Day 341- A Family Talk First

Today was church day.  I'm glad that God instituted a day of worship.  As a human being and a follower of Jesus, I need a day where I get to gather with other believers and worship God.  I need that time to sort of recalibrate my thinking and be in community with other believers.  I need that time to set aside the daily obligations of life and focus on adoring God.

I was preaching on the family tonight. I mentioned that the message could be applied to our church family and our immediate families.  At the beginning of the service, I asked for people to publicly share some things they liked about being part of a family for my "first." I don't ever remember asking people to share that publicly in a worship service before.

I felt like this would be a good way to begin the service.  Our people were very responsive in sharing what they liked about being part of a family. Here are some (not all) of the things they said:

• Someone to come home to
• Doing life together
• Being needed
• Teamwork
• People to take care of
• People to pray with
• Grandchildren
• Happy times
• Nana- this was so sweet coming from a child
• Strength
• Not being alone
• Forgiveness
• Help
• Having people you can count on
• Having people to go on adventures with you and try new things
• Being loved
• Being accepted
• Decorating the Christmas tree together

 

Family is God's idea.  He had a great idea, didn't He?  In fact, God's first institution He gave man was not a church or a government but a family.  He brought Adam and Eve together to form the first family. 

God has made us to where we need each other and do life much better together than we do apart. Life is much more meaningful when we share it with other people that we love and that love us.  The Bible says in Ecclesiastes 4: 9-10 says (NLT), "Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble." 

When we become part of God's family, we become part of a forever family.  I'm so glad that God's family is forever.  We might be separated for a while by time, distance, obligations, and even death.  For believers in Jesus, there is never a final good-bye.  We can always say, "See you later."

Grateful for God's forever family in the abundant life,
Barry

3 things I thank  God for today
1. My dad, mom, sister, and brother
2. Fond memories of both sets of my grandparents
3. God's family is forever