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Home Sermons 2010 The church as family (Part 2 of 'What is the church?')
 
The church as family (Part 2 of 'What is the church?') PDF Print E-mail
Written by David Charlton   

Scripture

 Matthew 12:46-50
While he was still speaking to the people, behold, his mother and his brothers stood outside, asking to speak to him. 47  48 But he replied to the man who told him, "Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?" 49 And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers! 50 For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother, and sister, and mother."
 Romans 8:15-17
For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of sonship. When we cry, "Abba! Father!" 16 it is the Spirit himself bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

Summary and Function

 

Summary: When we repent and trust Jesus as Savior and Lord, our relationship with God changes. We receive God’s forgiveness and our sins are no longer counted against us. With no sin in the way, God declares us to be his children. We become members of God’s immediate family. We are no longer servants, but sons and daughters. WOW!!! We can call God ‘Dad’.

This means that, as followers of Christ, we are all brothers and sisters in the same family. The church is a family. What type of family are we?

Are we the perfect family? No, we’re not. Christians are broken people in the process of being put back together by Jesus. Therefore, we’re not perfect and we don’t make the perfect family. We do, however, have the Holy Spirit uniting us. This means that if we are open to the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit, we can become a close knit family that can do anything God has in mind for us to do.

Are you hungry for a loving and powerful family? Then say yes to God’s offer of forgiveness through faith in Jesus. Welcome to the family! 

Purpose: To help the members of the congregation to see each others as brothers and sisters.

The Sermon

I. Introduction: ‘Different Strokes’

     1. Story of a rich white man, Phillip Drummond, and his two adopted African
          American sons, Willis and Arnold Jackson
     2. Willis and Arnold’s dad passed away when they were very young. Their widowed
         mother was Phillip Drummond’s housekeeper. While on her death bed, she asked
         Phillip to take care of her sons. Philip said yes and eventually adopted them.
     3. There’s one episode where Willis and Arnold decide to call Philip Drummond
         ‘Dad’. This was a turning point in the series.
  • From the very beginning, Phillip thought of Willis and Arnold as his own children. Willis and Arnold, however, had a hard time accepting that.
  • Once Arnold and Willis decided to trust Phillip as their Dad, they became a real family. Phillip’s daughter, Kimberly, accepted them as her brothers. It didn’t matter that Willis and Arnold came from a low income African-American neighborhood and Phillip and Kimberly came from upper-class white America.
    4. In a very real way, this is what happens when we say ‘yes’ to God’s offer to be our
        ‘Dad’.

II. God’s offer to be our ‘Dad’ 

     1. When we repent and trust Jesus as Savior and Lord, our relationship with God
         changes.
  • We receive God’s forgiveness and our sins are no longer counted against us.
  • With no sin in the way, God declares us to be his children. We become members of God’s immediate family.
  • We are no longer servants, but sons and daughters. WOW!!! We can call God ‘Dad’.
  • In a rich mansion, there are maids, butlers, cooks and gardeners. We, as believer in Christ, don’t hold that status. We are the children of the owners of the great mansion. We are the heirs to the entire estate!!!
     2. Romans 8:15-17 – “For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into
         fear, but you have received the spirit of sonship. When we cry, "Abba! Father!" 16 it
         is the Spirit himself bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17
         and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we
         suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.”
  • Many people in society refer to everyone as ‘children of God’ because God created us all and loves everyone.
  • Although it’s true that God created and loves everyone, this passage is not using the phrase ‘children of God’ like that.
  • Being a ‘child of God’ means we become a member of God’s immediate family through faith in Jesus.
  • We can call God Dad because we enter into an intimate, personal father/son relationship with God.
  • We can pray, “Dad, I need your help”; “Dad, what do you think? Or  “Dad, I need to talk with you” 
     3. This means that, as followers of Christ, we are all brothers and sisters in the same
         family. The church is a family.
  • Matthew 12:46-50 – While he was still speaking to the crowds, his mother and his brothers were standing outside, wanting to speak to him. 47 Someone told him, "Look, your mother and your brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you." 48 But to the one who had told him this, Jesus replied, "Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?" 49 And pointing to his disciples, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers! 50 For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother."
  • So, what type of family are we?

III. What type of family is the church?

     1. Is it a family like the Cleaver family in ‘Leave it to Beaver’?

  • This portrays an almost totally perfect family. The ‘Beaver’ or Wally would get into a little bit of trouble, the parents would give sage advice and everything would be ok by the end of the show.
  • The mother would wear a nice dress, high heels, pearls and perfect make-up while cleaning an already immaculate house.
  • The father would maintain a proper appearance, usually in a suit and tie, and never get upset.
  • THIS FAMILY HAS ALMOST NO CONNECTION TO REALITY!!!
  • The church is not like the ‘Leave it to Beaver Family’

     2. Why the church is not like the ‘Leave it to Beaver’ family

  • The church is full of broken people looking to Jesus to heal them. Jesus is in the process of putting the people back together.
  • There are people in the church struggling with addictions, emotional issues, wrong thinking, abuse and much much more.
  •  If you join a church and expect it to be like ‘Leave it to Beaver’ you will be disappointed.

     3. Sometimes the church is like 'The Simpsons’ family

  • The church is full of people who are in the process of becoming like Jesus. They have not yet completed the process.
  • So, there are imperfect people who don’t always act as they should.
  • We don’t, however, have to remain like ‘The Simpsons’. If we allow the Holy Spirit to work, we can become a close and loving family, like the families on ‘Bonanza’, ‘Little House on the Prarie’ and ‘The cosby Show’.

    4. The church as the Cartwright family on ‘Bonanza’

  • The Cartwright brothers (Little Joe, Hoss and Adam) always took care of and supported each other.
  • The church can be like that. The Holy Spirit unites us and we find ourselves supporting each other. We hold each other accountable when we do wrong and help each other in times of need.

     5. The church as the Ingalls family on “Little House on the Prairie”

  • This family faced tragedy after tragedy – Infant baby dying, blizzards, daughter becoming blind, adoptive son unintentionally causing the death of his infant nephew, adoptive son dying of rare blood disease and having to blow up their town (Walnut Grove) to keep greedy land developers from using it.
  • Each time, the family triumphed in the face of tragedy because they could depend on each other.
  • The church can be like that. The Holy Spirit unites us and enables us to triumph in adversity.

     6. The church as the Huxtable family in ‘The Cosby Show’

  • This family genuinely loved to be around each other. They were always having fun.
  • The church can be like that. The Holy Spirit engenders within in us a love that causes us to want to be with each other.

IV. Why should the church be like a family? To hit the bull’s eye.

     1. The church’s target or ‘bull’s eye’ is to ‘obey the great commandment in order to
         fulfill the great commission’ (Refer back to last week’s sermon)
     2. The more the church becomes a close knit family, the better it will hit the bull’s
         eye. It’s all about hitting the bull’s eye

V. Conclusion

     1. Do you need a family? Do you need people you can call brother and sister? If so,
         then repent and trust in Jesus. Become a ‘child of God’.
     2. As a child of God and a member of God’s immediate family, ask yourself, “What
         kind of family member am I?”
 
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