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Let's take our Bibles, turn to Deuteronomy chapter number six. Deuteronomy chapter number six. And we're going to look in verse number four through nine this morning. And as you find your place, I want to throw out this truth to you. I want to confront you with this truth. There is something in the center of your life. There's something in the center of your life. There's something, if you're married, there's something in the center of your marriage. There's something in the center of your home. As we recognize family dedication, I want to remember and let you know that there is something in the center of every one of our lives. Now you may not admit it and you may not even consciously know what it is, but there's something that gets the first thought, the first priority, the greatest affection, the most time and the most energy. There's something in your life that gets your first and gets your best. And that something that's in the center shapes everything else in your life. Let's imagine that this stage is your life. If I put this mic stand in the middle of your life, this mic stand is center stage. All the focus is on this, right? This is what's in the spotlight, right? Everything is focused on what's in the center, and everything revolves around the center, just like our galaxy. Everything revolves around the sun. There's something in the middle of your life that everything else is revolving around. And I hope I can get an amen right here. As Christians, it should be Jesus. Amen. As Christians, Jesus should be in the center of your life. He shouldn't just be a part of your life. He shouldn't just be one of the things that revolves around what's in the center. He is your life. He should be your life. Colossians Paul says, Christ, who is our life. Jesus said, I'm the way, the truth, and the life, right? Everything should revolve around Jesus. As a Christian, you should have Jesus in the center of your life. But we have to ask ourselves this question: what is at the center of my life? Now, as Christians, we would all do the good Christian answer. Jesus. But is he really at the center of your life? Always. I'd be, I can't say that, and I'm a Christian and I'm a pastor. Because there's always things competing for the sinner. There's sometimes where Jesus is the center, but then there's things, busyness of life, let's just get real, pressures of life, distractions. There's always something competing for the sinner and for your heart. There's always something competing for first priority, first place in your life. There's always something competing to sit on the throne of your heart. And Jesus, we have to constantly make sure we are keeping him first placed. I want to preach on this thought this morning: a Christ-centered home. A Christ-centered home. Now, how do you make Jesus the center of your home? Well, I'll give it to you this way. Let's work backwards. You make Jesus the center, you have a Christ-centered home by having a Christ-centered marriage. And you have a Christ-centered marriage by having a Christ-centered life. Jesus does not want second place in your life. But sadly, that would be good if we promoted him sometimes to second place because usually he's farther down the line than that. We've got to make Jesus center of our families, which means we have to keep him center of our marriage, center of our life. Now look, that sounds easy to preach. That's easy for me to get up here and say. But it's a little harder to live sometimes, isn't it? There's always things competing for the center, and that's why Deuteronomy chapter 6 is so powerful. Because this is just a little context here. This is what the Jewish people call the Shema. The Shema, S-H-E-M-A, and it means to hear. And if you read it in verse number four, it says, hear. The first word is here. I'm about to say here. Here. That's what we're about to say, the Shema. And why is it called the Shema? Because this was a declaration of faith. This was a prayer that they would pray every single day. The Jewish people would pray this prayer twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening. So every day they heard this saying being said, this declaration, which says in Deuteronomy chapter 4, chapter 6, verse 4, Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Now look at this. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. And these words which I commend you today shall be in your heart. I'm gonna stop right there. This was a powerful declaration of faith that the Jewish people prayed and declared twice a day, which made one powerful declaration that God must be first. Every day they were reminded of this. We're called to love him with all of our heart, with all of our soul, with all of our mind, all of our strength. God must be first before money, before careers, before sports, before extracurriculars, before even family and friends, and listen, even before your kids, God must be first. He is the one that is called to take first place in our life. So what are you putting first? I'm gonna ask you that again. What is first in your life? What is center in your life? What you prioritize first truly reveals what you love the most in that moment. Now, like I said, it may, it may change as you go throughout life. But right now, what is shaping your schedule, what is what is controlling the flow of your home, what is taking your energy, what is consuming your time, that is what you are telling God through your lifestyle, through your actions that you love. Because you are prioritizing that before anything else. Look, we are called as Christians to have a Christ-centered home. I want to give you three quick thoughts this morning on that. Number one, a Christ-centered home starts with you. A Christ-centered home starts with you. Look at it again, verse number four. It says, now every time we say the word you or your, I want y'all to say it with me, okay? I want to make sure y'all awake. Y'all awake this morning? Yes. All right. Verse 4. Hero Israel, the Lord our God. The Lord is one God. That was, oh man, that was weak. Y'all sure y'all awake? Let's try it again. Verse number five. Let's jump right into it. One, two, three. You shall. That was still weak. One, two, three. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. And these words which I command today shall be in. Where does a Christ-centered family start? No, not me, you. It starts with you. It's not the pastor's job. Where does a Christ-centered family start? Well, you. Yeah. Yeah. It starts with you. It starts with us. It starts with our lives. It starts with how we live. Before God talks about children, before he talks about teaching, before he talks about the home, he points his holy finger at who? You. Not me, you, I'm just messing with you. He points his finger at you. Listen, a Christ-centered home begins with a Christ-centered heart. If you're going to have a Christ-centered home, you as the parent, you as the mother, you as the husband, the father, you must have a Christ-centered life and a Christ-centered heart. Let me tell y'all parents something. Look, we're going to be heavily focused on the family today for good reason, right? But this applies to all of us. But, you know, we should all have a Christ-centered life. But look, parents, you are the greatest sermon that your kids will ever see. Your life preaches a sermon every day that has more impact and influence than anything I could ever say up here. I mean, I could come up with the best sermon and pray over it and have it perfectly polished and everything wonderful about it, but your life preaches a more powerful, impactful, and influential sermon in their life than anything a pastor will ever do. They are watching you. And I don't want to beat up on you this morning, but I want you to be aware that they are watching you. They are analyzing you. You are forming and shaping them by how you live. You're the greatest sermon they ever receive. And with parents, we got to remember: more is caught than taught. How you live. Husbands, fathers, you are called to point your kids to Christ. It starts with you. We live and we shape the way that they, we shape who they become. I mean, what they value, what they prioritize, what they chase, what they believe matters most, and what gets pushed to the back of the line on their priority list. We are the ones that determine that. So the question is, is what are you passing down to them? What foundation are you laying in their life? Right? They are watching, they are noticing, they are paying attention. Not because we speak it with our mouth, but because we demonstrate it with our lives. We are physically with our actions, telling our kids what's important and what's not. And that's a very sobering thought. Your home, y'all listen, your home will naturally drift to whatever has the strongest pull on your heart. Whatever you're keeping centered in your life, that's where your home will drift. Now I'm gonna get real unpopular here real quick, all right? And I'm okay with it. I didn't I didn't get in the ministry popularity. Uh but there are things, look, sometimes we unintentionally pass down idolatry to our kids. Sometimes we as parents we have to be careful. We don't do it on purpose. We we if you're not intentional about keeping Christ as the sinner, he's not going to be at the center. And we pass down idolatry, uh, all the extracurricular activities. We pass down the idolatry of money, we pass down the idolatry of careers, we pass down the even the idolatry, let me just get real, of religion, of tradition, of a certain denomination. What do we need to be passing down? A real relationship with Jesus. And let me just touch while I'm while I'm being unpopular, let me just touch on the most um one of the most unpopular, we pass down the idolatry of sports. Now look, religion, sports, extracurricular, uh careers, money, none of those things are evil. But idolatry usually isn't something that's evil, it's a good thing out of priority. Anything you put before Jesus is an idol. So in your life, your personal life, what is center? What is taking your time, your energy, your focus? If you didn't say anything about anything, what does your kids looking at your life say, well, that's the most important thing in my parents' life, and that's the most important thing in my life? You know what we need? We need some parents to make up their mind. Because there's such a pull from culture and society to make this first and make this first, and this is what matters most. We need some parents to make up their mind to do like Daniel. He purposed in his heart, he made up his mind that he was going to serve God no matter what the culture dictated. You're gonna say, I'm gonna love Jesus, I'm gonna put him first, even if everything else in the world is pulling at my life. Y'all know even kids, even your kids can be idols in your life. And this goes so against what we feel is right. Because we think, okay, this our kids must be the center of our world, but your kids make terrible gods in your life. Your kids aren't supposed to be in that place, and that's too much weight for them to carry. Yes, your kids should be a very important part in your life. Alright, I'm not saying, ah, figure out life on your own, okay? I'm just saying they shouldn't take the place of God in your life. You need to have a Christ-centered home, not a child-centered home. Y'all okay this morning? All right. So the greatest way you can love your kids is put Jesus at the beginning of the first part of your life. You know, get your first and your best. Um parents, listen. Your children do not need perfect parents. They just need parents who passionately pursue Jesus Christ. It takes the pressure off. Dad, you don't have to be perfect. You ain't perfect. You're gonna mess up. But they need to see a father that's chasing after Jesus. And dads, I know Father's Day is coming up, so I'm gonna save a lot of this for Father's Day, okay? But what a great responsibility we have as fathers that God holds us responsible and accountable. And listen, we shape our kids' perspective of God by how we live. Many times people grow up and have a perspective of their heavenly father based on the perspective they had of their earthly father. What a powerful. They need to see uh husbands, uh fathers that are pursuing Jesus. They need to see mothers that are passionately pursuing Jesus. They need to see marriages that reflect the gospel. And a Christ-centered home starts with who? Y'all don't know what to say now, huh? You, me, all of us. Christ-centered home starts with you. Number two, a Christ-centered home must be intentional. Must be intentional. Look what he says in verse number seven. Verse number seven, he says, You shall teach them, what's that next word? Diligently to your children. You shall teach them diligently. Teach what? The words that he said. What did he say? To love God with all your heart, all your mind, all your soul, all your strength. That's the main thing we should be teaching our kids, parents. To love God, to have a relationship with God, to prioritize Jesus in their life. And we should do it diligently. He says, You, who, the parents. You are the primary disciples. It's not, it's not the pastor's primary job to disciple the kids. It's not the church leaders, it's not the teachers. As parents, you God has placed that responsibility on you to disciple your kids and teach them about Jesus. And he uses that word diligently. And that word diligently, it's a Hebrew word sanat or sanat, S-I-N-N-A-T. I gave you, I gave you some Greek, some Hebrew there for today, since uh make you feel like you come to church and got some knowledge. It says, diligently, and it means this. It carries the idea of sharpening a blade, impressing something deeply through repetition. Uh, a back and forth constant. Now, if you have a knife, I have a knife. That's a harmonica. I have a knife somewhere. Uh so if I have this knife, some of y'all know this knife has seen better days, but if I want to sharpen this knife, I'm gonna get a stone, a sharpening stone, and what am I gonna do? Go back and forth, back and forth, sharpening that knife over and over. Repeated, constant uh friction with the knife and the stone. Diligently, over time, constantly, repeatedly. I'm trying to make sure I don't cut my finger. Repeatedly, little strokes over time, again and again. Listen, one stroke does not, it don't matter how good that stroke is, one stroke's not gonna sharpen that knife. One stroke isn't gonna do the job. Just like one church service for your kids isn't gonna shape their entire life. One time praying with your kids, one time doing a devotional, one time telling them about God, what it what does Jesus say? Diligently, over and over, repeatedly. You know what that's called? Some will call it boring, but I call it faithful. Sometimes it's okay for your faith to look boring. You're every single day, you are you are sharpening them, you are teaching them, you're being diligent, you are educating them and teaching them by your life and by your words about Jesus, how to love God with all your heart. Repeated him. This is not accidental discipleship. This is intentional. It's intentional. And we are called to be intentional about discipling our kids. We do not drift into a Christ-centered home. It doesn't happen by chance. It happens every single day investing in your kids' life. Repeatedly, repetitiously, right? You you constantly uh it would be good if kids knew that every single morning I know where my parents are gonna be. They're gonna be praying and seeking God constantly. Constantly. Every Sunday I know where my parents are gonna be and where I'm gonna be. Every Sunday that we can, we're gonna be in the house joining with the body of Christ. Being sharpened by the word. Every time we can be involved in church and and with the body of Christ, we are there. And we need to we need to remember that we should keep that a priority. Now look, I know we're getting into summer, and y'all are about to get busy, and y'all about to be traveling, and y'all about to go on trips, and and you know, I'm not a stickler for church attendance. I'm not coming at this from a legalistic perspective, but I do want you to remember we we need to make it a priority for our families to be with the body of Christ, to worship together. Now, I'm saying now, I'm taking two weeks off in June, all right? But I'm saying you should revolve your life around Jesus and you should make it constantly through your life. I mean, you got 18 years with your kids. Think about small strokes over 18 years, makes a vast difference in their life. It shapes their character, it shapes how they think, it directs their life. That is your responsibility, and what a what a powerful and great responsibility it is. Right? So, what are you teaching them through constant repetition? Because repetition reveals priority. And you build a Christ-centered home one step at a time. Before I move on to the last point, I'm about done. Listen, I hear people say this. I'm hearing this more and more. Well, we're just gonna let our kids figure it out when they get older, what path they want to take. We're just gonna let them decide about God and about what Jesus is to them and who Jesus is to them. First off, that's not what God commanded for the family and for the home. And there's so many lies and so many, so much deceit and so much, you know, false uh philosophies out there that will mess your mind up if we don't have people, parents, teaching and guiding and directing constantly over time, every day, that teaching them who Jesus is. And that's what brings freedom in their life, right? And the thought is if you know that Jesus is the truth, why wouldn't you want them to know that? Why wouldn't you teach them that? I mean, they can go there there they can go throughout life and try to figure it out on their own. But it's our job to teach and to guide and to direct them. Now, I want to give you one more thought this morning. A Christ-centered home makes Jesus part of everyday life. Part of everyday life. Deuteronomy chapter 6, look at verse number 7. Again, he says, You shall teach them diligently to your children, shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. And you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes, and you shall write them on the doorpost of your house and on your gates. He says, You should talk about it when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, when you rise up. What is he saying? All the time. He's not saying, okay, we woke up, let's talk about Jesus. Oh, now we're walking, let's talk. No, he's saying all the time. Make Jesus a priority in your life every day. Look for ways to teach your kids through life lessons about Jesus, about God's word. Look for ways to include the gospel in your life and in your home and with your kids. Around the dinner table, in the car, driving to school, at bedtime, in the morning. There are thousands of little moments every day that you could sharpen that blade and point them to Jesus. A Christ-centered home is not just a home that owns a Bible and goes to church once a week at 10:30 at Lake Church. A Christ-centered home is a home that speaks about Jesus Monday through Saturday. Speaks about Him naturally. Not forced and not fake and not a religious performance, but real and authentic and genuine. Let me tell you something about your kids that you probably already know and recognize. Kids, more than anyone else, have what I call a hypocrisy detector. They can tell when something's fake because they're looking at it with sincerity, with pureness, and they're like, why's mama and daddy doing this on Saturday night? I just stepped on somebody's toes right now. And why are they doing this on Sunday morning? Something ain't adding up. Why does mom and daddy have Christian friends that they talk a certain way in front of? And then non-Christian friends that they do something completely different with. Your kids can detect that. They see that. And we need as Jesus followers to follow Jesus. Amen? We need as followers of Christ to love Jesus enough just as much on Saturday night as we do on Sunday morning. And just as much on Monday through Sunday, Saturday. We need to be real. Look, y'all, that doesn't mean you're gonna be perfect. Alright? That don't mean you're not gonna need to apologize. I had to tell Nathan sorry yesterday because uh uh we were at the restaurant and I spilled the drink and I blamed it on him. I was like, you also you was all over me. You did this. And and I really knocked the drink over. We it doesn't mean you have to be perfect, but it means you got to be real. Kids don't need you to be perfect, they're very forgiving. But listen to me one thing that will turn a person, especially a child, away from Jesus more than anything else is a hypocrite. And if you are constantly, day by day, week by week, month by month, year by year, living a hypocritical life, don't be surprised if one day your child's like, Well, Jesus didn't do nothing in your life, so why should I follow him? I told y'all I wasn't gonna be popular this morning. Look, we have to be real. Not perfect, but real. We need to ask for forgiveness. We need to show compassion, we need to show sincerity, we need to talk about scripture, we need to repent. We need our kids need to see us trust God even in the hard times of life. Your children need to see that your faith goes beyond these church walls. They shouldn't just see us as Christians on 10:30 on Sunday morning. It should be a daily, every day, every moment walk with Christ. Now, it says they uh in verse number eight, it says they bind them as a sign on your hand, they shall be as frontless between your eyes, you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. What's he talking about? He's talking about the word of God, the scripture. And you know what the Jewish people would do? They took this so literally, they would take little leather containers and they would they would put scripture on their arms and on their forehead when they would read this in the morning and at night. Because God said, put it on your hands, put it on your arms, put it on your head. And then they took this and they they went to uh, you know, and even in the New Testament, you see they use this as a sign of pride where Jesus rebuked them for their phylacteries, which was these scriptures that were hanging all over them. But but but but the point is that they were extreme about taking the word of God serious. And the problem is that we are so unextreme about taking the word of God seriously. You know what else they would do? They would put it on their left arm because their left arm was closest to their heart. How close is your heart to the word of God? The Bible tells us that it should be a lamp unto our feet, a light unto our path, that we should hide the word of God in our hearts that we might not sin against Him. If you want a Christ-centered home, make the Word of God important, make prayer important, make Jesus important. It doesn't have to be a perfect home, but it should consistently, continually, repeatedly point back to Jesus. As we have a song of invitation this morning, I want to close. I want you to think about this. Why is this so important? Maybe you're here and you're like, well, Jesus hasn't really been the center of my life. Why is it so important to make Jesus the center? Why is it so important to make Jesus the center of our home? I'll tell you why. Because storms will come, and storms reveal your foundation. Y'all hear me? Storms will reveal what is important in your life. Storms will reveal your foundation. And we read the story in Matthew 7 about two men, one built his house on a rock, one built his house on sand. Storm came and hit both houses. One house collapsed, one house stood strong. The house that was built upon the rock is the one that stood. That's a picture of us building our life centered upon Jesus, building our life on the foundation of Jesus Christ. Because parents, listen to me. Listen. Storms will come. It's not a matter of if they're gonna come, it's a matter of when they're gonna come and what foundation is your life and is your home built on when they come. They're coming. And listen, Jesus is the only one that can withstand the storms in your life. You're gonna have financial pressures, you're gonna have marital problems, you're gonna have struggles of life, you're gonna have uh, you know, just uh sickness and death and anxiety and loss and pain and uh spiritual battles, you're gonna have prodigal children, you're gonna have heartbreak. Storms are coming. What foundation are you building your life on? Because a storm can destroy everything on a house, but it will reveal the foundation that it was built on. The other thought is this listen, your kids are gonna face storms in their life, and you're not gonna be able to be there to protect them. You need to make sure they're building their life not on good morals, not on discipline, not on religion, and not on tradition. You need to make sure they're building their life upon a real relationship with Jesus Christ. That's the only thing that's going to stand in this time. The the the the hobbies, the extracurriculars, the the sports and the money and the uh all of these things, it's not going to stand, but a life built upon Jesus will stand. I really feel this morning that maybe we have some parents here this morning, some families. Maybe some fathers, some mothers, maybe some mothers that's carrying all of the discipling on their own. Feel like they're trying to lead spiritually. Maybe some fathers that continually feel like failures, maybe some fathers that's just given up and say it's just too hard. You know what? Today would be good not just to have a child dedication, but to have a heart dedication. Maybe a reset. Where you say, I messed up, I haven't been leaning like I should, I haven't been teaching my children to put Jesus first. I hadn't been putting Jesus at the center of my life. But today I'm gonna make up my mind that for me and my house, we are going to serve the Lord. We're gonna put him at the center of our life, at the center of our marriage, at the center of our family, because Jesus will never let you down. He stands strong even when the storms come. He will never fail you, he will never fall short, his grace is sufficient. You can rely on him. We need some parents and some families to say the enemy is gonna attack, the storms are gonna come, but we're gonna keep trusting in Jesus because he has never failed. Fathers, it starts with you right now. Grandfathers, it starts with you. You're the patriarch. And you know what I would love to see? I would love to see some men at Lake Church get serious. Maybe get your family, grab them where you are, put your arms around them, maybe bring them down to this altar, and spend some time making a declaration for your life as well as your family that we are going to stand for Christ, we're gonna serve him, we're gonna live for him, even if nobody else does. Because, church, there's too much at stake. Your children need you, fathers, to stand strong. And I know it's hard. I'm living it, it's hard. But God has called you to be that one and has given you that responsibility, and he will give you the grace to do it. So as we stand this morning, heads bowed, eyes closed, I want you to mind the Holy Spirit. And I want you to maybe grab your family right now and say, I'm gonna spend some time in prayer and dedication to the Lord right now. Will you do that this morning? As I pray, will you come and will you mind the Holy Spirit? Father, we come before you in Jesus' name. We know there's an enemy attacking our home. We know Satan's like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. We know that marriages are under attack. We know that families are under attack because it is the strongest thing in this world to point people to Christ, a marriage and a family, and the enemy hates it. And God, I pray you would rise up some men to say enough is enough. I'm making a decision right now to change and to repent and to turn my heart to Jesus, to fall in love with him, to place him as the center of my life, because I know I'm not strong enough to do it on my own, and I need Jesus every single day. That humility invites grace. And I pray that you would move in hearts right now, be with the wives and the mothers, be with the children, and you would help us to build our home upon the solid rock. In Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. As you continue to pray, will you mind the Holy Spirit?