In the previous sermon, we talked about how Joshua proclaimed he and his house would serve the Lord. Being committed and not just a participant was also talked about. We also talked about the attitude we should have in serving. We should serve with a heart of thanksgiving and with the intent to honour God.

This sermon will discuss how we should prepare our family to serve together. Practical methods will be discussed. The benefits of serving God together will also be discussed.

Joshua 25:14-15
Joshua made a firm stand that he and his household would serve the Lord. How was he able to make such a firm commitment? Not only was he a leader to the Israelites, he was also a leader at home; he understood his family well.

How well do we understand our family members? Are our family members able to serve God together? To do so, we need to prepare our family members. We shouldn’t wait until the children grow up and then say, “Let’s serve the Lord!”

We need to start teaching them how to serve God from a young age. When they’re young and still ignorant of things around them, we need to teach them.

Moses once taught the people.
Deut 6:6-9
Other than Joshua and Caleb, the rest of the Israelites were born in the wilderness. They were now preparing themselves to enter Canaan. In Deuteronomy, Moses reiterated the command of the law. The message was: if you obey the law of God, you’ll be blessed. If you don’t, God’s judgement will come upon you. “The land will spit you out”

After they inherited Canaan, their faith deteriorated. The kings weren’t God fearing. The northern kingdom Israel was destroyed by Assyria in 722BC. Southern kingdom Judah was destroyed on three accounts (606, 600, 586BC). Why did such a tragedy happen?

Did God not prepare the people through Moses? He did! But the people were stiff necked and didn’t listen to the word of God.

v6 is the passing on of faith from generation to generation. To prepare the people to enter Canaan, they needed to know God’s words. At all times, whether sitting at home, walking along the road, lying down and getting up, the children must be taught.

We shouldn’t think: the child is too young now! Only when he’s older and understands better than teach.

It’ll be too late. They would’ve found their own mindset already and you won’t be able to teach them.

Prov 22:6
“Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.”

When a child is young, he is ignorant. It’s the responsibility of the parent to indoctrinate the right values into him.

We place much emphasis on immunisation. This can protect the child from getting sick easily. If we care so much about their fleshly health, what about their physical health?

Shouldn’t we teach them the word of God to protect them/allow them to gain spiritual immunity?

We need to teach them to obey the word of God and serve God at a younger age.

When we want to serve God, we must prepare our family members to serve God too.

What are practical ways to serve God?

There’s a lot of church work to do. Cooking, cleaning, maintenance. Adam held a job fair recently and many people signed up. For those who signed up, did you continue your duty?

Isn’t a whole family coming to serve God together a beautiful thing?

Acts 18:1-4
Marriage is the beginning of a family unit. Children come after a couple. 1+1=3 in a marriage. The husband counts as one, the wife as one, and then you add God.

The family serves God together as a family unit. It’s a beautiful service.

Aquila should be a Jewish name. Priscilla should be a Roman name. This may be a union between a Jewish male and Roman female. Because all Jews were made to leave, they came to Corinth. They met Paul here. Since they were all of the same profession - tentmaking - they ended up being coworkers with Paul.

Acts 18:18-19
The couple served as coworkers together with Paul. When Paul went to Ephesus, they followed. In Paul’s epistles to the Romans, he made mention of the couples’ names (Rom 16:3).

The church in those days didn’t have such a large building as we have in Singapore today. They had home services. Church was situated at members’ houses. Rom 16 records many greetings, one of whom were Priscilla and Aquila. Paul termed them as fellow workers in Christ Jesus. They were of the same mind. They’re an exemplary couple. Whenever they were mentioned in the Bible, both their names were together. This shows they served God together; as a family unit, they served together. It’s a sweet experience. It’s something we can learn from.

Acts 18:24-26
When Priscilla and Aquila met Apollos, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately. As a family unit, they preached to Apollos.

Today we should serve together as a family unit in church.

Beautiful scenes:
• A mother and son: one playing the piano, one the organ
• A husband and wife: one interpreting, one playing piano

During the Jurong district Bible study, the speaker encouraged the children to serve the food. The parents came even though they had work and school the following day. As the years passed, the children who served food became the ones who led the Bible study. If not for the perseverance of the parents at the beginning, the children would not have built up this practice of attending these Bible studies; the children wouldn’t have felt a sense of belonging there. It’s truly a beautiful scene to see a family serving together.

Don’t give the excuse that our children are too young and so shouldn’t come along. When they grow up, it may be too late.

Serving God as a family unit is truly a beautiful thing.

From Joshua’s resolve to serve with his family + many other examples in the Bible, we can see serving God as a family unit is a good opportunity for children to build a sense of belonging to the church.

Because many families participated in the fellowships, many of them are still in church today.

[There was a child that was so naughty. Whenever you see him you think he deserves to be beaten lol. The child has a lot of energy and runs around a lot. There was a fire alarm where you had to break the glass to press the button. It rang. Cisco called whether to call the fire engine. The speaker said no it was a false alarm.

He went to find the boy and asked him, “Why did you press the glass??” “It says ‘please press’ mah!”

The speaker wondered what to do with this boy with endless energy. Since the speaker did maintenance, he roped the boy in. The boy was strong so he was of good help. He even told his mother, “When the speaker dies I want to take over maintenance!” lol

If you can redirect a mischievous child, he can become a good worker of God. Now the speaker feels like he especially likes mischievous children.]

A family serving together is a beautiful portrait. While serving, a tight bond can also be built. They’ll have a sense of participation, and in so doing may experience God.

So don’t be worried “He’s too young. It’s too dangerous.” Give them something safe like sweeping the floor. Give all your naughty speaker to the speaker.

1 Cor 15:58
“Therefore…be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.”

Know that your labour is not in vain. We will obtain our reward. If we want this reward, pass on the blessing of being able to serve God from generation to generation. That our church may be able to see successful succession.

Bring your children to church to serve. Serving God as a family unit is beautiful.