Family Now
40 Days of Prayer 2024 • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Recap:
40 Days of Prayer with focusing on
This week we are talking about Family Now.
prayer
12 Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. 14 Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many. 15 Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19 If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body. 21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” 22 On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, 24 while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, 25 so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. 27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.
Metaphors for the Church
Metaphors for the Church
Body of Christ
Body of Christ
12 Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.
Bride
Bride
23 For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior.
Revelation 19:7–9 (NIV)
7 Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. 8 Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.” (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of God’s holy people.) 9 Then the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!” And he added, “These are the true words of God.”
Building (Temple) & Priesthood
Building (Temple) & Priesthood
5 you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
Branches
Branches
5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
Flock
Flock
16 I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.
Family
Family
As a part of the Alliance, we are called to be a Christ- Centered Acts 1:8 Family.
A family of God, where He is our Father.
49 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.”
10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.
19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household,
We are brothers and sisters in Christ.
We are brothers and sisters in Christ.
We are a family… Have you ever had anyone respond when talking about a brother or sister in Christ and they say, they are family, well not blood…
Not blood? Wait, What?!
What do you think makes family?
A Shared Bloodline
And you, my brothers and sisters have a shared bloodline.
13 Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming. 14 As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. 15 But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16 for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” 17 Since you call on a Father who judges each person’s work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear. 18 For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. 20 He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. 21 Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.
You’ve been bought by the precious blood of Jesus. You’ve been given a new life in Christ. You’ve been washed by his blood and are a new creation in Christ. So yes, we are family! We are blood.
But so many of us live like this isn’t truth.
You’ve been Chosen
You’ve been adopted
You’ve been grafted in
You now have brothers and sisters in Christ
And now you have a place and serve a purpose in our Family.
14 Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many. 15 Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19 If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body.
Each of us has a particular part to play. And each part is vital to the flourishing of the family. The body needs each part.
We could spend a ton of time on this but if you don’t know where you fit into the body yet, if you don’t know what your place is, what your purpose is…then I invite you to have a conversation with me…let’s talk about it and figure it out! We will talk about the passions that God has placed in your heart, we will discover the gifts and talents he has entrusted to you and we will plug you in.
And we know that the enemy of our souls will do everything in his power to destroy the family.
10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
Steal, Kill & Destroy…that’s Satan’s purpose
And we know that he is doing everything in his power to destroy the family unit. Especially in the church.
Family is God ordained. It was established in the beginning. That a man and a woman shall come together in union under God, what was traditionally known as Marriage and within that covenant of Marriage they would be fruitful and multiply.
But it didn’t take long for Satan to steal, kill and destroy.
What did he do as soon as sin entered the picture? He attacked the family and he caused division between brothers. So that Cain killed his brother Able.
And he hasn’t stopped attacking the family yet…just look at our nation, which was origionally founded upon biblical truths…
He attacked the family unit
He attacked marriage
He is now attacking the foundational truths of God creating male and female
And these poisonous lies are making their way into churches…
This week I came across an article that made my blood boil.
The Methodist church in the United Kingdom has issued a statement for the proper use of inclusion language. That those in the church should no longer refer to God as a specific gender and that language such as husband and wife is offensive and shouldn’t be used?
And this is in a “church”
This type of belief that says God’s word has to conform to our standards and our beliefs.
Never in my wildest dreams did I think it would be controversial to believe that God spoke, and that when He revealed himself through His word, if we take it for what it is then we would be considered bigoted and erroranous.
But really! It’s controversial to believe that this is God’s word and that if I don’t agree with it then I’m the one who is wrong and who needs to change. Not the other way around.
It’s compromise and it’s evil. Because Jesus + anything ruins everything.
And God has established family. God has revealed himself as our Father. God created man and woman in His image. Male and Female He created them. And marriage is between one man and one woman for life. And that all life is sacred.
Satan has done a good job of infiltrating our belief systems as a nation, we need to be careful as a church to stay the course and trust God’s revelation.
So God has called us out of the darkness and into his marvelous light. And we are now members of the family of God. He is our Father and we have brothers and sisters in Christ and we recognize that Satan will want to cause division.
20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body. 21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” 22 On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, 24 while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, 25 so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.
There should be no division…
But what do you do when there is?
That’s where this message turns to the NOW…
We are family. We are brothers and sisters. And now we can Go to prayer, now we can respond to our heavenly Father who is calling us to live in the light. Because if one part of the body is suffering then every part of the body is suffering with it.
This is 40 Days of Prayer…
I want to share a story with you that happened to me these past couple weeks.
Many of you know that my spiritual father passed away on the 19th of January. It hit me hard.
Because we are a family church. And like Paul who wrote his letter to Timothy, he said…
1 Timothy 1:2
2 To Timothy my true son in the faith: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
To Timothy, my true son in the faith.
We can even have spiritual father’s and mothers in the church. Men and women who pour into us. Who guide us, teach us, empower us, correct us.
Bear was my spiritual father. He introduced me to the Word, He introduced me to what it mean to follow Jesus. He is the one who first laid hands on me asking God to fill me with His spirit so that I could go and be a minister of the gospel. He instilled in me a love for the Word, a love for guitars and music. He is the man who baptised me in water. He is the man who gave me my first opportunity to preach the Word on a Sunday morning to his congregation at the ripe old age of 19 years old. He was the man who performed the ceremony for Amy and I’s marriage.
We need more spiritual fathers and mothers in the faith. And maybe I am sharing this story this morNing because someone in here is feeling the Lord’s tugging at their spirit to step up and become that Spiritual father or mother to someone else.
Bear dedicated his life to the Lord, and it cost him dearly. Some of it is his fault and some isn’t but his wife left him because he wouldn’t leave the ministry. God had called him to the ministry and she couldnt’ take it any longer so she grabbed their two daughters and left him.
Bear never had a good relationship with his biological kids after that day. But he adopted me as his Timothy, and I adopted him as my Paul. And there came a day when our relationship changed, and we became co-workers in Christ, just like Paul’s and Timothy’s relatinoship…but here’s where the prayer comes in…
Bear passed away and I knew where his guitar went while Bear was in the nursing home these years. It went to a brother in Christ, a man who I considered a dear friend at one point. I was told that there was no way this man was giving up Bear’s guitar.
Finish story…
See when we pray to our Father, our Father speaks and brings direction to his children.
And this morning I want to give us all the opportunty to experience the Father’s heart, as his children, as brothers and sisters in Christ. To make sure that we are not giving satan any room in our church.
25 so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. 27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.
See in the passage right before this one, just two Chapters ahead, Paul gives very specific instructions on how to deal with divisions in the church.
As I was preparing for this weeks service, knowing that it was a communion Sunday, i have wanted to do this for quite some time.
God has made a way for us all to experience his love and to demonstate his love…when we gather around his table. Coming together as one body, breaking one loaf. Sharing in our one faith. Believing in our One God as One.
The reason we all partake at the same time is because we are coming together as One. With no division.
1 Corinthians Paul is writing to one of the most divided churches. They were struggling with favoritism, they were struggling with following certain leaders and pride.
10 I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought.
14 Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry. 15 I speak to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. 16 Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? 17 Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all share the one loaf. 18 Consider the people of Israel: Do not those who eat the sacrifices participate in the altar?
We are the body of Christ and we are coming together….and though we are many we are all eating from one loaf, showing that we are one body.
Paul goes on to bring correction to the way they were doing communion in the next Chapter…
1 Corinthians 11:17-34
In the following directives I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm than good. 18 In the first place, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you, and to some extent I believe it. 19 No doubt there have to be differences among you to show which of you have God’s approval. 20 So then, when you come together, it is not the Lord’s Supper you eat, 21 for when you are eating, some of you go ahead with your own private suppers. As a result, one person remains hungry and another gets drunk. 22 Don’t you have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God by humiliating those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you? Certainly not in this matter!
23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
27 So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. 28 Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup. 29 For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves. 30 That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. 31 But if we were more discerning with regard to ourselves, we would not come under such judgment. 32 Nevertheless, when we are judged in this way by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be finally condemned with the world.
33 So then, my brothers and sisters, when you gather to eat, you should all eat together. 34 Anyone who is hungry should eat something at home, so that when you meet together it may not result in judgment.
And when I come I will give further directions.
So this is what we are going to do today. I am going to have the elders come up and distribute the bread and the cup. This will take a few minutes as they work their way around the room. But once you get you bread and your cup…please wait to take communion. Because we are going to do this together…as one body.
We are going to break bread together…as one around the Lord’s table.
So examine your hearts this morning. Is there a brother or sister in Christ you need to extend forgiveness to?
Is there a brother or sister in Christ who you have sinned against? Then pray to the Lord and ask for forgiveness. Seek His forgiveness.
When David sinned and killed his friend Uriah
For the director of music. A psalm of David. When the prophet Nathan came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba. 1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. 3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. 4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; so you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge. 5 Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. 6 Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb; you taught me wisdom in that secret place. 7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. 8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. 9 Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity. 10 Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. 11 Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. 13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways, so that sinners will turn back to you. 14 Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, you who are God my Savior, and my tongue will sing of your righteousness. 15 Open my lips, Lord, and my mouth will declare your praise. 16 You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. 17 My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise. 18 May it please you to prosper Zion, to build up the walls of Jerusalem. 19 Then you will delight in the sacrifices of the righteous, in burnt offerings offered whole; then bulls will be offered on your altar.
HAVE ELDERS DISTRIBUTE THE ELEMENTS.
BREAKING OF THE BREAD
The Lord Jesus, on the night of his arrest, took bread, and after giving thanks to God, he broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying: Take, eat. This is my body, given for you. Do this in remembrance of me. In the same way he took the cup, saying: This cup is the new covenant sealed in my blood, shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. Whenever you drink it, do this in remembrance of me. Every time you eat this bread and drink this cup you proclaim the saving death of the risen Lord, until he comes.
PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION
Gracious God, may we who have received this sacrament live in the unity of your Holy Spirit, that we may show forth your gifts to all the world. We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.