Build Your Family on a Solid Foundation | Shannon O'Dell

Family Game Night | Week 1: Jenga

Jenga is Swahili for "build." You stack 18 levels, three blocks wide, and then everybody starts pulling pieces out. The tower stands or falls on one thing: what's underneath.

Pastor Shannon opens a new series on the family with the game on stage and five building blocks that decide whether a home holds up.

Authority. A Roman officer in Matthew 8 gets something most religious people missed, and Jesus is amazed by it. Get the order right (God, then your spouse, then your kids, then your job) and everything else has somewhere to sit. The Bible never says family first. It says seek first the kingdom.

Identity. The day your identity shifts from Jesus to your kids is the day you stop living for Jesus and start living for them. Children are arrows, and arrows have a target. Three ways parents get this wrong: performance, reputation management, and emotional dependence. Plus the one nobody wants to hear, living vicariously through your kids instead of releasing them to be victorious.

Responsibility. Nobody shapes your child's soul but you. Some homes are run by CEO kids who set the calendar, decide about church, and call the shots. Parents, be the CEO of your home.

Priority. Priorities are what you say. Commitments are what you do. If you want to know what somebody actually prioritizes, don't ask, just look at what they're committed to. Shannon calls it the decision before the decision, and it's why he doesn't have to think about whether he's praying with Cindy tonight.

Consistency. You're parenting a worshiper. That doesn't happen in a week. It happens when you do it again, and again, on the days you don't feel like it.

Scripture: Matthew 8:5-10, Matthew 6:33, Romans 13:2, Psalm 127:3-5, Ephesians 6:4, 1 Timothy 5:8

Wherever your foundation is right now, you can go back and fix it. That's the whole point of the series.

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0:00 Welcome to Brand New Church

0:22 A brand new series: Family Game Night

1:12 Jenga is Swahili for "build"

1:41 What you build on determines your future

2:26 How the game works

3:24 Grab hold of these truths and you're guaranteed to win

4:06 God designed the home to shape the culture

5:24 Building block 1: Authority

5:48 The Roman officer in Matthew 8

7:40 Jesus was amazed

8:37 He's not our buddy, He's God

10:02 God, spouse, kids, job (the Bible never says family first)

11:02 Say yes to God's best and you're in the protected place

12:55 Saying yes to the authorities in your life

13:27 Cindy's dad told me no

14:33 Get under what God put over you

15:22 Romans 13:2 and resisting authority

16:05 What if I'm already outside of it?

17:20 A 54-year-old G-Paw's rant on "yes sir, yes ma'am"

18:04 Building block 2: Identity

18:41 When your identity shifts from Jesus to your kids

19:42 Be a better you

20:31 Psalm 127: children are arrows

21:39 Load the quiver up

22:24 The purpose is to confront the enemy at the gate

23:23 Wrong identity 1: performance based

24:41 Wrong identity 2: reputation management

25:22 Wrong identity 3: emotional dependence

26:39 Wrong identity 4: vicarious instead of victorious

27:37 Building block 3: Responsibility

27:58 The most important tool to shape a human soul

28:46 Ephesians 6:4, bring them up

29:36 CEO kids

30:15 Building block 4: Priority

30:35 Priorities are declared, commitments are lived

31:30 My priority every morning

32:19 Praying with Cindy every night

32:45 The decision before the decision

34:07 1 Timothy 5:8, a family verse on steroids

35:32 Building block 5: Consistency

35:46 You're parenting a worshiper

36:23 The McFlurry with extra M&Ms

36:47 Grandkids fighting over who prays

37:48 If you've made bad decisions

38:14 Closing prayer and response

39:42 Thanks for watching