1. Talk 3: Order in Relationships as Married or Single
Elements of Good Membership in the Lamb of God Community

2. Elements of Good Membership Series
They are like KPI’s – key performance indicators; we can know where we are doing well and where we need to improve.
Talk 1: Christian Basics [Harry]
Talk 2: Personal Rel. with the Lord/Community Life [Peter]
Talk 3: Order in Relationships as Married or Single
Talk 4: Modern Life, Character Formation and Mission [Dominic]
Talk 5: The Lamb of God Covenant [Greg]

3. What This Talk Will Cover
Family relationships
Husband and wife
Raising our children as God’s sons and daughters
The family as a unit
Relationships as a single person
Relationships as one living single for the Lord
Note: Relationships outside community will be covered in the next talk.

4. A. Family relationships
• Follows good order in the husband-wife relationship. – The husband takes responsibility for his wife and children. – The wife supports her husband in his role as head of the family. – They have a regular husband and wife meeting. [Sharing – unity through communication]

5. A. Family relationships
• Seeks with spouse, as father or mother, to raise their children as sons and daughters of God. – They seek to maintain obedience, respect and good order in the home. – They seek to hand on the faith to their children. – They seek to lead their children to observe community instruction as it applies to them and help them to appropriate it internally. – They seek the input and guidance of their community leaders in this area. – Supports community endeavours to help the youth come closer to God [Kairos]. [Sharing – dynamic parenting]

6. A. Family relationships
• As a family unit – The husband and the wife have a common plan & vision for the whole family [As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord – Joshua 24:15.] – The family spends quality time together. – There is generally peace and harmony in the family. – There are no broken relationships that continue on long term in the family. Grudges and resentments within the family are resolved through forgiveness. – Be of service to the church and community as a family. – Relate in good order to other families in the community. [Sharing – daily & weekly family prayer, meal time and living in Christian community – the Lamb of God]

7. B. Relationships as a single person
• Relates as a brother or sister to members of the opposite sex. • Approaches dating and courtship according to community instruction: - Seeks to offer to God his or her state of life and discerns where to serve God best as married or living single for the Lord. - Ideally does not go into dating and seeking BF/GF relationships until he/she is ready to get married. - Seeks to live a chaste and holy life in his or her sexuality. • Honours parents appropriately.

8. C. Relationships as one living single for the Lord
• lives according to the covenant or rule of life he or she has chosen. Challenge – offer your sons and daughters to God. Living single for the Lord is a genuine path to discipleship.

9. Conclusion
Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity! It is like the precious oil on the head, running down on the beard, on the beard of Aaron, running down on the collar of his robes! It is like the dew of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion! For there the LORD has commanded the blessing, life forevermore. [Psalms 133:1-3]
A family that is working well is a blessing.

10. Conclusion
Our families and our relationships will not be perfect. There will always be things that need sorting out.
A family working well is like a well maintained car.
God is the driver.
Heaven is our destination.
We want to be a light in the darkness.
We are setting an example to our children.
Our window of opportunity diminishes as time passes by. Make the most of your family – now!