John K. Jenkins Sr - The ABCs of Family - Part 3

I’ve been in a series for the few weeks. The title of the series is «The ABCs of Family,» and today is part three. Somebody say «part three!» Today is part three, and in part one, I talked to singles. Even though I didn’t define it as singles, the outline of my message focused on singles, encouraging them to recognize and understand that they can and should be content and satisfied with their personal relationship with Jesus. In other words, I was saying to singles: don’t look for another human being to satisfy you. Amen? Thank you both for that amen! I was also encouraging the single women. In the ABCs, I said to women: number one, don’t marry a man who doesn’t know what his assignment is. That was the «A.» Everyone has an assignment, and if a man doesn 't know what his assignment is, he can’t help you discover what yours is; he needs to know what his assignment is. So that was the «A» in the ABCs. The «B» was boundaries. I talked to singles about the boundaries that God gives all of us. You want someone who respects boundaries. The " C» was about companions. So I spent the first part dealing with that. In the second part, I addressed spouses. Somebody say «spouses!» Again, I am challenging people to understand that another human being can’t fulfill you; only a relationship with Christ can fulfill you. Amen! When I talked about spouses, I warned and challenged us not to listen to unauthorized voices. I discussed how Eve listened to Satan and challenged couples and spouses to stop listening to voices outside of your marriage. Many marriages have gotten in trouble because you were listening to other people. Some of you are listening to people who haven 't put two or three marriages together themselves! Amen? They’re trying to tell you how to keep your marriage together while they’re on marriage four or five. That 's okay! Amen? Thank you both for that applause! I was urging us to listen to the voice of God and not to others. I also challenged men not to abandon their responsibilities. I talked about how Adam was right there when Eve was talking to Satan, and he never said anything. When she started eating from the forbidden tree and the forbidden fruit, Adam was right there and said nothing-not a thing. Then he participated with her; she offered him fruit, and he took it. I was trying to challenge men to be the leaders in your home, to stand up, rise up, and be the leaders that God called you to be. Amen! So today is part three. I talked about singles, I talked about spouses, and today I want to talk about your seeds-your children. I want to discuss kids. Amen? Somebody say " seeds!» It 's 12:30, and I’m going to try to finish by 1:30 or 1:45 at the latest. Y’all don’t mean that! Y’all are just pretending; you don’t mean it! If I were still here at 1:30, you' d be getting up and walking out, talking about whatever! Genesis chapter 4-did I tell you to turn to Genesis chapter 4? I’m going to read this passage quickly, verses 3-9 of Genesis 4, and then I want to come back and walk through this passage. Genesis 4, starting at verse 3, here’s what it says: «In the process of time, it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the Lord. Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. The Lord respected Abel and his offering, but He did not respect Cain and his offering. Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell. So the Lord said to Cain, 'Why are you angry, and why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? If you do not do well, sin lies at the door, and its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.' Now Cain talked with Abel, his brother, and it came to pass when they were in the field that Cain rose up against Abel, his brother, and killed him. Then the Lord said to Cain, 'Where is Abel, your brother? ' He said, 'I do not know. Am I my brother 's keeper? '» So I want to give you two simple points to discuss today, and then I’ll be finished. Here 's point one, and it all deals with our seed. Somebody say «my seed!» Your seeds are about your children and how we ought to be raising, teaching, modeling, and showing them what to do and what not to do. The first point I want to tell you is we ought to teach our children how to worship God. That 's the number one thing! Amen! Teach our children how to worship God. Now that’s important because parents are involved in a lot of things, teaching their kids. We 'll make time to take them to activities, you know; we’ll take the time to take them to basketball…