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August 1, 2009
How important is family?
Paul writes in Ephesians 2:19: “So then you are no
longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow
citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household.”
Creekside has been described as a
collection of mixed nuts (perhaps some are more nutty
than others). God has
brought us together here as His household. By God’s choice and work we
are the family of God.
That’s amazing isn’t it?
Our oneness as the church is the creative work
of the Almighty God of creation.
It really doesn’t matter how “nutty” we
are.
We are brought together by the same
broken body and spilled blood of Jesus.
Together we proclaim one gospel.
We share one faith. We
have one purpose and one calling.
We serve the same Lord, the same Spirit, and
the same Father. With
Jesus we’re heirs of the riches of God’s kingdom - an
unimaginable eternity together with Him.
We share a God given oneness that transcends
background, race, nationality, culture, economic
strata, or whatever potential differences there may
be.
A carnival director was
interviewing a young man looking for his first job. “What’s your best
trick?” the director asked.
“Sawing a
woman in half.”
“Isn’t that a
difficult trick?”
“Not really. I’ve been able to do that
one since I was a child. I
always used to practice on my sisters.”
“And do you
come from a large family?”
“Well, I have eight
half sisters.”
We are not step-children nor are we
distantly related to each other.
You are not a second class citizen in God’s
family. You are not an
accidental member of Jesus’ church.
You have the privilege of being chosen by the
sovereign God of creation to be His.
How important is family?
The family relationship we enjoy is
unique in this world. Isn’t
it? Where else is there
found so diverse a people who live with such unity -
potential and realized? Who
have such a bond? Who can
be such a strength for each other?
Who will cry, weep, and rejoice with each
other?
Let’s celebrate what God has done by
taking advantage of the opportunities we have to hang
out, to pray, to study, to worship, and even to
discuss crucial issues together - to be together as a
family. Let’s celebrate
together the joy of being His children.
With great privilege comes great purpose.
Remember the song?
We are the family of God - YES!
We are the family of God.
And He’s brought us together
To be one in Him,
That we might bring light to the world.
How important is family?
To those who have no clue what it means
to be God’s family - crucial. One
doesn’t have to look too far to see that what we
experience as “family” is unimaginable to some. God has given to us the
purpose of living out our family relationship in a
broken world that those we live with may see what God
can do in their lives.