We are Family - Week 4 - Pastor Kipp Penrod

Thank you for listening to this message from

Lifehouse Church. And there is power in family.

Second week, we talked about the testimony in

family and how powerful it is to hear one another's

testimony. That should happen all the time in

this house. We need to hear the story of what

Jesus is doing. Last week, we went to Genesis

chapter two, really unfolded the entire chapter,

talked about some of God's system structures

and plans in there and how his provisional work

is there in our lives and the gift of work itself

and the gift of choice, right? Love is choice.

How many know if you love somebody, there's a

choice involved in all that? Amen? It's true.

And at the end of last week's message, I landed

on something I just began to touch on, what the

God glue is in family. I don't know if you know

it or not, but there's God glue in family. And

that particular term that I came up with, that

God glue, is unity. Say unity. Unity. Being one.

Being one, all right? So I'm getting ready to

take you into Matthew. We're going to go into

the New Testament this week, into Matthew 12,

Matthew 12:33

verse 33. So I'm going to ask you, if you would,

I want you to stand just one more time this morning,

and then I'll let you sit down. I want to do

a couple of things. You can head to Matthew 12.

We're going to start at verse 33. And while you're

standing, hey, listen, you're already standing

up. Turn to somebody. Give them a high five.

Tell them it's good to see you in church. Good

to see you at LifeHouse today. Tell them they're

looking okay. They cleaned up okay on a Sunday.

Yeah, come on. You can even tell them it's going

to get sticky in here, all right? We're going

to talk about glue today. But I want, we're going

to pray and then we're going to read God's word.

Father, thank you for this day. Thank you for

each person that's in the house and the opportunity,

God, to dive into your word that is truth and

it is life. And God, Lord, God, it opens us bare.

It lays us open to you. And Lord, I pray that

you would touch our hearts. God, you would touch

our minds. God, that you would, Lord, minister

in our souls. God, that it might change our actions

and that we might be pleasing to you. And we

just give you praise. We give you glory and honor

in Jesus' name. And amen. you would just stay

standing for the reading of the word. And just

to give you just a little background as we go

into this scripture, this is where Jesus is talking

about this serious nature of unity. While in

the middle of a tension -filled conversation

with Pharisees, he really... blurts out or talks

about what is so important about unity. Matthew

12, 22 says this, then one was brought to him

who was demon possessed. Now, what took place

is the Pharisees are questioning Jesus because

Jesus heals a man who is demon possessed and

blind and mute. He casts out the demon and heals

this man of the blindness and this mute tongue

that he has. So then one was brought to him who

was demon possessed. blind and mute, and he healed

him, so that the blind and the mute man both

spoke and saw. And all the multitudes were amazed

and said, could this be the son of David? They

were saying, could this be the Messiah? Now,

when the Pharisees heard it, they said, this

fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub,

the rulers of demons. The Pharisees were against

Jesus, and they came and they actually accused

him of casting out this demon by the prince of

demons, really Satan himself. Verse 25 says,

But Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them,

Every kingdom divided against itself is brought

to desolation, and every city or house, say house,

divided against itself will not stand. If Satan

casts out Satan, he's divided against himself.

How then will this kingdom stand? And if I cast

out demons by Beelzebub, whom do your sons cast

them out? Therefore, they shall be your judges.

But if I cast out demons by the spirit of God,

surely the kingdom of God has come upon you.

You may be seated this morning. What's the truth?

What's the principle that Jesus is teaching?

What is the universal law that Jesus is placing

out as he begins to debunk the argument of the

Pharisees and the accusations that came against

him? And it is this, a house. divided against

itself cannot stand. A house divided cannot stand,

right? Jesus said that a house, a kingdom, a

city that is not united is going down. Sooner

or later, it's going to divide. It's going to

split. If the house is good or the house is evil.

Either one, if there's division in the house,

it's going to go down. Jesus was really kind

of moving us into a universal law of God. It

really is. He was letting the Pharisees know

that this is a universal law that applies. It's

a spiritual law that applies. It includes everyone.

It includes him. It includes me. It even included

Satan and his kingdom, right? And this is a spiritual

law that holds true whether you believe it or

whether you don't. believe it. Some things you

might believe and some things you might not believe.

You may not believe this, but it's true anyway.

It's a little bit like the law of gravity, all

right? How many know we all are under the law

of gravity if you live on this planet? Raise

your hand if you know that. All right, the rest

of you are going to figure it out soon, okay?

There's a law of gravity that's in place, right?

And it's the truth whether you believe it or

not. It's not relative to my circumstance. It's

not relevant to my situation. It's not even relevant

to my bias. It doesn't even matter what I think

about gravity. Gravity exists. If you're a human

located somewhere on this sphere that we call

Earth, right, gravity affects you. You stay firmly

planted on the ground. this morning because of

gravity, whether you believe in it or not. How

many know I can flap my arms as long as I want

to, and I'm not going to fly off at this stage,

right? If I go off at the end of this stage,

gravity is going to take me down. Now, I might

fall gracefully, all right? I may bounce and

roll right out and jump right back up on my feet.

I might try to make it look good, but I'm not

going to fly. I'm not going to shoot up through

that dome in some kind of manner because gravity

is a universal law. And this is a universal law.

If you lack unity in your house, if there's division

present, cracks are going to come. And Jesus

said, if that goes long enough, desolation's

in your future. I know, nobody's going to say

amen to that, right? Right? Any group of people.

Larger than the number one is a family. Actually,

if you're a Christian and your number is one,

you're single, and you're a Christian, you've

already got two in your family because it's you

and Jesus, right? It's Jesus and you. And there's

already two in your family. So there can't be

division because division creates problems. If

the house is divided, how many of you get in

a rowboat and you start rowing? If there's two

people in the rowboat and each person has an

oar, the idea is this, right? You want to row

the same direction and you want to row with the

same cadence. What happens if one person isn't

in unity with the other person? One person's

tired. You're like, I don't want to row. And

the other one's going, I'm going, I'm going for

it. What do you start to do? You start to turn,

right? You're going to head for the riverbank.

You're going to smash. What happens if one's

rowing one direction and one's rowing the other

direction? Oh, yeah, you're going to spin in

circles. I use this analogy all the time. You're

going to spin in. If you've got division, you're

going to spin in circles. And how many know if

you spin in circles long enough, you start to

get angry? Because you can't get anywhere, right?

And how many know if you stay in the boat long

enough, instead of paddling water with that oar,

you're going to get it out and smack each other

with it, right? You're going to get irritated

with it. And it's division. So if there's division

in the house, if you're going two different directions,

if you're not in the same cadence, if there's

not unity, right, and it happens long enough,

you're going to have, you're going to come to

a place of desolation. You're going to abandon

ship. You're going to dive out of the boat and

head for swim for sure. Desolation is a complete

emptiness or destruction of something. That's

what Jesus said. I didn't say it. He said it.

And people like to think, well, that's not really

true in my family. You know, that's not us. You

just got to understand who we are. You know,

we just fight all the time. We got division all

the time, right? That doesn't apply to us. That's

just how we roll, Pastor. That's what we do in

our house, right? Let me tell you something.

Gravity applies to you too, right? This is a

universal law. In any family, between one and

100, and I don't know anybody in this house that's

got 100 people in your family right now, but

it could be, right? But unity is the glue in

your family. If you're single and you're following

Jesus and it's just Jesus and you, unity is the

glue. If you're married and it's your husband

and your wife and Jesus, unity is the glue. If

you've got children and the circle starts to

expand out with all the kids, whether that's

one, two, three, or a dozen, right, unity is

the glue. If you're following Jesus with a body

of other believers in this house, unity is the

glue. that holds us together. We have to be in

unity. We got to get ready. If you're not in

unity, we start to become unglued. We start to

separate. So here's the thing. You got to stay

vigilant when it comes to unity. In your home,

in this church, when we're together, we got to

be vigilant about what we're unified on. We got

to be checking. the glue on a regular basis.

We got to be talking with one another. We got

to be inspecting, right? We should be looking

for the cracks in unity. We should keep our eyes

peeled for these things. We should guard against

division and disunity and spot it as soon as

it starts to take place and catch it on the front

end before it gets too far. We got to root it

out, right? We got to be watching. Don't tolerate

division of the house. Don't dismiss it. Don't

downplay it. Don't pretend it's not happening,

right? Don't say that's just how we roll. Don't

excuse it because division is the enemy of the

family. Amen? I know it's tough preaching this

morning, right? And many times it's Satan's attack

to take down the house. He knows that this is

a universal principle. He knows that this applies

in good or evil. He knows that if he can get

division, if he can get cracks, if he can start

to make things go this direction, one go one

direction, one go the other, one get out of cadence

from the other, if he knows if he can make that

happen, that if he can do it long enough, desolation

comes, right? I ran a survey this week. Super

interesting. This is from Forbes Advisory Survey.

This was taken in 2023. And the interesting part

of this is that Forbes typically is a financial

survey group. And this is a secular group. This

isn't a Christian survey group. But listen to

what they say. It says this, that only 5 % of

divorcees say that there was no way their marriage

could have been saved. Only 5%. out of everyone

that gets divorced. A whopping 63 % said that

if they had a better understanding of commitments

prior to marrying, they could have helped them

avoid divorce. And 54 % said if they had a better

understanding of their spouse's morals and values,

priorities to getting married, they might still

be together. Do you know what that survey reveals?

That 95 % of couples who are divorced said they

could possibly still be married if they were

in unity, if they were on the same page about

something. 95 % of them. And this article goes

on to spell out the reasons. For the divorce.

And it's not what I thought. Honestly, I read

statistics many years ago, and it really isn't

what I thought it was. Number six is this. They

give the top six. Number six is finances. Number

five is relationships with friends. Number four

is relationships with family. Number three is

division of household labor. Chores, man. Chores

will mess you up in your house. All right? Parenting

differences is number two. Number one is career

choices. I was shocked when I saw all these.

The reason for division of the house is not that

the other person in the marriage is this horrible,

morally bankrupt person. That's only 5 % of them,

right? It's not some degenerate that somebody

married, and it's just a total mess. It's all

these reasons. It is the God glue of family.

People are out of unity with each other. They're

not stepping with one another. They're not working

this out. Jesus said it. Every kingdom divided

against itself is brought to desolation. And

every city or house divided against itself will

not stand. The God glue of family is unity. So

we got to ask ourselves. We got to ask ourselves

the question, right? You got to ask yourself

the tough question. How united is my family?

Come on. Some of you got to say amen. I'm getting

scared up here. Nobody's saying anything. How

united is my family? How united is our church,

right? Unity in the house. Listen, if we're gonna

stand, Jesus said it. If we're gonna stand, we

gotta be united. So how do we do it? How do we

do it? How do we produce this God glue right

for family? Because Lord knows we have plenty

of division. We have plenty of division in our

personal families. We've got plenty of division.

Sometimes it takes place in churches, right?

How do we get this God glue? Well, I'm going

to give you some basic ingredients. I'm going

to give you one today. You got to come back two

weeks from now. I'm going to give you another

one. All right. That was a little teaser, by

the way. Get you back. Father's Day is going

to be awesome. Desmond Wellington is going to

be here. Bishop Desmond. But come back the second

week. But what are the basic ingredients of this

God glue for family that I'm talking about? For

unity. Well, the first one is this. It is leadership.

Say leadership. who is leading this family who

is leading the individuals that make up this

family who are the individuals um believing is

leadership right it's what you believe who are

the individuals in the family who do they believe

that the leader of the family is who do they

perceive that is leading the family, right? Leadership

is one of the ingredients of God glue, of unity

in the family. And you could go around this church.

You could ask any three -year -old, amen? We

got a lot of three -year -olds here. You could

go and ask any three -year -old who the leader

of the family is, and they're probably not going

to be able to give you an answer. But how many

know they think they are? Come on, at age three.

They think they're leading the family, right?

Sometimes until they're about 13 and then beyond,

right? They think they're leading the family.

And if they're not sure who the leader is, they're

just going to go ahead and lead anyway, right?

And, you know, a three -year -old, when they

want to lead, they don't do it like you and I.

They don't command and demand. They just begin

to scream and cry and howl, right? We call that...

having a hissy fit. Anybody seen a kid have a

hissy fit? Anybody know what that is, all right?

It's when they throw themselves down, right?

And you know what they're doing right then? They're

trying to lead, all right? They're like, you're

not doing what I want you to do. You need, you

got to follow me right now. That's what a three

-year -old's saying. Just slide in behind me.

I'll take you where we're going to go to the

promised land, all right? Whatever that is for

a three -year -old. That's what they're saying,

right? And how many of you got some children

in your house that are over five feet tall and

they still having hissy fits? Come on, yeah,

amen. Don't look at anybody right now. Don't

say anything, all right? It's true. It's true.

You know, but the moment the family members start

looking to different individuals as leaders in

the home and they're not sure who's leading,

they're not sure what's going on, they'll start

to decide or they'll make themselves leaders.

They'll call it out themselves, right? That's

what leaders do. And some of your kids are leaders,

right? Some of you know what I'm talking about.

Some of you kids, you got strong willed kids.

They're like, hey, nobody's gonna lead. I'll

take command right now, right here. Give me the

controls, all right? They'll do it, right? But

it's about who's leading. Division of the house

will occur on some level in your household if

we don't know who is leading, who the ultimate

leader is, right? E. Stanley Jones, a missionary

theologian and author said this, talk about what

you believe and you will have disunity. Talk

about who you believe in and you're gonna have

unity. Unity is a product of believing in the

same leader, following the same leader. Unity

is a product of believing in the same leader.

If you're looking for unity in your family, any

family, we got to discernment. We got to decide.

We got to honestly answer who's leading the family.

Is it Jesus leading your family or is it someone

else leading your family, right? We got to look

to who that ultimate person is. You know, is

Jesus leading the way as we go forward in family?

Are we modeling that? Are we seeing that? Are

we talking that? Are we teaching that? Are they

catching? this right? Or is someone else? John

Maxwell says, leadership is influence. Who's

influencing the people in your house? Is it Jesus?

Because different leaders will divide the path.

They will. Now, I was going to do this morning.

We don't have time for it. But I was going to

get two people up here and make them leaders,

a couple three -year -olds. Get them up here

and make them leaders, right? And have people

come in behind them. And no matter what two leaders

I got up here, if I got two adults up here and

I said, you're the leader, you're the leader.

And I said, six other people will follow in behind

them. Now I want you to lead them somewhere.

And I tell them, just walk around the church.

How many know they'd be on two different paths,

right? They're not going to walk the same way.

If you've got two leaders, if you've got three

leaders, they're not going to take the same path.

Even if I told them to walk down the middle aisle,

one would be on one side of the aisle and one

would be on the other side of the aisle, right?

Different leaders. You've got to determine who's

leading this deal, who's leading this family.

So many times in families, we're addressing the

symptoms of division when we never get down to

the core of the division. We're trying to figure

out, we're trying to patch up all the fights,

right? We're trying to make sure everybody comes

to a place of peace. And we're trying to make

peace. We're trying to do all things. But we

don't get down to what's cracking the glue. You

know, what's causing the fissures? What's causing

the chasms in the family? And I'm telling you,

it's leadership. It's one of the reasons. You

don't have God glue without leadership. You've

got to determine who we're following in this

house. What's this look like, right? Are the

members of my house following Colossians chapter

Colossians 3 · chapter mention

3? Let me read Colossians chapter 1, verses 9

Colossians 1:9–20

through 20. It says this. And for all patience

and long -suffering with joy. Giving thanks to

the Father who has qualified us to be partakers

of the inheritance of the saints in the light.

He has delivered us from the power of darkness

and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of

His love, in whom we have redemption through

His blood and forgiveness of sins. Jesus is the

image of the invisible God, the firstborn over

all creation. For by him all things were created

that are in heaven and on the earth, visible

and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or

principalities or powers. All things were created

through him and for him. And he is before all

things, and in him all things consist. And he

is the head of the body, the church who is the

beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that

in all things that he may have preeminence. Say

preeminence. Do all the family members believe

that Jesus has preeminence? In the family, right?

Do I believe and act like Jesus is preeminent?

Preeminent means that he's supreme. He's the

supreme leader, right? He's the first leader.

He's the most powerful. He surpasses all other

leadership in the house, including myself, right?

Do I believe and not just recognize that Jesus

holds the highest rank in his family, that he

calls it, what he says goes? Do I live, move,

and have my being in this? Because if Jesus is

the preeminent leader in our home, right, there's

going to be unity if everyone believes that.

It holds true. And if not, there's division.

Luke 12, 49, sometimes people really wrestle

over this scripture. And Jesus said this, and

it's true. Let me read this for you. And it came,

and it says this. I came, Jesus talking. I came

to send fire on the earth and how I wish it were

already kindled. But I have a baptism to be baptized

with and how distressed I am to what's accomplished.

Do you suppose that I came to give peace on the

earth? I tell you not at all, but rather division.

From now on, five in one house will be divided.

Three against two and two against three. Father

will be divided against son and son against father,

mother against daughter and daughter against

mother, mother -in -law against her daughter

-in -law, and daughter -in -law against her mother

-in -law. Wow. Why did Jesus come and speak this

with an agenda to break up families, to dissolve

the glue of unity between us? No. A thousand

times no. But Jesus knew this. As he came as

God in the flesh, as he came to be the Prince

of Peace and the price that would pay for our

salvation, as he came to reconcile us back to

God and to be the preeminent leader in our lives,

he knew that some in the house would not receive

or believe in him. He knew that. He knew that

in one household, there will be three that will

believe that he's the preeminent leader, and

there will be two that won't, or there'll be

two and three the other direction. He knew that

there would be mother -in -law and father -in

-law, you know, or daughter -in -law divided

on this. He knew that. He knew that this would

not always be true in families, right? That it

would cause opposition. He's the glue. He's the

leader in their family. But also, right, it can

be a place of division. It's a place of division.

And I know this is difficult, right? This is

not amen kind of preaching. I wish it was. All

right? I know this is hard things to hear, but

it's true and it's universal. It's a law that

applies to all of us. And I'd love to say, you

know, well, if you just got the right intentions,

and, you know, if you're a Christian, you get

excluded from all this. I'd love to say that,

but it's not true. Jesus said this is how it's

going to be. So you've got to learn how to work

through this. You've got to learn how to wade

through this at every level of family, right,

at every stage of family. How do I navigate this?

What's this look like? If it's not always perfection,

right? It's not always that everybody's serving

God in our families. It's not that everybody

believes that he's the preeminent leader. So

what do I do with this? Well, I'm going to break

this out in three things, all right? I'm going

to talk to parents of young children. If you've

got young children, raise your hand, all right?

Raise your hand. A bunch of you got young children.

I'm going to tell you this right now. Leverage

this truth as much as you can when your kids

are young. You are a huge influence in your children's

lives. You are almost the exclusive influence

till they get up to age seven or eight years

old, intentionally move to make Jesus the supreme

leader of their life. Walk them through. Explain.

Show them the Word of God. Lead them to a place

of salvation. Live it. Talk it. Model it in every

way that you can. Let it be your obsession while

your children are young, right? Make it a top

priority to model that Jesus is the preeminent

supreme leader in this household. Make it possible.

And let me tell you right now, that doesn't guarantee

that your child's going to believe when they

come to a place of faith on their own. But you

do everything you can. Adopt, can I tell you

something? Adopt a Joshua mantra, all right?

Joshua said this. Joshua was surrounded by individuals

in Israel who did not want to serve God. And

he said, but as for me and my house, he said,

we're going to serve the Lord, right? In this

house, we serve the Lord while your children

are young. Mom and dad, you call it when your

kids are young. You call what happens in your

house. You call what doesn't happen in your house.

I like to tell parents, listen, when your kids

are little, you are the king and she is the queen.

Amen? Come on. Now, listen, that makes them,

right, princes and princesses. But you got to

call it. You got to lead in this. You got to

show them that Jesus is preeminent. Right? Walk

it out. But how many of those little ones, they

grow up? They don't stay little. I've been through

all these stages, by the way, all right? I know

what I speak. They turn into teenagers. Glory

to God, I'm praying for you. They turn into teenagers,

these little people, right? And it changes when

they turn into teenagers. It shifts. And a lot

of times parents, sometimes parents don't want

to make this shift or they don't even recognize

it. You got to, when it changes and when they

start thinking and working through their own

belief systems and what they believe and what

they don't believe, you got to get a little more

investigative in nature and not just calling

it, right? You got to start asking good questions.

You got to find out what your teenager believes

and what they don't believe. And here's how the

conversation is going to go. So what do you think

about that? Eh, nothing. How was your day? Eh,

okay. Right? You got to get them talking. How

many know out of the buns of the heart the mouth

speaks? You've got to get in conversation. You've

got to find out where the cracks are. You've

got to find out what they believe. What do they

believe? Don't let them just say something. If

they say something that's completely contrary

to what you're saying as a parent and following

Jesus, don't let them just walk away. You don't

got to yell at them and say, well, I hear what

you're saying now. You need to sit down and defend

that. Because I'm going to defend what I believe,

what Scripture says and what Jesus says, right?

You've got to get in conversations with them.

You've got to be a living example. You can't

put down being a living example. Listen, if you're

being a hypocrite in your own life, how many

know teenagers will sniff that out in a heartbeat?

I used to be a youth pastor. I used to work with

youth. Adults, they're nice. If you're a hypocrite,

they'll say, God bless you, shake your hand and

move on. They'll talk about you behind your back.

Teenagers won't do that. They'll call you out.

All right? You cannot be a hypocrite in front

of teenagers. You've got to live what you believe,

and you've got to believe what you live. And

you've got to speak it out. If it is a teenager,

get in conversation. Get godly influence around

them outside of you. Young parents, hear me in

this. So many young parents, I know your kid

is three or four, and the whole world revolves

around mom and dad. But I'm telling you, when

they start getting older, you're not the only

influence in their life. And sometimes parents,

they just keep going with blinders on, and they

think that's true. When a kid is a teenager,

when they start moving towards teenager, get

them around godly influences because they're

starting to listen to other voices. You've got

to get them around people who are rowing the

same way you're going. It is one of the most

important things you'll do. My daughter, Alyssa,

is sitting on the front. And I remember when

they were in the house, the teenagers, and they

would get around some of the preachers that I

knew, and they would hear preaching, and they'd

be like, Dad, you should hear this message. And

they're like, they're expounding on it, and they're

explaining it. And I'm thinking, I just preached

that last week. They didn't even hear me. You

got to get them around other influence. You got

to get them around people who are going to speak

into their lives and speak over their lives.

push in that direction, make them, drop them

off, get them there. They've got to hear other

influences in their lives. They need to hear

it. You're not going to be the only voice. They're

going to look to other leadership and other environments.

You're still a big part of their life. You're

still big influence in your life, but you're

not the only voice. Amen? Come on. It's true.

Now, let me talk to parents that have late teens,

18, 19s. Sometimes 17, right? And young adults

in your home. Your young adults are going to

make decisions. Everybody decides what they believe.

Everybody decides if they're going to follow

Jesus. Jesus, I preached on this last week. You

have choice, right? That's why Jesus put the

tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the

garden. Because Adam had a choice because God's

love and love always has a choice. And your teenagers

are going to choose, or your young adults are

going to choose whether they're going to follow

God or not. So the past is a little bit different

when they come to age, when they get to that

place. First, you've got to pray, all right?

If they're not following God, if there's division

in the house, you got to pray for a change of

heart. You got to call out to God because it's

the Holy Spirit and you at this point. They need

the Holy Spirit. You got to pray over them. You

got to pray that God will reach them. You got

to pray that God's going to open their ears,

right? You got to continue to live the life.

You cannot be hypocritical at this point. You

can't. If you thought they could figure it out

when they're teenagers, when they're young adults,

they see everything. They understand what's going

on around. Hypocrisy will get you nowhere. But

you've got to pray. You've got to put them in

God's hands. And then secondly, you've got to

manage the division. You've got to manage the

division. All right? How you're handling that

son or daughter who does not believe that Jesus

should be the spiritual leader of life, you got

to handle and manage the division. Now, let me

take you to a verse of scripture that will help

you with this. Colossians 4 .2 says this, continue

earnestly in prayer. There it is for the first

step, right? Got to pray. Be vigilant in it with

thanksgiving. You got to pray. Meanwhile, praying

also for us that God may open to us a door for

the word to speak the mystery of Christ. This

is Paul writing to the... Colossians, for which

I am also in chains that I may make it manifest

as I ought to speak. Now he gives some instructions.

He says, walk in wisdom towards those who are

outside, outside the faith, right? Who don't

believe, redeeming the time. Let your speech

always be with grace, say grace, and seasoned

with salt. Say seasoned with salt. Worship team,

if you start to make your way. You have to be

a spiritual sweet and salty bar with young adults.

You got to be a spiritual sweet and salty bar.

Your speech has to be with grace. Now, how many

know when sometimes when the young adult in your

home is not living like you think they should

be living, the last thing we give is grace. Amen.

We get fired up, man. I'm with you. I blew this

a million times. You get fired up. You want to

tell them how it is, right? You want to pretend

they're like five again, and they think the world

revolves around you. The Word of God says, this

is the Word of God speaking, let your speech

be full of grace. Grace. Grace is favor, kindness.

It's attractive. It is beauty. There's elegance.

There's gratitude. Are you hearing the Word of

the Lord this morning? Let it be full of grace,

not contempt, not frustration. Go vent that somewhere

else. Get your head together and then come back

and talk, right? Not a judgmental tone. Just

come in with grace. And if you blow it, ask forgiveness

and come back again. But once you come with grace,

that should be seasoned with salt. Salt. Salt

has a lot of different qualities. Salt adds flavor

to something, right, if you sprinkle it on. But

how many know if you add too much salt onto something

you're trying to flavor, it ruins it? You ever

have the top come off of a lid, and you're putting

salt on instead of sprinkling, you dump the whole

thing on, and you just mourn the steak right

there. You have a mourning, a moment of mourning,

and then you gather yourself, like, if I scrape

it off, I think it'll still work. And you scrape

it all off, and you put some steak sauce on it,

right? But it'll ruin it. Too much salt, right?

But if you put the right amount of salt on something,

salt preserves. If you put the right on, it heals

what it touches. The right amount of salt will

purify and soften water. It will melt. ice and

it will crack concrete. It'll crack something

that is hard. So when we come to young adults

and we're speaking to them in our home, you got

to have full of grace. You got to be, but you

better have some salt with it, right? You better

bring some truth with it. You better bring something

that is solid from the throne room of grace and

you mix those together. So it's what you want

to just confuse the daylights out of them. You're

just as kind as can be. And then you nail them

with salt, right? Little sweet, little salt,

little sweet, little salt. Sweden, Saudi, for

those who don't believe, you gotta show the love

of God. Jesus was a master at this. He was a

master at it. He was always gentle with the person

who was far from God. He was always gracious

with the person that was far from God. Look at

it in scripture. But man, the hypocrites, the

Pharisees, the ones who should have known better,

he was salt and he poured it on. Amen, it's true.

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