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I believe one of the constant themes of Scripture, and hopefully one of the constant themes of my life and leadership, is that it’s never too late to turn to God. If you sense Him calling you to turn away from sin and toward Him, you can. His desire is for you, and if we will turn to Him, He receives us. No matter where we’ve been or how long we’ve been there, He reaches out to us.

I love these verses in Joel 2:12-13. It’s never too late.

We don’t want church to just be good practical suggestions. You can find those on TV, online, in O Magazine (kidding…). Church should be about Jesus and the gospel. So, why is Arrowhead doing a series on family? Here’s how I answered that question on Sunday:

1. Godly families are God’s design, and so they honor God. The family is a picture of God’s relationship to us. He cares about it. Father to child, brother to brother/sister. There are issues of legacy in the Bible that directly tie to God’s story of legacy with a group of people. God refers to Christ and the church as husband and wife. The picture is everywhere in Scripture.

2. Godly families operating under God’s principles open the door for the supernatural. Family is so hard. Very few of us have healthy models. Over half of first time marriages end in divorce. The stats go up for 2^nd marriages. That leaves us with some false ideas of how families work. And the ones that do stay together generally don’t operate from a Biblical worldview.

Because we’re so used to hearing stories of divorce and broken homes and dysfunctional homes and family members who don’t speak anymore we eliminate the power of God from the equation.

3. Family is forever. Biblically speaking, you don’t move on to another family. You are always connected. Practically speaking, you can move out and lose contact but you are still a member of your family.

That means:

-Who you marry is a major decision.

-Your commitment to be a parent is permanent.

So great to be back at our home at Rose Center today. It was dirtier than West HS and took a lot more work but it was good to be back!

• Kicked off our Family Life series today from Genesis 4, Cain & Abel. 1 - Family members are different. 2 - Different produces conflict. 3 - God can give grace to sustain your family. If He can heal and sustain a family that experienced murder within the family, He is strong enough to heal and sustain our families.
• My heart breaks for what goes on behind closed doors in families in our community. I believe people hurt deeply, and I’m glad we’re doing this series.
• Don’t forget to register for Gospel Parenting next Monday. I will talk about the roles of parents and the church in the spiritual development of our kids. Tyler Rhoton will talk about he and Emily’s experience in leading Caroline (their 6-year-old) to Christ. Scott McMinn, the Lakeway Young Life Area Director, will talk about his experience with teenagers, and a couple other folks will share as well. Whether you are a parent or plan to be a parent, you’ll want to be there! $10 for the whole family to eat dinner and get 90 minutes of unlimited play for all your kids.
• Songs today were You Are (Todd Fields), Reign in Us (Starfield), Holy is the Lord (Chris Tomlin), You Said (Hillsong), and The Stand (Hillsong). It was a great day of worship. My last week’s strep-infected throat did not appreciate what I did to it singing and teaching twice today.
• Met some great first-timers today. In 9 1/2 months, we have had 1 Sunday where there were no first-time guests (July 4 weekend). All of us who call Arrowhead home should remember that it’s always someone’s first time! That impacts the way we worship, serve, and pray.
• I decided last minute to not wear a black shirt today. Everybody plays better in black - Go Vols. Ha.

Have a great week!