Recreate Church, Pastor Michael Shockley—Service, Sunday, May 16, 2021

Plans for Building a Christian Home

Today Duncan Crooks is guest pastor and he is talking about building a Christian home.   As the foundation of a home must be solid, a foundation in Christ is our solid foundation in faith.  

(ESV Study Bible Notes) 127:1–2 All Effort Is in Vain without the Lord. A little reflection on v. 1 makes the point clear: of course those who build a house must labor on it, and certainly the watchman of a city must stay awake. At the same time they must carry out their efforts in faith, trusting God to make the work beneficial.

(Gospel Transformation Study Bible Notes) Although the people of God are commanded to “build” (v. 1a) and “watch” (v. 1b) and “toil” (v. 2) and bring forth children (vv. 3–5), they must always remember that their labors are in vain apart from the enabling and sustaining grace and power of God. As our Lord Jesus reminds us, “apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5).

We exercise our human responsibility along with complete and utter dependence on God. Neither one cancels out the other. Our labor does not preclude either the need for or the legitimacy of God’s sovereign oversight, just as the display of God’s sovereign and gracious power does not render our labor superfluous. Psalm 127 reminds us that as we labor to build, and watch to protect, and toil to eat, and bring forth children for blessing, our ultimate and perpetual dependence must be on the God who alone can make these efforts succeed and bear fruit for eternity.

Today’s bible verses are found in Psalms 127: 1-5, 1 Corinthians 3: 11, Genesis 3: 12, Zechariah 8: 5 and 8: 19 and 1 Peter 4: 8.