United

What does it take to have a marriage that is fully united? 

Can you and your spouse honor marriage and keep your vows? 

Can God help you through all kinds of valleys and difficulties? 

The answer is YES!

Make Jesus your Savior and Lord.  Receive his forgiveness for your past sins.  Ask for his help to live a new and better life each day.  Learn from the mistakes of others.  Memorize the promises of God found in his Word.  When a couple stands with the Lord, they will stand the test of time and trial.  God's Holy Spirt, and his powerful and living Word, will be your guide if you will allow him to lead.

We focused on the united couple that has been healed this Sunday.  As I shared a brief message and we heard a testimony of a couple that went through divorce and then reconciliation, it was amazing.  I was reminded of several other couples that were present in the room that had overcome great trouble and even separation to become a healed, holy and healthy couple!  God is still working!

I skipped the end of the sermon so that we could pray for couples.  Here is what I skipped.  I have copied this directly from my sermon notes.

What Heals?

        Commitment – Believers should follow Jesus' command - “Let not man separate.”  (Matthew 19 and Mark 10:9).  When at all possible, avoid separation.  Don't get mad and walk out.

        God’s power – God can do miracles in people.  Even if you are separated, let's pray for miracles in people.

        God’s instructions - Ephesians 4:32 says,  "Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you."  What if we obeyed the Scriptures about how to treat other believers at church?  Better yet, what if we applied those instructions to the treatment of our own family at home?!?!

        Kindness – Ephesians 4:32

        Tenderness – Ephesians 4:32

        Forgiveness - Matthew 6:14-16  ^"For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, ¹⁵ but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." 

        Humility - Ephesians 5:1 says," Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ."

        Relationship with Jesus – Malachi 2:15 encourages the couple to be "one in spirit."  1 Cor. 6 says, "You are not your own," but "bought with a price, honor God with your bodies. " 1 Cor. 7 says, "The husband's body is not his own and the wife’s is not her own," but we yield to each other.  Ephesians 5:28 says that husbands ought to "love their wives as their own bodies… "  A united couple is going to be growing spiritually together.  A united couple will learn that they literally belong to each other in every way.  A daily relationship with Jesus will change your marriage.

Jesus is our peace and has broken down the wall of separation.  Paul was speaking of separation between Jews and Gentiles, but he can bring down a wall of separation in a couple too.  As believers, we are given the ministry of reconciliation (guiding people to be reconciled to God through Jesus).  If that is our ministry to the world, how much more should it be our ministry in our home?

Why Community Matters

Americans value independence and individualism.  "The Lone Ranger," "Super Man," "The Captain of Industry," all characters that point to our over estimation of the individuals power and ability.  Look beyond our hero worship.  Most superheroes have a sidekick, or an entire culture behind them (Super Man was the beneficiary of all of Krypton and his host planet Earth).  Every great leader in business has an entire workforce following their lead.  As Christians, we often fail to realize the power of community in making us what we are, even in our individual, personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

In Exodus twelve, God commands the descendants of Israel to celebrate the first Passover.  Each individual must determine to celebrate this action by faith so that they will not be swept away in deadly judgment.  Each individual family, and each man/father is going to be responsible for the salvation of each first born individual in that home, through this act of faith.

It is an individual obedience, but there is a community component.  Each parent is to, "Take a lamb for his family..." (12:3).  As a community of salves, some must be poor.  "If a household is to small...they must share one with their nearest neighbor" (12:4).  And then look at this, "...the community of Israel must slaughter them (the lambs for the meal) at twilight" (12:6).  The individual will pay the price in their family if they veer from God's command.  But the power and collective encouragement of a community working together draws, pushes, and pressures them all into a stronger faith and a greater majority choosing to obey the Lord.

When you are connected to your faith family it matters!  Some choices are a little easier to make when you have support from true friends.  Battles are more likely to be won when others are with you in the fight.  Commitments are more easily kept when you have some partners.  When I think of the influence of friends and older mentors in the early days of my walk with Jesus, I realize that community matters!

Get connected at Life Stream Church.  Don't just sit in a chair during a church service a couple times a month!  Attend church regularly.  Get involved in a small group and stick with them.  Bring you kids to church, they need community and multi-generational examples of church involvement to succeed in their Christian life.  Find a team to serve with and make friends working together.

Reading Exodus in my devotions I came to chapter 12.  The thing that stood out to me was the power of the community to help everyone follow Moses and God's command.  Community matters now as much as it did in those fateful days when God was moving among his people, "with a mighty hand!"