As for Me and My House | 06.07.26 | Selinsgrove Church of the Nazarene

Devotional

Day 1: Arrows in the Quiver of Obedience

Children are arrows in our hands, polished for God’s purpose. Just as a skilled archer prepares arrows for battle, parents are called to shape their children through intentional discipleship. This requires more than occasional church attendance—it demands modeling wholehearted obedience to Christ in everyday moments. Like Ezra learning to shoot a bow by imitating his father’s posture, children absorb faith through consistent example. Spiritual legacy isn’t inherited through genetics but forged through deliberate training. The enemy seeks to steal these arrows, making vigilance essential. [54:25]

"Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them!" (Psalm 127:3-4, ESV)

Reflection: What specific action can you take this week to intentionally model obedience to Christ for the younger generations in your life? How might your daily routines become opportunities for spiritual training?

Day 2: Throwing Out the Block of Wood Idols

Idols aren’t just carved statues—they’re anything we elevate above God. Isaiah mocks those who burn half a log for warmth and carve the other half into a god. Modern idols hide as hobbies, achievements, or even family priorities that quietly displace worship. Like spring cleaning gone wrong, we often discard eternal treasures while clinging to temporary comforts. God’s jealousy isn’t petty—it’s the cry of a Creator who knows substitutes can’t satisfy. [59:30]

"All who fashion idols are nothing, and the things they delight in do not profit. They are witnesses who do not see or know, that they may be put to shame. Who fashions a god or casts an idol that is profitable for nothing?" (Isaiah 44:9-10, ESV)

Reflection: What “block of wood” have you unconsciously relied on for security or identity? How might rearranging your schedule this week expose misplaced priorities?

Day 3: The Bowstring Tension of Surrender

Oswald Chambers compared saints to arrows—God stretches us beyond comfort to hit targets we can’t see. Like a bowstring resisting the archer’s pull, we often protest the pressure of obedience. Jesus modeled this tension in Gethsemane, choosing the Father’s will over self-preservation. Surrender isn’t passive resignation but active trust in the Archer’s aim. [54:52]

“And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, ‘My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.’” (Matthew 26:39, ESV)

Reflection: Where do you feel God stretching you beyond your current capacity? What practical step can you take to shift from resisting to leaning into that tension?

Day 4: Dusty Bibles and Dinnertime Discipleship

Deuteronomy’s command to teach God’s ways “when you sit, walk, lie down, and rise” turns homes into sanctuaries. Faith isn’t maintained through sporadic church events but through daily conversations—like discussing Scripture en route to ballgames or praying over spilled milk. The Israelites forgot God within one generation; our children’s faith depends on seeing Scripture alive in our ordinary moments. [01:09:30]

"You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise." (Deuteronomy 6:7, ESV)

Reflection: What mundane moment today can become a discipleship opportunity? How might your speech patterns change if you saw your home as a primary ministry space?

Day 5: Choosing Day by Day

Joshua’s “as for me and my house” declaration wasn’t a one-time event but a daily realignment. Every vacation plan, sports schedule, and entertainment choice quietly answers “who will you serve?” Like removing old boxes from the basement, obedience requires regularly examining what we’ve allowed to accumulate. [49:48]

"And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve... But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." (Joshua 24:15, ESV)

Reflection: What decision this week—seemingly small—actually represents a crossroads in your loyalty to Christ? How can you involve your household in this intentional choice?

Sermon Summary

The call to obedience names the real crisis at home and in church life. The habit of tossing junk during a house cleaning becomes an image for a heart that has accidentally thrown out what is most precious while keeping what is trivial. The questions why church, why pray, why read Scripture, who is Jesus, and who is he to you expose that the issue is not a lack of information but a lack of allegiance. Romans 1 diagnoses the moment as a surrender to a depraved mind when the truth about God gets traded for a lie. Deuteronomy 10 answers the “what now” with plain words: fear the Lord, walk in his ways, love him, serve him with all heart and soul, keep his commands for your good.

Joshua 24 presses the decision into the present: choose this day whom you will serve. The choice refuses fence sitting, because “the devil owns the fence.” The warning against idolatry is not theory. Israel’s cycle makes it concrete. The elders die, and the children “do not know the Lord or the works he had done.” Isaiah 44 ridicules the block of wood that warms the oven with one half and receives bowed heads with the other. Romans 1:25 names the exchange underneath it all, serving creation while neglecting the Creator.

Christ reframes obedience as oneness, not bare rule-keeping. John 5:19 shows the Son doing what he sees his Father doing. Gethsemane shows obedience at full stretch, “not my will but yours be done,” the path that goes through a cross for the joy set beyond it. The archery image brings the call into the living room. Psalm 127 calls children arrows in the hand of a warrior. Isaiah 49 pictures the Servant as a polished arrow. Oswald Chambers pictures the saint as a bow in God’s hands, stretched until God’s target is in sight. Father to son, mother to daughter, a life of obedience aims the next generation at the Lord. The model matters. If allegiance to Jesus is thin at home, children read it before they can spell it.

The choice to serve the Lord asks for concrete house cleaning. Idols are not only wicked things, often they are good things turned ultimate, like sports, hobbies, even family, quietly moved to the mantle where God belongs. The Creator must be first, not because morality is useful, but because life is found in him. Deuteronomy 4 and 6 charge parents and grandparents to remember, to teach diligently at home, on the road, at bedtime, and at breakfast. Communion then gathers the family to the table where Jesus gives himself, the covenant that makes a house of obedience possible.

Key Takeaways

1. Choose this day whom you serve This choice cannot be deferred without consequence. Joshua’s charge refuses neutrality and exposes duplicity as a decision already made. The home takes its cue from a settled allegiance spoken out loud and lived in public and private. The devil owns the fence, so the middle is not safe ground. [49:04]
2. Throw out every hidden idol Idols live where time, affection, and honor stack up highest. Even good things become cruel masters when they edge God from first place. Naming them in prayer and removing their grip reorders love and loosens the heart for obedience. Half-measures keep the heart divided and weary. [57:31]
3. Parenthood aims like sharpened arrows Psalm 127 casts children as arrows in a warrior’s hand, not ornaments on a shelf. Formation happens by presence, imitation, and consistent aim, not by occasional lectures. A parent’s lived allegiance sets the trajectory that words cannot fix later. Skillful hands are humble, steady, and God-directed. [53:32]
4. Obedience flows from oneness with God Jesus models a life that sees the Father and moves accordingly. This is more than compliance, it is intimacy that aligns will and action. Gethsemane proves that love holds when feelings fray and pressure peaks. Oneness makes obedience a path of trust, not a grind of fear. [50:16]
5. Trade creation back for the Creator Romans 1 unmasks the great swap underneath cultural confusion. When created gifts take the throne, identity fractures and desires tyrannize. Returning God to the mantle restores scale, law, and love, and frees good things to be good again. Worship is the reordering that heals. [62:13]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[37:40] - Cleaning out the house
[39:08] - Honest questions about Jesus
[41:06] - A student of obedience
[44:34] - Romans 1 and our moment
[48:03] - What God requires
[49:04] - Choose this day
[49:48] - Oneness, not bare rule-keeping
[53:32] - Arrows in a warrior’s hand
[54:52] - Stretched like a bow
[57:31] - Throwing away every idol
[58:52] - Shall I bow to a block of wood
[62:13] - Creator over creation
[66:11] - Lead the home on purpose
[70:16] - Communion and sending

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading
Joshua 24:14-15 (ESV)
“Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

Observation Questions

What two options does Joshua present to the Israelites in Joshua 24:14-15, and what does he declare for his own household?
The sermon compares cleaning out a house to spiritual priorities. What happens when we accidentally discard what is precious while keeping trivial things? [38:48]
According to Romans 1:25 (referenced in the sermon), what exchange do people make that leads to idolatry? [44:34]
How does Psalm 127:3-4 describe children, and what responsibility does this imply for parents? [53:32]

Interpretation Questions

Why does Joshua say there is no “fence sitting” in serving God, and how does the sermon illustrate this with the phrase “the devil owns the fence”? [49:04]
What does it mean to serve God “in sincerity and faithfulness” (Joshua 24:14), and how might half-hearted obedience harm a family’s spiritual life?
The sermon warns that even good things (like family or hobbies) can become idols. How does elevating creation over the Creator fracture our identity? [01:02:13]
Why does the cycle of Israel’s faithfulness often break after a generation (Judges 2:10), and how does this relate to modern families? [58:01]

Application Questions

What “hidden idol” in your life (e.g., a hobby, goal, or relationship) might be edging God out of first place? How can you practically “throw it out” this week? [57:31]
The sermon says children “read” allegiance to Jesus before they can spell it. What specific daily habits could model wholehearted obedience to God for your family? [53:32]
Joshua’s call to “choose this day” requires immediate action. What is one decision you’ve deferred about prioritizing God, and what step will you take to resolve it? [49:04]
How can you intentionally discuss God’s works (Deuteronomy 6:7) in everyday moments—like car rides or meals—to help the next generation “know the Lord”? [01:09:30]
The sermon compares obedience to a bow being stretched. Where is God stretching your trust in Him right now, and how can you lean into His purpose instead of resisting? [54:52]

Sermon Clips

The people of God, the Israelites, had literally watched the Red Sea parted. They knew the story. Joshua had literally led them through the Jordan River at flood stage. God parted the the waters of that river and they walked through and built an altar saying, this is what god has done and soon after that, the next generation started bowing down to a block of wood and saying, save me. You've got the creator of the whole world who comes down in a pillar of fire, and you're worshiping a block of wood. [01:00:07] (41 seconds) #RememberGodsMiracles

Have or are you throwing away your relationship with God for something else? Have you thrown it away? Have you thrown it in the trash? Have you elevated something else in your life that has overtaken your relationship with God? You say, Well, that thing is really important. I need to make time and space for that thing. But I ask you today, what about God? Are you making time for him? Remember, your children are seeing the future generations are seeing what you are doing. [01:01:17] (37 seconds) #GuardYourFaith

What I am saying though is God needs to become number one. He needs to be elevated to number one. We need to turn back to the creator and what he teaches to those core biblical values, not because they're just good moral teachings. I feel like a lot of us treat Jesus' teachings like they're just good moral teachings. I want my kids to experience Jesus because morality seems to come from him and it's good. They are that, but they are so much more than just good moral teachings. Comparing God's teachings and saying they're good moral teachings is like calling a million dollar bill a penny. [01:03:04] (41 seconds) #GodIsMoreThanMorals

As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord and put him first. It doesn't mean that I've got it all figured out. I tap into the Lord an awful lot, like, every day because I need wisdom and guidance, because I've got three beautiful children, I have a beautiful wife that I need to help lead in Jesus Christ. I need to point them to Jesus Christ. And if I'm not doing it, guess what? I'm gonna be held accountable for that. God's gonna say you preached to many, but you didn't witness to your wife and your children. That's a problem. See, I must put him first. [01:04:32] (43 seconds) #LeadFamilyToJesus

Ask a question about this sermon

Chatbot

What does it mean to be a student of obedience?

How do we identify modern idols in life?

What practical steps guard family faith transmission?

As for Me and My House | 06.07.26 | Selinsgrove Church of the Nazarene | #House #Faith #Family