Havasu Christian Church
February 2, 2025
“All in the Family”
Genesis 2:18-24, Ephesians 5:33-6:4
INTRO: As we begin our “Month of Love” series, I want us to think about what commonly comes to mind when we hear the word “love.” We may think of two young people, clinging tightly to each other as they walk down the street. We may think of a mother & father, holding their newborn baby for the first time. We may think of the fireman who goes into a burning building to save someone he doesn’t even know. We might even think of God, and His love for us. In English, the word love covers all these kinds of things. But in the Greek language, the word “love” is a bit different. There isn’t just one word for love, but several.
Storge: The word for family love, or the fondness between parents and children. It's a powerful force that can also exist between friends, bosses, and colleagues.
Philia: The word for deep friendship, or the love between equals. It's characterized by loyalty, sharing emotions, and a sense of shared sacrifice.
Eros: The word for physical love, sexual desire, and passion. It can also refer to the feeling of love, or the desire to be near someone.
Agape: The word for unconditional love, or love for everyone. It's a selfless love that's given freely, without judgment or expectations.
Philautia: The word for self-love. Aristotle believed that healthy self-love is a prerequisite for loving others.
Ludus: The word for playful love.
Pragma: The word for long-standing love.
Mania: The word for obsessive love.
This morning, we are going to begin looking at 4 types of Love that we find in the New Testament Greek.
The first of these is Storge. Family love.
- The Family is God’s gift to humanity
Genesis 2:18-24 Then the LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.”
19 Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name.
20 The man gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field, but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him.
21 So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place.
22 The LORD God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man.
23 The man said,
“This is now bone of my bones,
And flesh of my flesh;
She shall be called Woman,
Because she was taken out of Man.”
24 For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.
- A functioning society is built on the family
- It would be easy to get caught up in the story…
- Adam naming the animals…
- Adam realizing everyone else comes in pairs..
- God performing the first surgery…
- Adam meeting Eve for the first time…
- But today, I want to focus on what all this began…. THE FAMILY!
- God gave us the family to teach our children.
- Moral values
- Who’s values?
- Lots of options, but only one that really works.
- Godly values!
- God’s “family values” are there for our own good!
- I may have come up with rules for my family, but God’s are best!
- How to live in harmony
- When you are a part of a family, this happens naturally.
- If it doesn’t, NOBODY is going to be happy!
- Respect for law and order
- The rules we enforce in our household are a good starting point for children to learn how to live in society!
- When the family is weakened, society crumbles
- We’ve seen this, just in my lifetime…
- The family has been weakened in our world
- Promiscuous behavior is now “normal.”
- “Families” where the couple live together before bothering to get married are 3 times more likely to split up!
- Not getting married at all causes even more heartache.
- The definition of family has been changed
- “Anybody that lives with me is now my family.”
- People move in, people move out.
- This leaves terrible confusion.
- There is no real continuity.
- Who is my dad?
- Who is my mom?
- Which people are my grandparents?
- Divorce is no longer the “last resort,” but simply an easy escape hatch.
- Kids get confused.
Teenager I knew… “Mom’s boyfriend, between her first and second husbands…”
- Children are considered a burden not a blessing.
Psalm 127:1–5
Unless the LORD builds the house, they labor in vain who build it;
Unless the LORD guards the city, the watchman keeps awake in vain.
It is vain for you to rise up early,
To retire late,
To eat the bread of painful labors;
For He gives to His beloved even in his sleep.
Behold, children are a gift of the LORD,
The fruit of the womb is a reward.
Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, So are
the children of one’s youth.
How blessed is the man whose quiver is full
of them;
They will not be ashamed when they speak
with their enemies in the gate.
- This breaks my heart.
- When Robin found out she was pregnant.. WOW!
- When she began “showing.” WOW!
- First time seeing my child… WOW!
- For some, a child may not seem to be a blessing…
- They can disrupt your life.
- They can cause anger and hurt in a family, especially if you aren’t married.
- But, to quote Dr. Seuss, “A human is a human, no matter how small!”
- Only God knows who the children sacrificed to Baal, the god of abortion, might have done if allowed to live?
“God! Why haven’t you sent someone who would cure cancer? Why haven’t you sent a peacemaker to us? Why haven’t you given us people who would change our world for the better?” “I did… you aborted them.”
- “Quality time” has replaced actual “Time” in many families
- Sometimes, this is unavoidable, but often it is a selfish choice
- There may be seasons in our lives where our family may have to make sacrifices.
- Working extra to have enough money just to live on.
- Working extra to get out of debt…
- Moving to a new job…
- But there are also times when we neglect our family out of selfishness.
- I “NEED” a fancier car, so I’ll work more overtime.
- I “NEED” more toys to play with…
- Then I’ll spend more time with my family, playing with those toys.
- I “NEED” to spend more time and money on my hobbies!
- “Be sure and put something important in your back seat so you don’t forget to take out your baby!”
- There is hope for the family, and our world!
- Jesus!
- It is our job to Strengthen our families, and also to reach out to other families.
- How do we do this?
Ephesians 5:33–6:4 Nevertheless, each individual among you also is to love his own wife even as himself, and the wife must see to it that she respects her husband. Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER (which is the first commandment with a promise), SO THAT IT MAY BE WELL WITH YOU, AND THAT YOU MAY LIVE LONG ON THE EARTH. Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
- Husbands and Wives, take care of one another
- Husband, love your wife.
- This love is a more powerful love that we’ll be discussing later.
- Agape… the Love God has for us.
Ephesians 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her,
- Wive, respect your husband.
- A man wants love, but craves respect.
- He may not get it at his job.
- He may not get it from his friends.
- But he NEEDS respect from his wife.
- Look for ways to respect him.
- A man who loves his wife the way God intended will make it easy for his wife to respect him, and maybe even love him.
- Children are to obey and learn from parents.
- Obey… Do what they tell you!
- That gets harder, the older we get.
- If parents love their kids like they should, it won’t be so hard…
- Rules will be for the child’s good.
- Honor… But what if they aren’t honorable? Treat them with honor anyway!
- “Honor” has the idea of considering the value of something.
- Your folks changed your diapers and didn’t get rid of you, even when you barfed or peed all over them!
- They provided a roof, food, clothing, even when you weren’t as cooperative or respectful as you should have been.
- They did their best to love you and teach you what they thought was important!
- Parents aren’t to make this difficult!
- Paul speaks particularly to fathers.
- “Don’t provoke your children to anger.”
- Don’t push their buttons!
- Discipline them, in the Lord.
- Disciple them!
- They are your most important work!
- Instruct them in the Lord.
- Teach them to know Jesus!
- This is more important that giving them skills that they can use to earn a living.
- Living for Jesus is the MOST IMPORTANT thing we can teach our children.
- Good families are intentional about their care for each other.
- We feed our family a healthy diet
- We expect our family to practice good hygiene
- We set bedtimes, do homework, do chores
- We worry about each other when we are late
- Christian families should be just as intentional about keeping Jesus their focus.
- Good parents verify for themselves whether Christianity is true or false
- If it’s false, why would you dare expose your children to it?
- If it’ real, how would you dare NOT involve them in Christianity with you?
Conclusion: I suspect that some of you are thinking to yourself “Good information, but my kids are raised… my spouse is dead. This doesn’t really apply to me.”
You may be right… in a way. You’ve already lived out that part of your life. You may have done it well, or you may have done it poorly, but it’s done.
But there are others that are within your sphere of influence. People that you come in contact with on a regular basis. People who may be struggling to love their family the way they should. They need you!
Philippians 2:14–15 Do all things without grumbling or disputing; so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world,
Even if you did it all wrong, you have the wisdom of hindsight to give. “Here’s how I should have done it better!”
SHARE THAT WISDOM!!
Encourage the couple that you see who are struggling with their kids…
Be ready with the “here’s what worked for me” when the opportunity presents.
Be ready with the “here’s what I should have done differently” when that’s an option.
God has given us the family as a great gift. Use it well. Teach others how to use it wisely!
