Kerwin Baptist Church Daily Broadcast

Welcome to the Kerwin Baptist Church broadcast today. Our desire is for the Word of God to be spread throughout the world so that all may know Christ. Join us now for a portion of one of our services here at Kerwin Baptist Church, located in Kernersville, North Carolina. I want to speak on this subject today that God designed happy homes. You know that God designed your home to be happy.

If it's not, God didn't design it that way. And we want to talk about this today, and I pray that you'll have an open heart and open mind as we deal with this. We're going to read verse 128. We're going to read these six verses. Blessed is everyone that feareth the Lord.

Well, we could stop right there and make a sermon, couldn't we? Blessed is everyone that feareth the Lord that walketh in his ways. For thou shalt eat the labor of thine hands, happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee. Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house, thy children like olive plants round about thy table. Behold that thus shall the man be blessed that feareth the Lord. The Lord shall bless thee out of Zion, and thou shalt see the good of Jerusalem all the days of thy life.

Yea, thou shalt see thy children's children and peace upon Israel. Father, you designed us to have happy homes. And Lord, I think sometimes that maybe our home life isn't happy like it should be. And Lord, if it's not, that's not from anything you've designed.

It's from something that we've messed up. So Lord, I pray that you'd help us to look at what your word has to say about what a happy family life should be. And Lord, I pray that you'd help us as we conclude this on the family, that each of us would realize how important the family is. In your name we pray. Amen. You know, at this time of year, a lot of families struggle with this. And it would be a word I guess I would call contentment. And I want to ask you, I want to kind of define this today.

What is contentment? You know, this time of year everybody's getting everything and everybody's having a Black Friday sale. And I didn't go to one store on Black Friday, bless God. Last year I couldn't sleep for some reason. I just couldn't sleep.

I got up at 3 o'clock in the morning and went to Target. And why I did that, I don't know. I'm just messed up in the head sometimes. I really am. And it was like a mad house.

It was unbelievable. You know, folks scurry here and there and I don't blame them. They're trying to get a good buy with their money and different things. But, you know, if we're not careful sometimes, during this season, if you have children, this whole month they're telling you everything they want. And I want this and I want that. Every commercial that comes on with a toy in it, my boys are like, I want that. And if it has five things on it, they'll say, I want all of them. I want every commercial, everything.

I want the whole store. That's what I want. And that's the way kids think. But unfortunately sometimes it's the way we think too. When we get to this season and we all want things and we all are trying to get things and before long if we're not careful, we've forgotten about this whole thing of contentment. Let me tell you what contentment is. Contentment is an inner sufficiency that keeps us at peace in spite of outward circumstances.

Let me say that again. Contentment is an inner sufficiency that keeps us at peace in spite of outward circumstances. Let me read you a couple verses. It kind of lays some foundation this morning. Philippians 4-11, Paul says, not that I speak in respect of want, for I have learned in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be what?

Content. You know the Bible is not opposed to having material possessions? Did you all know that? Sometimes we think sometimes that being poor is sister to being holy. Having nothing means you're a good Christian.

That's not necessarily so. And people always say, well give me a verse. Well let me just say this. Deuteronomy 8-18 says, but thou shalt remember the Lord thy God for it is he that giveth the power to get wealth. Psalm 35-27, let them shout for joy and be glad that favor my righteous cause. Yea, let them say continually let the Lord be magnified which hath pleasure in the prosperity of his servant. Did you hear that?

Let me tell you something. If my son Daniel, for some reason whatever he decided to do, and if whatever God had decided, as long as he does what God wants to do, if God wants my son Daniel to be in business or work a job, whatever God wants for Daniel to do, if he happens to find a job that pays him extremely well, you don't think as a dad I'm going to be glad about that? You think I'm going to go to my son Roland, I'd rather you find something that doesn't pay you anything. Now if my son works a job that he doesn't make much, it's not going to bother me a bit. As long as he's doing what God wants him to do. If my son, God calls him to be a missionary, and he doesn't have much, and he's in a third world country, it's not going to be easy for mom and dad.

It's going to be hard for mom and dad. But if that's what God wants him to do, I'm going to be thrilled with that. But if God gives him a job that he becomes a millionaire, I'm going to be thrilled as a dad. And God the Father is thrilled when you and I prosper.

We're his children. But God says this, it's not whether you have a lot or don't have a lot. It's not whether you make a lot of money or don't have a lot of money. The point is this, whatever state you're in, whatever your life has brought you at this point, you have to be content with that. Or God's not going to bring you anything further. Dear friends, why would God spill blessings on you if you're not content with what he's given already? What destroys family contentment? Our first question was this, what is contentment?

Our second question is this, what destroys family contentment? You see, the whole idea of a happy family means a content family. Any family that is not content with what they have, they're not going to be happy.

I don't care what they have. If they're not content, they're not going to be happy. In fact, you could give them everything that they said that they want and they're not going to be happy after they get that. Because the problem is not in the things that they do or don't have. The problem is in themselves that they're not content.

And if anybody in this world ought to be content, it's God's people. What destroys family contentment? Covetousness does. What is covetousness? Covetousness is unlawful desire that comes out of discontent. You see, covetousness, covetousness, that's a hard word to say for me, covetousness or covetousness, the act of coveting, I'm spraying the whole front three rows with spit while I'm saying covetousness.

You know where it comes from? It comes from discontent. Because you are not content with what you have, you will then begin to desire what you don't have. Number one, what's so wrong with covetousness, preacher? Well, number one, it distracts.

It distracts. Let me give you a verse. Exodus chapter 20 verse 17 says, Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor's. Why did God say that? Because when you covet and we covet because we're discontent, when you begin to do that, it distracts you, listen to me, it takes your eyes off of what God has given and it puts your eyes on the things that your flesh wants. And when you and I begin to look at what our flesh wants and we say, well, I don't have this, I want to have that, other people have that, why don't I have that, our eyes are not focused on what God has given because you know somewhere there's somebody looking wishing they had what you have.

Did you know that? Some people that are so discontent, well, so everybody gets this and they get to do this and they have this and why don't I have, you know what, there are some people looking at you wishing they had what you had. Covetousness distracts. It keeps us from being blessed by what God has given us because we're focused on what we, our flesh, wants that we don't have. And we overlook what God has given. We overlook the blessings.

Can I say this this morning? You want your kids to grow up in a happy home? If you want your kids to grow up happy, listen to me, I want to tell you this, please listen to this. If you want your kids to grow up happy, let them grow up in a home where mom and dad are content. If mom and dad are not content, the kids aren't going to be content either.

If mom and dad are always saying how everybody else seems to get the breaks and everybody else seems to have this and we don't have it, that's exactly what you're going to train your kids to do. They're going to grow up their whole life thinking everybody else has it, what I don't have, and what that equates is God hasn't been good to us. God hasn't done enough for us. God's blessings isn't enough to make us happy because mom and dad aren't happy and mom and dad aren't content.

The kids aren't going to be content. And they're going to grow up never being appreciative of what they have because they've been trained to want more than what God's given. And the fact is if we would be thankful for what God's given, He might give us more.

We just can't ever get over that hurdle. Contentment brings happiness. Contentment brings fulfillment.

Contentment brings joy. Covetousness distracts. Second thing is this, not only is covetousness distracting, but covetousness is debasing.

You say, what is that fancy word, debasing? Preacher, it means this, it defiles. It means it erodes the foundation. It means you now have nothing to build your family on.

Look at me, folks. If you as a family of a mom and dad and a marriage and life and home, whatever, if you are not content with what God's given, that is eroding the very foundation of peace and joy of your family. Because how that equates is this, I am not satisfied with what God has given. Let me give you a verse, Mark chapter seven, beginning in verse 21.

Listen to this. For from within, listen to me now, out of the heart of men, proceed. Listen, evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness. You mean God put that in the same list?

He sure did. Wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness, all these evil things come from within and defile the man. Listen to me, that means this, that discontentment, covetousness, can literally defile your family. It can erode the very foundation of what God's trying to build. Coveting breaks down the foundation of contentment and joy. And only through contentment can your family be happy.

Number three, I need to get off this very quickly. Covetousness is deceptive. It deceives. Let me read you a verse, Romans chapter seven, beginning in verse seven.

What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law. For I had not known lust, except the law had said thou shalt not covet. But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, rod in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law, sin was dead.

That's what he says. He says, the law isn't wrong. He says, because if it wasn't for the law, what is the law? The Ten Commandments. And in the Ten Commandments, God is one of the commandments.

Thou shalt not what? Covet. And he said this, if I hadn't known that, then I wouldn't know that lust is wrong, that coveting is wrong. Listen to me, folks. Do you know that covetousness is deceptive?

You can do it and not even think you're wrong. It can almost become a way of life. It's just you get up and breathe and want more. You get up and breathe and desire to have what you don't have.

Or your life can become you get up and breathe and you're thankful for what God's given. It literally becomes a way of life. It literally almost gets into our DNA.

It deceives. We can become like that and not even see it. Hey, look at me.

Everybody else can see it, though. Let me ask you this. How many of you know somebody that they always seem to be down complaining and want something that they don't have? Come on, be honest. Raise your hand.

Even if they're sitting next to you, raise your hand. A lot of you. You know why? Because you can see it a mile off. A lot of you wants to think, well, man alive, why are you not happy? Because look at what you've got. You know what? I'm going to be honest with you. I'm not trying to say anybody's more spiritual. Please don't take that. But rarely do you see a bus worker that is covetous.

Let me tell you why. Because they go to home after home that they have nothing. They go to home after home where it is absolutely filthy that kids grow up in.

And they would crawl back to their own home and say, God, thank you for what you've done. Covetousness is deceptive. Covetousness comes out of the heart. We are covetous by nature. Let me read you a verse, John 8, 44.

Ye are of your father the devil, and the lust of your father ye will do. Where does covetousness comes from? It ruins contentment in our home.

It keeps our home life from being happy and healthy and content and joy and peace. Where does it come from? It comes from Satan. That's where it comes from. And we all suffer with it sometimes.

Let me say number four, covetousness is destructive. If you want to turn to this, you can. In a couple of verses, I think it'd be good for you, but you don't have to. First Timothy chapter six, beginning in verse six.

We're not far from being done. It says this, but godliness with contentment is great gain. In other words, those two kind of go hand in hand. Godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world and it is certain we can carry nothing out.

Listen to this. And having what? Food and raiment. Godliness be there with content. But they that will be rich. It doesn't say but they that are rich.

It says they that will be rich. That means they that desire it. They that are always wanting more.

They that are always trying to manipulate things to get more and more and they're always mad because they don't have what everybody else has. They that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare and into many foolish and hurtful what? Lusts which drown men in destruction. Destruction in perdition.

Look at me, folks. Covetousness can literally destroy you and drown you. Before long, you really can't enjoy or be grateful for anything. Even the very thing that you always complained you didn't have, if you get it, then there's something else we don't have.

It's destructive. A discontented man is never rich and a contented man is always rich. Let me read you a verse. This is great.

Listen, I want you to get this. Ecclesiastes chapter 5 verse 10. He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver, nor he that loveth abundance with increase. This also is vanity.

If that's where the satisfaction has to come from, it will not satisfy. That's what the Bible says. The Bible refers to covetousness as idolatry. Colossians chapter 3 verse 5.

Mortify, that means put to death therefore your members which are upon the earth. Fornication, uncleanliness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness which is idolatry. Anytime you and I put God in second place, we commit adultery. Matthew chapter 6 says, Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and then all these things shall be added unto you.

Now that's a lot of negative, but you know what? We live in a covetous society. And if anybody ought to be different, it's God's people. If anybody's been blessed and anybody ought to be satisfied and happy and joyous and thankful, but man, if we just got a tent, we ought to be thankful because we're on our way to heaven. God saved us from our sins. We've got a lot to be thankful for. If anybody ought to be happy and thrilled, it's us.

But usually if there's anybody complaining, it's us. All right, preacher, what defines family commitment? Look at Psalm 128.

This is how things are supposed to be done. Look, if you would, verse 1. Blessed is everyone that feareth the Lord. Number one, what defines family contentment? What should we be content with in our family? Number one is faith. Faith. First thing he says, Blessed is everyone that feareth the Lord.

That means that there's one thing that we ought to have in our home. First and foremost above anything is faith. We ought to love God. We ought to teach God. We ought to try to please God. You ought to be in a good Bible-believing church, which every one of you here that are in this church, I believe you're in a Bible-believing church, in a Bible-preaching church. The most important thing is your faith in Christ. Blessed is everyone that feareth the Lord.

Let me tell you something. As a family, serving God ought to be a contentment to you. Very simply, let me read you a verse. Hebrews 13 five says, Let your conversation be without covetousness, and be content with such things as ye have, for he hath said, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. What does that mean?

He's saying this. By the fact that you can have faith in God, you ought to be content with that. Be content with such things as you have, why?

What did the verse say? Because he hath said, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. You know what ought to make you content? I've got faith in a God that will never leave me, or forsake me.

That ought to be the basis of a happy home. We have faith in Christ, and he's promised to meet every need we have, and to never leave us nor forsake us. Isn't it wonderful to be saved? Second thing. By the way, 1 Timothy 6 six, we just read godliness with contentment's great gain.

Second thing is this. Not only faith, but second, a foundation. Look at the second part of verse one.

He says blesses everyone that feareth the Lord. Notice this, that walketh in his ways. As a family, what we ought to be working on in family is not trying to get more things, and not trying to make more of this. Nothing wrong with any of those things.

Nothing wrong with having things. But our focus ought to be, number one, the faith in our family. Number two is the foundation. We ought to be walking in his ways. Mom and dad, if we would concentrate more on training our kids right, then trying to get more stuff. If we would be teaching our kids that we ought to be content in Christ instead of desiring everything we don't have.

A foundation. If we don't, look at me folks, if we don't walk in his ways, we don't have a foundation for a family. If we're not trying to serve Christ, everything we build is going to fall.

You know why? Because he's the chief cornerstone. Everything has to be built on him. I think about the wise man built his house upon the what? Rock. And the foolish man built his house upon the what?

Sand. We're going to preach on those lines tonight. I hope you'll be here tonight. Back at the, I think it's the first day of revival, our camp meeting, God gave me a message. And he obviously, I believe, wanted me to preach it tonight.

I hope that you'll be here. Number three, food. All God's people said? Faith, a foundation. Something else we're supposed to be content with, look at verse two. For thou shalt eat the labor of thine hands. Food.

What did the Bible say? Having food and raiment, let us be there with content. You know what you and I ought to be content with as a family, hey, God feeds us. I appreciate brother Tyler Galvin that first Sunday talked about wagon loads of things. And hey, you get to go sit down at a meal, that's a wagon load of blessings.

And he's exactly right. You and I, hey, let me tell you something. We're mad because we don't have this kind of car or we don't have this kind of house. And you know, in the world around, there are people that don't even have food. We got cupboards full. I mean, we got money to go to McDonald's if we have to.

And we complain because all we can afford is McDonald's. Some people would give anything for that. Bless God, go get your Big Mac and be thankful. I'd be thankful for one of those right now.

I really would. And a Krispy Kreme, yep, that's right. Philippians 4.19 says, My God shall supply all your need according to his riches. Not according to your riches, according to his riches. Proverbs 15, I love this. All the days of the afflicted are evil, but he that is of a merry heart hath a continual feast. Better is little with the fear of the Lord than great treasure and trouble therewith.

Listen to this. Better is a dinner of herbs where love is than a stalled ox or a big meat meal and hatred therewith. You and I ought to be content with food, folks. If God's put food on your table, how dare any of us complain about one thing?

Hear a thought about that? Oh, God's been good to us. He didn't just put food on our table. Some of us here, we're blessed. Some of us can go to a nicer place than McDonald's every once in a while. Some of us can fix a nice meal at home.

Some of us can afford to go to Krispy Kreme and get a dozen donuts. God's been good to us, folks. As a pastor, sometimes you think, man, God's been good to our people.

And when you ask, hey, would you commit? Hey, would you just give a little something to missions? Would you go a little bit above your tithe so we can try to help some of these people?

It's like pulling teeth sometimes. God's been good to us. Amen.

Food. The next thing that that verse brings us to is number four is fun. You know what ought to be content in our family is fun.

Notice what he says. Verse two. For thou shalt eat the labor of thine hands, happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee. You know what family ought to be about? Having fun, too. You ought to have fun in your family. Now, look at me. It's kind of hard to have family fun sometimes.

Yes. Dad's doing this. Mom's over here looking through a magazine.

Junior's over here. We have so much technology, and we have such little family fun. To get a kid to put a machine down or a touch down or a phone down and look and talk to mom and dad is like pulling teeth. My wife the other night pulled out Candyland.

Sorry about that. Our sons, we sat down and played Candyland. You say, was it fun? No, it wasn't fun.

I'm just picking. It was fun. You know what I found myself? To be honest with you, as a pastor, I've really not had a very good year physically. It's been the worst I've ever had.

I've thrown up one time in my entire life. I'm used to just not being sick, and it's been one thing after another this year. I don't understand. I don't know if Satan's just attacked.

I don't know. It's been shingles and strep throat and oral surgery that I had to have and this surgery and blah, blah, blah, and I've tried not to miss church. I try to get up and preach, and sometimes I've just been sick as a dog to preach. It has been hard.

I'm just being honest with you. I found out the other day that by the time, ever since I had the shingles, I just get so fatigued and my joints ache, my everything hurts. Sometimes I'll just have to get home, and I'll have to put as hot a water in the tub as I can and just sit because it just hurts to walk, and the other day I realized, I come home, and I've been gone, and I got an eight-year-old, and I got a four-year-old, and you know what? It doesn't matter to them really if Dad hurts.

It doesn't really register. All they know is if Dad's not playing with us. For the past month, every day I've come home, I've gone out and thrown football with them. They're really going to the football thing right now, and I'll come home, and I'll throw football, and guess what I have found out? You know what I look forward to during the day? I can't wait to get home and throw football with them. You say, why?

I'll tell you why. That's what is supposed to be content in family is enjoying each other, and nowadays we enjoy so many things, but we don't enjoy each other. He says, happy shalt thou be.

Hey, if you've got faith in Christ and you've got a good foundation of learning the ways of God and God's put food on your table, happy you ought to be, content you ought to be. Fun. We need fun in our families. Mom and Dad, listen, raising kids is hard, but if it's getting to the point that all you're doing is spanking and all you're doing is having to get on them, you know what you need to do? You need to take a day off work and take them somewhere, have some fun with them because kids need to see Mom and Dad's not just always on me. They need to see Mom and Dad have some fun with me too.

You need to have fun in your family. Do some things as a family that'll make it fun. Get out of our routine. Get out of our comfort zone. I know we're tired and I know we're worn out, but we've got to do something with our families.

That's the way God designed it. Thank you for listening today. We hope you received a blessing from our broadcast. The Kerwin Baptist Church is located at 4520 Old Hollow Road in Kernersville, North Carolina. You may also contact us by phone at 336-993-5192 or via the web at kerwinbaptistchurch.com. Enjoy our services live and all our media on our website and church app. Thank you for listening to the Kerwin broadcast today. God bless you. .