Those who do the will of my father, Jesus was not disrespectful to his mother, and remember he takes care of her right up to the end, but Jesus acknowledges that spirit is more important than blood, and this family here should be more important than your blood family, and parents won't allow their kids to mix with kids of other families, because they feel a sense of superiority, you've made a god of your family, kids who are taught by their parents that they are Christians, and they are saved because they are born into a Christian family, and folk I'm not talking about those in historic churches, I'm talking about people in evangelical churches, where kids are raised to believe that you are a Christian, because we will not tell them that you are a sinner, because that's going to hurt the kids psyche, we will not admit to the fact that the kid is naughty, because we believe that they are angels, if you believe, folk hear me, if you believe that your kids are angels, and you believe that they are geniuses, you've made an idol of your kids, it's as simple as that, so how can you say that, because here's the reality your kids are not angels, I have not seen any children and I love children, I've loved your children as my own, but I've never seen a child who is an angel, because evil the scripture says is bound up in the heart of the child, if you believe your kids are a genius, you're deceived, your kid may be first in their class, it doesn't make them a genius, and even if they were a genius it doesn't necessarily make them a nice kid, I've told you before, I want that bumper sticker on the back of my car, my cat is more clever than your honour student, folk you see, you say why is this a big issue, it's a big issue because it speaks to our hearts, if you really believe that your kids are angels, you really believe that they are geniuses, and there's nobody as clever as your kids, it speaks to your state of mind, you cannot see the reality, you cannot see the truth, now they may be good kids, they may be clever, but you've turned them into idols, remember the guy who takes a piece of wood and cooks his food on it, and takes the other half of the log that he cut, and he falls down and he worships it, and he can't see the stupidity that this thing is a piece of wood, and when parents can't see that their kids are not that bright, or that there are others that are more clever than them, or that they're not as angelic as they think, they're made an idol, alright we need to move on, drawing your happiness, fulfilment and identity from the family, rather than from Christ, when family identifies who you are, rather than being a Christian, and I know it's maybe not a good time to talk about that, but I need to, the evidence comes at the grave, when the family has become everything, and God has become less, it's evident in the way people mourn, I'm not disrespecting those who have lost loved ones very recently, and those who have lost loved ones as time has gone on, but folk if we're not willing to put God first, when we lose family, everything falls apart, because my whole hope, my whole life, my whole everything is bound up in my family, many parents and grandparents, love to brag on their kids and their grandkids, and that's fine, but the problem comes when we're quick to brag on our kids, and slow to brag on Christ, when all we can do is talk about our kids and what they do, and how they this and that, and we find it hard to speak about Jesus, I know you say well that's not possible, yes that's possible, I have seen it, I've seen it here, because what my heart is filled with is family and not Jesus, and that flows on to parents and grandparents, who just want to speak about their kids, and they can't listen to others speak about theirs, now there are dangers, and I need to move on, otherwise I'm going to run out, and I want to speak very quickly about the practical problems, that come with when we worship family, and they don't know particular order, but the one thing that happens is that kids feel suffocated, because their parents are hovering over them all the time, parents are just trying to protect and to guard them, because this is my little treasure, I'm not talking about being responsible parents, I'm not talking about being safe, and doing all of the right things, but it becomes excessive, and the result of that is that those kids will act out, when they are teenagers, you may be able to hold them, and you may be able to keep them restricted, until they get to 12 13 and 14, and then they will act out, I've seen this in cults over and over and over, I've seen this in families over and over, and that which you try to hold on to, you will lose, kids grow up narcissistic, and self -centered, because they've been taught that everything revolves around, me and us and our family, we spoke about that last week, that leads to the worship of self, because the kids are being taught to worship myself, from small, and folks again, we don't have the time, but let me just explain that, when we did the parenting series, and I know it's a long time ago, and I know that a lot of that wasn't acceptable, but when the baby, there is a progression, when the baby is first born, yes everything revolves around that baby, when it says you need to be there, and you need to wipe it, and you need to wash it, and you need to feed it, and you need to do all of these things, but that needs to change as the child grows older, but unfortunately sometimes it doesn't change, and so we have 50 year old, and 60 year old babies, in the world today, who still think everything revolves around me, because they never grew up, because the parents never taught them, that they are not the center of everything, families that are built around children, fall apart, when the kids leave the family, we've seen that over and over, because the parents never had a relationship, all they can talk about is the kids, oh we got to get Johnny to school tomorrow, we got to buy Susie a new dress, we got to do this and that and the other thing, oh did you see what he did, it's all about the kids, all the focus, all the attention is about the kids, and the parents drift apart, the kids leave the home, and you wonder why you have so many empty nesters, in the divorce courts, isolationism is contrary to the great commission, it leads to disobedience, the great commission is go into the world, and preach the gospel, but no we want us for no more, our little family, and that leads to disobedience to God, and what happens in that process is that, the same as we spoke about last week about self, is that we then adjust our theology, to suit our disobedience, and I know that there are those, who may be here this morning, and those who are online, who will find every verse in the bible, about how important family is, and why we should not discipline our children, why we should worship them, why we should be constantly affirming them, telling them that they're the greatest, they're the cleverest, they're the prettiest, I've seen pastors change their theology, to suit their disobedience in families, the question simply is, are you going to be more obedient to God, than to your kids, because here's the problem, modern families are not built around parents, they're built around kids, and parents obey the kids, because otherwise the kids going to throw a tantrum, who are you listening to, are you listening to God, or are you listening to your family, let's go to Mark chapter 10, and I'm going to draw to a close, passage we began with, so Jesus answered and said assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left houses, or brothers, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, and lands for my sake, and the gospels, who will not receive a hundredfold, now in this time, houses, and brothers, and sisters, mothers, and children, lands with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life, I'm not going to analyze those verses, but this is the promise of the Lord Jesus Christ, that nothing we give up for him, I'm not asking you to divorce your husband, or your wife, I'm not asking you to kick your children out, I'm asking you just to put things in their right place, make sure that God is in his right place, in your heart and life, and when we do that, God honors that, and he honors it, he says here, a hundred times over, folks there is nothing that we have to surrender, that God asks us to do, it doesn't matter what it is, that God will not repay, God is not unjust, God is not unfair, God is not a ogre, who wants to take stuff from us, just to deprive us, but he wants us to get our lives right, so that he can bless us, yes we've spoken about the dangers, and the dangers are real, but at the end of the day, what's more important, is that I have God's blessing in my life, and that I have God's blessing in my family, maybe you're tired of the story, but let me remind you, of my own personal experience, and Inna's experience, I think we'd been married 20 years, when we came here, a long time, our marriage was not good, never was good, but God brought us here, God brought me here, and I remember calling Inna, and telling her that I have to stay here, it was long before the internet was in its infancy stages, we were using the undersea telephone line, costing a fortune every minute, and Inna had to make a choice, her family, or obedience to God, what a choice, we just moved into our dream home, in South Africa, some part of me felt that this was a way out, we could stay married, and stay obedient in that sense, and I could carry on here, and she could stay there, but God spoke to her, and the day she said, I'll be obedient to God, God healed our marriage, it's been 20 years, 19 years since then, and we've known tremendous blessing, and joy in our marriage, because my wife was obedient to God, and chose God over her daughters, for God wants to bless us, but we need to let go, and we need to put him first, and here's the bottom line, many who are first will be last, and what is last will be first, you cannot hold on to things, that God takes the place of God, in the end you'll pay the price, look I'm not a prophet, but listen to me, remember what I said this morning, put God first, and know his blessing, put anything else first, and you will know heartache, the choice is yours, remember Lot, remember Abraham, father we thank you for your word, we thank you Lord that your desires for us is good, and Lord that you in every way want to help us, and bless us, and encourage us, and Lord want us to prosper, and yet Lord we so often feel, that we can take things in our own hands, and we can control our own lives, and our own families, give us grace Lord to be obedient to you, just like Abraham was, and Lord to choose you first, and to leave the rest in your hands, help us to understand Lord, but above all help us to do, father as I said earlier, I cannot understand what went on in Abraham's heart, when he raised that knife, to the son that he loved, but I understand his devotion to you, and I pray Lord that we may have one God only, and that is not our kids, and our grandkids, and our brothers, and sisters, and fathers, and family, and I thank you Lord that in your promise, you will return that which we have surrendered, for your sake, help us understand Lord, help us above all to find it in our hearts, to do the right things, I ask this in Jesus name, I pray that you'd go with us Lord, keep us, protect us, bring us together again safely on Thursday, I pray this in Jesus name, Amen.