First Baptist Church
God’s Family
March 8, 2020
A woman was about to pay for the items she was purchasing, when she opened her purse the cashier noticed a television remote control in her purse, so she asked, “I don’t mean to be nosy, but, do you always carry a TV remote in your purse?" The woman replied, "No, but my husband refused to come shopping with me, so I figured this was the best way to get back at him.”
A husband and wife were attending a Marriage Seminar. They broke up into groups, and had to answer a number of basic questions. One of the men was asked, “what is your wife’s favorite flower?” The man leaned over. Gently touched his wife’s arm and said, “It’s Pillsbury, isn't it?" The rest of the story gets rather ugly so I'll stop here.
Obviously he didn’t know his purpose.
Well, for the past weeks we’ve been looking at the question, “What’s the purpose of my life?” We’ve discovered we were created by God and for God. Our lives are not about us, they are about God. And for the past 3 weeks, we looked at how we were created by God and one super important part of that is to recognize God’s worth. As we recognize God’s worth, we are called to worship God. We give God glory and honor as we seek to enjoy God, as well.
my hope is that we would come here, focused and prepared, expecting to experience the power and presence of God. After worship, we then move into the world and worship God through our daily lives. There are some things that go along with worshiping God, because God has called us into relationship with Him and with others. And that leads us into this mornings worship . . . and the call from God which is the fact that we were created to be part of God’s Family!
In Ephesians 1:5, Paul wrote -- 5 God predestined us for adoption to Himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of His will. - Ephesians 1:5
The NLT says it this way - - “God’s unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into His own family by bringing us to Himself through Jesus Christ.”
Have you ever realized and believed, I mean really believed that God wants to include you and me in His family? He wants to enjoy us. He wants to have an intimate relationship with us. Think about that - - - it’s always been God’s unchanging plan ~ consider what that means. God’s plan for you and I to enter His family is never, never changing.
It wasn’t because you suddenly did something God, and God said, “WOW! I need that person to join my family!” NO!! God always wanted you to be in His family. On your good days and on those bad days! God loves you with a deep and passionate love, which is not conditional. He has always wanted you and I to join His amazing family.
God adopts us, because until we become believers in Jesus Christ, we are not part of the family. In order to join the family we must believe that Jesus is the Messiah, that he’s the Creator and redeemer. That He died for you and rose again, that He has forgiven you of your sins and there is now a place in eternity, a heavenly home with your name on it, built exclusively for you.
And remember it is God who brings us into relationship with Himself through Jesus. We were created to be part of God’s family. You were made to last forever in God’s family!
So, not only are we in God’s family, but when we say YES to Jesus, we become part of a larger family. We become brothers and sisters in Christ. Peter said – 17 Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. - 1 Peter 2:17
In other words, honor everyone, but for those who are within the family of God, your brothers and sisters in Christ, love them. And the call is to love them with agape love, a sacrificial love which is based on Christ.
God wants us to practice loving each other. This life is the dress rehearsal for the real production, which will happen for the rest of FOREVER, and God wants us to learn how to get along and practice loving each other now.
So, when we gather together as a church family, we often use the word FELLOWSHIP when we speak of relating with our spiritual families. Too often we don’t know what fellowship means. We can talk about the state of the Colts or Pacers, or Cubs, or the weather. We can debate who’s going to win. Or we may talk about some other stuff which might be important, but is really superficial. We need to understand we didn’t engage in fellowship. It was just a nice conversation.
True fellowship is defined by the Greek word “Koinonia.” Koinonia has deep meanings. It means ‘To share something in common, to have a partnership, to have a close relationship, to be of the same mind.’ You see, true fellowship occurs when we take an active interest in one another’s lives. We are practicing fellowship when we really are concerned about our brother or sister. We don’t just give lip service and kind of ignore them. But we genuinely care about them. And we do that because we are of the same mind and heart. A heart which has been redeemed by Jesus. He’s always the starting point.
For example, this week I was talking to someone and asked them, “how are you?” But honestly, I wasn’t do much concerned about their physical well-being, I was really asking about their emotional and spiritual well-being. When they told me they didn’t feel great, I reiterated my question, looking more intent at them and asking, “NO!! How are you?!” Then we spoke for an hour about how they really are.
That’s fellowship. Next Sunday, we’re having a pot luck after worship. I want you to be there. Yes, bring food, I like food, we all like food. Food helps the conversation. But while you’re there, get to know someone you don’t know. Take an active interest in that person. If someone is sitting by themselves, join them. Engage in fellowship. It’s vital in the church. It’s what makes us family.
Fellowship occurs when we help one another. It occurs when we go a little deeper with one another, so that we can care more about each other. Authentic, Biblical fellowship is knowing, loving and serving one another.
John tells us in 1 John 4 --
20 If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. 21 And this commandment we have from Him: whoever loves God must also love his brother. - 1 John 4:20-21
That’s a tough one, isn’t it? When John refers to brother, he’s not using a slang, generic term for brother, like when we say “hey bro!” Or call someone “dude!”
The word for brother really means a Christian brother or sister. That’s what John is after. Yes, we get hurt by Christian brothers and sisters. I do understand that. We do sin, and our actions cause pain and hurt and grief. And forgiveness is a process which can take a long time and eventually, we are called to have a love for our brothers and sisters. As difficult as that may be.
So how do we do that? How do we learn to love each other? Well before you can even begin you must realize this one truth… the people here, the people in this building are your spiritual family! The church is more than a building, it is a family. And I might add some of these people are more your family, than your blood family!!
There are 4 levels of fellowship I want to talk about for the rest of this message:
The first level is:
Choosing to belong
This is the most basic level. Choosing to belong simply means we choose to come and get connected. Too many people think they can be a Christian and not worship God as a group. To some degree that’s true, coming into this building doesn’t mean you are a Christ follower. But God created us for one another. We need each other and we need to be connected to a group of believers.
Do you remember the television program “CHEERS”? That was a program that focused on a group of people we would all call losers, yet they were part of a group which loved one another.
Do you remember when Norm walked into the bar, what would the people do? They would all yell, “NORM!!” Deep down, that’s what we want in our lives, too. We want to be known. Even the biggest introvert wants to be known.
Listen to what Paul told the young believers in Ephesus in Ephesians 2:18-19--
18 For through Him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,
You see, through our faith in Christ, we now have access to the Father, through the Spirit. By the way, there’s the trinity at work, which is also the perfect relationship.
We all have a decision to make. Are you willing to sacrifice your time and believe it’s important to become part of this family? That’s where fellowship begins, when we choose to belong. God made you to be in His family and He wants you to be part of a church family as well.
It’s easy to walk in and out, but the longer you are here the more people you get to know, and the more you have a sense of belonging. One of the beauties of this church is our true care and love for one another. Our ability to extend grace, our friendliness; our ability to cry and celebrate the great times and the struggles.
Those are all so important for us to be part of.
In fact, as a church, we can’t reach our God given potential without you being here. You’re valuable and we need you as much as you need the other people. In Romans 12, Paul said --
4 For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, 5 so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. - Romans 12:4-5
We are all different, with different skills, abilities and gifts. And that’s the beauty of the church. We are all different, yet we are part of one body, and the body needs every person. I’ll talk more about that in a few weeks.
We must choose to belong! Jesus loved the “church” so much that He died for it! And please understand that the church is really not just this building, but it the people who are in the building. We are the body, the body of Christ . . . the people who pass on His love. The next step to fellowship is - -
Learning to share
Sharing is not an easy thing to do. Watch two children playing and the most common phrase is “That’s mine!” It’s also not easy for adults. But for our level of fellowship to increase we must do what the early church did. Listen to this passage about the early church -
42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
43 And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles.
44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common.
45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need.
Can you picture what this group must have looked like? Think about it - -
They were devoted to one another
Constantly meeting together
They were willing learners
They engaged in fellowship
They ate and prayed together
Awe came upon EVERY person
Miracles were happening
They were together and shared.
They sold their possessions
They gave away to whomever had a need
They were persistent and devoted. They met together "constantly." Constantly. No excuses for missing. No saying, ‘well, I’m not feeling it today.’ Can you imagine if the early church had that mindset? We wouldn’t be here today. They didn’t let persecution get in the way. It didn’t matter. They believed and trusted that God wanted them to come together.
There was no questioning it, even though they had no formal church. They kind of did church on the fly, they learned as they did it. They didn’t have by-laws or constitutions or anything like that. They just met for one purpose to honor and glorify Christ.
They trusted that God never intended for the Christian life to be a solo flight.
Nobody knows it all, but by sharing with one another, we’ve learned by trial and error we can grow together. Real fellowship develops as you live life together. We share our concerns, trials, tribulations and also our joys and blessings. As we do that, we grow closer to one another, as we pray, rejoice, laugh, cry, grieve and help one another in this journey.
Stopping at this point - choosing to belong and sharing are the first steps in being part of God’s family. Next week we will look at the next 2 and one of our senior saints wants to share a few words with us as well. For now, consider how God is calling you to be part of the church. It’s always your choice! Let’s pray!
