40 Days 3 - Formed For God's Family - Fellowship Series

Based on WELCOME TO THE PLANET: WHAT ON EARTH AM I HERE FOR?

Part 3: You Were Formed for God’s Family 2/5/04

By Doug Fields

Pray : Would you pray with me? Prepare your heart to hear God’s word and maybe how you and I might be a little different as we leave here today. God, would you take my words as inadequate as they are and with the combination of Your Holy Spirit and the lives that are here may we just sense something different about this place. Lord, I pray for those in here that may be hearing a little tapping on their heart during this message as they say, “Yeah, that’s me,” or “I need that.” I pray that they might know that that’s you tapping, that you want us to be different as a result of being here today. Thanks for another day to be alive and celebrate life together. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

We are in part 3 of a series in which we are trying to find out what on Earth are we here for. We started by assuming that there was a God. The famous atheist, Bertrand Russell says, “Unless you assume a God, the question of life’s purpose is meaningless.” Because we hoped that we weren’t wasting our time, we started with the assumption that there was a God who was an intelligent being who did create the world. It follows logically then that we were Created by him for a specific purpose. We are no accident. And if that is true, then I must either pursue the purpose or ignore it. We then set out on the journey to see what the Bible says our 5 purposes in life are. Last week, we talked about the first purpose – to have a relationship with God. A relationship is a two way thing. It involves love being shown and a response to that love. God has shown his love to us and our response to that is what we call WORSHIP. If you were listening you would have heard that worship is not just singing. Worship is valuing, idolizing and honouring God. It is giving God our attention and giving God our focus and you can do that in many different ways – not just by singing. We learnt that worship is characterised by 3 things … giving God your love, your praise and your devotion. That is what our memory verse said – Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength – Mark 12:30.

Today I want to talk about the second purpose of life that the Bible teaches and it comes from worshipping God. You were formed for God’s FAMILY. Families are great things aren’t they – most of the time.

Wayne Bennett is one of the most successful coaches in rugby league history. For over a decade he has coached the "Brisbane Bronco’s" (a club side in the Australian rugby league competition). Bennett is revered by players, notoriously difficult for journalists, and widely admired and respected. In 2002 he released a book Don’t Die With the Music In You. Present at the launch were News Limited Director, Lachlan Murdoch, Australian cricket captain Steve Waugh, and a host of rugby league identities and corporate heavyweights. Yet when speaking of his greatest success in life he turned not to his achievements in football but to his home life. Bennett paid tribute to his wife Trish, saying "One of the greatest achievements is to be able to stay married to her, and I hope for the rest of my life that will remain my greatest achievement. It is the thing I want more than anything else. I want the relationship to be there forever and the relationship with my family to be there forever." Wayne Bennett has 3 children. 1 has severe brain damage after reacting to a triple-antigen needle. Another was born with a condition called arthrogryposis which causes all your joints to be contracted resulting in severe deformation. And Wayne Bennett still says “I want the relationship with my family to be there forever”

Let’s face it … relationships are a big deal to all of us. In fact, most problems we come across are the result of some relationship problem. Either a problem with a spouse, with a parents, with a friend, with a child, with a workmate, with a boss. Most problems in life are relational problems. Why? Relationships are important to us. That’s how we’re wired and created. We were created for relationships

Don’t fight it, Recognize God’s relational DESIGN. Think of it this way … God in all His creative wisdom hardwired your body to desire relationships. Think with me here. In God’s incredible design, in every cell of your body, in your DNA, God created you and me to value relationships. Relationships are part of how God designed us. And if we try to live in isolation we go crazy. Has anyone ever watched Castaway – the movie staring Tom Hanks and Wilson. Tom is a guy who is stranded on a tropical island with no other contact and he almost goes Mad because he has no relationships. His only saving grace is Wilson – a volleyball come best buddy that he shares the highs and lows with. It is interesting that when devoid of real relationships, people create relationships with animals or even objects to fill the void.