Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Foreign.
[00:00:06] Hey, everybody. Pastor Chuck here with another weekday podcast, and I'm so glad you're here on this Wednesday before Thanksgiving. I want to keep unpacking the idea of altars. I was on yesterday's podcast, and I was talking about the significance of altar building. And remember that God has always been. God will always be. He's always been there for you and will always be there for you.
[00:00:30] Today, let's kind of bring it home, literally, to your home, to your family. Because altars should arrive in our family, not just in our individual life and not just a church. Now, when I say that, I don't mean you need to be perfect.
[00:00:46] I don't mean you need to have a daily devotion every 6am with everyone sitting around the table and matching pajamas, singing hymns. It's. It's that if. If that's your family, doggone it, that's just awesome. But it never worked for me.
[00:00:59] That's not most of us. What I mean is this. Families need tangible reminders that God's been faithful.
[00:01:07] Real visible markers that say, this is where God showed up for us. He is faithful.
[00:01:12] Maybe your family's altar is like this framed photo from a season you didn't think you'd make it. Maybe it's a candle you light on Friday night. You just say, God, thanks for getting us through another week. Maybe it's a story you tell every Thanksgiving about how God provided when the bank account was empty.
[00:01:30] Your kids need hear these stories. Your spouse needs to hear these stories. And sometimes your parents need to hear these stories. Not just once, but like the people of Israel did over and over again.
[00:01:42] And you know what? Again and again, generationally. Joshua knew it when he built the altar of stones by the Jordan River. He didn't build it for the adult who already knew what happened. He said, when your children ask, what do these stones mean? Then you can tell them.
[00:01:59] Because here's the deal, y'. All. Faith gets passed on through remembrance. If we don't commemorate what God has done, our kids won't know. They won't have the language. They won't have the framework. If faith is a flame, remembrance is the oil that keeps it burning.
[00:02:19] So what are you commemorating? What are the stories your family tells? What are the moments that you go back to when life gets difficult?
[00:02:28] Here's a simple idea. Grab a notebook or a jar this week. Write down one moment of God's faithfulness.
[00:02:36] Maybe your spouse writes one, maybe your kids write one and drop them in the jar. Then when life feels radically uncertain and it will go back and read them and watch the pattern emerge. Because God's faithfulness isn't just a one time thing.
[00:02:53] It's not a one time miracle. It's a lifelong rhythm. And when we name it, when we mark it, when we tell the stories, we're stacking stones, we're building altars. And those altars become the foundation our families stand on when the storms come. God's been faithful, friends. Name it, mark it, tell the story.
[00:03:17] Because your family needs to hear it as well.
[00:03:19] We'll talk again tomorrow on Thanksgiving Day on the weekday podcast. God bless you, friends. Bye now.
