In the sermon 'Don't Disconnect Church and Family' by Brian Borgman, the speaker emphasizes the local church as the central vehicle of God's redemptive purposes. Borgman stresses that the church should always be prioritized regardless of family life stage, whether one is an empty nester or just starting a family. The church's role is vital for family flourishing, and families should not disconnect from it. A major privilege for families is participating and serving in a local church, gathering together on the Lord's Day to worship with the family of Christ. The sermon encourages instilling in children the importance of the local church, teaching them that being part of a church goes beyond attendance, as believers in Jesus, they are the church. Borgman likens the local church to the 'happiest place on earth,' a place of growth, learning, and belonging.

The local church is actually the central vehicle of God's redemptive purposes in the world. And so the church always has a priority, you know, whether, no matter what stage of family life we're in, no matter, you know, whether we're old and retired and empty nesters and great-grandparents or whether we're just starting out, the church is central. So The church is actually incredibly vital for families to flourish. We have to be careful that we don't disconnect church and family. In a sense, one of the, well not one of the greatest things, in a sense the highest privilege that we have as families, fathers and mothers leading our children, is to be a part of a local church, to serve in that local church, to gather on the Lord's Day and worship God together as a family, but with the family of Christ.

And so I want to instill in my kids the priority of the local church. And so that's the context. In a sense, what we need to be doing is we need to be teaching our kids that we don't just go to church. We teach our kids that as we believe in Jesus, we are the church with other believers in Jesus. And we model before them the idea, you might remember years ago there were these Disneyland commercials, Disneyland, the happiest place on earth.

What I want to do is I want to instill in my kids that it is our local church that's the happiest place on earth and and for them to see this is where I grow this is where I learn this is what this is where I belong right you