SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON HELPS Homer A. Kent1, Th.D. • Allison Arrowood (children) Lesson material is based upon outlines of the International Sunday School lessons copyrighted by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Nov. 1, 1953 What Is a Christian Home? Deut. 6:4-9; Eph. 5:21-6:4 Pointers on the Lesson
telephone call that company was coming to your home. Quickly plans were made to make the company comfortable and happy when they arrived. Perhaps you helped your mother clean the house and prepare extra food for your guests. Eager ly you watched the arrival of the train or car or plane in which your company was to come! Can you imagine what excitement there would be in your home if the Lord Jesus, God’s Son, were to be your Guest? How carefully and joyfully you would clean and prepare for Him; how careful you would be of your words and your actions while He was in your house! God’s Word tells us of a home in which the Saviour often visited when He was upon the earth. In this home lived two sis ters, Mary and Martha, and their brother Lazarus. We have several precious stories in the New Testament concerning these special friends of the Lord Jesus. One day when the Saviour was in this home in Bethany Mary lovingly sat at His feet to learn more about God, but Martha hurried about the house preparing a meal for the Guest. Finally Martha complained to the Lord that Mary was not helping with the work. God’s Son reminded Martha that Mary had chosen the best things, for she was becoming better acquainted with Him. Sometimes in Christian homes today parents and children become so busy with their work and their play that they forget to spend time in prayer and with God’s Word. To them, the Saviour would say CONTINUED ►
used for love here is the same word used in John 3:16. It is a very strong word, a word expressive of the kind of love that is divine, utterly unselfish. It is the kind of love that prompted Christ to give Himself for the Church. Love like this and subjec tion to such love will produce happy and successful homes. G°<1 considered the mar riage relationship of such importance that He used it to suggest the relationship of Christ and the Church. Children are to obey and honor their parents (w . 6:1-3) with the promise of divine blessing. Fa thers (and mothers) are to exercise care not to unduly anger their children. Posi tively, they are to use all diligence to train them in the ways of the Lord (6:4). Add all these things together and by God’s grace there will be a happy and prosper ous home life.
An individual or a home cannot be truly considered Christian unless the Lord Jesus Christ is Saviour and Lord in the lives represented. Christian homes are es sential to a strong church and are a vital influence in the development of vigorous Christians both among young people and adults. Too much emphasis cannot be given to this subject. A True Christian Home Has God For its Foundation Deut. 6:4-9 In this great passage the unity of God is seen in verse 4, His supremacy in verse 5, and His Word in verses' 6 through 9. Some have found difficulty with the doc trine of the Trinity in view of the unity of God in verse 4. In reality there is no difficulty; instead beautiful harmony. The word for one used here is the Hebrew word including the idea of unity in plural ity, one yet more than one. An army is one but consists of many individual men. A cluster of grapes is one but contains many separate grapes. A husband and wife are one flesh yet they are two per sons. Note Genesis 2:24 where the latter fact is expressed and the same word for one is used as in our text. Thus the fact of the Trinity is resident in the idea of the oneness of God. He is one God but ex ists in three persons who dwell and work together in perfect harmony. The command of verses 6 to 9 is liter ally carried out by orthodox Jews. They write these words on parchment and put them in little boxes, which they bind with strips of leather to their foreheads and upon the hand. These are the phylacteries we read about in the New Testament. They also put them in tin boxes and nail them on the doors of their houses. Such action substitutes literality for the spirit of these words. It is the thought of the in spired writer that the Word of God should be such a vital part of one’s everyday liv ing that it controls all of his actions. Let’s be sure of this, the Word of God ia practical and should be our guide in every action. What saith the Word should be a question often upon our hearts. A True Christian Home Recognizes the Sanctity of its Relationships Eph. 5:21-6:4 An unselfish devotion to one another should always be manifest (v. 21). Wives are to recognize the headship God has given to husbands in the home relationship (v. 22-24). This relationship is akin to that which exists between Christ the head of the church and its members. Husbands are to love their wives (w . 25-33). Wives should find no difficulty in promising to obey husbands (v. 22) who are willing to heed the words of this verse. The word
Helps for the Children Learning About God at Home Luke 10:38-42
Memory Verse: " . . . The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might" (Deut. 6:4, 5). Probably at least once dining this past summer your family received a letter or a
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