Dishonor makes people nomadic – in churches, marriages, friendships, jobs. It makes them keep looking for a better deal. However, Biblical honor is the missing ingredient in broken relationships. But, we live in a dishonorable age where people say and post whatever they want, children talk back to their parents, leave churches, job hop. This flies in the face of God’s direct command that we “give preference to one another” with “honor” (Rom. 12:10). Yet true honor toward others doesn’t happen. It’s the fruit of salvation and a transformed heart. It flows from honoring Christ as we present ourselves as living sacrifices to Him. So, are you cultivating a spirit of honor in your heart toward God and those around you? Or, are you going to keep moving on from one relationship to another?

Sermon: https://churchandfamilylife.com/sermons/68622894415d2d77bb98b1a1

The most terrifying thing the Devil sees is not a woman in the boardroom, on a political stage, or behind a podcast mic. It’s a woman in the home raising her children in the fear of God, loving her husband, and building the next generation by faith. This is exactly what feminism hates. Instead of enhancing femininity, feminism obliterates it. So, here's the question, sisters: Has the boa constrictor started nibbling at your feet? Are there areas where feminism has crept in to your wardrobe, your schedule, your ambitions, your theology? If so, take aim with the word of God in one hand, and your calling in the other. Stand your ground—raise your children, help your husband, build your home, be a homemaker, be holy. Become the woman God created you to be.

Every church has an aroma about it. So, what your church’s: Is it a lingering scent of bitterness or indifference—or the aroma of love? In Romans 12:10, Paul gives us a blueprint on how to cultivate the latter, “Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love.” This reveals that the church is not to function like a social club or a business meeting, but like a family where there’s genuine laughter, forgiveness, warmth, and even tears. Such a culture can’t be achieved through clever programs or simply “being busy,” but through showing quiet genuineness and personal love toward each another. So rather than lose affection for, and keep our distance from, those in our congregation, let’s be a church that’s “kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love” (Rom. 12:10).

Sermon: https://churchandfamilylife.com/sermons/684fb3af544d5fe98a8cdd8b

In a world that celebrates what God hates, how do Christians live a life that pleases God? Romans 12:9 gives a clear roadmap on how to answer this question: “Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good.” These three commands tell us is that love is not blind; biblical love hates evil—it clings like glue to what is good. So, are there things in your life that God hates: music, movies, and conversations with corrupt people? If there are, then throw them out and cling to the truth. Don’t just tweak your playlists—transform your affections that create your playlist. Don’t just filter your entertainment—but feed your soul. Glue your life to the word of God, the people of God, and the holiness of God. In this way you’ll learn what true love is.

Sermon: https://churchandfamilylife.com/sermons/684678fb8bcefa77a87b9bd8

In Romans 12:9, Paul gives this pivotal statement: “Let love be without hypocrisy.” This is a call for our love to be genuine. Hypocrisy, by contrast, is saying nice things when we don’t mean it, or doing good deeds just to get something in return. This sin problem extends to all our relationships, even within the church. So how do we know if our love is hypocritical? 1 John 3:20 gives us a simple guide, “For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart and knows all things.” So we need not need despair: if we’re truly redeemed, God, through his Spirit and His Word, will cut through the confusion and show us our hypocrisy, so that we can genuinely love others as Christ loves us (John 13:34).

Sermon: https://churchandfamilylife.com/sermons/683d3eb8466c06ff70c715d4

The church is not a spectator sport. It is intentionally personal and requires every member to use their spiritual gifts to build each other up. The secret to this life together is our personal union with Christ. Close intimacy with Him is what leads to a thriving, loving, and relational church. This underground spring gives us inner strength and wisdom which flows forth and blesses others. So put your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ, first, so that your hands will be productive as you minister to the body with love.

Sermon: https://churchandfamilylife.com/sermons/682ac9b3c4eab1dd78874d6a

What should your attitude be about the local church? It should be to humbly acknowledge that you’re just one part of the body of Christ, and that you’re dependent on the other parts to function well. Consider the fact that there are 200 different types of cells in the human body—and all need each other, working together, for the body to thrive. So it is with the church. Even the weakest member is necessary. So rather than approach local church life causally, we should bring passion, purpose, and urgency to exercise our gifts to benefit the whole church body, remembering that we’re many members, but one body in Christ (Rom. 12:3-5).

Sermon: https://churchandfamilylife.com/sermons/6824321f981d11c30de4c400

A superior culture in a local church starts with humility. When members have a lowliness of mind—rather than thinking more highly of themselves then they ought (Rom. 12:3)—church body life is transformed, which builds up the oldest to the youngest. It was this virtue that ended the Māori tribe’s Utu culture of revenge, spreading literacy and transforming social structures in New Zealand—all through a wave of humility that recognized that it’s the grace of God that makes us who we are.

Sermon: https://churchandfamilylife.com/sermons/681854abf78c68570332d30e