And so we pray for the world, Lord, that they would know you. And we pray, Father, that you would just continue to bring freedom in hearts today.

And we just thank you, Lord, for that. In Jesus' mighty name, amen. Amen.