Built Different

From Orphans To Family

I was super thankful for Joe, Ashley Corlee’s dad, being able to share a message with us.

I hope you were blessed by it!

Today, we are starting a new series. So there are a lot of churches out there. Each one is unique...though there are a lot of similarities.

Over the next 4 weeks, I want to remind us of the things that make us different. Of the values that we envisioned as we relaunched back in 2024.

This series is called...Built Different.

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So, we live in the most connected time of humanity in history. We can talk to people around the globe...you can know news that happens overseas in minutes. We have face time and zoom, communication through social media (facebook, instagram, tik tok, snapchat, X, etc.), while we game online we can meet new friends, all this in addition to real face to face relationships.

So we can text instantly, FaceTime anyone, scroll through hundreds of updates, and still feel deeply isolated.

Some people are lonely in a crowded roomo

Some are lonely in their marriage

Some are lonely at work

Some are lonely sitting at church.

We can smile publicly and still ache privately.

There are many people in our world who feel: unseen… disconnected… unwanted… and spiritually abandoned.

And maybe the hardest loneliness of all is Spiritual isolation—the feeling that because of our failures, our shame, or our past, we don’t really belong anywhere… especially not with God.

We hear the whispers of the enemy, disguised as our internal voice: You’ll never fit in… You’re too messed up… Nobody really knows you… You’re on your own.

But the gospel tells a different story.

The gospel is not merely: Try harder… be religious… get forgiven and someday go to heaven.

The gospel is bigger than that. The gospel is the the announcement that the Kingdom of God has come near through Jesus Christ. He lived, he died, and he rose again. But the gospel doesn’t stop there. Jesus then invites us to believe, repent (change direction), and follow him!

His invitation is into a family...

Not spectators… Not customers… not religious consumers… he invited us to be part of a family.

Jesus says this:

Matthew 19:29 “And everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or property, for my sake, will receive a hundred times as much in return and will inherit eternal life.”

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A couple weeks ago, my son turned on the movie, Mrs. Doubtfire, starring Robin Williams.

The movie showcases his incredible talent. He made millions laugh over his lifetime. He seemed full of joy and life.

Yet behind all the success and applause was deep pain and loneliness.

That’s a reminder that fame doesn’t cure isolation. Money doesn’t cure isolation. Popularity doesn’t cure isolation.

You can be surrounded by people and still feel completely alone.

But the good news of the gospel is this: God sees lonely people… God moves toward lonely people… and God places lonely people into His family!

And this isn’t NEW!

Listen to what the Psalmist says about God.

Psalm 68:6 “God places the lonely in families; he sets the prisoners free and gives them joy.”

God cares deeply about lonely people.

The Psalmist is telling us something about the heart of God.

He notices lonely people: The widow, the outsider, the person who feels forgotten, the teen who feels invisible, the husband silently carrying burdens, the exhausted mom, the senior adult who feels left behind.

God is relational by nature.

From the beginning of Scripture, we see exhibit after exhibit of the relational God that we serve.

Father, Son, and Spirit - His very nature

Adam walking with God - humans created in his image

Israel called God’s people, and God continuing to pursue them even while they reject him over and over and over

Jesus gathering disciples

The church being called the body of Christ

We were created in the image of a relational God, which means that isolation cuts against how were were designed.

One of the first things that God says after the creation of man is that “It’s not good for man to be alone.”

And that applies to our discipleship...our following Jesus.

Christianity was never meant to be: Just me and Jesus… Isolated faith… disconnected discipleship.

The Christian life is a family experience.

Illustration: Coal and fire

A single coal pulled away from the fire, slowly loses heat until it grows cold.

But when it’s placed back into the fire, it begins to glow again.

That’s what isolation does spiritually.

Some people wonder:

Why am I struggling?

Why do I feel spiritually cold?

Why is my faith weak?

Sometimes, it’s because we’ve disconnected from the family God designed us for… sometimes we’ve never connected!

God places the lonely in families because isolated believers become vulnerable believers.

So, God cares deeply about lonely people...how does he care for them?

Through Jesus, We Are Adopted Into God’s Family

Paul says this...

Romans 8:15–17 “So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.” For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children. ”

That word “adoption” is powerful.

The gospel doesn’t merely make us forgiven servants.

It makes us sons and daughters!

And in the Roman world, adopt carried enormous significance.

And adopted child received:

a new identity

a new name

a new inheritance

and full legal standing in the family

Here’s the point...when you come to Christ, God doesn’t reluctantly tolerate you. He brings you in!

You belong!

John 1:12 “But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.”

Notice that phrase:

“He gave the right...”

Not earned… Not purchased… received through faith in Jesus Christ

The enemy wants believers to live like spiritual orphans: Fearful… insecure… striving… constantly wondering if God really loves them.

But Scripture tells us: You are adopted… You are chosen… You are wanted… You are loved.

Illustration: One of the most beautiful things you’ll ever see is adoption day in a courtroom. I have seen it many times on facebook. A child who once had uncertainty suddenly has permanence.

A judge signs papers, and in one moment: They have a family… a home… security… and a future.

That child doesn’t leave the courtroom wondering, “Do I belong?”

No, that child was chosen...they celebrate, because the child is now legally part of the family!

That’s the picture of salvation!

God doesn’t just clean you up...he brings you home!

Listen to how Paul continues in Romans 8.

Romans 8:17 “And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory.”

Think about this!

Everything Christ secured becomes part of our inheritance

Grace—eternal life—relationship with the Father—a future kingdom—resurrection hope

And the Holy Spirit confirms this reality in us.

The Spirit whispers to us, “You belong to the Father.”

And now the hard part...

So… God cares deeply about lonely people… We are adopted into God’s family through Jesus…

Adopted People Leave the Old Life Behind

Ephesians 2:19 “So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s family.”

Before Christ — Strangers, outsiders, disconnected

But now — Citizens, family, household members!

Paul says we are now part of God’s house, built on Christ himself.

Adoption changes identity.

But...huge BUT...You cannot truly join a new family while still clinging to the old life!

The old labels no longer define us… failure, addict, bitter, ashamed, unwanted, condemned.

Those things may describe your past, but they are not your identity anymore.

Your identity is: child of God! Adopted people begin learning the values of the new family!

We forgive

WE serve

We love

We grow

We pursue holiness

We carry one another’s burdens.

The church becomes more than a place we attend.

It becomes the family where we belong.

And that is my final challenge to all of us!

Don’t just attend church. Belong to the family.

Join groups, join Bible Studies, when the opportunity for discipleship comes up, join a group.

I’m super thankful for all the people who have stepped up to help with VBS! And guess what, we have a ton of kids coming!

When you stay for the potluck today. Don’t just sit with people who you are familiar with… sit with new people. Maybe you’ve been going to the same church for months and you don’t know their name. Introduce yourselves!

Don’t just attend church. Belong to the family!

Blessing: Now, may our God and Father himself make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else. May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and father when our Lord Jesus comes again. Amen