If you've missed the previous lessons in our series on Church you can find them in the "Church" category on the side.

In last weeks lesson, we discussed the Bride of Christ's (the church's) responsibilities.  We will continue that discussion this week.

4. Be a helpmeet to her husband
a. A bride should help with hospitality. In the church, we are to offer the water of life that Jesus talked with the woman at the well about (John 4:13-14). We welcome those in that desire that water. “And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” Rev. 22:17

b. A bride should help to pass on the family name and bear children. In Acts 11, the church in Jerusalem sent Barnabas out to preach the word. In verse 2 it says that many people were added to the Lord because of the work that Barnabas had done. The church must do the work, but God will add the increase (1 Cor. 3:6).

c. A bride helps with rearing/nurturing children. “From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.” (Ephesians 4:16) The body (church) should edify itself.

d. A bride is to help with disciplining of children and self discipline. - A church should practice discipline of its members. “But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person.” (1 Corinthians 5:13) If you have a basket of fruit and one piece of fruit is molding, you want to throw it away before the mold spreads to the good fruit. In the same way, a church should put away the bad influences in the church to keep the other members spotless from the world.

e. A bride should be a good companion. A bride should listen to her groom, talk to him, eat with him, and be with him. The church should participate in Bible study (listening), praying (talking), eating with him, (Lord's Supper) and being with him in worship. What kind of relationship do we have if we don't spend time with that person? The more time spent with a spouse, the better the relationship with them. Why do some people think they can only worship on Sunday mornings and never attend any other assemblies of the church or open their Bible during the week? Relationships cannot be built with so little time. Priorities must be in the proper place as well.

Next week we will conclude the Bride's responsibilities.

On Momma Mondays we've been looking at Respect.  We've been talking about who to respect and how to teach our children respect.  Let's continue with a look at respecting our husbands.
"Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband."  (Ephesians 5:33)

The ESV uses the word 'respect' in place of 'reverence.'  Both of these words do describe how we should treat our husbands, but let's look at the Greek word.  The Greek word here is: φοβέω or phobeō.  This word means to fear and it is the same word that is used in Matthew 10:28:  "And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell."  (Matthew 10:28)  We should have a similar attitude towards our husband as we do God.

This is such an unpopular idea in our society.  How many sitcoms are made so that the man looks incompetent and is disrespected by a disobedient family!  This is not the way that God wants a Christian family to act!

Respect should be modeled in the home.  It is in the home where the parents respect God, and the wife respects the husband that the children learn to show respect to God and in society.  Here are some things we can do to show respect to our husband and be the example to our children we should be:

1.  Do not put him down.  Say good things about your husband at all times.  Once, shortly after being married, I went to a 'sleepover' that another young married woman had for the teens and young women at a congregation.  Unfortunately, it became a husband bashing party between two of the young marrieds.  The hostess of this party was divorced a few years later.  How sad it is when we don't respect our husbands.  It can destroy a marriage!

2.  Avoid arguments where possible.  I know this one is a tough one.  My temper is quick to get in the way of this one!  But, I have learned, on occasion to let something go and not 'correct' my husband in front of the children.

3.  Obey him even when he's not around.  I don't know how many times I've heard a mother say something like, "What daddy won't know won't hurt him" or "Daddy's not here, let's do (whatever)."  If your husband has made a rule, then it is a rule all the time.  If he doesn't want the kids eating in the new truck, then you make sure they abide by the rule even if Daddy's not there.  I knew of mother once who took her daughter shopping for a prom dress after the daddy said she wasn't going.  This kind of disrespect should not be a part of the Christian home!

4.  Appreciate the things he does, no matter how small.  Some men do a lot for their wives, some do little.  Don't gripe if your man is one of those that does little.  Appreciate what he does and make sure he knows how much you appreciate it.  A little praise goes a long way to helping men be better husbands and fathers.

5.  Be willing to not have your way.  Our society has trained us to be selfish.  We want our way entirely too often.  God wants us to live His way and many times this means that we must put aside our will for others.  It would do us some good to exercise this ability more often and let our husbands have it their way (where it fits with God's way).  Let's stop fighting against the spiritual head of the family and follow along on heaven's road.

Ladies, let's break the mold of society and put our husbands in their place, second only to the Father!  When the wife models this proper respect to their children, the home is a happier place.

Next week we'll have a guest writer on Momma Monday, then we will come back to this series on Respect.

If you haven't been following these lessons you can find them here:  Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4,  Part 5 and Part 6.

The Responsibilities of the Bride of Christ

Last week we studied about how the bride can be 'put away' if unfaithful. Let's look at a few areas where the church must be faithful or be rejected by Christ.

1. Be attractive for her husband – A godly wife must wear what a godly husband wants her to, when he wants her to. If she is going around dressed as a harlot, she will be punished. Christ wants our clothing to be clean and appropriate too.

“...that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.” (Ephesians 5:26-27)

“Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.” (Revelation 19:7-8)

1st Timothy 2:9-10 says that a woman should wear modest clothes and instead of focusing on the wearing of fancy clothes and jewelry, we should be adorned with good works. There is so much to do in the church, we shouldn't have time for sinful activities.

2. Give herself totally to her husband. A wife belongs to her husband and to him alone. A divided heart leads to heartache.

“For the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. Do not deprive one another, except perhaps by agreement for a limited time, that you may devote yourselves to prayer; but then come together again, so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.” (1 Corinthians 7:4-5)

“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)

3. Be faithful to her husband for life. She cannot be with others or she will be put away.

“Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.” (Revelation 2:10)

“Their wives likewise must be dignified, not slanderers, but sober-minded, faithful in all things.” (1 Timothy 3:11)

If a deacon's wife must be faithful, how about Christ's wife?


We will explore more of this topic next week!

Previously, I had featured a product from Apologetics Press called Creation Cards.  Today I will do a review of the Creation Cards - God's Animal Kindom.  There is another set called Exploring God's Creation.

These Creation Cards are wonderful!  Each card has a full color photograph of the animal with the name written in bold letters.  On the back of each card are cool facts about that animal.  There are even two extra blank cards for you to design your own cards with your child's favorite animals.  

The first thing we did was to punch holes in the corner and put them on a ring.  My 10 month old loves to flip through them!  Some are oriented up and down and some are side to side, so we had put the hole in different corners.  Ours are grouped by how they are oriented, then we put all the mammals together in each of those two groups, then reptiles and fish.

As you can see, my 10 month old finds the pictures engaging.  She wants to reach out and grab the animals.  As we flip through them with her, we read 1 or two of the facts.  With each animal, we talk about how God made it.  If we can make the animal sound, we do.  She's already trying to bark like a dog!

The facts make it enjoyable for the whole family!  My 9 year old and 6 year old begged to have them read, so we began to read them for our Bible time before bed.  Even my husband and I are learning facts from them!  Did you know that a camel's hump can weigh up to 80 pounds?  Or that God designed foxes to be able to hear an earthworm stretching in the grass?  Amazing!