DYS-Functional Family
8/20/23
Functional Family Part 1
Hey There, I’m Neal Preston. My Wife Amie and along with our 3 children, Bradlie, Kaden and Quincie and a host of friends and family have dedicated our lives to helping people find their God-Given calling. We only have a short time here on earth and we need to make every moment count. Life is meant to be enjoyed and is too short to live miserably. We create resources, books, planners, courses and coaching to help you Find the Way. You can check out these resources on our website, NealAndAmie.com — We also are the pastors of Triplefect church in wofford heights california. If you are in the Kern River Valley or surrounding areas we would love for you to join as at one of our services, we meet at 10:30 every Sunday. Go to our website for more information. Again. That’s Neal and Amie .com
Today we are talking about dysfunctional families. I mean let’s be honest. Every family has its dysfunction, right? Some family dysfunction is our own faults, other aspects of our dysfunction are not our faults at all, and we just were stuck in it. In today’s episode we are going to look at the difference between dysfunctional and functional families and see what God has to say about it through diving into His word. Let’s jump into today’s episode.
Today we are going to begin a series Titled Functional Family.
But let’s face it… no family is perfectly functional.
Since we have a serious subject coming our way… let’s at least laugh a little about our dysfunctional families for a minute.
What do you call a family reunion for a dysfunctional family?
A family dysfunction
I called the toilet paper manufacturer to complain about a dysfunctional layer of the product...
They wouldn't re-ply.
What keeps members of a dysfunctional family together?
Crazy Glue
Today we’ll be covering what a dysfunctional family looks like and where the first dysfunctional family started.
We are going to look at what a functional family should look like and the benefits of committing to becoming a functional family. (God’s family)
And we are going to look at one of Satan's greatest tricks to keep us stuck in dysfunction. Offense! Being Offended is the Bait of Satan.
What does a dysfunctional family look like??
Mom and Dad are constantly fighting
Communication in general is trash
Members of the family are selfish, looking out for their own interests.
Hate, Jealousy, Envy, Rage and Anger are prevalent
Where did dysfunction originate?
The first parents decided not to listen to God
Satan slithered into the functional family and brought dysfunction
Sin, Hiding, Shame, Sickness, Pain, Death (all came from the father of the dysfunctional family, Satan)
What Did God do to try to get His family back?
He sent His Son, Jesus Christ to bring function back to the family
Let’s look at this passage from Matthew
Back Story: John the Baptist and Jesus are family. They are cousins. John was offended and sitting in prison. (Prisons are populated with dysfunctional people, because families are highly dysfunctional) He had a little bit of an attitude and was questioning a few things about his family.
Matthew 11:4-6
4 Jesus answered them, “Give John this report: 5 ‘The blind see again, the crippled walk, lepers are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised back to life, and the poor and broken now hear of the hope of salvation!’ 6 And tell John that the blessing of heaven comes to those who are not offended over me.”
All dysfunction came from Satan who introduced the family to sin.
Because of this sickness and its effects invaded the world.
Satans #1 agenda is to make everything dysfunctional. Why? He’s ticked.
Dysfunctional individuals make up dysfunctional families
Combining Dysfunction together does not make function
Satan wants to take away your original function in order to wreck you and the world.
The word devil means divider.
Mark 3: 23-27 A House Divided
23 And He called them to Himself and began speaking to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 If a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. 26 If Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but he is finished! 27 But no one can enter the strong man’s house and plunder his property unless he first binds the strong man, and then he will plunder his house.
Jesus’ mission was to destroy the works of the enemy and redeem His now dysfunctional children in order to restore them to their original function.
What was the original function God created?
There were no effects of Sin
No sickness
No death
Each person was created to be in perfect union with God
In a relationship that was healthy
Enjoying the days walking and talking with each other and God
BIG POINT: One of Satan's greatest tools is OFFENSE. He wants us to get offended with each other and God.
BUT JESUS SAID. Matthew 11: 6 And tell John that the blessing of heaven comes to those who are not offended over me.”
Through offense, the devil is trying to destroy us
Our families
And the church…. And if you look around it’s working.
But we are taking a stand against dysfunction and saying… NOT TODAY SATAN!
We are going to lean into all that God has died to restore to us… FULL FUNCTION.
Over the coming weeks we are going to be digging into what it means to function like a family of God.
We are going to look for anything that is DYSFUNCTIONAL AND WE ARE GOING TO GET TO THE ROOT, FIGURE OUT WHERE THE DEVIL HAS GOTTEN A FOOTHOLD IN US, OUR FAMILIES AND OUR CHURCH AND CAST IT OUT.
This may have stirred some things up in you… that’s good.
When the devil gets stirred up then we can target the dysfunction.
I’ve heard it said like this…. IF WE CAN SPOT EM, WE’VE GOT EM.
IT’S TIME TO SPOT WHERE THE DYSFUNCTION IS AND CAST IT OUT.
LET ME PRAY WITH YOU….