Home Values Part 3: Hometaker

"Home Values"

Part 3: Hometaker
1 Samuel 2:12-35
Pastor Ray-ann Dela Fuente
November 8, 2026

Memory Verse:
“He must manage his own family well, having children who respect and obey him. For if a man cannot manage his own household, how can he take care of God’s church?”
1 Timothy 3:4-5 NLT

Introduction:
Welcome to another exciting Sunday here at the River of Faith! Today we are in part three of our Series I entitled "Home Values." As we have just finished talking about the core values that made our church who we are, we are now going to talk about the Biblical Values that should make our homes stronger and deeply rooted on the Word of God.

How do we measure success? Success may be defined nowadays as having wealth, power, and fame. Success could also mean that you have attained your goals and reached your dreams. Many attribute their success to their material possessions but is that really what God defines as being successful? Would you consider yourself a successful person? As we continue our series today part three is about being a good home-taker. Let's look at the Scriptures.

“Now the sons of Eli were scoundrels who had no respect for the LORD or for their duties as priests. Whenever anyone offered a sacrifice, Eli’s sons would send over a servant with a three-pronged fork. While the meat of the sacrificed animal was still boiling, the servant would stick the fork into the pot and demand that whatever it brought up be given to Eli’s sons. All the Israelites who came to worship at Shiloh were treated this way. Sometimes the servant would come even before the animal’s fat had been burned on the altar. He would demand raw meat before it had been boiled so that it could be used for roasting. The man offering the sacrifice might reply, “Take as much as you want, but the fat must be burned first.” Then the servant would demand, “No, give it to me now, or I’ll take it by force.” So the sin of these young men was very serious in the LORD’s sight, for they treated the LORD’s offerings with contempt.”
1 Samuel 2:12-17 NLT

Main Pointers:
1. The power of our message must be first seen at home.

A. They said "you cannot sold a Ford by driving a Honda." There is an enormous amount of reference in the Scriptures that links one's true definition of success to what was established first at home. Unfortunately for Eli he failed miserably to pass this on to his sons.
B. King David was given success in many things he did and look at what he had to say to his son.
C. “As the time of King David’s death approached, he gave this charge to his son Solomon: “I am going where everyone on earth must someday go. Take courage and be a man. Observe the requirements of the LORD your God, and follow all his ways. Keep the decrees, commands, regulations, and laws written in the Law of Moses so that you will be successful in all you do and wherever you go. If you do this, then the LORD will keep the promise he made to me. He told me, ‘If your descendants live as they should and follow me faithfully with all their heart and soul, one of them will always sit on the throne of Israel."
1 Kings 2:1-4 NLT

2. Leadership rises and falls at our home.

“Now Eli was very old, but he was aware of what his sons were doing to the people of Israel. He knew, for instance, that his sons were seducing the young women who assisted at the entrance of the Tabernacle. Eli said to them, “I have been hearing reports from all the people about the wicked things you are doing. Why do you keep sinning? You must stop, my sons! The reports I hear among the LORD’s people are not good. If someone sins against another person, God can mediate for the guilty party. But if someone sins against the LORD, who can intercede?” But Eli’s sons wouldn’t listen to their father, for the LORD was already planning to put them to death.”
1 Samuel 2:22-25 NLT

A. Many Christians today fail at home because we've lost our focus on what mattered the most. We've become complacent and unmotivated to stir up Christian values at our homes. Activities have become more of priority than substance. We prepare our kids more for survival than for fulfillment.
B. “These are the commands, decrees, and regulations that the LORD your God commanded me to teach you. You must obey them in the land you are about to enter and occupy, and you and your children and grandchildren must fear the LORD your God as long as you live. If you obey all his decrees and commands, you will enjoy a long life. Listen closely, Israel, and be careful to obey. Then all will go well with you, and you will have many children in the land flowing with milk and honey, just as the LORD, the God of your ancestors, promised you. “Listen, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone. And you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates."
Deuteronomy 6:1-9 NLT

3. Our failure or success to lead can impact the next generation.

“One day a man of God came to Eli and gave him this message from the LORD: “I revealed myself to your ancestors when they were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt. I chose your ancestor Aaron from among all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to offer sacrifices on my altar, to burn incense, and to wear the priestly vest as he served me. And I assigned the sacrificial offerings to you priests. So why do you scorn my sacrifices and offerings? Why do you give your sons more honor than you give me—for you and they have become fat from the best offerings of my people Israel! “Therefore, the LORD, the God of Israel, says: I promised that your branch of the tribe of Levi would always be my priests. But I will honor those who honor me, and I will despise those who think lightly of me. The time is coming when I will put an end to your family, so it will no longer serve as my priests. All the members of your family will die before their time. None will reach old age. You will watch with envy as I pour out prosperity on the people of Israel. But no members of your family will ever live out their days. The few not cut off from serving at my altar will survive, but only so their eyes can go blind and their hearts break, and their children will die a violent death. And to prove that what I have said will come true, I will cause your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, to die on the same day! “Then I will raise up a faithful priest who will serve me and do what I desire. I will establish his family, and they will be priests to my anointed kings forever. Then all of your surviving family will bow before him, begging for money and food.‘ Please,’ they will say, give us jobs among the priests so we will have enough to eat.’”
1 Samuel 2:27-36 NLT

A. The consequences of Eli's failure was severe. Not only that judgment were placed upon him and his family but the future of their generation were also punished. The foundation we laid today could be the strength of our children and the children after them tomorrow.
B. ““O my people, listen to my instructions. Open your ears to what I am saying, for I will speak to you in a parable. I will teach you hidden lessons from our past— stories we have heard and known, stories our ancestors handed down to us. We will not hide these truths from our children; we will tell the next generation about the glorious deeds of the LORD, about his power and his mighty wonders. For he issued his laws to Jacob; he gave his instructions to Israel. He commanded our ancestors to teach them to their children, so the next generation might know them— even the children not yet born— and they in turn will teach their own children. So each generation should set its hope anew on God, not forgetting his glorious miracles and obeying his commands. The warriors of Ephraim, though armed with bows, turned their backs and fled on the day of battle.”
Psalms 78:1-7, 9 NLT

Conclusion:
There is much needed revival that needs to take place in our homes today. It will all start once we go back to the Biblical principles that will make our homes strong and secure. God cares not only for our children and families today He wants to bless our entire generation long after we are gone. Let's be a good home-takers today. Let's lay the foundation and let our children and the children after them build it stronger in the Name of Jesus!!!