Honoring Your Father and Your Mother Sunday, October 28, 2005

Who knows what the 10 commandments are and where can we find them? Thou shalt have no other God’s before me Thou shalt have no idols and shall worship no idols Thou shalt not take the Lord’s name in vain Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy HONOR thy FATHER and thy MOTHER

Thou shall not kill Thou shall not commit adultery Thou shall not steal Thou shall not bear false witness against thy neighbor Thou shall not covet thy neighbor’s house, wife, nor his other belongings

When did God give us these laws and Why? He gave them to Moses on Mount Sinai at the time that he and the Jews exited from Egypt to the Promised Land. People were giving up because they had been traveling in the desert for 40 years and they began to lose faith God felt they needed direction and laws so they could have order and direction in their lives. So He gave them the ten commandments which are in Exodus chapter 20. Let us read it

Who are the two people that God has put into our lives to love you, protect you, and guide you? Our parents What things do our parents do for us? Love us unconditionally Nurture us Feed us Support us

Honoring your father and mother is the 5th commandment given by God Honoring your father and mother is the 5th commandment given by God. It comes before “You Shall Not Kill”. This means that the Lord regards this commandment very important to us. We should always obey what the Lord has said for us to do….Why?

Consequences of disobeying the 5th commandment Exodus 21:15 “And he who strikes his father or his mother shall surely be put to death” Proverbs 19:26 “He who mistreats his father and chases away his mother is a son who causes shame and brings reproach”

Disobedience could even be done by curse words or even by looking at them without respect “The eye that mocks his father, and scorns obedience to his mother, the ravens of the valley will pick it out, and the young eagles will eat it” (Proverbs 30:17)

How to honor our father and mother? Obeying them “My son, hear the instruction of your father, and do not forsake the law of your mother” (Proverbs 1:8) Be nice and cheerful to them when they ask you to do something for them Show them respect when you talk to them Spend time with them Be Unselfish

Make them constantly feel your love for them, especially when they get old Jesus taught us that we should love our enemies So how much More then should we love our parents and sacrifice everything for them and always pray for them They give us so much through all that we go through They always still love us and put up with us, even when we stress and disrespect them. So don’t you think that as God says to love our Enemies than at what scale should we Love our parents who only love us.

“A wise son makes a glad father, but a foolish son is the grief of his mother” (Proverbs 15:20) We must support our parents with all that they need, monetary and emotionally “But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever” (1 Timothy 5:8)

How Important are our parents They are so important that even non-believers in our society dedicate a certain day of the year to celebrate them, and to show them how special and important they are in our lives It is So Important to obey our parents in the LORD. To always have Christ in front of us and to always obey them in the way that pleases the Lord.

Rewards of honoring our parents This is the ONLY commandment that is followed by a promise “Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God has commanded you, that your days may be long, and that it may be well with you in the land which the Lord your God is giving you” (Deuteronomy 5:16)

Questions? Why did the Lord command that man should honor his parents? Who else should we honor other than our own fathers? What promise comes with this commandment?

Conclusion Honoring and respecting our parents is a commandment of God to His children. It is the first commandment that He states that is followed by a promise with a reward even on earth.

Conclusion We must always respect our parents as Jesus Christ Himself loved and respected His parents. He cared for His mother and commanded St. John to take care of her even when He was on the cross and going through tremendous pain and suffering.

Memory Verse Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land ( Exodus 20:12)