In the film Cast Away, Tom Hanks plays a workaholic, Chuck Noland, a FedEx systems engineer whose personal and professional life are ruled by the clock.
He gets stranded alone on a desert island after his plane crashes.
Now, he’s away from his loved ones and he’s had to learn to survive with a few washed up FedEx packages. In one package is a volleyball. He gives the volleyball a name, “Wilson.” Wilson becomes his companion. In one scene, he becomes angry with Wilson and throws him away. But he soon has a change of heart. Let’s take a look…
(Play the clip now.)
A hard-driving workaholic finally sees his need for relationship. He’s desperate for it. We were wired by God for community. Are you desperate yet? God may just engineer circumstances in your life to show you just how much you need it. The good news for followers of Christ is that He has relationships ready for us. We are…
Formed for God’s Family
Don’t forget to fill out your registration forms provided in the back of the seats in front of you if you aren’t registered to vote. Every election is important. But this election is pivotal. Our nation is at a crossroad. Every follower of Christ needs to let his or her voice be heard now. These are the last days to register to vote. Fill out the form with black ink. Put them in the offering basket and we will turn these in tomorrow – which is a week before the deadline to insure that you will be registered.
Welcome again to 40 days of purpose. We’re off to a great start. Over 1,300 people are reading the Purpose Driven Life and are in groups. We’ve sought to answer the question “What on earth am I here for?”
And last week, we learned that we were planned for God’s pleasure.
Next week, we’ll see that we were created to be like Christ. So, keep up with your reading and small group and weekend service attendance. God is at work!
Today, we’ll be seeing how we are formed for God’s family. God is building a family for Himself that is going to last for all eternity. The God of the universe thinks you are so special that He chose you to be in His family. When you become a believer, you become a belonger. You can say, “God, thank You that I belong to You! I’m Your child!”
His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. And this gave him great pleasure.
Ephesians 1:5 (NLT)
How do I make sure I am in God’s family?
As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name.
John 1:12 (NASB)
Circle the word “become.” Think about the implications of that word. We aren’t automatically children of God. We have to “become” children of God.
We were formed for God’s family. That was God’s original intent – that we be together with Him. But sin entered the world. And the Bible says that we are all now born into this world separated from God because of our sin. The Bible says that apart from Christ, we are God’s enemies, not His children. That’s the bad news. But there is good news. Jesus came into this world and died on the cross to pay for our sin. When we receive Him and believe in His name, the separation from God is over. And we become children of God.
Question: when did you “become” a child of God? You can’t say “I’ve always been one.” So, you might be asking, “How do I become a child of God? I want to be sure.”
Two words. “Receive” and “believe.”
To get into God’s family, you must believe that you are sinner who needs forgiveness, that you need to turn from your sin, and that Jesus died on the cross for your sin and rose again.
You must receive Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior.
A right response to Jesus – believing and receiving – is what brings us into God’s family. If you aren’t sure about your relationship to Jesus, then take a look at your worship guide and read the prayer on the inside – at the bottom, right-hand side of the page. If that prayer expresses the desire of your heart, pray it today!
Now, once I’m in the family, how am I supposed to act?
Love one another.
God wants His children to learn to get along with each other. If you are a parent, I know that you want your kids to get along with each other. God does, too. He wants it so much that He says that loving each other is the second most important purpose for our lives.
You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
Matthew 22:37-39 (NKJV)
Loving God – worship – is our number one purpose. Loving each other – fellowship – is our number two purpose.
God’s purpose for me is fellowship.
Don’t let that word “fellowship” throw you.
It’s simply loving God’s family. Some people say that they love Jesus but not the fellowship of a church. But that won’t fly. Jesus is the bridegroom and the church is His bride, right? If you came to me and said “I love you, Rick, but I hate your wife” then you’re in big trouble with me! And you’re in trouble with Jesus if you don’t love His bride, the church. You are formed for God’s family. You are formed for fellowship.
We were not meant to be here on earth alone – to go through life on our own. Life is not a solo act. The fact is: we need each other.
This need for connection has lots of different looks. The “one anothers” of the Bible give us a picture of what God says fellowship looks like.
We’ve listed just a few of the most important ones in your worship guide today.
Serve one another. Galatians 5:13
Accept one another. Ephesians 4:2
Comfort one another. I Thessalonians 4:13
Build up one another. I Thessalonians 5:11
Live in peace with one another. I Thessalonians 5:13
Encourage one another. Hebrews 3:13
Consider one another. Hebrews 10:24
Confess to one another. James 5:16
Pray for one another. James 5:16
Show hospitality to one another. I Peter 4:9
Now, this week, I was thinking about what it takes to have an effective family. I thought about what makes the Duncan household work. And as I looked at the Bible, it became clear that God, our Father, is looking for the same things that we moms and dads and
sons and daughters are looking for in our families. Let’s think about how to live in God’s family. We only have time to consider seven factors today. Effective families…
1. Meet the need
Our kids aren’t shy about letting the needs (and the wants!) be known. Shoes! Milk! Cereal! In families we try to meet one another’s needs. And the same ought to be true in God’s family.
This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.
If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?
Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue, but with actions and in truth.
I John 3:16 (NIV)
How do we know if our faith is real? If you think you are in the family of faith, but don’t show love for people in need, then your faith is not real.
Love isn’t just an attitude. We are told to love with actions. When we see someone who has needs, we feel compassion for them. And we think, “Maybe God would want to love them through me.”
But then we start rationalizing: “It won’t really matter much. Someone else should do it. It might cost too much. It might take too long. I might get hurt. ”
And on and on it goes, usually long enough for us to miss the opportunity. We say, “I was thinking about you and praying for you.” That’s not OK! Love that is felt but not expressed doesn’t count! That leaves hurting people feeling more alone and love-starved. Are you meeting real needs? Are you in tune with the needs of people? Try…
Cutting someone’s grass when they are out-of-town.
Visiting someone in the hospital.
Writing an encouraging note to someone who’s down.
But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.
James 1:22
Sam Morgano is a member of our church family serving our nation in Iraq. He would love encouraging cards and letters. He loves getting mail from home. In our program is Sam’s address. Write him!
Maybe God has brought a need to your mind and a loving deed He wants you to do. When will you do it?
Effective families meet the need.
2. Share the joy
I remember when Alan, our son, won the Pioneer conference championship in wrestling. He was a Royalton wrestler and beat a kid from Strongsville, our arch-rival. I thought our family would jump through the roof of the gym. We were so happy! That’s what God wants in His family.
Rejoice with those who rejoice…
Romans 12:15a (NKJV)
We aren’t jealous of each other’s successes and victories. If you get a big raise or a new job, I’m happy for you. If your child gets a college scholarship, I celebrate! If someone in your family comes to faith, I’m thrilled.
Effective families share the joy.
3. Ease the pain
I remember when Alan, the conference wrestling champ, lost his final match his senior year. He didn’t reach his goal –making it to the state tournament in Columbus. And I remember his little brother, Evan, just weeping and sobbing after Alan lost. He hurt for Alan. And that’s what God is looking for in His family.
… weep with those who weep.
Romans 12:15b (NKJV)
God wants us to share our problems. Someone said, “When you share a joy, it’s doubled. When you share a problem, it’s halved.”
You don’t have to fix everybody’s problem. Just share them. That means lending a listening ear. You say, “I hurt with you. That’s tough. I’m sorry.” Fellowship means that you stand with others when they are going through a crisis. When everybody else walks out, you walk in. You’re there for them in the touch times.
Effective families ease the pain.
4. Split the load
In every family, there are family responsibilities. You divide up the chores. Somebody has to wash the dishes, feed the dog, cut the grass, pay the bills, shop for groceries. Families work best when the load is shared. They fall apart when too much weight is placed on one person.
Think about it. God did not bring you to CVCC to sit and soak in a spiritual spa. He brought you here to serve. We are to work together to get the job done for Jesus.
Each of you has been blessed with one of God’s many wonderful gifts to be used in the service of others. So use your gift well.
I Peter 4:10 (CEV)
We all have a part to play in building the kingdom of God. And when we cooperate, we get more done than we could ever get done by ourselves.
As many of you know, Mother Teresa spent her life working with the poorest of the poor in India. She was once asked, How do you handle all the death and disease on a daily basis? How do you carry the load of serving so many needy people?” Her answer was, “Every person I bathe, every person I bandage, I imagine seeing the face of Jesus and I do it for Him.”
That’s the attitude it’s going to take if we are going to be a people who carry our part of the load. I encourage you to make this a practical action step this week. To help you fulfill this purpose of fellowship, look for a practical need in your group to meet this next week. Find some practical thing to do for someone and watch what it does for your fellowship with one another.
Effective families split the load.
5. Forgive the faults
I know it’s probably hard for you to believe. But sometimes we hurt each other in the Duncan family. For a long time, we’ve tried to teach our boys and ourselves to say the seven most difficult words to say: “I was wrong. Will you forgive me?” The hardest people to love are those closest to us. I love the little poem:
To dwell above with saints we love… O, that will be glory;
But to dwell below with saints we know…Well, that’s another story!
It’s hard to love those who are closest to us. They know how to get to us. You can ignore the nasty person in the next office. But the ones who are near to us, if they mistreat us, it’s hard to show love. But this is the test of true love. We need to remember what God says:
Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love.
Ephesians 4:2 (NLT)
Do not be hard on others. Let love keep you from doing that.
Ephesians 4:2 (NLV)
Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.
Ephesians 4:32 (NASB)
We need to learn to give each other the benefit of the doubt. We need to not attribute to others the worst possible motives. We need to treat others the way we’d like to be treated by cutting some slack. We are going to hurt each other. We will let each other down. The test of whether you are like Christ is whether you can forgive.
Effective families forgive the faults.
6. Speak the truth
The other night, Maryanne and I were struggling with an issue. One of our sons heard us and said, “I can see what you both are saying. Let me help you see each other’s pint of view.” And he did help us. I’m glad that he was able to speak the truth to us.
Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor, for we are members of one another.
Ephesians 4:25 (KJV)
The Bible says that we are to learn from each other just “as iron sharpens iron.” They say that “experience is the best teacher.” That’s true. But it’s also true that other people’s experiences are even better teachers. You don’t have time to make all the mistakes yourself. If everything you learn in life, you learn personally by trial and error, you’re going to go through a lot of problems unnecessarily. And about the time you have it all figured out… you’re dead!
So, we need to surround ourselves with people who will speak the truth. Nobody knows everything. And we all have blind spots. You know some things I don’t know and you see some things that I don’t see. I know some things you don’t know and I see some things you don’t see. We can learn from each other if we’ll share our experiences and speak the truth.
Effective families speak the truth.
7. Fan the flame
The other day, our son Alan said, “You know one reason why I think my friend, Brian, is such a good friend? No matter what, he finds a way to get excited about what’s going on in other people’s lives. He’s so encouraging!” God is looking for that in his family, too.
Let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another.
Hebrews 10:24-25a (ESV)
Don’t miss this: We can’t fellowship in a crowd. We can only truly fellowship in a small group. Or one on one. We’re not going to do much fellowshipping here today. We can worship and learn together. But you’ll walk out of here not really knowing anybody better than you did when you walked in here. Fellowship takes place best in small groups.
Did you know that in the first years of Christianity, church buildings didn’t exist? Church meetings were held in homes. That’s why we’re so excited about these 40 Days of Purpose groups. These groups are getting us back in touch with what the church is really meant to be.
How many of you are in a 40 Days of Purpose group? Can I see your hands? Many of you would say, “The first time I went to a group, I was nervous.” But you pushed through it and I’m betting that you are finding that living out God’s purpose of fellowship is fun and fulfilling!
Some people I’d like to honor here today are the hosts who opened up their homes for all of us. If you’re a host, would you stand up and let us appreciate you right now? Congratulations! Thanks a lot!
One of the purposes of a group is to encourage each other. And to fan the flame. God is saying, “Don’t give up the habit of meeting together.” We hope you’ll never give up this habit some of you have started for the first time during these 40 days. You’re always going to need someone to fan the flame.
Interview with Eddie Repjar: Were you nervous about joining a group? What made you go ahead and try a group? How’s it working for you? What advice would you give to someone who’s holding back?
I can imagine that some of you tried a group and didn’t feel like you fit. What should you do? Try another one! Don’t give up! It’s not like we have a limited number of choices here! There are 131 groups! You have our permission to try another group! You’re not stuck. You just need to find the right place. And if you aren’t in a group, it’s not too late to join. We have some groups that are still open and looking for people to join.
Effective families fan the flame.
Sometimes Ill hear people say something like, “I’m a follower of Christ, but I don’t want to belong to a small group or to a church.” That’s too bad because the church and the groups in a church are where we learn to live out what it means to be a Christ-follower. You wouldn’t say, “I’m a football player, but I don’t want to be a part of any team.” Or, “I’m a tuba player, but I don’t want to be a part of a band.” Or, “I’m a bee, but I don’t want to be a part of a hive.” God meant us to join a church family. God wants believers to become belongers. It’s the way we fulfill this purpose called “fellowship.”
A point to ponder: Life minus love equals zero.
A verse to remember: You obey the law of Christ when you offer each other a helping hand. Galatians 6:2 (CEV)
A question to consider: How will I give my hand of fellowship this week to help someone grow closer to Jesus?
Life is about loving God and loving others. Life is not about accomplishments. It’s about relationships. You were put on earth to know God and love Him and to know His family and love them. I’ve been at the bedside of people who are dying. They don’t say, Bring me my diplomas. Bring me my trophies. Bring me my newspaper clippings. Bring me my palm pilot. Bring me my ‘to-do’ list.” In those final moments, they talk about what matters most and they say, “Bring me my family and my friends.” On that day, we’ll all realize just how important the purposes of worship and fellowship are. Loving God. That’s worship. Loving others. That’s fellowship.
What we want to be known for at CVCC is not our singing or sermons or strategies. What we want to be known for is our love. Loving God and each other. Today, we are going to share a family meal together.
