Mission work is a noble form of Christian service in which we must all be engaged. I imagine that very few Christians actually consider themselves missionaries but at the very root of the term its designation is to define us all. Several months ago we had a foreign missionary whom we support come to give a report on his work and that same day I preached this sermon to emphasize that the work this man, and others like him, are doing in far away lands needs to be done by everyone locally, but especially among our families. May it encourage us to develop “a missionary in every home.”
Title: A Missionary in Every Home
Text: Ephesians 6:1-4
Main Point: A person’s most common idea of a missionary is one who travels to a far away land, foreign or domestic, for the purpose of evangelizing. The most significant mission field on the planet, though, is the one you wake up in each morning and walk back into each evening. The home is a powerful tool of influence. We must turn our attention back to the home to structure it as God wants and increasing the chances of our children’s continued faith. But in order to accomplish this we must…
Discussion Points:
1. Reach Down – Parents must reach down to their children to rear them in a godly manner (Deuteronomy 6:4-7). The main thrust of Moses’ decree is the need to teach children godly principles. Thus a child’s foremost spiritual mentor must be their parents. Ephesians 6:4 – parents are to rear their children according to the nurture and admonition of God.
2. Reach Up – Children have been given a disclaimer in their expectation to obey their parents – “in the Lord.” That is, as parent’s expectations represent godly authority they must be obeyed. However, if parents ever influenced their children in an ungodly manner, children would not be under obligation to disobey God in order to obey their parents. Thus, children are to have great expectations of their parents (Proverbs 3:1-2; 4:1-2; 6:20-24) and if they are not receiving then those children need to reach up to encourage their parents.
3. Reach Over – In many homes is has become common for marriages to be split between a Christian and a non-Christian (which is by no means sinful – 1 Corinthians 7:12-13). While this arrangement is not sinful, though, it can place a great strain on the marriage itself as well as on the process of rearing children. Thus Christians in a spiritually divided marriage must be missionaries working to evangelize their unbelieving mates – both by word and deed (Matthew 28:19; 1 Peter 3:1-2). Believing husbands need to reach over to their unbelieving wives and believing wives need to reach over to their unbelieving husbands.
4. Reach Out – In addition to having the foresight of helping our family get to heaven, we need to set an example to our family in reaching out to the world. I cannot help but believe that so many people are unwilling to evangelize because they never saw their parents evangelize. Proverbs 22:6 – would training up a child not include being an example to that child in all Christian duties including being evangelistic (Matthew 28:19)?
Much more attention needs to be given to our spiritual responsibilities in the home, the primary of which is helping each other get to heaven. We must then commit to there being a missionary in every home to encourage to that end!