Football seasons are quite the roller coaster ride. Every team and every fan begin the season with high expectations and great hope. All our teams start the season undefeated, but as we know, that does not last very long. The season eventually kicks off and wins and losses begin to accumulate. Some teams secure early wins but then start to underperform. Other teams struggle out the gates, but then somehow find a way to right the ship. All teams experience unexpected obstacles such as player and coaching mistakes, injuries, and bad calls by the refs. However, some teams find a way to succeed amidst those ups and downs. Consequently, not all teams remain standing at this point in the season. That privilege goes to the handful of teams that learned how to persevere and get better amidst their low points.
In many ways, I think marriage could be compared to a football season. In part, this is because marriage truly is a team sport. Through marriage, God brings two individuals together and unites them as one team on their wedding day. And every married team begins their season of marriage with very high hopes. I’ve never known a bride and groom that wasn’t optimistic about their future and expecting many wins. However, when you fast forward a little bit into their seasons, many husbands and wives are surprised to discover challenging obstacles in their home and they experience a few losses. Nonetheless, some marriages still manage to find a way to persevere and get better, even amidst their low points. The question is, what makes a marriage a winning team?
In Matthew chapter 7, Jesus says every home is built on one of two foundations. Some build their houses on sand, and when the storms begin to rage, their houses begin to crumble. Their foundation is not solid, so the wind and the floods easily sweep their homes away. But Jesus says that wise men build their houses on the rock. “And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds below and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock” (Matthew 7:25). In the same way, your home is built on some form of a foundation. Your homebuilder built that physical foundation for you, but you get to choose the spiritual foundation on which you will build your lives together. Jesus tells us that He is our rock, and if we choose to build our homes on the foundation of following Him, our marriages will find solid ground. The storms of life will still come to our homes, but Jesus Christ will give our marriages the strength that is needed to endure.
I hope you have chosen to build your home on the rock. Working with many couples over the years, I have been constantly reminded that all other ground is indeed sinking sand. And if you have not laid down the right foundation for your home, you can certainly change that today. However, even if you have laid down the right foundation, it is important to note that every home still needs maintenance. This is why we are hosting our first ever marriage conference at ABC with best-selling author, Gary Thomas. The Sacred Marriage Conference will be a life-giving event to help couples further strengthen their marriages, so they can finish their seasons as champions for the glory of Jesus Christ. Whether your team has been winning as of late, or perhaps you have been experiencing many losses, this conference will strengthen your home and will be a worthy investment of your time.
I hope you plan to join us this Friday and Saturday. Online registration will remain open through Thursday (register HERE). If you know a couple that would enjoy this with you, I also encourage you to invite them as your guests. It will be a special weekend filled with fellowship, inspiring teaching, and lots of laughter. I hope to see you there and in our worship services this Sunday, as we discover how we can find “better rest” in and through Jesus Christ. Continue to stand strong on the rock this week, and I’ll see you at church this weekend.
Onward and upward,
Jonathan Spencer
www.jonathanspencer.org 