Living in the Family of God
Drama
Getting Along in the Family
God’s Doctrinal Statement
For years I have resisted the notion of having a “doctrinal statement”. It’s not that we don’t know what we believe or that we don’t want you to know. It’s just that I have a hard time rewriting what God has revealed so well through the Apostle Paul.
Ephesians 4:1-6 gives the foundation for Christian belief.
I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, urge you to live in a way that is worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, along with patience, accepting one another in love. Do your best to maintain the unity of the Spirit by means of the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit. In the same way, you were called to the one hope of your calling. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, through all, and in all.
God’s Family Values
Live in a way that is worthy of the calling
First: Paul again refers to himself as a prisoner
He had been taken captive by Jesus and no longer was in control of his own life. He had no longer any choice. He belonged to Jesus and His suggestion was Paul’s command. His desire was a demand to Paul.
What we are speaking of here is something commonly referred to as “commitment”
I was speaking with a friend this past week at breakfast and heard him say something like this, “How do we get the people to be committed?”
It is a question I have heard before and occasionally I have asked myself. There is so much to do in any family ad this is especially true in the church family – yet instead of working together we often – to avoid conflict – fail to work at all.
Yes, Virginia there is conflict in the family…
There was certainly conflict in my family.
When our two oldest girls, Shannon and Sandi, were in High School I was pretty certain that neither would live past their eighteenth birthday. If they didn’t kill each other there was a very good possibility I would.
When they were little they were cute but in their teens they were always fighting about something - usually clothes.
One Saturday afternoon while their mom was gone for groceries I was reading in the family room and WWIII began - over a pair of jeans. And they weren’t even new! Just some only torn, smelly, frayed, blue jeans.
I counted to ten thousand, backwards, three times - just hoping it would all just go away or that Donna would come home. It didn’t and she didn’t so I decided I would have to act.
Their punishment would have to be one that they would remember for a long time. And the fact is that they do remember - it comes up every Christmas and family get-together. I make sure of it!
I made Shannon and Sandi sit on two kitchen chairs, facing each other, about one foot apart. Then I set the timer on the oven for fifteen minutes and told them that they had to look at each other - in the eyes - while smiling for the entire time.
They didn’t think that their punishment was too bad until I said, "If you look away from one another or quit smiling, even for a second, I’ll reset the timer we’ll start over."
Both Shannon and Sandi looked at me like I was insane and maybe I was a little crazy at that moment.
Anyway, I stood there in the kitchen and watched them grinning at each other until the corners of their faces began to ache and the anger in their eyes melted. The last five minutes they kept their eyes open and grins up with their fingers. Both faces were contorted into a mask of weird gleeful surprise.
When the buzzer on the oven sounded and they were released from the grinning prison it was with a solemn prophesy. I told them that someday they would be friends and they would love each other.
Well, over ten years or so have passed and today they are friends, they love each other, and enjoy getting their families together. And they still remember their aching faces and burning eyes.
Living in a family isn’t always easy - there are times we don’t get along so good. Even in church there are moments of anger and frustration.
It’s important to remember that what holds us together is mightier than what pulls us apart.
Let’s learn to get along here because some day we will live in mansions right along side one another. Who knows? God may even suggest you sit and grin at each other in heaven till you get along!
Maybe we need to be reminded about who’s calling it is and that we belong to His family – all of us.
Commitment is more caught – not taught. It builds slowly and unfortunately can be destroyed very quickly.
Let me say this and let me encourage you to hear this and burn it into your minds. What we enjoy today at MCC – the unity and oneness of purpose – if ever shattered by a family fight will be lost and the effects will last for years. Sometimes the consequences go on for decades.
Let us… Live in a way that is worthy…
Two steps:
Accepting one another in love
With all humility and gentleness, along with patience
Randy Frazee has written a book called "The Connecting Church." He has a son who was born without a left hand. One day in Sunday School the teacher was talking with the children about the church. To illustrate her point she folded her hands together and said, “Here’s the church, here’s the steeple; open the doors and see all the people.”
She asked the class to do it along with her – obviously not thinking about his son’s inability to pull this exercise off. Then it dawned on her that the boy wouldn’t be able to join in.
Before she could do anything about it, the little boy next to his son, a friend of his from the time they were babies, reached out his left hand and said, “Let’s do it together.” The two boys proceeded to join their hands together to make the church and the steeple.
Frazee says, "This hand exercise should never be done again by an individual because the church is not a collection of individuals, but the one body of Christ."
Look at others more than you look at yourself
Look around you right now. See the people, God loves them and so should you. Go ahead, tell them right now. Just say, Hey God thinks you’re pretty cool. So do I.
Maintain the unity of the Spirit
Do your best
This is not easy. We by nature are incompatible and competitive. It’s hard for us at times. Remember to do your best to be at peace with others…
Rom 12:16-18 ISV
Live in harmony with each other. Do not be arrogant, but associate with humble people. Do not think that you are wiser than you really are. Do not pay anyone back evil for evil, but focus your thoughts on what is right in the sight of all people. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live in peace with all people.
By means of the bond of peace
Seven Ingredients in God’s Super Glue
One body
One Spirit
One hope of your calling
One Lord
One faith
One baptism
One God and Father of all, who is above all, through all, and in all.
It’s for our own good and for our own power
A man tells of being on a bus tour in Rome which was led by a guide who spoke English. Their first stop was a basilica in a piazza which was surrounded by several lanes of relentless Roman traffic. After they were all safely dropped off, the group climbed the steps for a quick tour of the church. Then they spread out to board the bus, which was parked across the street from the church. The frantic guide shouted for the group to stay together. He hollered out to them, "You cross one by one, they hit you one by one. But if you cross together, they think you will hurt the car!" There is always much to be said for unity, particularly the unity of the Spirit.
Barbara Brokhoff, Grapes Of Wrath Or Grace, CSS Publishing, Lima, Ohio.
The calling to which you have been called…
Since 1998 we have spoken of MCC as a place that you’ll feel right at home.
It started when I had to put a tag line at the end of the radio spots on 88.1 (the light). It thought about “The Church without any flags” but I figured that might not be so good. Eventually we came up with “You’ll feel right at home” because we are a casual church where the emphasis has been on relationship.
In the last couple of months I’ve been praying and thinking a lot about reinventing how we do “church” at MCC.
What will never change is the content… The superglue of the kingdom of God. The mission of reaching out to the lost will never change and neither will our commitment to Jesus as Lord and Savior.
What must change is our methods – if we are going to have an opportunity to reach our friends and neighbors with the good news of Jesus Christ
Let me take a few minutes to tell you about how we are responding to God’s calling at MCC
See the calling
Get Enthused enough to help!
Meridian Christian Church – Helping People Find Their Way Home
We are building a house for God’s people…
Three Rooms in God’s house that are for you:
The Family Room: Where you feel right at home
Celebration every Sunday
Greeting time
Café Meridian following the service – Scheduled April 14
Bring something to share
Key Word: Belonging
The Dining Room: Where you learn and grow in the ways of God
This is where you get fed – everything from milk to filet mignon
Meridian Extra, Encore, Plus, Next Steps, level A little bit more,
MCC Home Groups
Key Word: Growing
The Kitchen: Where you serve God by serving others
There are lot’s of places
Childrens
Youth
Meridian Angels
Greeters
Front Line Team
Get in the Game Workshop – April 15 – learn how you can get in the kitchen
Key Word: Serving
Three Rooms in God’s house that are for your friends:
The Entryway: An inviting place that is warm, accepting, and reflects God’s love
The furnishings are important
More parking space
Foyer with coffee
Banners
More important
Genuinely friendly people
Would you be one of these people?
Key Word: Inviting
The Back Yard: A safe and fun place where kids find out that Jesus is their friend and God is loves them
Key word: Caring
The Deck: A place where our "normal" friends can see and experience God’s love
Key Word: friendship
Helping People Find Their Way Home
This is what we are about…
Special Olympics
There is a story about a special Olympics that was held in Seattle,
Washington. Nine runners, all physically or mentally challenged, lined up at the starting line for the 100 yard dash. At the sound of the starting gun, they all started out, not exactly in a dash, but with the eagerness and joy to run the race, to the finish and win.
All started out good, except for one boy who stumbled. He turned over a couple of times and began to cry. The other eight runners heard the boy cry. They slowed down and paused. Then they all turned and went back. Every one of them. One girl with Down‚s Syndrome bent down and kissed the boy and said, “That will make it better.” Then all nine of them linked arms and walked together to the finish line. Everyone in the stadium stood, and the cheering went of for 10 solid minutes.
Why did the runners finish like this? Because they all had the same
heart. And they knew that the goal was to win, but that the greater goal was to cross the finish and it was better to do it together, than to leave one behind, hurt and crying and alone.
Will you help?
I challenge to go to the next level of commitment.
Go into a room that you are not in – one for you and one for others
Have you found your Home at MCC?
