FORMED FOR GOD’S FAMILY
The Purpose Driven Life - Part 3 : 3/19/06
• I have here a sympathy letter sent by the President of the Republic of Cabo-Verde, an archipelago of 10 islands about 350 miles off the west coast of Africa. It was sent to the family of Adelina Dominguez who died in San Diego in August 2002.
• Now, what made her death noteworthy is that according to the Guinness Book of Records, she was the oldest living American. At 114 years of age, she outlived all of her children and some of her grandchildren.
• When she was asked the secret of her longevity, Associated Press reports she gave all the credit to God and to His plan and purpose for her life, quote, "I knew God had a purpose for my life."
• We’re continuing in our 40 days series on God’s purpose for your life. And last week, we looked at His first purpose, which is to get to know Him and to love Him. We learned that we were created for God’s pleasure and what we do in response to all of God’s love and goodness is worship
• Today, we’re going to look at our second purpose, which is we were formed for God’s family.
“God is the one who made all things, and all things are for His glory. He wanted to have many children share His glory...” Heb. 2:10a (NCV)
God wanted a family. That’s why we’re here. He wanted children. And the Bible says He planned everything in the entire universe so we could be born, so we could share in His glory, so we could be part of His family
“His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into His own family by bringing us to Himself through JesusChrist.” Eph. 1:5 (NLT)
The entire Bible, this entire book, is the story of God building a family. That’s what it is all about. That’s why we have History, because God is building a family for Himself that is going to last not just here on earth, but forever and ever and ever in eternity.
“Love your spiritual family!” 1 Pet. 2:17b (Msg)
That’s what God wants us to do.
You see, our physical families are going to eventually fall apart. In fact, many of them fall apart here on earth. But your spiritual family is going to go on forever. So God says He wants us to learn to practice now learning to love other believers.
Now, why does He want us to learn to love them? Well, I know of at least 3 good reasons:
First, it makes us more like God, because God is love.
Second, he wants His children to learn to get along together – like we want for our own kids
Third, it’s practice for eternity. Not only are you going to love God, but other believers
MY 2nd PURPOSE IN LIFE IS FELLOWSHIP.
What is Fellowship? - some would say it’s the casual conversation we have over coffee and cookies, some would say it’s eating together - what we do back there in the “Fellowship Hall”, some might say it’s coming together at church
FELLOWSHIP is loving God’s Family. (See outline)
The Bible says in 1 John 4:21: “The person who loves God must also love other believers.”
We have to love other believers. Now, how do you do that? Well, fortunately, the Bible gives us crystal clear instructions. Paul wrote this,
“I’m writing… so you’ll know how to live in the family of God. That family is the church...” 1 Tim. 3:14-15 (NCV)
Now, circle the word "family” and circle the word "church," and kind of draw a line together -- because the church is a family.
It is not this or some other building; it is not an institution; it is not an organization; it is not a club. It is a family.
A lot of people say, “Well, I’m going to go to church,” as if church is a place you go to. That’s not correct. Church is not a place you go to. Church is a family you belong to.
We are the church together – we just happen to meet in this sanctuary. If this building had to collapse because of our roof issue, this building would cease to exist but the church will still be here.
Let’s look together at FOUR LEVELS OF FELLOWSHIP
LEVEL 1: MEMBERSHIP: CHOOSING TO BELONG.
That means you find a church family and you choose to get connected to it
“...You are members of God’s very own family... and you belong in God’s household with every other Christian.” Eph. 2:19 (LB)
The Christian life is not just a matter of believing. It is matter of belonging, and you and I must chose to belong. Fellowship begins with belonging, with making that choice. Some people say, “Well, I’m a Christian, but I don’t want to belong to any church.” That just doesn’t make sense. The church is where you live out what it means to be a Christian. That’s like saying, “I’m a football player, but I don’t want to be a part of any team.” It doesn’t work. Or like saying, “I’m a tuba player, but I don’t want to be a part of an orchestra.” A tuba player without an orchestra sounds pretty funny. It’s like saying, “I’m a bee, but I don’t want to be a part of a hive”; a soldier without a platoon. A Christian without a church family is an orphan. God meant us to be a part of a family.
This next week in the Purpose Driven Life book, we’re going to be reading together about six reasons why we need to be a part of a church family, why it meets our needs and why we meet other people’s needs.
“In Christ we who are many form one Body, and each member belongs to all the others.” Rom. 12:5 (NIV)
Now we have already examined this topic in much detail a few months back – but it’s good to be reminded again - We are members together like the members of your own body – hands, feet, legs, arms, eyes, nose, mouth – all different, but working together in unison under the direction of the head
What would happen if before you got up to leave here just now, your left leg decided it no longer wanted to be a part of you or was not going to cooperate with the rest of you?
A common American church phenomenon is what we might call floating believers, people who go from church to church to church. One week, they’re part of this church and the next week -- oh, they are doing something hot over here. And next week they’re over there.
Body parts that are not securely and vitally attached to the rest of you will shrivel and die and the same is true of membership in the church
If you want to grow, if you want to see God at work in your life, you have got to join a body. You cannot be a member in general – you have to be attached somewhere. Aren’t you glad that your left and right hands are attached where they are? Or your feet and ears? And that they don’t just fall off or get lost
Jesus calls the church His Body and that is what each of us joined and became part of through our baptism – members together of His Body
See the other 2 Scriptures on your outline (1 Cor. 12:13 and Romans 6:3)
Just as this wedding ring on my finger is the visible outward sign of my marriage and commitment to Anne, so baptism is the visible, outward sign of our union with Christ and His Body the Church
The church is the bride of Christ. How would you feel if I said to you, “I like you but I can’t stand your wife”. Because Jesus loves the church - this group of believers that are growing together, you and I need to have that same kind of love for this body by deciding, choosing to belong.
LEVEL 2: FRIENDSHIP: LEARNING TO SHARE.
Here we go a little deeper. You see, you and I were created in God’s image. So we were made for relationships. In Genesis God said, “It is not good for man to be alone”. Life is not a solo act. We were made for each other.
“All the believers met together constantly and shared everything with each other.” Acts 2:44 Circle "met together," and circle "shared." Notice two things –
1. You can’t develop friendships without meeting together.
2. You can’t develop friendships without sharing.
The more frequently you meet together, the closer you’re going to get. I experienced two years ago in my CPE training at Swedish Medical Center in Seattle – though that group did not all have Jesus as the central focus as we do – one person was a Buddhist, another was a Jew, another a Catholic, and one an Episcopalian and our supervisor was Disciples of Christ – but we spent 20 hours one week in very focused and transparent interaction with each other and then at least 10 hours a week for 10 weeks. We certainly got to know one another by the end of that unit and made some pretty strong friendships.
Do you know why most people are lonely? They don’t make time for friendships. They are too busy achieving; they are too busy working; they are too busy doing other things. They are not willing to put the time into it. You have to meet together. You have to get together. And until you start saying this is going to be a priority in my life, you’re not going to develop any deep friends. They don’t just happen. They happen because you chose to make the time for them. It is not luck. It is a choice.
And you can’t develop friendships without sharing. It says they "shared everything."
The Bible gives us some specifics to share
• OUR EXPERIENCES
“People learn from one another, just as iron sharpens iron.” Prov. 27:17 (TEV)
It is wise to learn from the experiences of other people, because you don’t have time to make all the mistakes yourself. You see, 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 figure it all out, you’re dead. You don’t have enough time to learn everything on your own.
So God says you can short-circuit and learn a lot quicker if you learn from the experiences of others. Nobody knows everything. You see, we’re all ignorant, just on different subjects. So you know some things I don’t know and I know some things thing you don’t know. And the person next to you knows some things neither of us knows. And the Bible says that you can learn from anybody if you just learn to ask the right questions. So we’re to share our experience with others.
Think of all the wealth of knowledge sitting here right now in this church family in this service, and how much we could learn from each other if we just spend the time to get together.
• OUR HOMES
“Open your homes to each other.” 1 Peter 4:9 (NCV)
Notice he doesn’t specify that they have to be mansions or only “the nice” ones – he just says “your homes” – the place where you live and eat and sleep and watch TV.
Why does God say that? Why are we to share our homes? I’ll tell you why, because you cannot fellowship in a crowd. You can only fellowship in a small group. Or one on one. We’re not going to do much fellowshipping here today. It is impossible to fellowship meaningfully with even this number of people. We can worship together. We can chew the fat with each other – but not fellowship.
Do you know that during the first 300 years of Christian history there were NO CHURCH BUILDINGS – the believers all met in homes and that was the period of the most rapid growth and expansion of the church. Do you think God had a good reason for telling us to open our homes?
If you are hosting a small group in your home, would you stand up and let us just appreciate you right now. I know it took some courage but you made a choice to do what the Scripture says – you’re opening your home. (YEAH!!!)
• OUR PROBLEMS
“Share each other’s troubles and problems.” Gal. 6:2 (NLT)
We’re not meant to face our problems alone. The Bible says share each other’s troubles and problems. You know when you share a joy, it is doubled; and when you share a problem, it is cut in half?
The Bible says, “weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who rejoice.” Sometimes in a small group you die of laughter and sometimes you’re all shedding a tear. Why? Depends on what is going on in your group during the week.
You don’t have to fix everybody’s problem. God hasn’t told you to do that. He just says share them. That means lend a listening ear. You don’t always have to fix -- in fact, a lot of times trying to fix a problem doesn’t help. It just sitting there and going, “boy I feel for you,” “been there,” “I understand,” “that’s tough.” It is just sharing sympathy and experience.
Now you’re never going to go to this second level of fellowship until you get into a small group. That’s why the Bible says this in Hebrews 10:25 “Let us not give up the habit of meeting together. Instead, let us encourage one another...”
And it says, “don’t give up the habit." I hope that through these 40 days you’ll so get into the habit of meeting together in this way that you’ll never give it up, because you’re always going to need encouragement.
Now if you tried one and it doesn’t seem to fit quite right for you – then try another – but don’t ever quit!
And if you still have not joined a group or decided to start one – it is not too late – in fact, it is NEVER TOO LATE!
LEVEL 3: PARTNERSHIP: DOING MY PART.
This moves into a yet deeper level. The Scripture says: 1 Corinthians, chapter 3, verse 9. "We are partners working together for God." Circle the word "partners."
Partnership is realizing that each of us has got a contribution to make; that the family of God needs you. Listen, God did not bring you to Morton UMC to sit and soak in some spiritual spa. That’s not why you’re here. He brought you here to serve. He wants to make a difference through your life. In every family there are family responsibilities.
And this is a Christian family, this church is God’s family. And everyone every one of us has a part.
The Bible is filled with the fact that you and I are to work with one another in getting this job done. There are 58 times in the New Testament that God says we are to do things with one another. We serve one another. We love one another. We pray with one another. Encourage one another. The Bible even says we have to put up with one another when we’re doing all of this. That’s how it works together. This is love in action. Not just in words. You see, it is great to share your heart, that’s level two. But it is even greater to do your part. That is what level three is all about.
Did you ever want to be a partner in a -- maybe a great business that went to the top of the Fortune 500? In the church, we are part of the greatest enterprise that’s ever existed. We get to be part of God’s plan for the universe. That’s what it is all about, when we cooperate and participate together in the family of God.
But in order to be a part, you’ve got to find your niche, you have got to find out where specifically you fit in. There is no such thing as being a member in general – just as God didn’t simply lump all your body parts together any old how – each one of them is in specific and vital relationship to others. Each one has a specific and vital function to perform and without it or when it is not functioning properly the entire body suffers as a result.
“The whole Body is fitted together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole Body is healthy and growing and full of love.” Eph. 4:16 (NLT)
You might circle those words "each part." That’s you, that’s me. We are a part of Christ’s body. And it is working together that we get things done.
You have a part to play. You have a part to play in the Body of Christ. And when we cooperate, we get more done together than we could ever get done by ourselves. There is an attitude -- a heart attitude that is key to me, to you, to all of us --that we’re doing it for Jesus Christ.
Mother Teresa spent her life working -- as many of you know, with the poorest of the poor in Calcutta, India. And she was once asked, "How do you handle all the death and disease on a daily basis? How do you do the tough things when it comes to serving?" And 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 that’s behind this.
“Just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to Me.” Matt. 25:40 (NRSV)
So I encourage you to make this practical this week a practical action step, if you want to experience a deeper level of fellowship, look for a practical need in your group to meet this next week, just some practical thing and watch what it does for your relationship for your fellowship with one another.
LEVEL 4: KINSHIP: LOVING BELIEVERS LIKE FAMILY.
Now, the deepest level of fellowship in the family of God is what we might call "Kinship." Now, I know that is an old term and not one much used any more.
Kinship literally means your closest relationships. It means your closest family. When somebody has an accident, they say, “Notify the next-of-kin”, and they don’t mean go to your distant Aunt Ethyl. They mean you find the person they care about most, the person who is closest to them, the one they hold most dearly, you go get the person that matters most to them, and you bring them here right now because they are kin. And the Bible says that’s the kind of attitude we should have.
Kinship -- the deepest level, is loving believers like family; treating and loving believers like they’re family. You’re completely committed to them. The Bible says in Acts 2:42. “They were like family to each other." Romans 12:10 says, "Be devoted to each other like a loving family."
Now, the word for fellowship in the Bible is the Greek word “koinonia." And what it really means is being as committed to each other as we are to Jesus Christ; that is the deepest level of fellowship. Being as committed to each other as we are to Jesus Christ. That is family relationship. That is kinship. That is saying I’m at the level of willing to sacrifice for you.
“We know what real love is because Christ gave up His life for us. And so we also ought to give up our lives for our Christian brothers and sisters.” 1 John 3:16 (NLT) (This is THE OTHER John 3:16)
As a pastor and in chaplaincy ministry, I have been at the bedside of many people as they were dying. I couldn’t count how many bedsides I have been at. In all of those situations where I’ve been there at the side as people were taking their last breath, I have never once had anybody say, “Bring me my diplomas. I want them close to me.” Nobody says, “Bring me my trophies.” Nobody says, "Bring me the gold watch I got at retirement." Nobody says, "Bring me my palm pilot." It is in those final moments they talk about what matters most, and they say bring me my family and friends.
One day, one day you’re going to figure out that what really matters in life is knowing God and having close family and friends. I hope it doesn’t take that long. I hope you don’t discover that at the last moment of your life. I hope you discover it now and begin to fellowship as God intended for us, because life is all about love.
Loving God, that’s called “Worship,” and loving each other, that’s called “Fellowship.”
“Your strong love for each other will prove to the world that you are My disciples.” John 13:35 (LB)
It wasn’t too long after Jesus said this that the Roman Empire was throwing Christians to the lions in coliseums. They weren’t very hospitable to Christians for several hundred years. They were putting them up on stakes and burning them and they were crucifying them and throwing them to lions and all other kinds of things.
And in that period of time, one of the most famous secular Historians, Josephus, not a Christian, -- wrote this about Christians: “See, how these Christians they love one another."
You see, Morton UMC will probably never be known for its size, nor its sermons, nor its singing, nor its programs, or its building. But my prayer, and I trust yours as well, is that far and wide people will come to say, “that’s the place where they really love each other,” because that’s what Christianity is all about -- loving God, and loving each other.
How do you know if you’re in God’s family? How do you know personally? Let me read you three verses that will test if you’re really a Christian or not. Listen to this, right from the Bible. These are not on your outline, so you might want to jot them down.
1 John 3:10, "Anyone who does not love other Christians does not belong to God."
1 John 4:20, "Those who do not love their brothers and sisters, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have never seen."
1 John 3:14, "But if we love our Christian brothers, it proves that we have passed from death to eternal life." That’s the proof.
The greatest privilege you will ever be offered in life is a privilege of being a part of God’s family. You see, God’s family is a laboratory for learning to love. Some of you grew up in homes that didn’t have a lot of love. And, maybe, you just don’t know how to love.
The family of God is where you learn to love real people, not ideal people. Nobody in your small group is ideal and neither are you. We learn to love real people, and that’s what God put us on earth to do.
So let me ask you a couple relevant questions: which of these levels of fellowship are you at?
Have you even made it to the first one, choosing to belong? Are you still floating around from church to church to church or have you been opting for a “live-together without marriage” association? You’ve never gotten committed. You’ve never got into membership. You need to choose a church. That’s the most basic level. If you haven’t done that, that’s your next step.
Then you need to learn to share. And where do you do that? In a small group. You don’t learn to share in a place like this.
Then you need to not just share your heart, you need to do your part. That’s partnership. Find your niche. Find your place to give back, to make a contribution. If you’re in the family of God, you have some family responsibilities.
Then you move to this deepest level. Are there any other believers that know you are devoted to them? That you’re going to be there for them in their crisis?
Even more basic question is, are you a part of the family of God? You say, “Well, isn’t everybody a part of the family of God?” No. Everybody is created by God, but not everybody is a child of God.
You have to choose to be a part of God’s family. God gave us one condition, the last verse on your outline. "You are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus.” You can do that today. Let’s bow our heads.
Loving Father, next to salvation, the greatest gift you have ever given us is the opportunity to be a part of your family. Thank you that we don’t have to go through life disconnected and isolated. Thank you for creating your family here in Morton for all of us. Now I invite you to pray and say: "Dear God, I want to be a part of your family and I want to learn to love my spiritual family just like you do. Forgive me for taking it casually. I want to grow in the levels of fellowship, so today I’m choosing to belong. I’m not going to float around anymore. I want to learn to share and make time to develop real friendships. I want to do my part in the family of God. I want to learn to love other believers like brothers and sisters. Teach me the meaning of real love. In your name I pray, Amen.”
