Faith That Starts at Home and Fills the House of God

July 12, 2026

Pastor John Stirewalt

Faith That Starts at Home and Fills the House of God Primary Text: Romans 10:17 "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." Introduction Morning, church. I want y'all to think about something with me this morning. You know, I've been a dad for a good while now. And I can tell you — there are days when I've had to walk into my house and say, "Lord, I don't know what I'm doing." Maybe some of y'all have been there too. You've stood in the kitchen, you've sat at the dinner table, you've knelt beside your kid's bed at night, and you've thought, How am I supposed to lead these people? How am I supposed to point them to Jesus when I can barely find Him myself some days? But here's what I've learned, church. Faith isn't something you manufacture. It's not something you pull out of thin air. Faith comes by hearing. It comes by hearing the Word of God. And if that's true — and it is, because the Bible says it — then that changes everything about how we live in our homes and how we live in this church. I want to talk to three groups of people this morning. I want to talk to dads. Then I want to talk to moms. And then I want to talk to the church. And I want us to see that faith has to start somewhere, and it starts by hearing. Let's go to our text first for our faith. I. The Faith Required of Dads: Hearing First, Then Leading Church, think about this. Romans 10:17 says faith comes by hearing. Now, before a dad can lead his family in faith, he has to be hearing the Word of God himself. I think about Joshua. You remember Joshua? The man who stood before all of Israel and said, "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." That's a bold statement. That's a man who made a decision. But Joshua didn't wake up one day and decide that on his own. Joshua had been hearing the Word of God for years. He walked with Moses. He stood on the mountain. He heard the voice of God. His faith came by hearing. Dads, I ask you today — are you hearing? Are you in the Word? Because here's the thing: you cannot lead your family somewhere you haven't been yourself. You can't point your kids to Jesus if you haven't been listening to Him. You can't teach your little ones about faith if your own faith is running on empty. I remember a season in my life — and I'll be honest with y'all — when I was so busy doing church stuff that I wasn't actually in the Word for myself. I was preaching it, teaching it, talking about it. But I wasn't hearing it. And my family could tell. My wife could tell. There was something missing in our home, and it was because I wasn't feeding my own faith. Dads, your family is watching you. Your kids are watching you. They're watching to see if you open that Bible. They're watching to see if you pray before meals — not just the rote prayer, but the real prayer, the one where you talk to God like He's actually there. They're watching to see if your faith is real on Monday morning, not just Sunday morning. And here's the application, and it's simple: Open the Word. Before you try to lead your family anywhere, get alone with God and hear from Him. Read a chapter. Read a verse. Just start somewhere. Because faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. And if you're not hearing, you're not leading — you're just guessing. I think about my own dad. He wasn't a perfect man. But I'll tell you what — I saw that man open his Bible. I saw him pray. I didn't always understand what he was doing, but I knew it mattered to him. And that planted something in me that I carry to this day. Dads, your kids may not remember every word you say, but they'll remember if your faith was real. II. The Faith Required of Moms: Hearing and Nurturing Now, enough of that. Let me talk to the moms for a minute. And moms, wives, I ask you from this day forward to hear this and carry it with you. If faith comes by hearing, then one of the most important things a mom can do is make sure her home is filled with the Word of God. Now, I'm not talking about just playing Christian music in the background — though there's nothing wrong with that. I'm talking about something deeper. I think about Timothy. You remember young Timothy? Paul calls him his son in the faith. And in 2 Timothy, Paul says to Timothy, "From a child thou hast known the holy scriptures." Now, who do you think was filling that little boy's ears with the Word of God? Paul mentions Timothy's grandmother Lois and his mother Eunice. Those two women planted the Word of God into that young man's life from the time he was small. And that seed grew into a mighty man of God. Moms, you have a power that nobody else has. You have access to those children in a way that nobody else does. You're there at bedtime. You're there at breakfast. You're there when they're sick. You're there when they're scared. And in those moments, you have the opportunity to speak the Word of God into their hearts. Faith comes by hearing. And your children are hearing from you all day long. The question is: what are they hearing? Are they hearing you pray? Are they hearing you talk about Jesus — not in a forced, religious way, but in a natural, everyday way? Are they hearing you say, "Let's trust God with this" when the bills are tight? Are they hearing you say, "Let's pray about that" when a friend is hurting? I think about my own wife. And I'll tell y'all, she has done more for the faith of our children in those quiet, everyday moments than I could ever do from this pulpit. She's the one who reads the Bible with them. She's the one who answers the hard questions at the kitchen table. She's the one who says, "Let's go to God with this." Moms, your faith matters. Your hearing matters. Because when you hear the Word of God and let it dwell in you richly, it overflows into your home. And those little ears are soaking up every word. So here's my ask for the moms: Be in the Word, and let your home hear it. Read Scripture out loud. Pray out loud. Let your children see and hear your faith in action. Because faith comes by hearing, and your home is one of the most important places where that hearing happens. III. The Faith Required of the Church: Hearing Together Now, let me talk to all of us. Because this isn't just about dads and moms. This is about the church. We have to stick together, church. And one of the ways we stick together is by hearing the Word of God together. That's why we gather. That's why we sit in these seats on Sunday morning. That's why we open the Bible together. Because faith comes by hearing, and there's something that happens when we hear the Word of God as a body that doesn't happen when we hear it alone. I think about the early church in Acts. You remember what they did? They continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. They were together. They were hearing together. They were growing together. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved. Church, we need each other. I need to hear the Word preached just like you do. I need to sit under the teaching of God's Word just like you do. And when we gather together and we hear the Word of God, something happens — our faith grows. Not because of the preacher, not because of the building, not because of the music — but because the Word of God is being spoken, and faith comes by hearing. But here's the thing — and I want to be real with y'all — we can sit in these seats every Sunday and still not hear. We can have our Bibles open and still not hear. We can sing the songs and still not hear. Because hearing isn't just about the ears. It's about the heart. It's about being open to what God wants to say to you. I ask you today, church — are you hearing? When you come to this place, are you expecting God to speak? When you open that Bible during the week, are you expecting to hear His voice? Because if we're just going through the motions, we're going to leave here the same way we came in. But if we come with open hearts, ready to hear — oh, church, that's when faith starts to grow. And when the church has faith — real faith, faith that comes from hearing the Word of God — we become unstoppable. Not because we're strong, but because God is strong in us. We become a light in this community. We become a family that people want to be part of. We become the hands and feet of Jesus in Rockwell and beyond. So here's my ask for the church: Show up and listen. Be here. Be present. Open your heart. Let the Word of God do its work in you. Because when we hear together, we grow together. And when we grow together, God does something amazing in us and through us. Gospel Connection Now, church, I want to make sure we don't miss the foundation of all this. Faith comes by hearing the Word of God. And the heart of that Word — the center of everything — is the Gospel. It's the good news that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. It's the good news that you and I could never earn our way to God, but He made a way for us through His Son. It's the good news that Jesus went to that cross, shed His blood, was buried, and rose again on the third day — and He did it for you. Dads, that's the message you lead with. Moms, that's the message you nurture with. Church, that's the message we gather around. The Gospel isn't just something we heard once and moved on from. It's something we need to hear again and again and again. Because every time we hear it, our faith grows. Every time we hear it, we're reminded of who we are and whose we are. And if you're here today and you've never placed your faith in Jesus Christ — if you've heard the Word but you haven't responded to it — I want to give you that chance right now. Faith comes by hearing. And you've heard. The question is: what will you do with it? Conclusion So, let's go to the Lord in prayer. But before we do, I want to leave y'all with this: Faith isn't complicated. It starts by hearing. And it starts at home. Dads — open the Word. Lead by hearing. Moms — fill your home with the Word. Nurture by hearing. Church — gather and listen. Grow by hearing. It's that simple. And it's that important. Because when we hear the Word of God, something changes. In us. In our homes. In this church. In this community. What are we going to do? We're going to hear. We're going to listen. We're going to let the Word of God do its work. And we're going to trust that the faith He gives us is enough — because it is. It comes from Him, through His Word. Let's pray and close out our service this morning.