Today I would like to look at families.
• What does a real model family look like?
• When you’re asked this question what comes to mind?
1. Leave it to Beaver (June and Ward)
2. Howard and Marian from (Happy Days)
• What do you think about when it comes to a role model for the family.
In today’s society, it seems that dysfunctional families are being viewed as the norm,
• And the reasons that they are dysfunctional now seem to be taken for granite and even expected.
• In fact the values that we started with are now viewed as out of the norm making them dysfunctional
• Because they are becoming so rare
There are families today with absent parents, single parents, step-parents.
• There are even “families” with 2 dads or 2 moms.
• Is it any wonder our society is in such deep trouble when the family unit is breaking down at such a rapid pace?
In today’s world Loneliness is so prevalent that people are paying others to listen to them!
• 30% of Americans say that they have experienced long periods of painful loneliness.
70% of Americans don’t know their neighbors.
• Internet chat rooms are booming.
• Bars are filled with lonely people looking for someone to listen.
Where is the family in all of this? Where is the togetherness?
The family that I want to look at today is a different sort of family
• A family that stays together, that shares together, that fellowships together.
• It’s what a true family should be.
• It’s the Family of God.
And this family is the cure for loneliness.
Because The truth is, we are family.
• Lexington Christian Church is a family.
• The Church of Christ is a family.
• Throughout the NT, we see family words like brothers (Used over 130x’s)
So what does this Biblical family look like?
• Or maybe a better question would be, what should it look like?
• There are a lot of churches out there that are anything but a Biblical family.
• The Passage that best describes what a Biblical family should look like is
ironically, also the one that tells us about the first Church family.
If you would please turn to Acts 2:40-47. Background
• Acts is an amazing book that’s full of incredible accounts of the powerful and miraculous working of God.
• It describes the beginnings of the church.
• It’s describes the birth oif the church/ the early years of the NT Church.
• And It’s also shows the shift from Judaism to Christianity.
These verses in Acts gives us a great model for our “family”.
• In Acts 1 Jesus ascends and the disciples wait for the Holy Spirit.
• In Acts 2, at Pentecost, the Holy Spirit comes powerfully upon them, and they speak in other languages and Peter stands up to preach.
Acts 2:40-47
We see in the verse 40
Ac 2:40 Peter urged all his listeners, “To Save themselves from this generation that has gone astray!”
• Today We to have to save ourselves
And because the people responded to what he was saying We are told in verse 41
Ac 2:41 Those who believed what Peter said were baptized and added to the church—about three thousand in all.
• This literally was the birth of the Church!
• And now, in the following verses we get a glimpse of how that church became a family.
What we see is that God’s family was serious about spiritual growth.
• They gathered together and devoted themselves to teaching and fellowship.
• This means they made it their main concern.
• When you devote yourself to something, you make it your number 1 priority.
• Their main concern was to learn from the apostles
• And to fellowship and to meet and interact with others.
We are also told that they broke bread together and prayed together.
• Isn’t this what families do?
• They eat together, / Hang out together/ Learn from each other / Pray together
• They interact together
It Sounds to me that from the very beginning they were Family / Members of God’s family.
• It wasn’t just a club that hung out together.
• It wasn’t just a monthly pot-luck dinner or greeting time in Church.
• There was a purpose for gathering.
• And that Purpose was organized fellowship.
But What is fellowship?
• Some might say it is eating out together or going to church.
• When we gather here for fellowship there is a purpose for it.
• We are seeking to build each other up and encourage each other.
Fellowship is loving each member of God’s family.
1Jn 4:21 And God himself has commanded that we must love not only him but our Christian brothers and sisters, too.
• It’s a mistake when we say, “I’m going to go to church,” as if the church is a place.
• Church is more than a Place / Service, / Building.
• Church is a family of believers that you belong to.
• Church is belonging to God’s family.
Eph 2:19 You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s family.
Ac 2:42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
• To gather together means that they had to make a choice.
• Jesus taught that part of becoming a growing and maturing Christian
• Was to Join / Belong to a group of fellow believers.
To be a Christian and not want to belong to a church / God’s family
• Would be like a football player saying he doesn’t want to be part of a team.
• A Christian without a church family is an orphan.
God never intended for Christians to live in isolation.
Everything they did / Experienced came about through fellowship & togetherness
• And this fellowship brought unity,
• The unity of being part of the family.
One of my Favorite things about living in Tennessee is that when I go out to eat
• I can get Grits
• But when I order them I don’t say, “I want grit.”
• Because a grit doesn’t come by itself
• A Grit come as part of a group.
• We order them in plural form.
• And As Christians we grow and become strong in a group. Were grits.
We need to be part of a Church family because
1. A church family identifies us as a genuine believer.
2. A church family moves us out of self-centered isolation.
3. A church family helps us develop spiritually.
4. A church family helps keep us from backsliding.
Joining a church used to be expected in our society.
• You joined a church because everybody else did.
• But Now the rules have changed and this isn’t a motivating factor.
• A lot of people today think that it’s OK to be a 'good Christian' without joining a church / Even attending a church.
• They think that if they wake up on Sunday and Just Don’t Feel Like Going It’s Ok
• I mean you wouldn’t wake up on Thanksgiving and decide to skip going to your families.
D.L. Moody once visited a leading citizen in Chicago to persuade him to accept Christ.
• They were seated in the man’s parlor.
• It was winter and coal was burning in the fireplace.
• And The man argued that he could be just as good a Christian outside the church as in it.
• Moody said nothing, but stepped to the fireplace, took the tongs, picked a blazing coal from the fire and set it off by itself.
• In silence the two watched it smolder and go out. “I see,” said the man.
When we gather Together we share in Christian Love
• We share in Christian love by being Open / Honest in our relationships.
• It is through relationships that we experience love and understanding.
To have a relationship means you have interaction.
• A normal person can’t enjoy talking to a Tree / a Stone.
• Relationships involved feedback.
And what we need to understand is that most people want to belong to a group,
• But at the same time, there are some that are reluctant to join a group.
• Ever since Adam and Eve Sinned / Hid themselves from God
• People tend to not only Hide from God
• But they also Hide from each another.
In the family of God we share our experiences, we share our challenges.
• Every one of us has Problems / Concerns that are hard to deal with on our own
• But a loving caring group of people help Remove that weight.
• As believers We Support each other / Pray for each other / Share God’s love together.
• And We need this to get us through the tough times.
Acts 2:44-45 demonstrates how the early Christians shared their love for one another.
“All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need.”
• They weren’t concerned with themselves.
• They practiced helping others who were in need.
• They valued people over possessions.
Unity is one of the key factors in being a part of God’s Family.
• It means that we accept one another’s Weaknesses / Strengths.
• We accept one another in the same way that Jesus accepts us.
• We support one another even when we may not approve of the way they Dress / Color of their hair. / Different views, / Different Convictions,
• Politics and Cultural styles.
The church – Our Church is the family of God,
• It is made up of imperfect people who know they are forgiven and accepted by God
• And we are learning to forgive and accept one another.
• Being part of the Family of God is loving God, and learning to love each other.
• The bottom line of the Christian life is not about accomplishments, it is about relationships.
If you have been at the bedside of someone dying
• They don’t use their last breath to ask for their high school or college diplomas.
• They don’t say, “Bring me my gold watch that I got when I retired
• They don’t say “Bring me my palm pilot.”
In those final moments most will say, “Bring me my family and friends.”
Loving God is called “Worship; Loving each other is called Fellowship.
God created us to belong to His family.
• He created us for fellowship.
• Fellowship and being part of the Family of God involves a choice.
• You choose to belong.
• If you have accepted Christ as your savior you are my brother or sister,
• You have become part of God’s family.
• It’s faith and trust in God that unites us and makes us a family.
• If you haven’t placed your complete trust in Christ,
• You will truly never fully experience the joy of belonging to God’s family.
