Serving and Sharing: Building Faith at Home

Sunday, February 18, 2018

Building Faith at Home - Psalm 78

Who spoke these words: “My little children, with whom I am again in labor?” It was not a mother, but the apostle Paul in Gal 4:19. He used that analogy to express his concern for the Galatian Christians that Christ be formed in them.

A child’s life is formed in the womb, and a child’s faith is first formed in the home. It is further nurtured and developed in the church. Though the church can supplement and complement the efforts parents make at home, there is no substitute for the role of fathers and mothers. This is Job One for us as parents! Psalm 78 gives us a clear path forward.

Scripture – Ps 78

These are sermon notes, not written in a polished or finished manuscript form. To see the video of this and other sermons:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCu4zUK_ahzdiU15PL6dcAXA/videos

To see thumbnails of all posts on this blog:

https://plus.google.com/u/0/+CoryCollinsServingAndSharing

Commitment to families. Parallels between church and family strength.

Building better marriages. Equipping and encouraging fathers and mothers. Will present messages from time to time to focus on family needs. Welcome ideas, questions, and suggestions.

Recent school shooting in Florida. Nikolas Cruz. How did this 19-year-old turn into a killer?

Whatever else may be said – about guns, laws, and schools – one thing is clear. The love of God and the fear of God must be taught in the home. The absence of God in families has had devastating consequences in our society.

One man with a dream: Korczak Ziolkowski

On June 3, 1998, a 500-ton explosion was deliberately detonated in the Black Hills of South Dakota.

Chief Crazy Horse Memorial Notes

http://www.history.com/topics/native-american-history/crazy-horse

Crazy Horse was a legendary warrior and leader of the Lakota Sioux, celebrated for his battle skills as well as his efforts to preserve Native American traditions and way of life. Resisting efforts to force the Sioux on to reservations, he fought alongside Sitting Bull and others in the American-Indian Wars, and was instrumental in the defeat of George Armstrong Custer’s forces at the Battle of the Little Bighorn. After surrendering to federal troops in 1877, he was killed amid rumors of a planned escape.

Since his violent and controversial death, Crazy Horse, or Tashunka Witko, has become almost a mythical figure of the Great Plains Indian wars. The place and date of his birth are uncertain, but he was probably born in the early 1840s near Bear Butte on the Belle Fourche River in South Dakota. His father was a medicine man of the Oglala subtribe, his mother a Brulé. Much speculation about the origin of the name Crazy Horse, but most historians now agree that his father had the same name. As a youth he was known as Curly, but acquired the father’s name after proving himself in combat.

The Crazy Horse monument in South Dakota has been under construction since 1948. When (if?) it’s completed, it will be ten times larger than Mount Rushmore (563 feet high, vs. the Rushmore heads’ 60 feet height.) It may actually be the largest sculpture in the world.

Over 60 years in the making

Boston-born Sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski, descendant of Lakota Indians, born 1908.

6,740-foot Thunderhead Mountain – Black Hills of South Dakota

Blasted away over 7.4 million tons of rock

Nine-story granite face

17 miles away from Mount Rushmore

All four Mount Rushmore faces could fit inside head

563 feet tall (Washington Monument is 555 feet.)

Ziolkowski died in 1982 at age 74.

Left behind three notebooks of plans, diagrams and calculations.

In 1991 Chief Crazy Horse “opened” his 18-foot eyes.

His widow, Ruth, and seven of their ten grown children, continued to chase his dream. His image of Chief Crazy Horse was formed in his family.

What parents must teach children, so that Christ can be formed in them, the church must teach youth, for the same purpose. And we all must teach each other.