Family of Love

Introduction:

In August 2009, Amanda and I were flying from California to our home in Maryland for the last time, I had just accepted a position at Trinity Baptist Church in Livermore, and we’d be packing up our 2 dogs in 2 cars and moving cross country. My head was spinning and wondering if we made the right choice. Amanda was sleeping on the plane…I know shocker…and I came across a passage that was so comforting and for the most part I never questioned again whether we made the right choice.

Mark 10:29–31 ESV

29 Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, 30 who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life. 31 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

Amanda and I were leaving houses and brothers and mothers, the Ravens…we were leaving family.

And I took that as a promise that God would give us all of those things and more.

And today, we have so much more than we could ever have imagined. We have a church family. God has fulfilled those words twice over. In Livermore and now in Vallejo.

And what do we have that makes us family? We have Jesus!

Turn with me in your Bibles to Ephesians 2:19-22

Transition to the Text: This passage begins with the words “So then.” “So then” is an important phrase in the Bible. It’s one of those phrases that reminds us that we can’t pick and choose passages we like. It reminds us that each and every passage is part of a bigger chapter, book and the whole Bible.

So what does this “so then” point to? vs. 11-18.

The Ephesian church was made up of gentiles who were thinking that perhaps the fact that they weren’t born jewish means that they are second class citizens in the kingdom of God. There is still a lot of jewish people holding on to that “favored nation” status. Paul writes to encourage them that even Jewish people are only in the kingdom of God if they are in Christ. vs. 13 is key:

Ephesians 2:13 ESV

13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

Paul reminds us that it is not who you are or what you’ve done, but who Jesus is and what He’s done. No one is excluded from the kingdom of God based on the family they were born into. People are excluded from the kingdom of God, even if they were born Jewish, if they are not brought near by the blood of Christ.

With that being said, let’s read:

Ephesians 2:19–22 ESV

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, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

Transition to the Big Idea: This passage is about how God takes people from ever tongue tribe and nation with nothing in common and makes them family. How does He do that? Simple: This is the gospel. The good news of what Jesus did for us.

Big Idea: The Gospel creates a spiritual Family.

Transition to the Points: Over the last few weeks we have been talking about family. And some of you probably already understand that family is more than those you are related to. Sometimes you have people closer than a brother or a sister.

For some that might be your unit in the military.

For others that might be a close working environment.

But what I’d like to ask is, for all of us here, could the church be a spiritual family that could be closer than the church?

Main Point #1 - We were all once strangers.

Explanation: Up until this time in the Bible, the family of God was entirely based around the nation of Israel. You want to come near to God, you come by the blood of bulls and goats through the sacrificial system. That’s the only way. And the only way to do that was to become a jew. And for guys that was through circumcision. Not a small decision.

But now, with what Jesus did on the cross, paying for the sins, not just of the jews but the sins of the whole world, this opened the door to many being a part of the kingdom of God. Now on day 1, people came in from all walks of life. Many nations, many languages, skin colors, men, women, slaves, freedmen, citizens of Rome and jewish people.

And they were strangers that day. But not for long. Because the truth is that they will be tempted to think, I don’t fit in here. I don’t belong. I’m not jewish. I have nothing in common with these people who don’t necessarily look like me, act like me, sound like me or think the way that I do about spiritual things.

Paul’s encouragement is one of confidence. Be confident that you belong in the kingdom of God.

I have heard stories of people immigrating to the US and when they receive their US citizenship, it’s like they are born again. In the kingdom of God, you must be let go of the old life and embrace a new life chasing after Jesus.

You are no longer strangers and aliens. You are full citizens and saints in the kingdom of God. Live in that. But what we have to understand is that no one is born a citizen of the kingdom of God. It only happens when at some point in your life your respond to the gospel, repent of your sin and embrace the payment for your sin that Jesus made at the cross. Now there are those who believe that a saint is some canonized by the church after their death. But biblically, if you have embraced Jesus as your savior and Lord, you are a saint.

Illustration: I remember the first day of high school. It didn’t matter if we knew each other in middle school. We were all strangers that day. Let’s face it, you can know your teenager on a Monday and be a stranger by Tuesday.

But that first day is awkward and weird. Who am I? And what group or family will I be a part of for the next 4 years.

But it is so much better to walk in confidence than in fear and trepidation.

Those high schoolers can smell fear and pounce.

Application: Even today, we are tempted not fully accept that we are accepted by God. We tend to feel like we still need to earn it especially if we’ve lived a life that we know was not pleasing to God.

And showing up to church, we are tempted to feel like we have to have it all together and know all the answers. You don’t! You are welcome to come as you are because your standing before God is based on what Jesus did for you on the cross.

At the same time, those of us who are already in need to be reminded that we were all once strangers and aliens and that even our citizenship in the kingdom of God is based on what Jesus did on the cross. We ought not to be arrogant towards new believers. Also, we ought not put any stumbling blocks before people coming to Jesus.

The church should be a place where strangers don’t just become friends but they become family, because that’s what Jesus made us.

Main Point #2 - Jesus made us family.

Illustration: Now if we want to take that illustration about showing up to high school for the first time a little further, what typically helps you to belong?

A group. and those groups are around band, sports teams, shared interests. And no matter what anyone outside of those groups think about you, you have that group as friends. And as hard has high school can be, it’s so much easier to make it through when you aren’t doing it alone.

So what shared interest do people in the church have in common? We have Jesus!

Explanation: Paul has already brought this up in 11-18 and talked about the fact that it is Jesus who connects us based on the cross. But from second half of vs 19 through 20, Paul tells us long after the fact why we can still believe in Jesus:

The Bible. We are citizens and saints and members of the household of God…built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets. Prophets refer to those who wrote the OT and the Apostles wrote the NT. The Bible has become our constitution in this kingdom.

Now Jesus is the cornerstone. A cornerstone is the most important stone in a building that sets the alignment of the entire building. If that cornerstone is off, the building will be off. This is why it is so important that we understand who Jesus is and what He did. If our understanding of Jesus is off, our entire faith will be off.

So we have to understand that all of the Bible points to Jesus. And you have to understand that Jesus always points back to the Bible to prove that what He is doing is true.

From to the Bible tells us the story of God through His son Jesus.

And then Jesu based on what He did on the cross, opened the door to invite all into the family of God.

So it doesn’t matter what what nation you are from, what family you were born into. We are all united as family in the family of God.

Illustration: I have experienced this twice overseas in German in 2003 and 2014 and then more recently in the Philippines last April. There is immediate connection and familiarity with those who have Jesus as their king. And even here, I have had experienced where when meeting someone knew, there is a familiarity that I can’t put my finger on. And then I realize that they are a Christian too.

Application: But you don’t have to go on the other side of the world to find your family in Christ. You have family right here if you will open your heart. If Paul were writing to us today, I think he would encourage us to stand confident in your citizenship in the kingdom of God, but he would encourage us to get out of our cliques and friends groups and not exclude family. We need to embrace everyone.

Why?

Main Point #3 - We are united for a purpose.

Illustration: To take our illustration of high school a little further we need to understand that the groups that are the closest are those that have a purpose. To win the game. To perform well. To win the competition. To hang out and do nothing is still a purpose. The question is what is the purpose and goal?

Groups with a purpose understand that they need to work well together so that they can achieve that purpose. They grow close as they go through the same things together. They get to know the strengths and weaknesses.

It’s no surprise that these groups readily use the word family to describe the relationship.

So the question is does the church have a purpose? Well yes…of course.

Explanation: In the Old Testament, the Bible often talks about Israel as a people for God’s own possession. A people to tell the world about who God is and what He has done. But ultimately the purpose of Israel was to be the way by which God sent Jesus into the world. And that through Him the nations of the world would be blessed. Did they know that? At least some of the Israelites knew that. But over time they lost sight of that goal. And the goal of the Pharisees was power and influence. So they sacrificed the overall goal of the Messiah to keep their goal of power and influence. So once the Messiah came, the purpose of Israel took a back seat to this new thing called the church which is founded on the confession of Jesus as that Messiah and savior of the world.

So then what is the purpose and goal of the church? Well to grow by sharing the gospel that Jesus came and died for the sins of God’s people throughout the world.

There is a big question that we often overlook. Why did God save anyone? We often say love. .

But first and foremost God doesn’t everything for His own glory.

But even after He saved individuals, why make then go to church? Because Jesus unites us as family to become the body of Christ. And then the body of Christ becomes a temple of the Holy Spirit.

Now many a Christian has recited:

1 Corinthians 6:19 ESV

19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own,

And we often make that individual. But it’s really not. You see while each one of us who have embraced Jesus have the Holy Spirit dwelling inside of us individually, the Holy Spirit really dwells within the gathered body of believers.

Ephesians 2:21–22 ESV

21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

Ephesis 2:21-22

So the family of God serves as the dwelling place of the holy Spirit.

So that through the power of the Holy Spirit we can take the gospel to the nations.

Everyone points back to God.

Illustration:

Application: You are the temple of the Holy Spirit when you come together. You are the temple of the Holy Spirit individually when you go away but only as you are connected to the body of Christ.

When you come to worship on Sundays or when you gather in your Life Groups or Bible Study groups, what is your purpose? Grow in your relationship with God? Become a better Christian? Know more about the Bible?

Those are all good things but that isn’t the main purpose of the church. The Main purpose of the church is to be a temple of the Holy Spirit so that the church might move with power to change the world.

By worshipping God together on Sundays and throughout the week..

By sharing the gospel with the lost

By spending time with one another as family.

By helping new believers to grow to be mature

By serving to the needy.

Conclusion: Our salvation and relationship with God is about so much more than just getting to go to heaven. It’s about being the family of God on earth.

Reflection Question: Do you need to shift your focus to begin seeing others in the church as family?

I remember reading this story about a young man who started coming to church and turned his life over to Jesus. He was rough around the edges. He had a lot of tattoos. You see he was coming out of gang life in South Los Angeles. Pretty quickly this young man embraced the love of Jesus and became on fire for Jesus.

He was serving and giving more and more time to the church. But after about a year, his attendance was spotty and it would be weeks then months before they saw him and then finally he stopped all together. The pastor finally reached out to him and asked him for coffee. And when they met, the pastor asked him what happened.

And what he said was the saddest thing I’ve ever heard.

When he was in a gang, everyone had each other’s back. They cared for each other’s needs and no one went without. They came from broken families and broken neighborhoods. They didn’t have much but they had each other because they were a family. When he started reading about the church in the Bible, he thought wow, that sounds like a gang without all the crime, drugs and outright sin.

But what he found in the church wasn’t much like a gang. There were groups of people that had each other’s back and if you were in you were in, but it was so hard to break into those groups. Unlike the gang, where everyone was accepted once they were in, in the church, he always felt like an outsider. So he left.

May it be different here at North Hills.

So I have 2 challenges: 1. If you have no yet embraced the love of Jesus, what are you waiting for? The blood of Jesus on the cross, paid the way for you to be accepted into the kingdom of God with full citizenship. If you feel God calling you out of the darkness and into his family, don’t fight it. Embrace it.

2. To the church, embrace those who are coming into our church. Invite new people to be a part of your group. Help those who are strangers to become family. Teach them what it means to follow Jesus.