WELCOME TO THE FAMILY
by Pastor James May
The greatest institution that God gave to man is the family unit. The family is where we are trained, taught, and learn to know that we belong. Every member of the family, whether there are a few, or many, develops a sense of belonging that gives them a feeling of self-worth. The family is a place where we can feel safe, where we can feel loved, and where we can establish our roots that will guide us through the rest of life.
I’m so glad to be a part of a family this morning. I have a long line of ancestors that have established the identity of our family name. Our family tree has been traced as far back as Ireland and England, prior to the American Revolution, on my father’s side, and to France on my mother’s side. All of them had their own little idiosyncrasies, and their own little problems, and some of them had some mighty big problems, but every one of them, in some manner or another, has contributed to make our family into what it is today. My family, like yours, helped to establish your morals and values. Through their actions, beliefs, likes and dislikes, your life has been set upon a course.
I read some books a few years ago that dealt with how people get the personality that they have. Your mannerisms, your looks, your thought patterns, and even the way that you interact with other people, are often established by the habits of your ancestors. You won’t have to look far in your family tree to find someone there who acted, or looked, a lot like you do right now. If you are a serious minded, quiet type like me, then you will find that your parents or grandparents were probably the same way. If you are the happy go lucky type that is always upbeat and the life of the party, there’s a good chance that someone close to you in your family tree was the same way. We inherit so many traits that establish our characteristics and there is no escaping your family tree.
Some of you come from a large family where you can trace you ancestry back for many years while others can only go back maybe a generation or two. Some of you have such a large family that you can no longer gather in a single home to have a family gathering. Your family reminds me of a little story that I heard that goes like this.
Illustration:
At the annual family-reunion picnic, a young bride led her husband over to an old woman busily crocheting in a rocker. "Granny," she said, touching the old woman’s hand affectionately, "this is my new husband." The woman eyed him critically for a long moment, and then asked abruptly, "Do you desire to have children?" Startled by her bluntness, the young man blushed and stammered, "Well-uh-yes, I do want children very much." "Well," she said, looking critically at the large tribe gathered around the six picnic tables, "try to control your desire!"
Some of you belong to families that seem to get along with each other pretty well while there are some of you that belong to families that just can’t seem to agree upon anything, anytime or anywhere. Your family gatherings often become battlegrounds and they kind of remind me of another story that I heard.
Illustration:
During World War II, in one of the darkest hours of the war when it seemed that the British nation was on the brink of destruction, they needed a boost in moral. It was at this moment in time that the Prime Minister, Sir. Winston Churchill gave a speech on the radio that contained these immortal words: "We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills."
One father, after hearing this, said that it sounded like his own family’s last vacation.
Aren’t you glad for your family? Aren’t you proud to be known by your family name?
I’m so glad that I came from a good family. Because those who went before me were good moral and god-fearing people, they helped to bring me into a family that has made me into the “perfect” man that I am today. If you aren’t “perfect” then maybe you are letting the wrong family influences mold you.
Now some of you don’t seem to believe that I am “perfect”. Maybe you even laughed when I said that, but I want you to know that I am serious this morning. Aren’t you “perfect” too? Don’t you belong to a “perfect” family?
Maybe you haven’t figured out yet that I’m not talking about being perfect in the flesh. There isn’t one of us here that can say we are perfect in the flesh and we will never be able to say that because we are living in a corruptible body that has inherited from our ancestors, all of the power of sin that controls our lives, ultimately bringing death to this body. We are always susceptible to failing God in this body of flesh and anyone who says that he has no sin in the flesh is simply living in denial. We must ever cleanse this body, this mind, this heart from the power of sin and we must always resist the temptations that come against us, ever mortifying this body of flesh and bringing it under subjection to the Word of God and the Law of God.
In my flesh I am anything but “perfect”, but that’s not the only family I belong to. There is another family that I am so very glad that I belong to this morning. That is the Family of God.
While my earthly family is a wonderful thing, I must say that though I love them all, they all must take a back seat to my position as a member of God’s Family. I cannot allow my love for each of them, as strong as that love is, to take precedent over my love for God and for the family of God.
Luke 14:26, "If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple."
That doesn’t mean that we literally hate them, but that the love of Christ and of his Kingdom and the call of God upon our lives must be greater than our care and concern for the things of our earthly family. Family reunions and gatherings for our earthly family are important but we must never forget that we are soon going to be gathered to a greater reunion in Heaven with all the family of God. I have missed a lot of family reunions and parties on this earth but I certainly don’t want to miss that glad reunion day in Glory.
Living for the Lord doesn’t always mean that we must leave our earthly families behind to answer the call of God though for so many, that’s exactly what it means.
Those who are called to the mission field must leave family behind for many years and may never be able to enjoy being around family at Christmas time, or even be able to see their grandchildren very often, because God has called them to a foreign land.
Those who are called out of false religions are often ostracized, and sometimes even considered as literally being dead, and they will no longer be able to have contact with anyone of their family members, because they have chosen to follow Christ and have become a traitor to the religion of their families. This is the way that it is with the Hindu and the Islamic people.
I believe that God has given mankind a limitless capacity for love. It seems that no matter how many people we love, or how much love we show, our capacity to love grows even more. It’s as though our power to love grows larger each time we give it away. Therefore we can love our earthly family greatly, even though we can’t always be there for them because of our greater love for God.
The question I have for you this morning is this? Do you belong to the Family of God, and if you do, what benefits are there for belonging to God’s Family?
Some of you may have come from families where love wasn’t shown in an open manner. Perhaps your father never took you into his arms, gave you big hug, and told you that he loved you. Maybe your mother never held you either. Hugs and kisses were never a big part of your growing up. It’s sad to say, but there are many families today where love isn’t shown and that lack of demonstration of love will have a lifelong impact upon the children of those families, and maybe ever for generations to come.
In some families the children are treated as nothing more than extra baggage. The parents don’t seem to have time for them because they are too busy chasing their own dreams.
Illustration:
After the end of the Civil War there were two paddle wheel boats that left Memphis about the same time, traveling down the Mississippi River to New Orleans. As they traveled side-by-side, sailors from one vessel made a few remarks about the snail’s pace of the other. Words were exchanged. Challenges were made. And the race began. Competition became vicious as the two boats roared through the Deep South.
One boat began falling behind. Not enough fuel. There had been plenty of coal for the trip, but not enough for a race. As the boat dropped back, an enterprising young sailor took some of the ship’s cargo and tossed it into the ovens. When the sailors saw that the supplies burned as well as the coal, they fueled their boat with the material they had been assigned to transport. They ended up winning the race, but burned their cargo.
God has entrusted cargo to us, too: children, spouses, and friends. Our job is to do our part in seeing that this cargo reaches its destination. Yet when the program takes priority over people, people often suffer. How much cargo do we sacrifice in order to achieve the number one slot? How many people never reach the destination because of the aggressiveness of a competitive captain?
God expects a balance in your life between serving Him and meeting the needs of your family.
1 Timothy 5:8, "But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel."
You can serve your family while serving your Lord, in fact, by serving your Lord you will be serving your family in the best manner possible. What better thing can you do for them than to teach them about Jesus? What more can you feed them that will supply their every need, than the Word of God? What greater lesson can you give to them than the lesson of prayer and faith in God? Teach them those things and they will never be alone, never be lost, never wander aimlessly, and they will forever thank you for what you have done for them through eternity. Provide for them the things of the Spirit of the Lord, and then let the Lord help you work out everything else. Isn’t that what He promised that He would do for those who put Him first in their lives?
Let me tell you about two men who lived at the same time, in the same state, but who chose to follow two very different paths.
Illustration:
Max Jukes lived in New York. He did not believe in Christ or in Christian training. He refused to take his children to church, even when they asked to go. He has had 1,026 descendants-300 were sent to prison for an average term of 13 years each; 190 were public prostitutes; 680 were admitted alcoholics. His family thus far, has cost the state in excess of $420,000. They have made no contribution to society that is of any benefit.
Jonathan Edwards lived in the same state, at the same time as Jukes. He loved the Lord and saw that his children were in church every Sunday, as he served the Lord to the best of his ability. He has had 929 descendants-of these, 430 were ministers; 86 became university presidents; 75 authored good books; five were elected to the United States Congress and two to the Senate. One was Vice-President of this nation. His family never cost the state one cent but has contributed immeasurably to the life of plenty in this land today.
How is your influence and what legacy will you leave with your children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren?
I little while ago I told you that I was “perfect”. How can I make that claim? What gives me the right to say that I’m perfect? The answer is found in this passage:
Romans 8:14-17, "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together."
Are you a child of God this morning? Have you been born again by the Spirit of God? Have you been washed in the Blood of the Lamb? Have you confessed your sin to God, confessed Jesus Christ as Lord of your life and then surrendered your life to Him? If you have then you are a part of the Family of God too.
And guess what! You are “perfect” too. You see my perfection is not because of my earthly family; it’s because of my Risen Savior who has washed all my sins away. Jesus is the one says I am made perfect.
Matthew 5:48, "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect."
John 17:23, "I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me."
My perfection, and yours, comes not from what we do in the flesh, but from what Jesus has done in the Spirit.
If you are born again, adopted by your Heavenly Father, chosen by Him and being led by the Holy Spirit, then you belong to a wonderful family, the Family of God. The Holy Spirit within you bears witness that you belong to God for God’s Spirit cannot dwell in the heart of a man who has not met the requirements to be born again. You can talk to God as your Father, not as the heathen do, to a God who stands over them in judgment and controls them with fear. You serve your Father because He loves you and you love him.
My Father is pure Love. He considers me as the “apple of his eye”. He looks over me with a watchful eye, ever leading and guiding me to escape temptation and escape the traps of the enemy of my soul. His love, His power, His care, and His concern know no bounds. He never leaves; never sleeps; never forgets and He always has my best interest in mind because He works everything out for my good in the end. I’m so glad that I can look to Heaven and call him “Abba Father”, “My Father”!
He has made me an heir to the family fortune and the family name! Just think of that! I have equal shares with my elder brother, the Lord Jesus Christ! I have equal claim to the cattle on a thousand hills. I have equal claim and equal right to enter into the very throne room of Heaven. I have equal joy, equal peace, equal blessing and every thing else that you can name, with Jesus. I am an adopted Son. God loved you and I so much that He died for us, chose us, lifted us up, and made us into his own sons and daughters. What a great family to belong too. My earthly family name is May, but my Heavenly Surname is a new name that only Jesus can give to me. My name now is not just James May, but it’s James May, the Son of I AM, the Son of God! Now that’s a name I really can be proud of!
This world my not recognize who I am in Christ. They may ridicule, make fun, persecute, or just ignore me, but my Father in Heaven knows who I am and that’s what really counts.
Are you in the same family that I’m in this morning? Do you belong to the Family of God?
If not, then you can become a part of my wonderful family right now! My Father’s love is boundless and He is ever seeking new sons and daughters to adopt. My Father wants to be your Father too. He wants to give you a wonderful inheritance and give you his Family Name! Will you accept His offer?
You must be born again like all the rest of God’s adopted children. You must confess your sin to him and repent of that sin, confess that Jesus Christ died and rose again, confess that Jesus Christ is Lord and ask Him to wash your sin away and come into your heart to live. Then you too will become an adopted Child of God!
Are you ready to change your name? Are you ready to become a part of the Body of Christ, the Bride of Christ and the Family of God? Come now and join us so that we all can say to you, “Welcome to the Family”.
