Family Matters
Intro: A man saw a very attractive girl while awaiting his flight at the airport. He approached her and asked, “Hey. Is there any chance you’d go out on a date with a guy like me?” She said, “Well, anything’s possible. I might.”
So he asked her, "What kind of guy are you interested in?"
“Well, to tell you the truth" , she said, "I really like to go out with native Americans, because they have rugged good looks and chiseled facial features.”
“But then again, I also like to go out with Jewish men, because they are usually very well off financially and I love their culture and their great traditions.”
“But I guess my favorite, if I had to pick a favorite, would be country boys. I really love country boys.”
And she said, “By the way, what's your name?”
He said, "My name is Geronimo Bernstein but you can call me Bubba!"
-What’s in a name? How important is your last name to you? I remember hearing both good things and some not-so-good things about those Opperman kids. One time in particular I was working on my car and whatever I was doing required a few gentle taps with a hammer. One kid walked by and said, “Yeah, that’s how an Opperman fixes a car – with a hammer.” For some reason, the idea bothered me that my family might be viewed as incompetent by the rest of the town. Whether it was true or not didn’t matter. I just didn’t want the family name to be laughed at or mocked.
-Now I realize that there are all kinds of families. Large, small, biological, adoptive, foster, 2-parent, single parent, single parent bereaved, single parent divorced, blended, domestic partnership families, couples with no kids, empty nesters, extended families sharing a home, etc.
-The word Family is often used to describe a group of people who may be biologically unrelated, but share their lives together and help one another along. There are even some work places that refer to the employees as a family.
-When I pray with Zoe at bedtime, we always ask God to bless and help our church family, and our town family. We really try to view every person in our community as part of a family, regardless of who they are or what they do. The important thing is that we want each one of them to come to know Jesus and find out what they were created for.
-So, regardless of what your family name or background is, you belong to a larger family called the human race. God is our Father, our Creator, and He desires to bring us all home some day for the greatest family reunion ever! Unfortunately, not everybody wants to belong to God’s family. Some aren’t sure He even exists, so they have no reason to join someone’s family until they know He exists. But God has been showing humans who He is since the beginning of this world. It’s just that many of them refused to listen and instead plotted their own course in life. It is almost like a child saying, “I don’t need my parents, and I never want to see them again.” And while I’m sure that hurt God deeply, believe me when I say that He is not moping around heaven feeling sorry for Himself. No, He is actively seeking out those who really long to be part of His family. He sent His Divine Son, Jesus, to seek and save those who were lost and looking for a family to belong to. God sent His most precious family member to us so that we could become family members too! We will never be divine, but we can find where we belong, and to whom we belong. We can be called sons and daughters of God – part of God’s family!
-Now, here’s what I’d like to do for the next few minutes. In your bulletin you will find 5 purposes for the Christian Life Center family. I want to look at these from a family perspective. I truly believe that families really matter to God! God wants to help our families and help us as individuals. He wants to heal our brokenness and dysfunction and teach us to love the way He does. And this is only possible if we become a member of His family. So let’s look at these 5 endeavors that help identify God’s family at CLC.
1. Worship
-Honoring our divine parents by interacting with them through praise, adoration, prayer, giving, and a lifestyle of obedience. By “divine parents” I simply mean the Trinity: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. There is no mother depicted in the Godhead. Yet, the whole concept of motherhood came from God, so we can safely conclude that God meets the needs of both Father and Mother to us. Psalm 27:10 “Though my father and mother forsake me, the LORD will receive me.” Understand that God is the epitome of masculinity, yet His masculinity does not preclude His tender care and nurture of His children. Jesus compared His love for Israel and Jerusalem to the protecting care a mother hen gives her chicks – “How I have longed to gather you together like a hen gathers her chicks, but you would not” (Matt. 23:37).
-Jesus is described as our older brother (Rom 8:29; Heb. 2:11), but the fact that He is God the Son certainly makes Him more like a parent to us. In fact, one of Isaiah’s descriptions of the Messiah is Everlasting Father (The Dad who wouldn’t quit! The Dad who would never leave you! The Dad who is always there!)
-So when we worship God, it is based on relationship and flows through relationship. Worship is not simply performing a duty. It comes from the heart and can be described as interaction, not just action. Jesus said, “…true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.” John 4:23
2. Fellowship
-Time with the siblings, allowing God’s life to flow through us.
-The early church did this a lot! Acts 2:42 “And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.”
-It was important that they did life together, praying together, worshiping together, eating and talking with one another. Relationships with other people in God’s family are essential to our growth and development!
3. Discipleship
-Learning together with the siblings – parents are present & active, but sibling leadership takes place where 1 sibling leads another sibling into deeper relationship with Jesus.
Acts 2:42 “And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.”
Acts 18:26 “…they invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately.”
-Discipleship takes place on several levels. We should all be on the receiving end: Paul went to see Ananias and was ministered to and mentored by Him. Paul also had people like Barnabas around him. Barney was likely his own age and they discipled each other, like iron sharpens iron. They even disagreed on something. Then, Paul had Timothy whom he was mentoring and coaching like a son. He was helping him become the man of God he was meant to be. Discipleship from a father, with a brother, and to a son. It’s a family affair! 1 Timothy 5:1-2 “Do not rebuke an older man harshly, but exhort him as if he were your father. Treat younger men as brothers, 2 older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity.”
4. Ministry
-Working together to take care of the needs of the family. Each family member does his or her part. God gives gifts to each family member to use for His glory and to benefit the family of God.
Romans 12:4-8 4 “Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. 7 If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; 8 if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.”
5. Evangelism
-Growing the family – sharing the family fortune, the good news about Jesus.
-Be a witness to others - Acts 1:8 “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses….”
-Be a sender or a sent one - Romans 10:13-15 13 for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." 14 How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15 And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!"
-So these are the family matters that really matter to the family! These 5 things are emphasized repeatedly in Scripture and show us what God wants from His family.
-Maybe you are having trouble really connecting with these things because you have yet to really belong to God’s family.
-I’d like to show a clip that might help you make sense of why you need to become part of God’s family. It’s about 10 minutes long, but I believe it lays the truth out more plainly than I can in a short amount of time. Would you really lean in and listen to this message? (Play clip from Avanti Ministries, www.avantiministries.com; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lnB38K-gmc&feature=share)
-If you need to make things right with God today, I hope that 9/11 will become a memorable day for you for a good reason – as it marks the day your new life with Jesus began. If you are ready to turn away from the wrong in your life and fully surrender to Jesus, I’d like to pray with you. This is the most important decision you will ever make, so don’t put it off and don’t be afraid to talk to someone about it. If you have questions, I would be happy to help you find answers. You were made for this! You were created to do life with God as part of His family! Anything else is counterfeit living.
-If you’re already part of God’s family, I urge you to take a look at your life and ask the Lord how you are doing in each of these areas (Worship, Fellowship, Discipleship, Ministry, and Evangelism). Let’s be about our Father’s business and live like we really are members of His family!
