SPIRITUAL FAMILY Part (1)

Sermon Notes

Been a SPIRITUAL FAMILY Part (1)

Galations 6:10

1 Timothy 3:15

Gal 6:10 NIV ¹⁰ Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.

Gal 6:10 NLT ¹⁰ Whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone, especially to our Christian brothers and sisters.

Gal 6:10 ¹⁰ When we have the opportunity to help anyone, we should do it. But we should give special attention to those who are in the family of believers.

HOW WILL A CHURCH FAMILY EQUIP ME FOR LIFE?

1.  IT WILL HELP ME FOCUS ON GOD. 

2.  IT WILL HELP ME FACE LIFE'S PROBLEMS

3.  IT WILL HELP ME FORTIFY MY FAITH

Points to Discuss at PALS

1.     How will belonging to a Church Family help me to focus on CHRIST?

2.     As we face life problems how can the Church Family assist me?

3.     How strong is my Faith?

4.     Do I need to belong to a Church Family to follow JESUS better?

Been a SPIRITUAL FAMILY

Galations 6:10

1 Timothy 3:15

Gal 6:10 NIV ¹⁰ Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.

Gal 6:10 NLT ¹⁰ Whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone, especially to our Christian brothers and sisters.

Gal 6:10 ¹⁰ When we have the opportunity to help anyone, we should do it. But we should give special attention to those who are in the family of believers.

1 Timothy 3:15 NCV Then, even if I am delayed, you will know how to live in the family of God. That family is the church of the living God, the support and foundation of the truth.

The success or failure of your life is largely determined by the equipment you use.  You wouldn't try to fly across the Pacific in a hang glider. You wouldn't try to play golf with a baseball bat. You wouldn't try to fight a forest fire with a squirt gun.  You've got to use the right equipment in life. Fortunately God has certain equipment that He's provided for you to make it in life. 

Heb. 13:21 "God will equip you with all you need for doing His will."

God has given us the church -- the spiritual family to help equip each other for the Christian life. God has put people around you. You need supportive relationships if you're going to make it in life. God put Adam in the Garden of Eden. It was a perfect environment but he looked at him and said, "It's not good for man to be alone."  You were made to live in a relationship.

I Peter 3:1 "God has given us the privilege of being born again so now we are members of God's own family." When you were born physically, you joined the human family, the human race. When you're born spiritually, you join God's family. 

Who is God's family?  Here it says the church is a family. The church is not an institution, not a religious club, not a society, not an organization, not a business. The Bible says, “The church is a family”. That's how we are to relate. We are all a part of it who know the Lord. 

When you are born physically you become part of the human race but you don't become part of a local family until somebody makes the decision to take you home from the hospital. And you can be a part of God's family of believers but you need a local family where you can give and can be given to, receive support, etc.

"The family is the church of the living God, the support and foundation of the truth. What happens when a building doesn't have support or a foundation? It collapses. God is saying, “You won't make it in the Christian life without a church family”. You'll have no support, no foundation. You will not be all that God wants you to be without a church family. It's that important.

"You belong in God's household with every other Christian.

The point I want to make here is that the Christian life is not just a matter of believing but it includes belonging being a part of God's family.

I've heard people say, "I love Jesus, but I don't like the church." The Bible says the church is the body of Christ. It's like saying, "I love you but I don't like your body." The Bible says the church is the bride of Christ. It's like saying "You're OK, I just can't stand your wife." You can measure your spiritual commitment by how much you love the church. The Bible says Christ loved it and died for it. It's the support and foundation of truth. 

Those who don't appreciate the church don't understand the importance of it. They miss the point. They think they can be a Christian without a family. 

A lady told a pastor, "I just want to be a part of the invisible church. I don't want to be a part of any local family, just a part of the invisible church." That's wonderful. When you get sick and go to the hospital, who visits you, the invisible pastor? Who does your weddings and funerals, the invisible minister? You need the support of a local expression of the family of God.

Saying I want to be a Christian and not be a part of any church family is like saying I want to play football in the NFL but I don't want to be a part of any team.

You belong in God's family. There's a difference between attending a church service and belonging to a church family. God doesn't want church to be something you go to. He wants church to be a family you're part of. So He's given this as equipment for life. 

HOW WILL A CHURCH FAMILY EQUIP ME FOR LIFE?

Let’s examine five purposes of a Spititual Family. 

1.  IT WILL HELP ME FOCUS ON GOD. 

Do you ever find it easy to forget that God is with you all the time? I do. Sometimes I can go along time without realizing and remembering. I need to refocus. Do you ever find yourself focusing on trivial issues that aren't really important? Do you ever find yourself overlooking the important things in life? The Bible says one of the purposes of the church is to help you refocus. God knew this so well He put it in the Ten Commandments -- Every seventh day, you take a day off and you refocus. This is called worship. Any time you focus on God, you express love to God, you are worshiping. The first purpose of the church is to help you worship. 

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and mind.  This is the first and greatest commandment." God made you to love you and He wants you to love Him back. God knows everything about you, the good, the bad and ugly and He still loves you. The purpose of worship is to help you know and love God.   

One of the benefits of it is that nothing reduces a problem in perspective like focusing on the greatness of God. Sometimes you're just overwhelmed by a problem. You come in, sit down, worship God with a group of other people and you think "God's in control. I can handle this. He can handle it because I'm trusting Him." You say, "Can't I worship by myself?" We need a church family because there's more power in group worship. Have you ever come to church when you didn't feel like it and then after it was over you were glad you did? I have found that when I don't feel like focusing on God is when I need it most. The Bible says that God wants us to worship.

"Magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together!" Ps. 34:3.

1.  Celebration:  We celebrate because it's a happy thing to know the Lord. The Bible says, "I was glad when they said unto me, let us go unto the house of the Lord."

We do music in the beginning that will wake you up. We say we want to wake up the body in order to wake up the body. 

2.  The second thing we do is inspiration. Many of us when we come to church we suffer from the "four F's":  Fear, Failure, Frustration, and Fatigue. It's our purpose to try to refresh and encourage each.

3.  The third thing is preparation. One of the greatest things that we can do here as a body is to remember that God loves us and that there is hope and that we can make it with God's help. 

The second reason we need a church family... It not only helps us focus on God but.

2.  IT WILL HELP ME FACE LIFE'S PROBLEMS

Life is tough. You weren't made to face it on your own. God never meant for you to go through life trying to handle life all by yourself. So He's given us a family, a fellowship and made us members of his body, the body of Christ.

"Jesus died for us so that we can live together [circle "together"] with Him. So encourage each other and give each other strength. The Bible says the Christian life is not a solo act.  There are no Lone Ranger Christians. We are to give strength to each other. Just like the old illustration of a camp fire. If you've got a bunch of hot coals in a fire, they're all red and they're all hot. You take one of those coals out and put it over by itself it grows cold. But if you take that coal and put it back in the fire it gets all warm again. If you're not part of a fellowship then you grow cold spiritually and the fire and enthusiasm goes out of your life. So we need each other to give each other support. 

"You should be like one big happy family, full of sympathy toward each other, loving one another with tender hearts..." I think this is more important today than ever before because society is fragmenting. There is no sense of community anymore anywhere.

"In Christ, we who are many form one Body and each member belongs to all the others." As I was growing up in the family we did things together. We worked together, lived together, played together, laughed together, cried together. We supported each other as a church family should. We need to spend time doing those things together. 

3.  IT WILL HELP ME FORTIFY MY FAITH

Fortify simply means to strengthen, to reinforce, to develop.  You need to have your faith reinforced on a regular basis. If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything. The church helps you clarify your values

Hebrews 6:1 "Let us go on and become mature in our understanding, as strong Christians ought to be." People often ask me what God’s will for my life is. It's right here. God’s will for your life is this:  grow up. God wants you to grow up and become spiritually strong. Can you be old physically and immature spiritually? Sure you can.

How do you grow spiritually? There are four ways that we grow and develop our faith.

1.  First we gain the  knowledge of God’s word, we learn the content of the Bible.

2.  Then we gain perspective, we begin to see life from God's point of view.

3.  Then we develop convictions, beliefs and values that change our behavior.

4.  Then we sharpen our skills and begin to practice the Word of God in our lives. That produces character.    

Ephesians 3:10 "God's intent was that through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known." Circle "through the church". That's true in the heavenly places; it's also true in our individual lives. That's how God does it in our lives.