Category: Home

Categories
Assessment Family Home

Home Makeover

“‘For does not my house stand so with God? For he has made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and secure. For will he not cause to prosper all my help and my desire?’” 2 Samuel 23:5 (ESV) These were the last words of King David. His life was decorated with a colorful past and a perpetual reaping of what he had sown. David was known as a man after God’s own heart. His question is worthy of our consideration. Is not your house right with God? Let’s think through that question in two layers. The first layer reminds us that your body is a house. In fact, your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 6:19). Is your body right with God both spiritually and physically? Are you feeding your house spiritually? Are you walking with God and giving evidence to a growing relationship with Christ? Examine your life physically. Are you embracing a healthy lifestyle including proper diet and exercise? Let’s transition to the second layer of this question. Is not your house right with God? Think in terms of your family. How’s your marriage? How’s your parenting? Is your home a holy place where God is honored and where your family is encouraged to grow spiritually? Is your house in order spiritually? Getting your house right with God begins with your daily intimacy with Christ. Your private time alone with the Lord is the secret to getting your house right with God. In the solitude of daily intimacy with God, you will learn to hear His voice and respond to His prompting. When something in your life or in your family is out of order, the Holy Spirit will bring that to your attention specifically. Consecrate yourself before the Lord and allow Him to illuminate the areas of your life and your family that need adjusting. Drawing Near, Stephen Trammell Lead Pastor Follow me on twitter at: http://twitter.com/stephentrammell

Categories
Conflict Resolution Home Peace

Making Your Home an Oasis

“My people will abide in a peaceful habitation, in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places.” Isaiah 32:18 (ESV) Do you dread going home or do you look forward to it each day? Is your home a war zone or an oasis? Does your home drain the life out of you or impart life to you? Is your home characterized by conflict, tension, and chaos or meaningful communication, refreshment, and peace. What’s your home like? God desires that our home be a peaceful dwelling place. Don’t you just love that word, peaceful? It is so soothing and so inviting. God’s portrait for our home includes security. Our home is to be a place of refuge and safety from the venom of our fallen world. Our home is to be an undisturbed place of rest. That opens a whole new level of living. How far off is your home compared to the home God desires for you? The environment in which you call home is so much more than brick, stucco, and paint. Home is all about relationships and how we interact with each other and how we treat each other. Home is all about how we do life together as a family. Make personal spiritual growth a priority. Model what you want to multiply in your home. Mobilize your family to radiate God’s love beyond your home. My prayer is that your home will become a holy place where Jesus is honored and spiritual maturity is nurtured so that the population of heaven will be increased and the population of hell decreased. Drawing Near, Stephen Trammell Lead Pastor Follow me on twitter at: http://twitter.com/stephentrammell

Categories
Children Family Home

Your Family’s Future

“Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.”  Proverbs 22:6 (NIV) God established the home for our benefit and for His glory. God’s blueprint for the home includes order. God expects the husband and father to be the spiritual leader of the home. During my upbringing, my parents divorced and as a result, my mother became the spiritual leader of our home. The spiritual leader of the home is responsible to set the spiritual temperature for the home. Thus, the spiritual leader of the home is to be the spiritual thermostat for the home. When our children are elevated to the place of setting the environment for the home, something is out of order. When parenting becomes child-centered, in that everything centers around the wants and wishes of the child, something is out of order. Excessive extra-curricular activities for our children can become space invaders. When our lives and our schedules resemble a perpetual rat race, then something is out of order. We can overload and overwhelm our home by being overextended and over-committed to too many activities. Instead of pushing your children to be involved in a myriad of activities, consider having them choose one or two. Would that simplify your family life? Would your schedule have more space or margin to do life? Who is making the tough choices in your home to keep your family in alignment with God’s economy? Who is guarding the priorities and the order ordained by God for your home? The decisions you make to create space for doing life together as a family will serve as a tangible model for your children to emulate when they become parents one day. Pursuing God, Stephen Trammell Executive Pastor Follow me on twitter at: http://twitter.com/stephentrammell

Categories
Children Family Home

Your Family’s Future

“Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.” Prov 22:6 (NIV) God established the home for our benefit and for His glory. God’s blueprint for the home includes order. God expects the husband and father to be the spiritual leader of the home. During my upbringing, my parents divorced and as a result, my mother became the spiritual leader of our home. The spiritual leader of the home is responsible to set the spiritual temperature for the home. Thus, the spiritual leader of the home is to be the spiritual thermostat for the home. When our children are elevated to the place of setting the environment for the home, something is out of order. When parenting becomes child-centered, in that everything centers around the wants and wishes of the child, something is out of order. Excessive extra-curricular activities for our children can become space invaders. When our lives and our schedules resemble a perpetual rat race, then something is out of order. We can overload and overwhelm our home by being overextended and over-committed to too many activities. Instead of pushing your children to be involved in a myriad of activities, consider having them choose one or two. Would that simplify your family life? Would your schedule have more space or margin to do life? Who is making the tough choices in your home to keep your family in alignment with God’s economy? Who is guarding the priorities and the order ordained by God for your home? The decisions you make to create space for doing life together as a family will serve as a tangible model for your children to emulate when they become parents one day. Pursuing God, Stephen Trammell Executive Pastor Follow me on twitter at: http://twitter.com/stephentrammell

Categories
Assessment Family Home

Home Makeover

“’Is not my house right with God? Has he not made with me an everlasting covenant, arranged and secured in every part? Will he not bring to fruition my salvation and grant me my every desire?’” 2 Sam 23:5 (NIV) These were the last words of King David. His life was decorated with a colorful past and a perpetual reaping of what he had sown. David was known as a man after God’s own heart. His question is worthy of our consideration. Is not your house right with God? Let’s think through that question in two layers. The first layer reminds us that your body is a house. In fact, your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 6:19). Is your body right with God both spiritually and physically? Are you feeding your house spiritually? Are you walking with God and giving evidence to a growing relationship with Christ? Examine your life physically. Are you embracing a healthy lifestyle including proper diet and exercise? Let’s transition to the second layer of this question. Is not your house right with God? Think in terms of your family. How’s your marriage? How’s your parenting? Is your home a holy place where God is honored and where your family is encouraged to grow spiritually? Is your house in order spiritually? Getting your house right with God begins with your daily intimacy with Christ. Your private time alone with the Lord is the secret to getting your house right with God. In the solitude of daily intimacy with God, you will learn to hear His voice and respond to His prompting. When something in your life or in your family is out of order, the Holy Spirit will bring that to your attention specifically. Consecrate yourself before the Lord and allow Him to illuminate the areas of your life and your family that need adjusting. Pursuing God, Stephen Trammell Executive Pastor Follow me on twitter at: http://twitter.com/stephentrammell

Categories
Conflict Resolution Home Peace

Making Your Home an Oasis

“My people will live in peaceful dwelling places, in secure homes, in undisturbed places of rest.” Isaiah 32:18 (NIV) Do you dread going home or do you look forward to it each day? Is your home a war zone or an oasis? Does your home drain the life out of you or impart life to you? Is your home characterized by conflict, tension, and chaos or meaningful communication, refreshment, and peace. What’s your home like? God desires that our home be a peaceful dwelling place. Don’t you just love that word, peaceful? It is so soothing and so inviting. God’s portrait for our home includes security. Our home is to be a place of refuge and safety from the venom of our fallen world. Our home is to be an undisturbed place of rest. That opens a whole new level of living. How far off is your home compared to the home God desires for you? The environment in which you call home is so much more than brick, stucco, and paint. Home is all about relationships and how we interact with each other and how we treat each other. Home is all about how we do life together as a family. Make personal spiritual growth a priority. Model what you want to multiply in your home. Mobilize your family to radiate God’s love beyond your home. My prayer is that your home will become a holy place where Jesus is honored and spiritual maturity is nurtured so that the population of heaven will be increased and the population of hell decreased. Pursuing God, Stephen Trammell Executive Pastor Follow me on twitter at: http://twitter.com/stephentrammell

Categories
Conflict Resolution Family God's Will Home

Family Spats (7)

“My people will live in peaceful dwelling places, in secure homes, in undisturbed places of rest.” Isaiah 32:18 (NIV) Do you dread going home or do you look forward to it each day? Is your home a war zone or an oasis? Does your home drain the life out of you or impart life to you? Is your home characterized by conflict, tension, and chaos or meaningful communication, refreshment, and peace. What’s your home like? God desires that our home be a peaceful dwelling place. Don’t you just love that word, peaceful? It is so soothing and so inviting. God’s portrait for our home includes security. Our home is to be a place of refuge and safety from the venom of our fallen world. Our home is to be an undisturbed place of rest. That opens a whole new level of living. How far off is your home compared to the home God desires for you? The environment in which you call home is so much more than brick, stucco, and paint. Home is all about relationships and how we interact with each other and how we treat each other. Home is all about how we do life together as a family. Make personal spiritual growth a priority. Model what you want to multiply in your home. Mobilize your family to radiate God’s love beyond your home. My prayer is that your home will become a holy place where Jesus is honored and spiritual maturity is nurtured so that the population of heaven will be increased and the population of hell decreased. Now that’s the family business! Pursuing God, Stephen Trammell Executive Pastor

Categories
Home

Home

Do you like to go home? Think about your current home life. When you have finished up at work or school or running errands, do you like to go home? Is your home an oasis or a war zone? Do you look forward to going home or is it a daily dread? God wants you to experience His Presence and express His love at school, at work, at church, and at home. Decide today to do your part in making your home a peaceful place. Do your part to generate an atmosphere that is harmonious and joyful. Allow God to have His way in your home. Embrace the passion of Joshua.  “‘But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.’” Josh 24:15 (NIV) Take responsibility for the spiritual climate of your home. Settle in your heart to worship and serve God and to lead your family to do the same. As you extend unconditional love, instant forgiveness, clear expectations, and passionate devotion, your home will become an environment that moves the heart of God. Pursuing God, Stephen Trammell Pastor of Leadership and Pastoral Care