The U.S. Census Bureau report for the decade of the 90's was released back in
2001. Here are its disturbing findings concerning the family. Households headed
by unmarried partners grew by almost 72 percent from 1990 to 2000. Most of these
arrangements were men and women living together out of wedlock. Other studies
have shown that cohabitation increased by close to 1,000 percent from 1960 to
1998. Households headed by single mothers increased by more than 25 percent, and
those led by single fathers grew, get this, by almost 62 percent. And this next
finding is astounding: For the first time ever, nuclear families dropped below
25 percent of households. That's a mom and a dad and children, the nuclear
family, represents less than a quarter of all homes.
Another finding partially explains why this is happening: A third of all babies
are born to unmarried women (33 percent) compared to only 4 percent in 1940.
There are a growing number of women in their late 20's and 30's who are deciding
to bear and raise children on their own. Our culture is teaching that this is
normal. In this new world old taboos against divorce and cohabitation are
disappearing. Culture is abandoning its commitment to lifelong marriage. It is
predicted now, based on these trends, that about half of the children today will
spend at least part of their childhood in single-parent homes.
This moral breakdown in our society has many factors: The sexual revolution of
the sixties, the secularization of our society, the women's movement, even the
increase in leisure time is responsible. But there is one reason more than any
other for the demise of the family—divorce.
One day Jesus is in Judea, when a great crowd came to him. In this crowd are
Pharisees who decide to step forward and test Jesus. They ask, "Is it lawful for
a man to divorce his wife?" In other words, is it God's will that a man should
be able to divorce his wife? "What did Moses command you?" Jesus asked. The
Pharisees knew the answer, "Moses permitted a man to divorce his wife and send
her away." It was because your hearts were hard that Moses wrote you this law,
Jesus replied. His response is not so much a glimpse into the mind of God as it
is an indictment on the human heart.
This morning let us look at God’s heart concerning:
Divorce
Children
And the Family
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