05-09-10   Sermon Notes

Making A House A Home

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Scripture Reading: 1 Thes 2:7-12 (NLT) As apostles of Christ we certainly had a right to make some demands of you, but we were as gentle among you as a mother feeding and caring for her own children. We loved you so much that we gave you not only God's Good News but our own lives, too. Don't you remember, dear brothers and sisters, how hard we worked among you? Night and day we toiled to earn a living so that our expenses would not be a burden to anyone there as we preached God's Good News among you. You yourselves are our witnesses -- and so is God -- that we were pure and honest and faultless toward all of you believers. And you know that we treated each of you as a father treats his own children. We pleaded with you, encouraged you, and urged you to live your lives in a way that God would consider worthy. For he called you into his Kingdom to share his glory.      

Sermon Text: Nehemiah 5:1-7, 13 About this time some of the men and their wives raised a cry of protest against their fellow Jews. They were saying, "We have such large families. We need more food to survive." Others said, "We have mortgaged our fields, vineyards, and homes to get food during the famine." And others said, "We have had to borrow money on our fields and vineyards to pay our taxes. We belong to the same family as those who are wealthy, and our children are just like theirs. Yet we must sell our children into slavery just to get enough money to live. We have already sold some of our daughters, and we are helpless to do anything about it, for our fields and vineyards are already mortgaged to others." When I heard their complaints, I was very angry. After thinking it over, I spoke out against these nobles and officials. I told them, "You are hurting your own relatives by charging interest when they borrow money!" Then I called a public meeting to deal with the problem…. I shook out the folds of my robe and said, "If you fail to keep your promise, may God shake you like this from your homes and from your property!" The whole assembly responded, "Amen," and they praised the Lord. And the people did as they had promised.

Orientation Into the Series

    -Me to We (community)

    -House Plans (vision)

    -Shake Up Not Breakup (stress points)

    -Making A House A Home (nurture) 

 Outcries of Injustice

    -the Hebrews then

    -our more recent history

    -our injustice now 

 A Time For Anger

   -what angers you?

   -what should anger you?

   -what are you compelled to do?

 Call to Nurture of Family, Distinction

    -the general call of God

    -the radical call of Jesus 

 Your Response

 -what relational sin will you abandon? 

 -what new attitude will you embrace? 

 -what advocacy role will you take? 

 -what will you lead others to do? 

 -how will you honor God by honoring the women in your life today?

Study Guide