Family Matters Week 5: Family of God
Family Matters Week 5: Family of God
March 2, 2025
Family of God
Ephesians 2:19 “19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household
1. Fresh Starts
1. Homecoming
Romans 8:15-17 “5 The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again;rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship.[f] And by him we cry, “Abba,[g] Father.” 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
2. Renewal
Engage
1. 1 Chronicles 16:29 Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; bring an offering and come before him. Worship the LORD in the splendor of his[e] holiness.
Engage
Hebrews 12:28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, 29 for our “God is a consuming fire.”
Encourage
Hebrews 10:23-25 “23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds 25 Don't neglect the gathering.
2. Great Friends
A place for you
1. You are restored in the family
2. You have purpose in the family
3. You are redeemed in the family
2. A lasting impact
6 Keys to lasting impact
1. Encourage - 1 Thessalonians 5:11”11 Therefore encourage one another and build each other up
2. Celebrate - Romans 12:15 “Rejoice with those who rejoice”
3. Bare burdens - Galtians 6:2 “Bare your burdens with one another”
4. 4. Accountability - Matthew 18:15-17 15 “If your brother or sister[b] sins,[c] go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. 16 But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’[d] 17 If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.
5. Pray together
6. Serve
“Without community, love and good deeds are not provoked or stimulated.
” Arthur W. Lindsey
Galatians 5:13 “13 You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh[a]; rather, serve one another humbly in love.
Real Purpose
1. Caring for others
1 Corinthians 9:19-23 Even though I am free of the demands and expectations of everyone, I have voluntarily become a servant to any and all in order to reach a wide range of people: religious, nonreligious, meticulous moralists, loose-living immoralists, the defeated, the demoralized—whoever. I didn’t take on their way of life. I kept my bearings in Christ—but I entered their world and tried to experience things from their point of view. I’ve become just about every sort of servant there is in my attempts to lead those I meet into a God-saved life. I did all this because of the Message. I didn’t just want to talk about it; I wanted to be in on it!
“When we engage in acts of service, we not only aid those in need, but we also cultivate a sense of empathy and understanding. ” Gary Bernstein
2. Spiritually Influential