Family

ME

*Chase church fam story*

A great part of being in ministry in three different states is that I have literally hundreds of family members.

Tony Allison, Joe Drake, Jordan Sims, Ory Schultheis, Betty Stuckey, Larry and Carol Mason, Dr. Clarinda (C) and many others from the church I grew up in in TN.

Sam McMinn, Matt and Jordan Holstein, Rusty and Pam Lynch, Ashley Martin, Jenna Townsend, and many others from our church in WV.

And countless family members here in Science Hill.

There’s something special about church family.

You see, I’m born into my biological family. I don’t have a choice when it comes to them. (Although I love this family with all my heart)

But Church family is a family that I CHOOSE to be a part of.

It’s a family bond held together by Jesus Christ that is stronger and will last much, much longer than earthly family.

Once my body gives out here on earth, I’m no longer Kyle Miller, son of Gene and Linda, husband of Kayla and Daddy to Brayden, Ava and Elena.

Sounds really sad, right?

But it’s not at all.

I will simply be a child of God in Heaven.

But the family of God that I’m in is FOREVER.

Sure, I hope and pray that each and every one of my natural family members makes it to heaven.

But if any of them choose to reject Christ and live forever in hell, that won’t keep me away from my forever family in Christ.

WE

Most of us have people in our lives who aren’t blood family but are like family to us anyway.

Maybe it’s a friend you hang with everyday, a teacher who takes time to help you and genuinely cares for you, or ball team, choir, band, etc.

Maybe it’s your church fam.

Hanging out over the years on Wednesday nights, Sunday School, church trips like TNT, Mission Nashville, Camp, Missions Conference.

We’ve had fun, prayed together, cried together, and gotten on each other’s nerves at times.

And just like our blood families aren’t perfect, church family isn’t either.

But we love each other anyway.

GOD

In the first century, Christianity was brand-new.

This was the most revolutionary thing that has ever happened to our world.

That anyone and everyone on the planet could have a relationship with the God of the Universe because the blood of Jesus had the power to wash away all sin and take down the wall that separated us all from God.

And each and every Christ follower was part of a new family that would last forever.

Sounds amazing.

But that wasn’t good enough for some people.

You see, there was this thing called “the law.”

Because sin came into the world, the law was necessary so that God’s people would clearly know where they were sinning against and missing the mark.

This led to many people thinking that rituals and rules and regulations were how you showed allegiance to God.

But Jesus came to fulfill the law, and by His Holy Spirit Christians have the law written on their hearts.

We know clearly what is right and wrong and can talk and listen to God directly without having to go through a priest and sacrifice an animal for our sin.

One big part of the law for men was to be circumcised.

This goes all the way back to God calling Abraham to circumcise his entire household almost 4,000 years ago.

It was an important symbol of the covenant God made with Abraham and his descendants.

And so for 2,000 years until Jesus came, males had to do this to be a follower of God.

But Jesus changed the game.

People didn’t have to do this anymore or follow all these rules and regulations like handwashing and circumcision.

The truth is that God has always cared more about our hearts than those things.

But now some old school God followers wanted to say that you had to do all these things in order to follow Christ.

That you were “better” if you did these things.

They had it twisted.

So this dude Paul wrote this letter to a church in a place called Galatia (today it’s in the country of Turkey) to straighten things out:

Galatians 3:26–29 NIV

So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Children of God

If we are in Christ, we are all children of God through believing in Him.

Part of one family and united by Jesus Himself.

Believers are defined by their “faith in Christ Jesus” and their shared experience of being “clothed with Christ”

Back in the day during baptism, people wore pure white robes to symbolize that their lives were now pure, clothed with Christ.

Baptism was not something that was done to the outside of a person, it was a real union with Christ.

And the cool part about this is that everyone united with Jesus is also united with each other.

Guardians of The Galaxy

Gamora and Nebula are war criminals. They are daughters of Thanos, a man who destroys entire planets. But they are also orphans, the result of his destruction. They have been raised to only know that life, but when they are given a view of a different life, they are drawn to it. Drax has been mourning the loss of his family and been committed to vengeance, living alone. But in the Guardians, he finds a new family. Star-Lord is an orphan and a criminal and a lover of 80’s music, but he finds a new family in the Guardians. All of them meet in prison, but through their growing friendship, they grow so close that it no longer matters who they were or what they did in the past. Who and what they are now is a family… check out this video from Guardians of the Galaxy 2:

GOTG 2:Family Video

Family

Galatians 3:28 The Message

In Christ’s family there can be no division into Jew and non-Jew, slave and free, male and female. Among us you are all equal. That is, we are all in a common relationship with Jesus Christ.

Christians were no longer be defined by ethnic, national, or cultural distinctions. Differences continued to exist in the old order, but they did not matter in Christ Jesus.

Ain’t none of us better or worse than any other because of how much we have, what color our skin is or how smart we are.

Jesus defines those who follow Him.

Coach Cal Pic

La Familia

UK’s basketball coach John Calipari has been at it in Lexington for 10+ years.

He’s coached 30 players at UK who are now in the NBA.

Most of these players are only in college for a year before they go pro.

And other players have transferred to other schools or gone on to graduate and get regular jobs.

But I’ve seen first-hand that Coach Cal cares for these guys.

Often he talks about them being “la familia”

No matter where they come from or where they go, they’re always going to be family.

The same goes for believers in Jesus:

IN CHRIST, WE’RE ALL FAMILY

Except our family lasts FOREVER.

*Title Slide*

YOU

You belong here at this church. You belong here in this body of believers. The family of God is a family where there is a place for you. A place for you to connect with others. A place for you to experience the benefits of community and get a humbling, joyful preview of heaven!

*Prayer*

WE

Why do you come here?

What do you love about this church?

Wouldn’t you want your friends to experience the same things?

What if we were more inviting to everyone around us?

What if we constantly gave the invitation to others to come and be a part of the family of God?

Students all around Pulaski County would find hope, belonging, and love in ways that they’ve never experienced.

Lives would be changed and the family would grow like crazy.

And there wouldn’t be enough room in this place.. we would have to build a bigger house for the family!

This summer with TRIBES, we’ve all got an incredible opportunity to bring a ton of people into this family.

It’s going to be a blast, but we’re also going to grow together.

So how ‘bout it?

I challenge you to invite 10 people who aren’t here right now to come out next week for draft night.

Let’s start this summer off with a bang, and may we grow as family together all summer long!