We Are Family
Dear Friends,
I have recently experienced a great weekend away with my church family.
When we accept Jesus as our Saviour we become part of God's family. "Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. 5 God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. " Ephesians 1:4-5 (NLT) You might want to stop to take a moment to ponder on what it means to you that God wants to adopt you into his family. It's quite an incredible thought that God, the creator of the universe, not only loves me but has also chosen to bring me into his family, making me his daughter.
Because we have been brought into God's family, we now have many brothers and sisters in Christ and we are called to love them with a sincere, deep love. "Through Christ you have come to trust in God. And you have placed your faith and hope in God because he raised Christ from the dead and gave him great glory. 22 You were cleansed from your sins when you obeyed the truth, so now you must show sincere love to each other as brothers and sisters. Love each other deeply with all your heart." 1 Peter 1:21-22 (NLT)
When we are at church on a Sunday it's easy to just mix with the people you are familiar with, but even then there's not much time for real conversations and getting to know one another. Life Groups (small groups, home groups, whatever their given title is in your church) are great for getting to know one another on a deeper level and have more meaningful fellowship. But it still means your connection is with a smaller number of people.
What was so good about having a weekend away together was that we were able to get to know others who we hadn't known so well before. We ate our meals together, sitting with different people, listening and talking with them. We got involved in different activities and socialised with other members of our church family. Some of you know that I have recently taken up crochet as a hobby. This has brought me into contact with another group of my church family. I think more time was spent chatting than crocheting, but that was kind of the point. I really enjoyed talking with one lady who demonstrated her skill of tatting (never known what it was before!) and it was fascinating watching her work.
God's presence was with us, whether we were eating meals together, sharing an activity such as golf or crochet, worshipping God together one evening with singing, or during the bible teaching on Sunday morning. It gave me some small idea of what it may have been like for the early church, "42 All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer. 44 And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had." Acts 2:42 and 44(NLT). The Amplified version for verse 44 is "And all who believed (who adhered to and trusted in and relied on Jesus Christ) were united and [together] they had everything in common;".
For me, it was also a taster of what it's going to be like in heaven. These are some of the people who will be joining me in heaven. If I can enjoy being with them, having fellowship with them now and enjoying worshipping God with them, how much better is it going to be in heaven?
We enjoyed "doing life together" as it's been phrased by others in the past. We also enjoyed an atmosphere of love and unity. This formed part of his prayer Jesus prayed to God his Father concerning his followers, "I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me." John 17:23 (NLT) Earlier in John (13:35) Jesus commanded his followers to love one another because in doing so they would be showing the world they were Jesus' disciples. We are called to do the same.
That weekend we were a living example to the hotel staff and other guests of what it means to be followers of Jesus and part of his family. We demonstrated by our behaviour and speech our love for God and our love for one another.
To Think About:
What attitude do you show to your brothers and sisters in Christ? Is God challenging you to change a certain attitude towards one particular brother or sister in your life? Will you take up the challenge?
In what ways do you think God may be calling you to "do life together" with those in your church family?
As part of the family of God what example are you giving to those around you? Is there something that you need to change regarding your behaviour or your speech?
Vicki
I have recently experienced a great weekend away with my church family.
When we accept Jesus as our Saviour we become part of God's family. "Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. 5 God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. " Ephesians 1:4-5 (NLT) You might want to stop to take a moment to ponder on what it means to you that God wants to adopt you into his family. It's quite an incredible thought that God, the creator of the universe, not only loves me but has also chosen to bring me into his family, making me his daughter.
Because we have been brought into God's family, we now have many brothers and sisters in Christ and we are called to love them with a sincere, deep love. "Through Christ you have come to trust in God. And you have placed your faith and hope in God because he raised Christ from the dead and gave him great glory. 22 You were cleansed from your sins when you obeyed the truth, so now you must show sincere love to each other as brothers and sisters. Love each other deeply with all your heart." 1 Peter 1:21-22 (NLT)
When we are at church on a Sunday it's easy to just mix with the people you are familiar with, but even then there's not much time for real conversations and getting to know one another. Life Groups (small groups, home groups, whatever their given title is in your church) are great for getting to know one another on a deeper level and have more meaningful fellowship. But it still means your connection is with a smaller number of people.
What was so good about having a weekend away together was that we were able to get to know others who we hadn't known so well before. We ate our meals together, sitting with different people, listening and talking with them. We got involved in different activities and socialised with other members of our church family. Some of you know that I have recently taken up crochet as a hobby. This has brought me into contact with another group of my church family. I think more time was spent chatting than crocheting, but that was kind of the point. I really enjoyed talking with one lady who demonstrated her skill of tatting (never known what it was before!) and it was fascinating watching her work.
God's presence was with us, whether we were eating meals together, sharing an activity such as golf or crochet, worshipping God together one evening with singing, or during the bible teaching on Sunday morning. It gave me some small idea of what it may have been like for the early church, "42 All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer. 44 And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had." Acts 2:42 and 44(NLT). The Amplified version for verse 44 is "And all who believed (who adhered to and trusted in and relied on Jesus Christ) were united and [together] they had everything in common;".
For me, it was also a taster of what it's going to be like in heaven. These are some of the people who will be joining me in heaven. If I can enjoy being with them, having fellowship with them now and enjoying worshipping God with them, how much better is it going to be in heaven?
We enjoyed "doing life together" as it's been phrased by others in the past. We also enjoyed an atmosphere of love and unity. This formed part of his prayer Jesus prayed to God his Father concerning his followers, "I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me." John 17:23 (NLT) Earlier in John (13:35) Jesus commanded his followers to love one another because in doing so they would be showing the world they were Jesus' disciples. We are called to do the same.
That weekend we were a living example to the hotel staff and other guests of what it means to be followers of Jesus and part of his family. We demonstrated by our behaviour and speech our love for God and our love for one another.
To Think About:
What attitude do you show to your brothers and sisters in Christ? Is God challenging you to change a certain attitude towards one particular brother or sister in your life? Will you take up the challenge?
In what ways do you think God may be calling you to "do life together" with those in your church family?
As part of the family of God what example are you giving to those around you? Is there something that you need to change regarding your behaviour or your speech?
Vicki
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