Latest / Cumberland Trace Church of Christ (Formerly Lehman Ave Church of Christ) / Parenting Seminar 2026 - "Biblical Dynamics of Family: Bubble" by Glenn Hitchcock

Transcript

Parenting Seminar 2026 - "Biblical Dynamics of Family: Bubble" by Glenn Hitchcock · Cumberland Trace Church of Christ (Formerly Lehman Ave Church of Christ)

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Genesis 2:8-9. The Lord planted a garden eastward in Eden,
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and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out
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of the ground the Lord God made every, every tree grow
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that is pleasant to the sight and good for food.
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The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden,
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and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
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In this bubble, there is protection because
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God guards the city.
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He watches over everything.
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There is security, the nurturing
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haven of safety for
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all members. And on this point,
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when we talk about Christian family,
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in a Christian home there are no broken families.
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All people belong in this bowl,
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because God is no respecter of persons.
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When the husband should unfortunately pass away,
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mom is left with the kids. Is still family, and that's
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still a bowl. We miss a
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family member because they've gone on, but we're
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still family. I've known families
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that have been wrought with family
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violence— Christians— and they felt so
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broken that they thought Like Mrs. Job,
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God can't be watching out for my well-being.
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And it's going to take a godly elder or a godly preacher, a godly sister
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or a godly brother to remind that sister
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that though your husband lost his wife in
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an act of senseless violence,
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you're still married to God's You're still married to
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Christ. You're a member of the body of Christ, and you're my
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sister, and I'm your brother, and we're still family,
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and we look out for each other. In raising—
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helping to raise your children, we're going to be there for you, and we're going
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to be there with you. And when you are having trouble
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with your children, we want to still be there to support you.
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That's what brothers and sisters in Christ do for one
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another. Even when it's not a violent
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episode,
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when you have new Christians who are trying to grow and trying to
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crawl in the faith, and they have children
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that need some attention, thank God for the bubble.
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We've got brothers and sisters in Christ
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Thank God for the bubble to help their children. You may say,
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yeah, but you don't know my kids.
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You must not know the power of the bubble. In the
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bubble, there's protection. In the bubble, there's instruction.
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It's a safe haven for all members. It's fortified
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through spiritual and domestic growth, or fortified by spiritual
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and domestic growth. 2 Peter 3:18.
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It's a home to restoration and renewal,
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because when someone is wounded or has sinned, there's a fountain
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that flows through that bubble that will bring refreshing
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relief and restoration due to
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sins, and people are revived in that bubble.
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Victory through surrender because of obedience.
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When I surrender or submit to God's sacred scriptures,
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I find myself dependent upon God who will bring the
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victory because he cares for me. 1 Peter 5:7.
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Let's look at the haven of safety for all members, the family composite,
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a group of people who are closely related to one another. That was our definition,
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by blood, marriage, Adoption of kin.
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When we think of this, all lives
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matter because all lives, first and foremost, as I mentioned to
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you earlier, represents a soul that happens
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to be in a body. And we're at different stages
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in life. None of us have arrived. We all are
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in the process of becoming better today than we were yesterday. Amen.
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By blood, father, mother, children extend to grandparents.
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The work of grandparents is invaluable today to the kingdom.
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Thank God for grandparents,
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their wisdom, their love, their caring,
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their support— spiritual, emotional, and sometimes financial.
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Amen. I tell my daughter already,
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say, you know, your father's retired. I'm not gonna blow my
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retirement on my daughter. You're gonna have to— you're gonna
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have to do something. She said, well, Dad,
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you wait till I get my kids. You— I'm going— I said, okay.
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I said, if I'm around, okay. But she wants
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her children, whenever she has them, to experience what
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she experienced Growing up with old parents.
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My daughter will tell you, she said, when I went
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to Middle Georgia Christian School, I was
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the only child there that knew all of the Motown songs because of my
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parents. And some of the teachers
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would ask her about this song or that song. She said, oh, that was
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by the Temptations, that was by somebody like that. And they go, wow,
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how'd you know that? She said, my parents are old.
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Now, she wouldn't just say that right out in front of me or something like
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that, maybe around mom. But all
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members— by the way,
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we adopted our daughter.
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She was 21 days old, had a little thrush,
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and we loved her from
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the very moment we saw her. And I
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forget a lot of times that— in fact, I just— I, you know,
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when someone say adoption, I go, what's that?
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Because it was so wonderful for Some of our friends,
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Brother Garland Elkins, for example, he said, we've got a set of boys over
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here in Memphis, you need to come and get them and all. And I was
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about to get a plane ticket. I said, well, Brother Elkins, you know,
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I want a daughter.
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First and foremost, I want to have a daughter. I always wanted 5
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daughters and 1 son, because I wanted to coach a girls'
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basketball team. I was living in the Hampton Roads area
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where Old Dominion University Women won the national championship,
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and all those girls, and that gave me that idea.
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I said, I want to have my own basketball team. We can win a national
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championship. Give me the son, he can be the waterboy, but give
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me those girls. You know, and so
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a safe haven to all members by marriage— husband, wife,
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children, children from previous unions and all.
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Blended marriages and things like that. It's part
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of the bubble. We live in a world, unfortunately, where there's a
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lot of needless divorce that goes on.
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Children should not be victimized because of divorce.
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They deserve to be in a bubble where they're protected,
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where they can grow up, and they can know mom
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and dad, brothers and sisters,
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sisters. May not be your dad by blood, maybe by marriage,
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but you're important, they're important,
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and you matter. By adoption,
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parents, wife, and children. Sometimes you got
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to understand children also have to adopt their parents.
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You may say, I don't know how that can happen, bro. Lauren told me,
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she said, Dad, you know, I adopted you too.
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No, that's part of that bonding process.
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Because although I can adopt my daughter,
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if she doesn't adopt a bond with me, it's going to
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be tough sledding.
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Or by Christ, brothers and sisters in the family of God,
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brother, here at Cumberland Trace, you need to know what
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a difference you're making in the Brothers and sisters in
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Christ, you're working together in a common cause.
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You're wearing yourself out in the Lord, and that's wonderful.
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You may say, well, Brother Ishak, you, you know,
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you got to have track shoes around here. Well, I don't have as many track
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shoes as Aaron, but I'll tell you what, we, we kind of get a little
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busy too. And in that busyness We're
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not being busy for busy's sake. We're family,
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and the needs of family are being addressed by this
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family and by churches
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of Christ that constitute the family of God across the globe
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today, helping folks who consider their families to be broken.
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When God's people come in contact with them, they know that their families
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aren't broken anymore. We learn about
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submission. We learn about discipleship.
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We learn about demonstrating Christ before the world,
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that they can see Christ. I've been crucified,
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and it's no longer I that lives, but Christ who lives— where?
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In me. When folks see the
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gospel in me, They see
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family that's reaching out to help
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in the community. The bubble, a composite
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of safety and peace for all people.
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And part of the good news of our family is sharing this good
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news to the community. And we'll talk more about that,
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Lord willing, if we get— if we get there.
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In another segment.
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And so there are no respected family members in the family of God when
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it comes to this haven of safety known as the bubble.
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The church is a bubble to the world who
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is lost, misguided, and need a place to
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rest to renew and to find themselves
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anew. A new identity,
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that they can see themselves as Christians. A new neck,
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that they can turn to Christ. A new head,
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that they can think like Christ. New eyes, that they can see
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that the fields are white unto harvest, and that I have an opportunity
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to make a difference in my life. We can say more, but let me
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move on. Fortified through spiritual and domestic growth.
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Family confidence— confident that God's providence
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and family industry needs are met.
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And growth through maturity to ensure that,
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you know, if we don't labor,
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brethren, we've denied the faith and we're worse than infidels.
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We have to not only provide labor—
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domestic,
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physical, and spiritual— as
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a demonstration before our wives and our children
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and the community, then it
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could be well said of us that that family
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glorified God. Matthew 5:16-17.
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Children have physical needs. Children have emotional and psychological needs.
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Children have growing-up needs. Amen? That's my unwrapper.
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Children have spiritual needs.
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As initiator of love in my family,
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I'm responsible to help with
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her physical needs, emotional and psychological needs,
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growing up needs, and spiritual needs.
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It is a home to restoration and renewal.
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Dr. Paul Bennett, in his book, talks in Christian psychiatry,
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pointed out 5 Greek words which will give us instruction
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regarding our relationship to one another.
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This word means to beseech, exhort, and encourage or comfort,
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to put in mind, to warn, and to
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confront, to cheer up,
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to encourage, to cling
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to, To hold fast,
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to take an interest in, and to hold up spiritually or
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emotionally, and to
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be patient or to have patience. Now let's see
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this in 1 Thessalonians 5:14.
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All 5 of these Greek words are represented here. And we
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would urge you, brothers, To admonish the
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careless, encourage the faint-hearted, support the weak,
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and to be very patient with them all.
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Bubble belonging that through membership in Christian
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community further enhances mental health and fosters
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security. We have an opportunity Through
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interdependence, love, and clear communication,
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support one another. Just like in the body of Christ,
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we have to support one another and have the same care for one
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another. 1 Corinthians 12:25-26. Why?
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We're family. We're in one body.
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We're the Christian family. We're in one bubble.
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We will sin at times and will require restoration and healing, but thank
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God for family and understanding parents.
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There are times when your kids need to forgive
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you, and there are times you need to forgive your kids.
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That takes place in the boat with
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understanding, with care, with encouragement,
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with confronting. It's not wrong to confront.
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But how do you do it? You do it lovingly,
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in the fear of God, in the spirit of Christ,
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submitting to God's will,
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wanting the same for your child, and your child
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would want it for you as well. One thing
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about children, and tell
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me if this is true or not, true or true, Children can't
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be fooled. You can't
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fool your kids.
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Why is that? Why is
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it that we can't fool our kids? You're going to say, well, they just
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know us, that's all. It's more than that.
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What is it about our kids?
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They know us, but what else?
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They trust us. And when you break their trust,
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what does that do for them?
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Alarm bell goes off. Oh, you broke my trust, you broke my trust.
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But do they scream it out and just tell you, you broke my trust?
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No. They carry it around like a badge of silence.
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They're waiting for you to come to them and say,
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son, I, I really goofed up this time, and I'm sorry, I apologize.
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And you know what happens when you do that? They take their badge off,
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put it in a pocket, and say, yes, that's my dad!
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Yes, that's my mom! That's my parent!
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I respect them, I love them. Why? Yes, because they're
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being honest with me. You know,
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watch this, because you're looking at me funny,
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like you don't know my child, right? You can't fool
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your kids.
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Victory through surrender and obedience. Family compliance in the
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bubble. Members submit to the will of the parents. They accept
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and enjoy peace because of knowledge. Their worldview
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is enhanced by understanding God's view of them.
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What is God's view of them? I'm acceptable.
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Romans 14:1-3, Romans 15:7.
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My kids are interested. You ever tell your kid, you're interesting?
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They're gonna say, what does that mean? That's an nickname. I'm interesting?
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Yeah, I'm interesting. I'm your son. What do you mean I'm interesting?
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Neil, I can see you telling your boys that. Sons, you are interesting.
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I'm valuable. Your kids are
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indispensable, believe it or not. I know you don't believe that,
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but it's true.
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I'm valuable. I'm indispensable.
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They feel indispensable because you make them feel indispensable.
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Is that important as parents, to make your kids feel indispensable?
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When my daughter left, a week of college,
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just starting out,
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she needed to be fortified by her parents. Honey, you can
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do this. You're 100 miles away, but you can do this. You've got
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this. And our nightly prayer was
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always, Lord, help me to be a leader and not a loser. And I
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said, Lord, help her to be a leader and not a loser. She said,
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Dad, I got this. I said,
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honey,
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God's going to take care of you. God loves you. You're indispensable.
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You're important, you're lovable. You're not
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only important to us as parents, you're important in the
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kingdom of God. You're important wherever
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you go. You know, when they was growing up, you know, we taught them,
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you know, let your little light shine, VBS and all that stuff,
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and rooster rooster, booster booster, and all that stuff.
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And as old as she was then, you know, just about
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to go off to college, we rehearsed some of that stuff.
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Not stuff, stuff is strong, but we rehearsed some of that.
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Because we started in the womb ago molding
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and shaping. And it starts
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once they come out the womb. And then that cradle roll.
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Everybody should have a cradle roll. If they got low empathy,
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you need to have a cradle roll. Thank God for cradle rolls.
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They learn about the what? The B-I-B-L-E and
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God loves me. I love the cradle roll.
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Never taught in the cradle roll. I'd probably scare them to death.
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But I love those who are in the cradle roll.
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We start as early as we can with these little ones.
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Why? Because they're God's gift to us.
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And when God gives you a gift, you have to guard it.
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You ever see how they guard money? I mean, it's like
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it's a precious possession. What about gold?
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It's a precious possession. Something far more
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precious. Our children,
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molding and shaping them, that they
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can learn early about surrender,
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about obedience, to know that they're important
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and that I'm forgivable. There's an intrinsic
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value that makes you forgivable because you were made
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in the image of God. I'm capable. I'm intelligent.
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I can do this.
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Compliance equals parental love and
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knowledge of God's word. The key to our upbringing
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of our children— discipleship,
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demonstration of Christian principles.
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Based on the scriptures and
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submission to the scriptures,
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and in time coming together in a word called compliance,
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out of love for Christ, love for each other,
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because that child is not a
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trophy case kid. That child is
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gifted by God.
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And we learn the value of
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training very, very early.
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Whether you know the scriptures or not,
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get with someone who does. Study to
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show thyself approved unto God.
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The lives of your family
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members is dependent upon it, especially if
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you're the head of the house. You are to initiate this action,
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and the Lord's people can help you to do that. If you want
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to know more about that, see the leadership here in this location.
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They can help you get started. You don't have
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to be alone in the bubble with your kids
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as though you don't have any help or support.
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Whether you have or do not have a husband,
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whether you have or do not have a wife, and you've got kids,
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you've got a support system here.
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Let me remind you of some members who remembered the family bubble.
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You remember Moses?
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By faith, not fear, he chose to be among God's people.
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He gave up prestige, education, and wealth voluntarily.
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Why? Because of the bubble.
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His family wasn't Egypt.
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His family was with God and God's people, the people of God.
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And when times got rough for his people, he remembered the bubble.
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What about Joseph? When temptation came to
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Joseph in Potiphar's house,
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Joseph remained faithful to his parental training.
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He remembered the bubble. That coat of many colors
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represented bubble love for Joseph.
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And when people wanted To extinguish
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Joseph by him
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doing that which was contrary to the will of God. Joseph says, how can
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I do this great— this thing and sin against my God?
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The bubble gives me direction.
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The bubble gives me discernment.
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The bubble helps me to avoid the pathway of
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doom and destruction.
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And you may think your kids won't see this yet,
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but when the light comes on, they're going
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to remember the bubble. How do you know? Here's a good example.
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You remember the prodigal son?
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Kind of selfish. He wanted to have his
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inheritance while his father was still alive. You remember?
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The Bible says, but when he came to
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himself, he said— there's
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a bubble. I'm going to go back to the barn.
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What did he say? How many of my father's hired servants have bread enough
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to spare, and I perish from hunger? I will arise and go to my father's,
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and I will say to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you.
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Thank God for the barn.
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How many steps does it take to return to
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God and the Father. Just one step.
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The prodigal, we thought, well, he left home.
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I can't do anything for him.
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Father didn't chase after him. Well, occasionally he probably looked out
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the window hoping to see his son. One day
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he looked out and there his son was, returning home. The father
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ran to him. You see,
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we can lose family members, sometimes temporarily,
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sometimes permanently, but the
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bubble remains.
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The prodigal came and returned to the bubble.
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Make your home a place of
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safety, security,
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lasting memories where they can return to
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the bubble. You uncover the puzzle and say,
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remember this? We were so
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proud of you then, and son, we're still proud of you now.
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You're home. Man, what does that do for our kids?
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But we don't have to wait for them to be a prodigal to do that.
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We should be doing that every day,
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finding ways and reasons to encourage.
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Bubble life is about protection and love, building lasting
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memories where the family altar is erected,
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celebrating each other rather than tolerating each other.
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That's the bubble life. Our children learn to
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honor parents. Our children learn to obey parents.
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What questions do you have?
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Yeah, I heard about the bubble, but you just— but,
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but, but. Here's your but questions. What questions do you have?
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Well,
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it's interesting to note that for
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those of us who have been living
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for a little while,
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it seems as though bubble life has changed for
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different generations. But let me assure you that
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it has not. God is still in control.
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God still is protecting. God still is calling
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people under the
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protective umbrella of his vote.
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And we who are members of the Lord's
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church have a distinct advantage
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in knowing that God's
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going to continue to provide for his family
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if we continue to, in the spirit of Christ, submit to his will,
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work with one another. Like I said,
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when we first got married, my wife, who grew up
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in the church— I had not grown up in the church.
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I was converted from denominationalism.
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I did not have a home where I'd
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come to in the evening and sit down at a table when
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there was a father and a mother and all the kids were there. I came—
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whenever I came home, I found my food
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somewhere stashed, either in the refrigerator so my oldest
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brother wouldn't find it to eat it always. Well, sometimes I had to
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cook my own food. My mom worked 2 jobs trying
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to put food on the table for us.
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My dad decided he was going to leave the mother.
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He was a prodigal. When my dad left,
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my oldest brother was in charge when my mother was gone.
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My oldest brother was 5 years, my And
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then my oldest sister was a year older than I was.
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And then I'm the middle child. And then there's,
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there's 3 under me. And then came
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one— no, 2 under me. One of the twins died because it
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was cold outside. And back then we had coal-burning
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stoves. And we didn't have a lot of coal left.
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So mom was kind of, you know,
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rationing the coal. We'll keep them, we'll keep
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it going. And sometimes if it gets too cold, we'll go across
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the street to the neighbors, because that was another bubble for us.
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Well, one evening, one of the twins was asleep,
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well, both of them were asleep, One of them contracted pneumonia,
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and eventually she died.
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And it devastated all of
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us. And I was about
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6 years old.
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No, I was 7. And I
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remember how my mother kept crying. I couldn't bear— Why she keeps crying?
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And then I realized she's
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not working
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with my sister Brenda anymore because Brenda's gone.
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And maybe she misses Brenda, and I learned what loss was all about
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in the bubble. I learned what sacrifice was about
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in the bubble. I learned how to defend
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myself from my big brother in the bubble when Mom wasn't there.
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But I also learned how to make up with my big brother and my sisters
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in the bubble when Mom was there, when Mom wasn't there.
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Life in the bubble at times could be hard,
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almost impossible for some.
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But when you have signed a declaration
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of dependence on Christ, there's a whole different
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perspective that comes into view for you.
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There's a different level of trust and understanding.
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God needed an angel, so he took my sister.
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But it left us with an opportunity to learn a valuable lesson,
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that one day we can go where my sister has gone,
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and it'll be okay. We'll be able to see her again.
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That's what we were thinking.
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Obeying the gospel, July 12th,
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1973,
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Mercedes and I set up a goal in the bubble.
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We're going to submit to the will of God when we have differences
34:06
of opinion. Because she
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said, because I know there's a lot that you don't know and
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there's a lot that I don't know, but I know because I was trained
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in the bubble where I grew up in, in the Christian home,
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that God's word is right. And if we follow
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it We can be a success in this marriage,
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even though I violated the rule
34:35
of long courtships. I told you about that last night.
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I do advocate long courtships, but sometimes there are exceptions
34:42
to the rule. Ours was an exception
34:46
to the rule. Met and married in 41 days.
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Would have been 11, except I had to go back to the base for a
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But we followed the scriptures,
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and we made contact with our extended bubble, the Church of Christ.
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Garland Alvin was just leaving the local church there, and Jack Meyer was
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coming to be the minister there, but we had godly
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elders there. I thank God for godly elders.
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Men who love me enough to put up with my foolishness
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and stuff, and to help me to learn how to grow
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and mature in the faith.
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And godly mothers and parents and sisters to
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help my wife and me to understand that some of these things that's
35:41
going on in our bubble will pass.
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They won't last. And you'll be okay,
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because God is in charge.
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I learned a long time ago from reading Brother
35:56
Robert Milligan. His words were,
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God has not called us to go to heaven on flowery
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beds of ease while others fought to win
36:10
the prize. And sail through bloody seas.
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God has called us to act within
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the framework of his word, within the structure of the family,
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within the body of the bowl, to support
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one another as we support our kids,
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as we help one another to go to heaven.
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Surely heaven will
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be worth it all. Thank God for the bubble, and thank God
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for you, and thank God for our families. Let's close
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this session with a prayer.
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Dear God our Father, we thank thee for the blessings of our
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family, for our children,
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for our mothers and fathers, for unfeigned
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love of the brethren,
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for the hope of eternal life through Jesus Christ.
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May we consider the things that we discussed today and
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add it to our resources of experience
37:28
to be better parents,
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that we can reach out and support
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our network, including our children and each other.
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Thank God, Father, for the church. Thank God for the Christian family.
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Thank God for everyone that's here today.
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In Jesus' name, amen. Just really quick before
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we break up for this, uh, for our last session this morning,
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um, I wanted
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to ask how many of you, with a raise of hand, how many of you
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are only children? Raise your hand. Only children.
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Okay. All right. How many of you are oldest
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children? I'm not.
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Okay, oldest. How many of you are Middle children,
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if there's 3? Okay, that's me.
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How many of you are somewhere in the middle of more than
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3 kids? Okay.
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How many of you are babies?
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Alright, so we've got a pretty good representation of all. Dr. Kevin Lehman
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has written a book on birth order, and it really affects how the
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bubble gets put together. Glenn's got some material with regard to that.
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The idea is, is that we all come
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to the mobile building experiment with our own unique experiences.
38:57
We talk about different family structures. There are so
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many ways that our lives are impacted as we try to raise our families,
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and we appreciate Glenn and his great experience
39:07
in sharing with us how to build families
39:11
as parents as we should. I did want to find out,
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um, what— we had several congregations who were represented.
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So I know about Crittenden Drive being here and Scottsville.
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Who else are we missing? Are you guys at Crossville?
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Where are you? Okay, Crossville congregation. So we're thankful a lot of our
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own folks who are here. We appreciate that. I want to let you know that
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during this particular break, at the end of it, we'll have our final session And
39:38
thanks to the foresight of those who are in charge of this, you'll have a
39:42
take-home lunch for both your kids and for yourself. So you want
39:45
to hang out for that. And now we'll break until about
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11 o'clock for our last session.