The Home

THE HOME SPHERE: WITHIN EPHESIANS WE SEE…
• Everyone has a home, but it doesn’t always look the same.
• If you are married, or planned to be married, Ephesians 5 is your architectural plans (amongst other Scripture).
• If you are not married, when you give advice to those who are married or will be married, these are the plans you as a Christian reinforce.
• If you are single, 1 Corinthians 7 is your primary architectural plans.
o Single, but never alone.
o You can be focused on helping others in the family to walk with God.

1 Corinthians 7:7–8 (NIV) 7I wish that all of you were as I am. But each of you has your own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that. 8Now to the unmarried and the widows I say: It is good for them to stay unmarried, as I do.
o If you have children, this is the goal.

Deuteronomy 6:4–9 4Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. 5Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. 7Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.
o If you are a child, this is your role. Obey when you live at home. Honor when you get older.
o This is also for the whole church, for those who are struggling. (See James 1:27)

APPLYING MATTHEW 4:19—HEAD, HEART, HANDS, AND FEET

Ephesians 5:21–32 21Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. 22Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. 23For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 24Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. 25Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, 27and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. 28In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church—30for we are members of his body. 31“For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” 32This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church.

Ephesians 6:1–4 1Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2“Honor your father and mother”—which is the first commandment with a promise—3“so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.” 4Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.

HEAD TRUTH: ORGANIZATION AND DESIGN
• Notice: we do what we do because of what Jesus has done for us and because of who He is.
• Jesus is also our example of what each aspect looks like. Christ modeled how to be a husband with His relationship with the Church/body of believers. A wife respects as Jesus respected the Father. Jesus modeled how to act as a child when He was with His Father.
• Kids are of equal value but have different roles. Theirs is a role of obedience. The purpose of marriage is raising kids to know the Lord. Marriage is a commitment: “What God has brought together let no man separate.” (Mark 10:9)

HEART TRUTH: LOVE AND RESPECT
• Respect: What does respect look like? Why should I respect? Some want the love, but not the respect.
• Love: What does love look like? Some like the organizational positions but don’t want the heart, love, nor purpose.
• Humility is a growing characteristic in us. Pride is not of the Lord, and He opposes it.

HANDS TRUTH:
• We are committed to His mission, and we all have skills that need to be developed.
• For a husband, it looks like be praying with your wife. It looks like listening rather than fixing, and seeking counsel with your wife, spiritual fathers, mothers, brothers, and sisters. It’s serving rather than just providing.
• For a wife, it looks like a submissive heart (that does not mean a silent heart), honoring his role and what he brings to the table without diminishing your role, and bringing what God gave you to bring with the table.
• The role of children includes teaching them to submit, again, this does not mean to be quiet. It includes raising your children in the Lord, teaching them how to be godly.

REMEMBER:
• We are all called to be disciples and to become disciple-makers.
• We are on journey toward maturity in The 5 Spheres.
• It’s a relational journey (remember the vehicle analogy) that we travel while in relationship with Jesus and others.
• As disciples, we have a purpose and support to guide us—the church and family of God.
• This is how Real Life’s ministries and groups are designed.

QUESTIONS TO REFLECT AND DISCUSS:
Passages to consider: Ephesians 5:1-2,21-6:4; Matthew 7:24-27; Deuteronomy 6:4-6; Ecclesiastes 4:9-10
Icebreaker: What is something you have built, made, or created? Share about what you enjoyed about the process and what effort was needed.
• What passages or points where challenging/encouraging to you from the sermon?
1. Read Matthew 7:24-27 and Deuteronomy 6:1-10. What do these passages show you about relationship with Jesus and the home sphere?
2. What shapes your idea of how a family works? A) What have you learned about family from God’s Word and relationships in the Church?
3. Christ-follower homes are not just homes with parents and children. What relationships does your home sphere include? A) What does building a foundation and walls look like for you? What is challenging for you in bringing Christ’s impact to your home sphere? B) Roofs are important. Who, besides those you may live with, do you intentionally include in your family sphere?
4. In your family, how do you help each other abide with Jesus? If you are single, with whom do you have spiritual conversations where you are real, known, and challenged? A) How is your home life being impacted by your relationship with Jesus? How do you want it to be impacted?
5. How can we help each other grow in the health of our home spheres this year?
Bonus question: Sex, money, and the use of time are topics we often don’t discuss. The Journey of following Jesus impacts those areas, too. Which one of those areas needs to be brought more under Jesus’ priorities and perspective? What might that look like?