Ryan Chandler
Home is Where It All Begins
Deuteronomy 6:1-12
The idea of the introduction has to be, “Do you want a happy, healthy, whole home?” Everyone does, but how do we create that? Then the rest of the sermon is how to create that home. The ultimate answer is you need the Lord\
A healthy home begins with a healthy individual. “These commands are to be on your heart (Deut. 6:6).” You can’t pass along what you don’t have. You need to love God and listen to His commands.\
LISTEN
These three words are all connected. There is no Hebrew word for obey. The word they would use is shema – hear or listen.\
LOVE
Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and strength. What does that mean? Let’s dig into each one just for a bit.\
HEART
In our culture, the heart is often regarded as the seat of emotion. Not so in the ancient world. In the ancient world, it was the seat of reason and will. It’s the seat of decision-making. \
SOUL
Soul means your whole person. It’s your personality. It’s your body. It’s who you are in your entirety. \
STRENGTH
Strength is not only physical, but also encompasses your resources. It’s economic strength. Social strength. Wherever you are strong, use that gifting to love God.\
Loving God requires all of my inner being (all that I think and feel), my whole person (all that I am), and all that I can claim as my own (all that I have).
Transition: It begins within you, but it doesn’t stay within you. God calls you to share it with all those closest to you. \
Impress them upon your children. How?
Discuss it. Talk about the word of God with them. (What is a good tool that parents can use to talk about our faith with their children?) Grandparents, sometimes the best thing you can do for your grandchildren is to ensure they have a copy of the Bible. Discuss the stories in the Bible, focusing on biblical literacy. As they grow older, you can get into more advance conversations about difficult passages and theology.\
Get creative. Keep it in front of them in visible/tangible ways. In the Israelite and later Judaic religion, they took verses eight and nine seriously. Ancient Israelites would etch the Shema on the doorframes of their home. Today, Orthodox Jews take these verses literally by wearing the Torah on their foreheads and hands.\
What does that look like today?\