★ MY SERMON NOTES
Wedding - Umushe Jane Matta & Naanlong
@ ECWA Plateau Church, Laminga Road,
Jos, Plateau State - Nigeria
5th July, 2014
SERMON
* Speaker: Pastor Francis
* Topic: The Place of the Holy Spirit in the Christian Home
* Christian marriage is based on sacred promises & vows
* Today, many couples have abandoned their marriage vows
* There is a call on every Christian couple to go back to the basics - which is the Word of God
* We must get back to the original plan of God for marriage
* The world has been trying to redefine marriage by introducing and promoting strange perversions in the marriage institution with a view to undermine God's standards
* The Christian home is under attack from the secular movement and carnal philosophies
★ Colossians 3:2 → "Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth."
★ Ephesians 4:1 →"I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called."
★ Ephesians 4:17 →"This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind."
* Our values as Christian couples/families must portray the light of Christ
* We must not be influenced by the world
* Only the distinction that we have in Christ can draw the World to Christ
★ Ephesians 5:18 → "And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit."
* What is lacking today, making Christians a far-cry from what God wants us to be is the fact that the Holy Spirit has been relegated to the background in our personal affairs
* It takes the Holy Spirit to be able to love someone outside of yourself
* The "Adamic man" (the unreformed heart) is naturally selfish
* Today, there is no difference between Christians & those who are not
* The hope of this Country is not in political ideologies but in Christians who live up to the calling of God upon their lives
* We are often too preoccupied with living life and pursuing our businesses to live in the Spirit
* When the Holy Spirit controls a man, He Submits to his wife in love; When the Holy Spirit controls a woman, she submits to her husband with respect & without compulsion
* NOTE: Bacchus is the god of wine & intoxication
-When a person is drunk, his body is open to control from the demonic influence of Bacchus to do his will
* When the Holy Spirit controls you, your hope will be established in righteousness
* 1st Corinthians 12:13 →"For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit."
* The Holy Spirit indwells only persons who have accepted Jesus as their Lord & Saviour
* The 'in-filling' with the Holy Spirit is different from being "baptized" with the Holy Spirit
* God is looking for those who are constantly being filled with the Holy Spirit
* When The Holy Spirit is in control, Jesus has a say in the family affairs
* When you are truly submitted to the Holy Spirit, He gives you what to input into Your marriage, so that you're not just looking for what you will get out of it.
* The Holy Spirit must be the centre of attraction in your home & marriage
* The Holy Spirit can reconcile and restore all that is lost
How to know Whether a Person is controlled by the Holy Spirit:
1. Joy (Christian Joy is internal stability despite external instability)
2. Gratitude & thankfulness
3. Submission
★JOY
* Joy is the evidence of a true Christian home
* Joy regulates the spiritual atmosphere of a situation
* Joy insulates your heart against being carried away by the circumstances of life
* Alcohol is a temporary depressant which brings no permanent Solution
★THANKFULNESS
* Ephesians 5:20 →"Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."
* A person who comes to terms with the fact that he cannot become what he now is without the help and input of others is never grateful
* You must learn the principle of constant gratitude in the Christian home
★ SUBMISSION
* One institution that humbles a man is marriage because it offers plenty opportunities for serving each other selflessly
* The man is actually called to submit to his wife in love
* The wife is called to submit to her husband in respect
* Christian couples are to submit to Christ out of reverence
* Submissiveness does not disturb the established order of authority
* Serving the interest of another is anti-world system where selfishness is the order of the day
* How is your home today?
* What is the place of the Holy Spirit in your home & life?
