Unless The LORD Builds The House

• 3/4 of those raised in the church are no longer in the church after their freshman year of college.
• With 16 million Southern Baptists, we will decrease to 4 million in 1 generation.
• In order just to maintain status quo, each Southern Baptist must reach 3 people for Christ.
• It currently takes 43 Southern Baptists to reach 1 person for Christ.
• Over the last 4 decades, we have increased our programs for younger generations and seen a decline in baptisms.
• We have expected the church to do what God expects the family to do.
• We have replaced parents with programs and we are losing our children one generation at a time.

PSALM 127 [A Song of Ascents]

The Architect

• Psalm 127:1-2
• What happens in your house is just as important as what happens in God’s house.
• The most critical spiritual environment is the one in which you live.
• God’s ideal is when a family of God partners with the people of God for the discipleship of every generation.
• If we neglect the biblical blueprint, why should we expect a godly home?
• Christian homes are in danger when we succumb to worthless pursuits and frivolous concerns.
• We are to be ever diligent and yet never anxious.
• Sleep evades those whose lives are frantic and whose souls are burdened.
• Building by the LORD and believing in the LORD allows parents to rest in God’s plan.

The Occupants

• Psalm 127:3-5
• Children are a blessing and not a burden.
• Family and Church – work together to sharpen the two sides of the arrow.
• A trained warrior understands that a sharpened arrow can go where he cannot.
• A quiver full of sharpened arrows is extremely helpful but a bag full of dull sticks is extremely cumbersome.
• Every arrow needs to be sharpened, aimed, and released.