BUILDING A STRONG FOUNDATION

BUILDING A STRONG FOUNDATION

MAKING THE FAMILY MATTER – Part 1

Vernon Zook August 10, 2025

1. A family that matters is built on .
These are all the commands, laws, and regulations that the Lord your God told me to teach you so you may obey them in the land you are about to enter and occupy, and so you and your children and grandchildren might fear the Lord your God as long as you live… And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands I am giving you today. Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are away on a journey, when you are lying down and when you are getting up again. Tie them to your hands as a reminder, and wear them on your forehead. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. – Deuteronomy 6:1-9 (NLT)

How to develop faith at home:

• Have my own faith & relationship with God

• Talk openly about your faith at home

• Do regular family devotions together

• Pray with and for each other

• Regularly participate in church

2. A family that matters is built on .

Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins. – 1 Peter 4:8 (NLT)

I may speak in different languages of people or even angels…I may have the gift of prophecy. I may understand all the secret things of God and have all knowledge, and I may have faith so great I can move mountains…I may give away everything I have, and I may even give my body as an offering to be burned. But I gain nothing if I do not have love. Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous, it does not brag, and it is not proud. Love is not rude, is not selfish, and does not get upset with others. Love does not count up wrongs that have been done. Love is not happy with evil but is happy with the truth. Love patiently accepts all things. It always trusts, always hopes, and always remains strong. Love never ends…So these three things continue forever: faith, hope, and love. And the greatest of these is love. – 1 Corinthians 13:1-8, 13 (NCV)

Love in a family must be:

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3. A family that matters is built on .

And now a word to you fathers. Don’t make your children angry by the way you treat them. Rather, bring them up with the discipline and instruction approved by the Lord. – Ephesians 6:4 (NLT)

And have you entirely forgotten the encouraging words God spoke to you, his children? He said, “My child, don’t ignore it when the Lord disciplines you, and don’t be discouraged when he corrects you. For the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes those he accepts as his children.” As you endure this divine discipline, remember that God is treating you as his own children. Whoever heard of a child who was never disciplined? If God doesn’t discipline you as he does all of his children, it means that you are illegitimate and are not really his children after all. Since we respect our earthly fathers who disciplined us, should we not all the more cheerfully submit to the discipline of our heavenly Father and live forever? For our earthly fathers disciplined us for a few years, doing the best they knew how. But God’s discipline is always right and good for us because it means we will share in his holiness. No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening—it is painful! But afterward there will be a quiet harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way. – Hebrews 12:5-11 (NLT)

Healthy discipline must be:

• Clear

• Consistent

• Followed through

• Loving