Tag: Family

GOD BLESS AMERICA

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Shelby G. Floyd

Note: I proclaimed this sermon forty four years ago when I was thirty nine years old. And today I affirm these bedrock truths as strongly as then! Wake up America before it is too late!

In view of the transformation of the American culture, it is proper to ask, “Will God continue to bless America?” Whatever has made America great in the past and the present will make America great in the future.  We love to sing the prayer song, “God Bless America.”  Truly that song expresses our fondest hopes and desires that God will continue to bless America in the future like he has in the past.  I am quick to tell you that I am proud to be an American.  I am grateful to God that I was born in this country and that I have citizenship in this great nation.  I don’t think that it is contradictory to be proud to be an American and to be a Christian at the same time.  I wouldn’t equate Christianity with Americanism.  I believe that a person can be a Christian and live in another country and not be an American.  But on the other hand, I don’t think it is wrong to be proud to be an American and also to be a Christian.  I believe that you can be both. Continue reading “GOD BLESS AMERICA” →

FAMILY TIES

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Shelby G. Floyd

 

Good morning. We hope you are adjusting to your stay at home because of Covid-19. I heard one member would go sit in a chair and ask himself a question. And then he would move to another chair and answer his question. In other words he was talking to himself. That reminds me of a story that my mom told about when she was growing up. There was a man that was always talking to himself! They would kid him about it. One day they asked him why he was talking to himself so much. His answer was classic. “I like to talk to a smart man and I like to hear a smart man talk!”

Today is Easter Sunday and we have a lot of good memories of hunting Easter eggs and family get-together on this holiday. We will have the opportunity to share the joy with little children again. Later in our service today we will remember the death, burial and resurrection of our Lord when we take communion as we do so each Sunday.

I am speaking to you about Family Ties. Do you miss being with your family? I miss being with my family. I miss having a cup of coffee with my son and his wife and visiting with our daughters in Florida and their families. We also miss being with our grandchildren and great grandchildren. With patience we will also be back meeting as a congregation in one place before too long. Continue reading “FAMILY TIES” →

A HEALTHY, HAPPY HOME

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Shelby G. Floyd

A joyful congregation is made up of joyful people who have joyful homes. Most people want to have a happy home. To have a happy home is no accident. It involves work, planning and cooperation. Above all else, a happy home is a home that respects and abides by God’s instructions for each member of the family. Continue reading “A HEALTHY, HAPPY HOME” →

MARRIAGE DESIGNED BY GOD

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Shelby G. Floyd

Credit: Google Images

With the marriage today of Harry and Meagan so visible to the whole world, it is a good time to study the marriage relationship as designed by God in the beginning. The following sermon was presented in 1976, but the truth therein proclaimed is just as true today! Continue reading “MARRIAGE DESIGNED BY GOD” →

THE FUNCTIONAL FAMILY

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Shelby G. Floyd

Titus 2:1-5
But as for you, speak the things which are proper for sound doctrine: 2 that the older men be sober, reverent, temperate, sound in faith, in love, in patience; 3 the older women likewise, that they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things— 4 that they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, 5 to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be blasphemed.
NKJV

A HAPPY HOME

In the office of a family counselor, I read these words on a plaque: “Let’s put the word ‘fun’ back in the word dysfunctional!” In functional homes each member of the family will have joyful fun in everything that is morally and religiously right. Continue reading “THE FUNCTIONAL FAMILY” →

A CONVERSION IN PHILIPPI

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Shelby G. Floyd

picture-baptism-water-cross

On the second evangelistic journey Paul and Silas were shamefully treated in Philippi. They were severely flogged and committed to the jailor, who was commanded to keep them safely. This he did by putting them in the inner cell and fastening their feet in the stocks.

What Must I Do To Be Saved?
Paul and Silas were heroic in their faith. They were praying and singing unto God, when about midnight there was a great earthquake that shook the prison and released the prisoners. The jailor, rather than be humiliated by the Roman government was about to take his life, when Paul cried out, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!” After falling down trembling, he brought Paul and Silas out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved” (Acts 16:30)?

Believe in the Lord Jesus and You Will Be Saved
They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved—you and your household” (Acts 16:31). The jailor was a Gentile and had no or very little knowledge about Jesus. So how could he believe? It was necessary that the word of God be presented to him about Christ and his plan to save man. This they did (Acts 16:32).

Belief + Repentance + Baptism = Forgiveness
This teaching involved repentance and baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We know this is the case, because the jailor washed their stripes on their backs, and took them somewhere. Where did he take them? He took them to a place where there was water sufficient to baptize—and he and his family were immersed into Christ for the forgiveness of sins. The Bible says, “Then immediately he and his family were baptized (Acts 16:33).

The Jailor Was Saved By Faith, But Not Faith Alone!
The jailor and everyone today are saved by faith, but not faith alone. After the jailor believed, he repented of his sins, evidenced by acts of kindness toward Paul and Silas. Then he took Paul and Silas, and he and his family were baptized to be saved. All of these actions are how he was saved by faith, and was summed up by this eyewitness statement of the author: “The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole household” (Acts 16:34).

The Saved Are Filled With Joy after Baptism
Conversions recorded in Acts of Apostles, confirm that no one ever was joyful of their salvation until after they were baptized, predicated on their faith, repentance, and confession! Have you rejoiced because you were baptized into Christ, where all spiritual blessings are to be found (Ephesians 1:3, 7)? Have you been baptized in order to be saved (Mark 16:16; 1 Peter 3:21)?

Copyright © 2016 Shelby G. Floyd, All Rights Reserved

Shelby G. Floyd

Shelby G. Floyd
Heartland Church of Christ
1693 West Main Street
Greenwood, Indiana 46142

EYE COVENANT

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Shelby G. Floyd

Eyes Covenant

In the Old Testament we read about one of the greatest men who ever lived, and that was Job. Job was a very good man. He served God with all of his heart. And yet God tested him. And while he was in the midst of his suffering and trial he had to defend his integrity before his friends. In his defense Job said in reply to Bildad the Shuhite, “I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustily at a girl” (Job 31:1). That’s what we are going to talk about today. If you haven’t made a covenant with your eyes you need to do so like Job. Job said, “I made a covenant with my eyes.” A covenant is an agreement and when you make an agreement you should live up to it and keep it.

Sexual immorality was a big problem in ancient times and is even a bigger problem today, especially in America. Sexual immorality causes great pain both to the perpetrators and to the innocent people who are not involved. There are perhaps three or four reasons why a person might want to go out and commit sexual immorality. One could just be their ego. Some people are like that. Another reason might be that person’s inner need for sharing and affection, even though it is unlawful. And a third reason might be just because they have the raw lust of the flesh. Sexual immorality is so common in our society today that we excuse it and we accept it. And it is all because man tends to glorify the body and to belittle the spirit that is within that body. Continue reading “EYE COVENANT” →

Choose Your Wife (Husband) for Life

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Shelby G. Floyd

Choose

 

 

Today, most young people between the ages of 18 and 25 are thinking about getting married and having a family. It is very important for the happiness and success of a young man or young woman to make the right decision in choosing their partner for life. Perhaps it would be good to observe a few principles by which God’s people made that choice in the Old Testament.

Choosing a Worldly Marriage Partner

As you probably remember, the patriarch Isaac and his wife Rebecca, had twin boys—Jacob and Esau. The New Testament declares that Esau was a profane man who sold his birthright for one morsel of food (Hebrews 12:16-17). This simply means that his character was godless. We see this demonstrated in the choice that he made when he selected his wife.

It seems during this period of time that men and women were quite a bit older when they selected their marriage partners than today. The book of Genesis declares: “When Esau was forty years old, he took Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite to be his wife, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite, and they made life bitter for Isaac and Rebekah” (Genesis 26: 34-35). Esau demonstrated that he lacked spiritual values in his choice of Hittite women who had Canaanite and worldly values embedded in their culture. When young people select a wife or husband, they are marrying into their families as well as their own. Continue reading “Choose Your Wife (Husband) for Life” →