WEBVTT 00:00:01.320 --> 00:00:04.219 Sharing good news of great joy to all people. 00:00:04.799 --> 00:00:11.119 Elation Church. But we're talking about what 00:00:11.119 --> 00:00:13.839 does it mean to be a part of the family of God? 00:00:14.160 --> 00:00:15.759 What does it mean to be a part of the family 00:00:15.759 --> 00:00:18.679 of God? And when we think of the word family, 00:00:18.820 --> 00:00:21.179 right, it means a whole lot of different things 00:00:21.179 --> 00:00:24.480 to a whole lot of different people, right? Depending 00:00:24.480 --> 00:00:27.250 on how you grow up. Depending on what you're 00:00:27.250 --> 00:00:29.449 around, sometimes the word family can even be 00:00:29.449 --> 00:00:33.429 a little triggering for some, right? Sometimes, 00:00:33.609 --> 00:00:35.929 don't shout me down too much. Everybody's like, 00:00:35.990 --> 00:00:40.490 yep. Sometimes it can bring a sense of like warm 00:00:40.490 --> 00:00:43.070 fuzzies and this good time. And then sometimes 00:00:43.070 --> 00:00:46.369 for others, it can be very like, you know, traumatizing 00:00:46.369 --> 00:00:49.869 in a bit when we say it. In popular culture. 00:00:50.600 --> 00:00:53.359 we see businesses and things starting to use 00:00:53.359 --> 00:00:56.619 this language of like, oh, we're a family. How 00:00:56.619 --> 00:00:58.460 many of you have been at, you know, your coworkers 00:00:58.460 --> 00:01:02.960 are, oh, we're a family now, right? And I just 00:01:02.960 --> 00:01:05.260 watched this, like a TED Talk the other week, 00:01:05.280 --> 00:01:08.000 and it was talking about the toxicity of calling 00:01:08.000 --> 00:01:12.140 your coworkers family, right? And family... terminology 00:01:12.140 --> 00:01:16.219 in the workplace is very bad, right? Because 00:01:16.219 --> 00:01:18.719 often it creates a false sense of community, 00:01:18.920 --> 00:01:23.859 of loyalty, a high loyalty you're getting paid 00:01:23.859 --> 00:01:27.980 to have, right? You know what I'm saying, right? 00:01:28.060 --> 00:01:31.159 And a sense of sacrifice that often is, you know, 00:01:31.159 --> 00:01:36.540 not necessarily reflected anyways. But this sense 00:01:36.540 --> 00:01:40.049 of family, you know, And I tend to agree because 00:01:40.049 --> 00:01:42.950 your co -workers were never meant to be your 00:01:42.950 --> 00:01:45.590 family. You shouldn't put that weight on the 00:01:45.590 --> 00:01:48.090 people that you're right. I mean, that's putting 00:01:48.090 --> 00:01:53.849 a false sense of dependency on them that it shouldn't 00:01:53.849 --> 00:01:58.609 be there. But when we look at family, our expectation, 00:01:58.790 --> 00:02:02.170 think about this, our expectation of family is 00:02:02.170 --> 00:02:06.819 often grander than our experience. It's interesting. 00:02:07.019 --> 00:02:09.039 I want you to think about this for a moment. 00:02:09.520 --> 00:02:13.979 The idea of family, where does it come from? 00:02:14.360 --> 00:02:17.819 We all have this fantasy family in mind that 00:02:17.819 --> 00:02:23.159 we hold our personal families to, right? We hold 00:02:23.159 --> 00:02:25.599 them accountable to, and we've just created what 00:02:25.599 --> 00:02:28.900 families should be in our own minds and in our 00:02:28.900 --> 00:02:32.199 own hearts, but then yet... I would, you know, 00:02:32.199 --> 00:02:34.360 if we took a poll in the room, probably everybody 00:02:34.360 --> 00:02:37.259 would be like, yeah, my family was not perfect. 00:02:37.340 --> 00:02:39.860 You know, like my family failed at times. Like 00:02:39.860 --> 00:02:42.419 there's things that happen. But yet we all kind 00:02:42.419 --> 00:02:45.840 of have this perfect standard that we hold our 00:02:45.840 --> 00:02:50.360 families to. Because, and the reason why I believe 00:02:50.360 --> 00:02:54.599 this is so is because God created the concept 00:02:54.599 --> 00:02:59.759 and the construct of family. It's founded and 00:02:59.759 --> 00:03:03.139 grounded in who he is and how he wants to continue 00:03:03.139 --> 00:03:06.099 internally bless the earth. The term family is 00:03:06.099 --> 00:03:08.280 not something that we've made up. It's just something 00:03:08.280 --> 00:03:11.819 that we've always known. Something that we've 00:03:11.819 --> 00:03:16.479 always lived in. Think about that. Because our 00:03:16.479 --> 00:03:19.379 expectation is often grander than our experience, 00:03:19.740 --> 00:03:23.939 right? But I want to say this. No matter the 00:03:23.939 --> 00:03:28.319 dysfunction or brokenness, that you were physically 00:03:28.319 --> 00:03:34.120 born into. No matter. In Christ, somebody say 00:03:34.120 --> 00:03:37.159 in Christ. In Christ and put a smile on your 00:03:37.159 --> 00:03:41.180 face. Come on. Somebody say in Christ. In Christ, 00:03:41.259 --> 00:03:44.780 you have been spiritually born into the family 00:03:44.780 --> 00:03:47.879 of God. Amen? Something we should get excited 00:03:47.879 --> 00:03:49.900 about. I've been excited about this for a while. 00:03:49.979 --> 00:03:52.479 And as I was praying, like, what do we need to 00:03:52.479 --> 00:03:55.500 go, the direction we need to go today? This just... 00:03:55.659 --> 00:03:57.699 came up in my spirit, it was like, this is what 00:03:57.699 --> 00:03:59.900 we need to talk about. It was just like, this 00:03:59.900 --> 00:04:03.900 is so for us today, right? And it might be something 00:04:03.900 --> 00:04:05.960 that you've heard about, talked about, learned 00:04:05.960 --> 00:04:08.240 about, or you might think I know everything about 00:04:08.240 --> 00:04:10.759 it, but I guarantee you that we all need a refresher 00:04:10.759 --> 00:04:14.340 of what it means to be a part of the family of 00:04:14.340 --> 00:04:19.399 God, right? What does family mean to God? We've 00:04:19.399 --> 00:04:21.180 talked about what it means to us and what it 00:04:21.180 --> 00:04:23.500 means to our culture. What does family mean to 00:04:23.500 --> 00:04:26.610 God? Now, if we look at that word throughout 00:04:26.610 --> 00:04:31.410 Scripture, we see that, you know, God institutes 00:04:31.410 --> 00:04:34.550 the family in the beginning. And then it carries 00:04:34.550 --> 00:04:38.189 over and that terminology turns into the body 00:04:38.189 --> 00:04:41.269 of Christ. And then it goes from there to talk 00:04:41.269 --> 00:04:44.990 about the family being the whole universal church. 00:04:45.329 --> 00:04:48.529 So that's every Christian, every believer all 00:04:48.529 --> 00:04:51.610 over the planet and including those who have 00:04:51.610 --> 00:04:55.029 gone before us and passed away. So it includes 00:04:55.029 --> 00:04:57.529 the universal church is what I mean by that. 00:04:57.730 --> 00:05:02.129 But then it also later on we see the family being... 00:05:02.410 --> 00:05:05.170 called the brothers and sisters in Christ at 00:05:05.170 --> 00:05:08.329 the church in this. And I'm writing to the church 00:05:08.329 --> 00:05:11.009 in whatever, Galatians, Ephesians, those kind 00:05:11.009 --> 00:05:14.970 of things. So then it like evolves, you could 00:05:14.970 --> 00:05:18.069 say, to become talking about the local church. 00:05:18.670 --> 00:05:20.870 And throughout your Bible, I want you to see 00:05:20.870 --> 00:05:23.009 that as you're reading it, what family means 00:05:23.009 --> 00:05:25.329 and how that term evolves. And we're going to 00:05:25.329 --> 00:05:27.949 talk a little about that this morning. But like 00:05:27.949 --> 00:05:32.319 I said, family is a divine institution. with 00:05:32.319 --> 00:05:37.120 a specific hierarchy and purpose, specific hierarchy 00:05:37.120 --> 00:05:41.439 and purpose reflecting God's design and desire 00:05:41.439 --> 00:05:48.240 for the home, for the home, for your home, for 00:05:48.240 --> 00:05:52.560 this church, for Elation Church, our local church, 00:05:53.019 --> 00:05:58.230 and for the whole church. It's a divine institution, 00:05:58.529 --> 00:06:01.970 specific hierarchy, purpose reflecting God's 00:06:01.970 --> 00:06:05.649 design. Because see, a Christian has two families, 00:06:05.730 --> 00:06:07.449 right? They have their natural, they have their 00:06:07.449 --> 00:06:10.709 immediate family, right? And then we have the 00:06:10.709 --> 00:06:14.310 spiritual family of God. And both, listen to 00:06:14.310 --> 00:06:18.129 this, both are bound together by the blood. Both 00:06:18.129 --> 00:06:21.009 are bound together by blood. Let's look at some 00:06:21.009 --> 00:06:23.410 of these verses. If these don't make you happy, 00:06:23.550 --> 00:06:26.199 you just, I can't make you happy. All right? 00:06:27.699 --> 00:06:29.560 We're going to be going a lot of verses this 00:06:29.560 --> 00:06:31.779 morning, so I hope you brought your Bible or 00:06:31.779 --> 00:06:33.740 at least your glasses so you can see the words 00:06:33.740 --> 00:06:36.980 on the screen. Ephesians 2 .13, reading out of 00:06:36.980 --> 00:06:40.360 the New Living Translation, says this, But now 00:06:40.360 --> 00:06:44.579 you have been united, everybody say united, united 00:06:44.579 --> 00:06:48.379 with Christ, once you were far away from God, 00:06:48.600 --> 00:06:52.160 but now you have been brought near to him through 00:06:52.160 --> 00:06:55.550 the blood. Everybody say the blood. The blood 00:06:55.550 --> 00:06:59.089 of Christ. This word united here is talking about 00:06:59.089 --> 00:07:02.730 bringing you into close fellowship with nearness 00:07:02.730 --> 00:07:07.129 to God, and that is accomplished by the blood 00:07:07.129 --> 00:07:10.949 of Christ on the cross. Amen? So through the 00:07:10.949 --> 00:07:14.470 blood, we are united with Jesus, and this is 00:07:14.470 --> 00:07:17.610 all accomplished by faith and by the Holy Spirit 00:07:17.610 --> 00:07:21.189 in our lives. So the blood of Christ is what 00:07:21.189 --> 00:07:25.189 unifies each one of us, believers, It makes us 00:07:25.189 --> 00:07:28.769 one with him. We are described throughout the 00:07:28.769 --> 00:07:33.069 Bible as Jesus' body. Not like his body, but 00:07:33.069 --> 00:07:36.829 we are described as Jesus' own flesh and blood. 00:07:37.370 --> 00:07:41.370 God's own flesh and blood. Amen? This should 00:07:41.370 --> 00:07:45.990 just blow your socks off, right? This is crazy. 00:07:46.350 --> 00:07:51.040 When we think about God in our position, We need 00:07:51.040 --> 00:07:54.420 to become more aware of who we are in Christ. 00:07:54.779 --> 00:07:59.079 And we need to develop it as like a skill to... 00:07:59.420 --> 00:08:02.600 greater awareness of what that means and so that 00:08:02.600 --> 00:08:05.939 we can walk in it and live from this positional 00:08:05.939 --> 00:08:09.300 place of in Christ and this foundation of in 00:08:09.300 --> 00:08:11.740 Christ because it will change your life, change 00:08:11.740 --> 00:08:15.180 everything you do. Ephesians 2 .19 continues. 00:08:15.480 --> 00:08:18.480 So now you Gentiles, that's me, everybody says 00:08:18.480 --> 00:08:21.399 that's me, are no longer strangers or foreigners. 00:08:21.720 --> 00:08:25.600 You are citizens along with all of God's holy 00:08:25.600 --> 00:08:30.300 people. You are members of God's family. Here 00:08:30.300 --> 00:08:34.220 we go. Here it is. We're united by the blood 00:08:34.220 --> 00:08:41.000 and we are members of God's family. Amen. Verse 00:08:41.000 --> 00:08:45.120 21 through 22 says, we are carefully, get this, 00:08:45.220 --> 00:08:49.460 joined together, carefully joined together in 00:08:49.460 --> 00:08:55.980 him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord. Through 00:08:55.980 --> 00:08:59.720 him, you Gentiles are also being made part of 00:08:59.720 --> 00:09:04.480 this dwelling where God lives by his Spirit. 00:09:05.259 --> 00:09:08.990 Often we say things... you know, talking about 00:09:08.990 --> 00:09:11.070 the Spirit of God living on the inside of us, 00:09:11.110 --> 00:09:13.710 but we don't read those verses. And I just want 00:09:13.710 --> 00:09:17.350 you to see this, that we are carefully constructed 00:09:17.350 --> 00:09:20.549 together, this joined together, get a picture 00:09:20.549 --> 00:09:23.090 of a construction worker laying a foundation, 00:09:23.470 --> 00:09:26.889 building together, and we're becoming something. 00:09:27.909 --> 00:09:30.889 We're in the process of becoming something, right? 00:09:31.149 --> 00:09:35.899 Becoming the holy temple for the Lord. Our master, 00:09:35.960 --> 00:09:38.740 our boss, our one in charge. And then through 00:09:38.740 --> 00:09:47.500 him, we are made part of the dwelling. The dwelling 00:09:47.500 --> 00:09:56.480 where God lives by his spirit. Wow. Wow. Come 00:09:56.480 --> 00:10:03.870 on. Dwelling where God lives by his spirit. See, 00:10:03.970 --> 00:10:10.190 church, it's time to start playing church. It's 00:10:10.190 --> 00:10:14.210 time to stop playing. We are the dwelling place 00:10:14.210 --> 00:10:19.450 of God. And it's time to be the family of God. 00:10:21.070 --> 00:10:24.049 We need to quit playing around. We need to act 00:10:24.049 --> 00:10:27.070 like this is true. It needs to make a difference 00:10:27.070 --> 00:10:33.049 in our life. 1 Corinthians 12, 12 says this, 00:10:33.090 --> 00:10:36.509 describes it another way. The human body has 00:10:36.509 --> 00:10:39.690 many parts, but the many parts make up one whole 00:10:39.690 --> 00:10:43.830 body. So it is with the body of Christ. Verse 00:10:43.830 --> 00:10:48.269 27, all of you together are Christ's body, and 00:10:48.269 --> 00:10:50.549 each of you is a part of it, like we've seen. 00:10:51.110 --> 00:10:54.049 And then in Ephesians, listen to what it does. 00:10:55.230 --> 00:10:58.429 Ephesians 1, 22 through 23 says, God has put 00:10:58.429 --> 00:11:01.470 all things under the authority of Christ and 00:11:01.470 --> 00:11:04.830 has made him head over all things for the benefit 00:11:04.830 --> 00:11:09.590 of who? The church, us. Everybody say me. For 00:11:09.590 --> 00:11:14.090 the benefit of me, God made Christ the head over 00:11:14.090 --> 00:11:16.789 all things. It doesn't say some things. It says 00:11:16.789 --> 00:11:20.450 all things for the benefit of me, for the church. 00:11:21.090 --> 00:11:26.490 And the church is what? His body. It is made, 00:11:26.610 --> 00:11:29.870 get this, we're going to get here by the end, 00:11:29.950 --> 00:11:36.830 but it's made full. It's made full and complete. 00:11:37.809 --> 00:11:44.809 In him, we are full and complete by Christ. Who 00:11:44.809 --> 00:11:50.929 what? Fills. He fills all things everywhere with 00:11:50.929 --> 00:11:54.840 himself. So the church. Becomes his body. We 00:11:54.840 --> 00:11:59.940 see God is father. Familial language here. Jesus 00:11:59.940 --> 00:12:03.840 is God's son. Bible describes we are in Christ. 00:12:04.360 --> 00:12:11.259 We are God's family by blood. We are his body. 00:12:11.379 --> 00:12:16.139 His body is the church. And then we are the temple 00:12:16.139 --> 00:12:20.519 of the spirit. That's a lot. In just those few 00:12:20.519 --> 00:12:23.419 verses, that's what we've established so far. 00:12:23.980 --> 00:12:28.500 It's amazing. But what is the perfect family 00:12:28.500 --> 00:12:32.399 of God supposed to look like? What is it supposed 00:12:32.399 --> 00:12:34.159 to look like? How is it supposed to operate? 00:12:35.259 --> 00:12:39.000 What is the characteristics of it? And what is 00:12:39.000 --> 00:12:43.720 its purpose? So let's talk about what the perfect 00:12:43.720 --> 00:12:46.580 family of God should be and what it should look 00:12:46.580 --> 00:12:50.190 like. They say comparison is the thief of joy, 00:12:50.409 --> 00:12:53.110 but in this sense, we need to look at God like 00:12:53.110 --> 00:12:55.470 a mirror and look at the word as like a mirror, 00:12:55.570 --> 00:12:58.789 and we need to compare ourselves, our families, 00:12:59.029 --> 00:13:02.970 this church, up against the standard of his word 00:13:02.970 --> 00:13:05.990 and what he shows us, right? And then that gives 00:13:05.990 --> 00:13:09.850 us an object that we can, what, strive for, an 00:13:09.850 --> 00:13:13.509 object that we can align ourselves with, okay? 00:13:13.980 --> 00:13:15.960 So what is the perfect family of God supposed 00:13:15.960 --> 00:13:18.899 to look like and what is its purpose? We find 00:13:18.899 --> 00:13:21.179 this throughout the New Testament, but we'll 00:13:21.179 --> 00:13:25.480 start in Hebrews 10, 24 through 25. Get this. 00:13:25.799 --> 00:13:29.259 Let us think of ways. Everybody say think. Let 00:13:29.259 --> 00:13:32.879 us think of ways to motivate one another to acts 00:13:32.879 --> 00:13:36.539 of love and good works. And let us not neglect 00:13:36.539 --> 00:13:39.860 our meeting together, as some people do, but 00:13:39.860 --> 00:13:43.299 encourage one another, especially now that the 00:13:43.299 --> 00:13:47.220 day of his return is drawing near. That's a good 00:13:47.220 --> 00:13:49.700 word, right? But think about what it's saying 00:13:49.700 --> 00:13:52.820 here is that our thoughts should not be so consumed 00:13:52.820 --> 00:13:58.600 with us, with ourselves. Our thoughts should 00:13:58.600 --> 00:14:02.419 be consumed, what? With purpose and motivation 00:14:02.419 --> 00:14:05.679 towards... our brothers and sisters in Christ. 00:14:07.659 --> 00:14:10.899 What about that? That's a novel thought. Usually 00:14:10.899 --> 00:14:12.679 throughout my day, I'm just thinking about myself 00:14:12.679 --> 00:14:16.740 and my own stuff, my own family, my own life. 00:14:17.559 --> 00:14:21.299 But we're supposed to think of ways, should occupy 00:14:21.299 --> 00:14:25.200 your attention, right? Think of ways and purpose 00:14:25.200 --> 00:14:30.080 for motivation to get people motivated to love. 00:14:31.309 --> 00:14:33.929 That word love there was agape, the God kind 00:14:33.929 --> 00:14:35.889 of love. We're supposed to motivate others to 00:14:35.889 --> 00:14:39.269 love. We're supposed to motivate others and encourage 00:14:39.269 --> 00:14:45.490 others towards good works. Meeting together, 00:14:45.649 --> 00:14:47.830 we're supposed to motivate one another to meet 00:14:47.830 --> 00:14:51.570 together, to fellowship with one another. We 00:14:51.570 --> 00:14:56.750 need to think about meeting together, encouraging 00:14:56.750 --> 00:15:01.370 one another. You can text someone, but it's a 00:15:01.370 --> 00:15:03.210 whole lot different when you're in the room with 00:15:03.210 --> 00:15:07.570 someone. You tell it to them to their face. Because 00:15:07.570 --> 00:15:10.250 talk is cheap, but you can really tell the truth 00:15:10.250 --> 00:15:12.190 of a person when you're looking into their eyes, 00:15:12.250 --> 00:15:14.850 right? It matters more. So we're supposed to 00:15:14.850 --> 00:15:19.110 encourage one another. And we do that by fellowshipping 00:15:19.110 --> 00:15:22.470 with one another. And then this brings us to 00:15:22.470 --> 00:15:26.590 our main text today in Acts 2, 42 through 47. 00:15:27.549 --> 00:15:30.450 really lays the groundwork for the local church 00:15:30.450 --> 00:15:33.629 as it sprung out of the day of Pentecost and 00:15:33.629 --> 00:15:36.029 all these great things were happening. And then 00:15:36.029 --> 00:15:39.230 all of a sudden, here we are laying that foundation. 00:15:39.429 --> 00:15:42.929 So let's read about what it means to be the family 00:15:42.929 --> 00:15:49.370 of God. What is its purpose? Verse 42, all the 00:15:49.370 --> 00:15:53.549 believers, everybody say all, all the believers. 00:15:54.639 --> 00:15:56.940 devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching 00:15:56.940 --> 00:16:00.759 and to fellowship and to sharing in meals, including 00:16:00.759 --> 00:16:05.039 the Lord's Supper and to prayer. I just want 00:16:05.039 --> 00:16:07.179 to pause here, and I'm going to get off my soapbox, 00:16:07.320 --> 00:16:10.419 I promise. But when it says all the believers, 00:16:10.799 --> 00:16:15.899 it means all the believers. I feel very passionate 00:16:15.899 --> 00:16:18.340 about this. A lot of times in our churches, we've 00:16:18.340 --> 00:16:22.179 sort of fostered this idea that Believers need 00:16:22.179 --> 00:16:27.580 to be separated by gender, by age, by race, whatever, 00:16:27.799 --> 00:16:31.720 by, you know, social status, your time in life. 00:16:32.320 --> 00:16:35.399 We separate people and we think, oh, well, they 00:16:35.399 --> 00:16:38.580 got to have something different. But the early 00:16:38.580 --> 00:16:41.320 church didn't function that way. We're called 00:16:41.320 --> 00:16:45.200 to be together, to be in unity with one another 00:16:45.200 --> 00:16:48.100 because, you know what? The younger generation 00:16:48.100 --> 00:16:51.000 needs the older generation. And you know what? 00:16:51.019 --> 00:16:53.960 The older generation needs the young ones, right? 00:16:54.100 --> 00:16:57.419 Because the young ones have passion. The young 00:16:57.419 --> 00:17:00.340 ones have life. And the young ones take a hold 00:17:00.340 --> 00:17:04.180 of things that sometimes you've forgotten. And 00:17:04.180 --> 00:17:06.599 then, you know, the younger ones need to look 00:17:06.599 --> 00:17:09.440 up to the older ones with respect and honor, 00:17:09.720 --> 00:17:12.019 right? And they can learn a thing or two from 00:17:12.019 --> 00:17:15.039 the experience. You know, you can learn something 00:17:15.039 --> 00:17:18.039 when you're around somebody who's spent some 00:17:18.039 --> 00:17:22.359 time with God. It's a tangible thing. You can 00:17:22.359 --> 00:17:25.539 feel it. And when you get around them, you start 00:17:25.539 --> 00:17:28.980 like, whoa, they got something going on. It's 00:17:28.980 --> 00:17:34.519 like, whew, feel it, right? And, huh? Yeah, so 00:17:34.519 --> 00:17:36.160 you feel it, and then all of a sudden you start 00:17:36.160 --> 00:17:38.079 catching it, right? Because you need to be around 00:17:38.079 --> 00:17:40.319 some people. Did you know you become who you're 00:17:40.319 --> 00:17:43.980 around? If you don't like who you're becoming, 00:17:44.140 --> 00:17:46.859 you need to check who you're around, right? Who 00:17:46.859 --> 00:17:49.440 you're listening to, who you're allowing influence 00:17:49.440 --> 00:17:53.079 over your life, right? So, all the believers, 00:17:53.240 --> 00:17:55.660 soapbox is over, all the believers devoted themselves 00:17:55.660 --> 00:17:59.119 to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship and 00:17:59.119 --> 00:18:02.400 to sharing in meals. Hallelujah! I like food! 00:18:02.960 --> 00:18:09.500 Woo! Sharon and Mills, Slim's Chicken. Sharon 00:18:09.500 --> 00:18:14.019 and Mills, including the Lord's Prayer. The Lord's, 00:18:14.019 --> 00:18:18.599 including, sorry, the Lord's Supper, right? Communion 00:18:18.599 --> 00:18:21.099 and prayer. So it's not just meals. It's not 00:18:21.099 --> 00:18:23.980 just the Lord's Supper. It's prayer too. So God's 00:18:23.980 --> 00:18:26.980 family, listen, is devoted to spirit -led teaching. 00:18:29.599 --> 00:18:32.519 Because we don't need, you know. There's a lot 00:18:32.519 --> 00:18:35.460 of information, but we need the Spirit's revelation, 00:18:35.940 --> 00:18:38.519 right? We need some things to change. We need 00:18:38.519 --> 00:18:41.579 a word from God. That's why we encourage you 00:18:41.579 --> 00:18:44.339 to take notes because not everything that we 00:18:44.339 --> 00:18:46.960 say, listen, not everything that we say is written 00:18:46.960 --> 00:18:50.539 down on the screen. Sometimes God speaks through 00:18:50.539 --> 00:18:53.299 us and uses us and shares something personally 00:18:53.299 --> 00:18:56.940 to you. And if you knew what you were missing, 00:18:58.509 --> 00:19:01.970 When God speaks to you, if you knew the importance 00:19:01.970 --> 00:19:05.210 of it and the weight of what he shares to you, 00:19:05.349 --> 00:19:09.230 if you knew what you were missing, you wouldn't 00:19:09.230 --> 00:19:12.910 forget it. You wouldn't want to like, you wouldn't 00:19:12.910 --> 00:19:15.509 want to miss it. And so many times, God's speaking 00:19:15.509 --> 00:19:19.269 whether we're listening or not. He shares a word 00:19:19.269 --> 00:19:23.380 for you in a timely state. And I believe most 00:19:23.380 --> 00:19:25.960 of the things that he speaks to us, this revelatory 00:19:25.960 --> 00:19:29.460 word that he speaks to us, is to put you in a 00:19:29.460 --> 00:19:32.180 position for something that you to stand on. 00:19:33.180 --> 00:19:36.680 But often we hear the word, we don't allow it 00:19:36.680 --> 00:19:41.240 sink into our hearts and we forget it. We'll 00:19:41.240 --> 00:19:43.240 leave a service like this where we're expecting 00:19:43.240 --> 00:19:45.180 to hear from God. God, I want to hear you. God, 00:19:45.220 --> 00:19:47.220 I hope you come that way. And you're just like, 00:19:47.299 --> 00:19:50.460 God, I need a word for my week, for my family, 00:19:50.480 --> 00:19:53.339 something personal, right? You get that word, 00:19:53.440 --> 00:19:56.839 you leave. By the time you eat your fried chicken, 00:19:57.059 --> 00:20:02.279 it's gone. And then you run up against that situation 00:20:02.279 --> 00:20:05.519 that God was trying to speak to you about. And 00:20:05.519 --> 00:20:08.000 instead of having to, you know, something to 00:20:08.000 --> 00:20:14.059 stand on, something to have faith, right? You've 00:20:14.059 --> 00:20:16.019 done forgot the word that could have allowed 00:20:16.019 --> 00:20:18.819 you to just push through, that could have allowed 00:20:18.819 --> 00:20:23.089 you to overcome. Now you have to wait to hear 00:20:23.089 --> 00:20:30.730 that word again. God's family is devoted to spirit 00:20:30.730 --> 00:20:36.349 -led teaching, devoted to spiritual growth, devoted 00:20:36.349 --> 00:20:41.930 to fellowship, including food, and communion, 00:20:42.130 --> 00:20:47.109 and prayer, devoted to prayer. Continuing on 00:20:47.109 --> 00:20:51.569 in verse 43. Get this, a deep sense of awe came 00:20:51.569 --> 00:20:55.309 over them all. And the apostles performed many 00:20:55.309 --> 00:21:02.230 miraculous signs and wonders. This is the early 00:21:02.230 --> 00:21:08.589 church. This is the perfect example of what should 00:21:08.589 --> 00:21:12.910 be taking place. We need to see these types of 00:21:12.910 --> 00:21:16.980 things. Because the family together... sees the 00:21:16.980 --> 00:21:20.019 manifested presence of God in a real tangible 00:21:20.019 --> 00:21:25.480 way. The family of God sees the power of God 00:21:25.480 --> 00:21:33.279 on display. The family together sees miracles 00:21:33.279 --> 00:21:39.000 happen, transformation happen, deliverance happen, 00:21:39.160 --> 00:21:44.000 signs, wonders, healing. When you're sick, right? 00:21:44.440 --> 00:21:46.160 You're supposed to call the elders of the church 00:21:46.160 --> 00:21:49.299 and they're supposed to lay hands on you. When's 00:21:49.299 --> 00:21:55.380 the last time that happened? Come on. The family 00:21:55.380 --> 00:21:58.339 together sees the power of God on display because 00:21:58.339 --> 00:22:01.660 when two or three are gathered in his name, come 00:22:01.660 --> 00:22:04.140 on, when two or three are gathered, something 00:22:04.140 --> 00:22:17.579 shakes the earth. You need to be set free. You 00:22:17.579 --> 00:22:22.119 don't need to be doing it alone. If the enemy 00:22:22.119 --> 00:22:25.680 can isolate you, he can defeat you. If he can 00:22:25.680 --> 00:22:27.779 make you think that you're alone in this world, 00:22:27.839 --> 00:22:37.559 you've already lost the battle. Continuing, verse 00:22:37.559 --> 00:22:42.500 44, and all the believers met together in one 00:22:42.500 --> 00:22:47.019 place. and shared everything they had. They sold 00:22:47.019 --> 00:22:50.119 their property and possessions and shared the 00:22:50.119 --> 00:22:53.099 money with those in need. It's talking about 00:22:53.099 --> 00:22:55.599 their sharing amongst themselves with those in 00:22:55.599 --> 00:22:58.900 need in their congregation. Not just finance 00:22:58.900 --> 00:23:00.859 in the world, not just resource in the whole 00:23:00.859 --> 00:23:03.740 world. Specifically talking about the local church 00:23:03.740 --> 00:23:07.710 and sharing with those amongst. other believers, 00:23:07.849 --> 00:23:10.769 right? Lifting them up, encouraging them, motivating 00:23:10.769 --> 00:23:13.710 them with your time, your resources, all these 00:23:13.710 --> 00:23:19.569 things that God has given you, right? 46, they 00:23:19.569 --> 00:23:23.369 worshiped together at the temple each day. They 00:23:23.369 --> 00:23:26.809 met in homes for the Lord's Supper and shared 00:23:26.809 --> 00:23:33.890 their meals with great joy. Great joy and generosity. 00:23:35.279 --> 00:23:38.500 So the family of God, listen, regularly meets 00:23:38.500 --> 00:23:44.380 together in one place to worship. Is that what 00:23:44.380 --> 00:23:46.779 the Bible said or is that what Jeffrey's? No, 00:23:46.819 --> 00:23:49.859 it's what the Bible said. So don't get mad at 00:23:49.859 --> 00:23:54.140 me. But the family of God regularly meets together 00:23:54.140 --> 00:23:58.140 in one place to worship. Can you experience God 00:23:58.140 --> 00:24:01.779 outside of, you know? Yes, you're encouraged 00:24:01.779 --> 00:24:06.660 to. Yes, you can. But in order to participate 00:24:06.660 --> 00:24:11.819 and receive the benefits from the divine hierarchy 00:24:11.819 --> 00:24:16.119 and purpose and design of the family and of the 00:24:16.119 --> 00:24:18.680 church, there's certain things that you will 00:24:18.680 --> 00:24:21.640 miss, and it will be much harder for you to obtain 00:24:21.640 --> 00:24:25.250 apart from the family. We're supposed to regularly 00:24:25.250 --> 00:24:32.490 meet together in one place. I hate to bust it, 00:24:32.529 --> 00:24:36.710 but like, you know, we need to be together in 00:24:36.710 --> 00:24:40.650 the same room, seeing one another, worship, seeing 00:24:40.650 --> 00:24:44.130 one another, praise God, knowing what's going 00:24:44.130 --> 00:24:47.029 on so we can carry the burdens of the people 00:24:47.029 --> 00:24:52.019 around us, amen? And this is all... The family 00:24:52.019 --> 00:24:56.440 of God also shows radical generosity. Think about 00:24:56.440 --> 00:24:58.660 what it talked about here. They were selling 00:24:58.660 --> 00:25:02.019 possessions just to help, right? Just to help 00:25:02.019 --> 00:25:06.019 each other. Radical generosity towards each other. 00:25:06.740 --> 00:25:10.579 So different, so far in from our ideas of what 00:25:10.579 --> 00:25:13.579 we think church is about. But this is the way 00:25:13.579 --> 00:25:17.599 the perfect family of God should operate. The 00:25:17.599 --> 00:25:21.049 family of God shares everything. With great joy. 00:25:21.190 --> 00:25:25.809 Amen. Shares everything gladly. With great joy. 00:25:27.170 --> 00:25:32.690 47. All the while. So all that. They're doing 00:25:32.690 --> 00:25:35.589 all that. And then on top of all that. They're 00:25:35.589 --> 00:25:39.210 praising God. Praising God. Lifting his name. 00:25:40.789 --> 00:25:44.309 Enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And 00:25:44.309 --> 00:25:48.700 each day. Each day the Lord added to their fellowship 00:25:48.700 --> 00:25:53.160 those who were being saved. Amen. Because the 00:25:53.160 --> 00:25:56.819 family of God, what? They praise God, characterized 00:25:56.819 --> 00:26:01.279 by their praise, their enjoyment of one another, 00:26:01.480 --> 00:26:06.559 not backstabbing, talking about, you know, talking 00:26:06.559 --> 00:26:11.299 trash about. The family of God praises God, enjoys 00:26:11.299 --> 00:26:14.660 one another, enjoys the goodwill of each other. 00:26:15.180 --> 00:26:18.900 And then it doesn't stop there. It's not just 00:26:18.900 --> 00:26:23.200 me and my family and no one else, right? It's 00:26:23.200 --> 00:26:26.000 not just my little click, my little circle that 00:26:26.000 --> 00:26:28.019 we get real comfortable with, and we're just 00:26:28.019 --> 00:26:29.759 like, oh, that'd be really nice to just have 00:26:29.759 --> 00:26:34.079 this little, you know. No. The family of God 00:26:34.079 --> 00:26:37.980 actively invites. The family of God actively 00:26:37.980 --> 00:26:45.720 welcomes all to join God's family. We do that 00:26:45.720 --> 00:26:49.400 by sharing the gospel. When's the last time you 00:26:49.400 --> 00:26:52.940 shared the gospel with someone? And I'm not talking 00:26:52.940 --> 00:26:55.400 about just like, well, they just see it by how 00:26:55.400 --> 00:27:01.740 I live. What kind of person are you? Honestly, 00:27:01.740 --> 00:27:05.400 I hear people say that, and I'm just like, really? 00:27:06.119 --> 00:27:10.299 Like, whoa. I don't know what you got going on, 00:27:10.400 --> 00:27:12.660 but they're just going to see it by how I live. 00:27:14.569 --> 00:27:16.509 They should see it. There should be evidence. 00:27:16.630 --> 00:27:19.049 And I'm not meaning to mock that. But at the 00:27:19.049 --> 00:27:22.349 same time, it's like we need to share what God 00:27:22.349 --> 00:27:24.690 has done because there's power in a testimony. 00:27:25.049 --> 00:27:27.509 And if you're a Christian, you should have a 00:27:27.509 --> 00:27:31.470 testimony every week of God doing something awesome 00:27:31.470 --> 00:27:34.829 in your life. If he's real, then it should be 00:27:34.829 --> 00:27:38.970 evident in the life of a Christian. There is 00:27:38.970 --> 00:27:42.750 no excuse. There is no time to wait. Jesus is 00:27:42.750 --> 00:27:52.799 coming soon. The family of God actively invites 00:27:52.799 --> 00:27:56.319 and actively welcomes all to join God's family, 00:27:56.579 --> 00:28:00.039 participates in outreach, but then also doesn't 00:28:00.039 --> 00:28:04.039 shun people who come into our midst, right? People, 00:28:04.079 --> 00:28:07.359 we're constantly welcoming them in as a brother 00:28:07.359 --> 00:28:13.009 and a sister in Christ. Not based on what they 00:28:13.009 --> 00:28:17.009 look like, their age. If they have all this money, 00:28:17.069 --> 00:28:19.509 we shouldn't treat them better than someone who 00:28:19.509 --> 00:28:22.230 doesn't have money. Come on, it happens all the 00:28:22.230 --> 00:28:28.470 time in churches all over America. We treat somebody 00:28:28.470 --> 00:28:32.170 based on how they look, not based on their position 00:28:32.170 --> 00:28:35.210 in Christ. But in Christ, they have access to 00:28:35.210 --> 00:28:38.180 everything that you do too. In Christ, they have 00:28:38.180 --> 00:28:44.759 the same bloodline that you do. Come on. I'm 00:28:44.759 --> 00:28:50.099 called to welcome people in. I love this. The 00:28:50.099 --> 00:28:52.559 family's purpose is given right here in Genesis 00:28:52.559 --> 00:28:56.000 from the very beginning. I've never looked at 00:28:56.000 --> 00:28:58.799 these words before, but I just, kind of spirit 00:28:58.799 --> 00:29:01.180 brought it up to me, and it just like, boom, 00:29:01.339 --> 00:29:05.380 like a light bulb or dynamite kicked off, right? 00:29:06.370 --> 00:29:10.170 Genesis 1 .28, after he creates man and woman, 00:29:10.289 --> 00:29:14.089 what does he say? He says, be fruitful and multiply. 00:29:14.849 --> 00:29:19.150 Be fruitful and multiply. That word there, listen, 00:29:19.390 --> 00:29:25.589 to fill. Hebrew word means to fill. Didn't we 00:29:25.589 --> 00:29:29.890 just talk about that? That in Christ, he fills 00:29:29.890 --> 00:29:37.200 us, right? He fills us with his spirit. Not to 00:29:37.200 --> 00:29:39.740 the point where it's like, oh, we're just like 00:29:39.740 --> 00:29:42.180 half full, you know, unless you're one of those 00:29:42.180 --> 00:29:44.319 like glass half full kind of people, you know. 00:29:44.319 --> 00:29:51.259 No, no, he fills you to fullness. You're full 00:29:51.259 --> 00:29:57.880 to fill, to be full, to fulfill his purposes 00:29:57.880 --> 00:30:06.920 in the earth. To completeness, wholeness. So 00:30:06.920 --> 00:30:10.460 be fruitful means to fill, to be full of God, 00:30:10.539 --> 00:30:16.140 and to fulfill and to be complete in him. And 00:30:16.140 --> 00:30:21.500 then rabal means to increase, to multiply, to 00:30:21.500 --> 00:30:26.059 become many, and to grow. Is that not what we've 00:30:26.059 --> 00:30:29.140 been talking about? Is that not what these verses 00:30:29.140 --> 00:30:31.619 have been saying? God is the same yesterday, 00:30:31.779 --> 00:30:35.039 today, and forever, and his command still... 00:30:35.549 --> 00:30:40.710 To us, to his church, is the same. Be fruitful. 00:30:41.390 --> 00:30:46.690 Be full. Why? Based on your effort? No. Based 00:30:46.690 --> 00:30:51.210 on God's fulfillment, right? Based on God's completeness. 00:30:51.230 --> 00:30:55.329 Based on who he is, right? We are filled and 00:30:55.329 --> 00:30:57.910 overflowing. And what does this mean for the 00:30:57.910 --> 00:31:04.220 believer that's in Christ? Think about it. It 00:31:04.220 --> 00:31:07.079 means that if Christ is the one who fills you, 00:31:07.140 --> 00:31:09.980 if he is your source, it means you have everything 00:31:09.980 --> 00:31:15.200 that you need to live a life of godliness, to 00:31:15.200 --> 00:31:21.039 live in this earth. You have everything you need. 00:31:23.079 --> 00:31:26.799 So therefore, when God asks you to do something, 00:31:27.200 --> 00:31:31.859 he's not expecting you to turn to your resource. 00:31:33.339 --> 00:31:38.640 to make it happen. When God asks you to do something, 00:31:38.819 --> 00:31:41.640 often we look at, well, what do I have, right? 00:31:42.279 --> 00:31:44.980 Because he calls us to do something often greater 00:31:44.980 --> 00:31:48.500 than what we have in our hands, right? And so 00:31:48.500 --> 00:31:50.799 we turn to our resource, we turn to our natural 00:31:50.799 --> 00:31:54.839 ability. But when God tells you to do something, 00:31:54.900 --> 00:31:59.259 see, he's already filled you up with the power, 00:31:59.339 --> 00:32:04.630 with the ability. with the talent, with the resource 00:32:04.630 --> 00:32:09.430 in Christ, you are full and complete to carry 00:32:09.430 --> 00:32:11.950 out his purpose in the earth and what he's called 00:32:11.950 --> 00:32:16.130 you to do. So I like to put it this way. He, 00:32:16.250 --> 00:32:23.170 look, he's just waiting for your yes. He provides 00:32:23.170 --> 00:32:25.710 all the things that you need. He just wants your 00:32:25.710 --> 00:32:30.670 yes. Who's going to say yes to the next thing 00:32:30.670 --> 00:32:36.690 God tells you to do? Not worried about what is 00:32:36.690 --> 00:32:38.390 going to happen when you try to figure all those 00:32:38.390 --> 00:32:41.910 things out? Listen, you'll grab a hold of the 00:32:41.910 --> 00:32:44.849 first little thing that resembles what you think 00:32:44.849 --> 00:32:49.809 God should be doing in your life. We're not called 00:32:49.809 --> 00:32:52.210 to figure it out. We're called to respond in 00:32:52.210 --> 00:32:57.059 faith, yes. Let it be according to your word 00:32:57.059 --> 00:33:00.960 in my life like Mary. She didn't know how it 00:33:00.960 --> 00:33:03.019 was going to happen, didn't understand it. She 00:33:03.019 --> 00:33:05.099 didn't have to know, but she just said, let it 00:33:05.099 --> 00:33:09.880 be when the angel spoke to her. She said, let 00:33:09.880 --> 00:33:15.700 it be according to your word. That's faith. That's 00:33:15.700 --> 00:33:22.119 the faith that pleases God. Come on. He fulfills, 00:33:22.119 --> 00:33:25.779 he fills your yes. with the ability and power 00:33:25.779 --> 00:33:29.059 to accomplish what he's called you to do. So 00:33:29.059 --> 00:33:33.240 quit saying no. Quit saying, turn into your own 00:33:33.240 --> 00:33:35.880 resources. Quit turning to every other excuse. 00:33:36.579 --> 00:33:42.480 Say yes to God, amen? He calls us to increase, 00:33:42.640 --> 00:33:46.859 to multiply. Our mission should be to reach out. 00:33:47.660 --> 00:33:51.960 Reach out to our communities. Tell them about 00:33:51.960 --> 00:33:56.089 the love of Christ, amen? And then we talked 00:33:56.089 --> 00:34:00.029 a little bit of this, another aspect of the family 00:34:00.029 --> 00:34:03.529 of God and its hierarchy and structure. 1 Timothy 00:34:03.529 --> 00:34:06.990 5, 1 through 2 says this, Never speak harshly 00:34:06.990 --> 00:34:10.469 to an older man, but appeal to him respectfully 00:34:10.469 --> 00:34:15.369 as you would to your own father. Talk to younger 00:34:15.369 --> 00:34:19.570 men as you would to your own brothers. Why is 00:34:19.570 --> 00:34:21.769 this? Because in Christ, if they're believers 00:34:21.769 --> 00:34:23.849 in Christ, they are your brothers, right? And 00:34:23.849 --> 00:34:27.730 they are your sisters. Verse 2, treat older women 00:34:27.730 --> 00:34:31.349 as you would your mother. And treat younger women 00:34:31.349 --> 00:34:34.489 with all purity as you would your own sisters. 00:34:36.750 --> 00:34:40.050 It's a construct of honor that we've talked about 00:34:40.050 --> 00:34:43.070 a couple weeks ago. The family of God is built 00:34:43.070 --> 00:34:48.480 on this divine hierarchy of honor. If you want 00:34:48.480 --> 00:34:50.400 to know more about that, go look at the podcast, 00:34:50.500 --> 00:34:53.019 go read them. We talked all about honor and honoring 00:34:53.019 --> 00:34:56.940 the family. But listen, and I'm done. You cannot 00:34:56.940 --> 00:35:01.059 fully experience the family of God apart from 00:35:01.059 --> 00:35:03.880 the people of God, apart from the family, right? 00:35:04.579 --> 00:35:10.079 You can't fully experience it. And is God's family 00:35:10.079 --> 00:35:21.559 perfect? Again, I'll say this again, because 00:35:21.559 --> 00:35:28.579 this is where church hurt comes. Is God's family 00:35:28.579 --> 00:35:32.000 perfect? You know, no earthly family is perfect. 00:35:33.099 --> 00:35:35.940 And we're all made up of, you know, we're all 00:35:35.940 --> 00:35:43.179 humans, right? We're all flawed, right? So why 00:35:43.179 --> 00:35:47.300 do we expect always that, you know? Our local 00:35:47.300 --> 00:35:49.739 church, like if our own family's not perfect 00:35:49.739 --> 00:35:54.639 and has flaws and chaos and all these things 00:35:54.639 --> 00:35:57.840 harbor and people, you know, walk out and people, 00:35:57.940 --> 00:36:03.519 you know, all these things take place. Why is 00:36:03.519 --> 00:36:08.019 it that we hold the local church or the global 00:36:08.019 --> 00:36:10.340 church? I can't tell you how many people I've 00:36:10.340 --> 00:36:13.460 talked to at work who this is, this is it right 00:36:13.460 --> 00:36:15.730 here. You know, they've been hurt. They were 00:36:15.730 --> 00:36:17.969 in some environment, something happened, they 00:36:17.969 --> 00:36:19.789 were hurt, and they said, I don't want anything 00:36:19.789 --> 00:36:22.690 to do with that. And turned their back on it 00:36:22.690 --> 00:36:26.070 all. Is God's family perfect? No. It's perfect 00:36:26.070 --> 00:36:30.730 in its formation and its calling from God, but 00:36:30.730 --> 00:36:33.610 it's flawed in its population. It's flawed in 00:36:33.610 --> 00:36:37.250 its members, right? And I want to say this, and 00:36:37.250 --> 00:36:40.909 I'll turn it off, but if you expect something 00:36:40.909 --> 00:36:45.980 from the church that only God can give you, That's 00:36:45.980 --> 00:36:50.500 idolatry. A lot of people look to this and somebody, 00:36:50.780 --> 00:36:54.300 some person, and they expect to, you know, have 00:36:54.300 --> 00:36:58.380 this God -like thing, right? And then when the 00:36:58.380 --> 00:37:00.679 pastor, whatever, something happens, whatever, 00:37:00.820 --> 00:37:03.500 they're just like, their whole worldview corrupts 00:37:03.500 --> 00:37:06.980 and they leave the church. Why? Was your faith 00:37:06.980 --> 00:37:12.500 in the pastor? Was it in the people that you're 00:37:12.500 --> 00:37:17.210 around? Like, what? No, it's in God. And God's 00:37:17.210 --> 00:37:22.369 calling us to be around people. God's calling 00:37:22.369 --> 00:37:27.230 us a part of his family. His brothers and sisters 00:37:27.230 --> 00:37:30.429 in Christ were supposed to view one another, 00:37:30.650 --> 00:37:34.070 right? And it might mean that you wind up in 00:37:34.070 --> 00:37:37.170 a different local family or gathering or whatever. 00:37:37.730 --> 00:37:40.309 It might mean that all these bad things happen, 00:37:40.510 --> 00:37:45.920 but don't ever place anything, In your life higher 00:37:45.920 --> 00:37:51.679 than God. Right? Don't place people in that position. 00:37:51.880 --> 00:37:53.480 Because you know what? People will always let 00:37:53.480 --> 00:37:57.300 you down. But God will never let you down. Amen? 00:37:58.199 --> 00:38:02.679 So we need to obey his word. And God wants to 00:38:02.679 --> 00:38:07.960 use the church. His family. God wants to use 00:38:07.960 --> 00:38:14.699 this church. God wants to use elation. We are 00:38:14.699 --> 00:38:18.559 his family despite all of our imperfections. 00:38:20.440 --> 00:38:22.840 Whatever kind of baggage you walk through the 00:38:22.840 --> 00:38:27.380 door with, God's going to use it, right? He's 00:38:27.380 --> 00:38:29.860 going to use you for the kingdom. Nothing you've 00:38:29.860 --> 00:38:32.960 done discredits you, look, from participating 00:38:32.960 --> 00:38:40.119 in the family of God. Yeah? God wants to use 00:38:40.119 --> 00:38:43.769 this church despite all its imperfections. as 00:38:43.769 --> 00:38:47.889 a vehicle, as a conduit for his eternal plan 00:38:47.889 --> 00:38:54.449 today. God wants to use the church. God wants 00:38:54.449 --> 00:38:58.110 to use your individual family as a conduit, as 00:38:58.110 --> 00:39:00.670 a vehicle for his eternal plan in the earth. 00:39:02.210 --> 00:39:05.750 God wants to use the global church, the universal 00:39:05.750 --> 00:39:10.590 church, as his vehicle, his plan to accomplish 00:39:10.590 --> 00:39:13.119 his blessing in the earth. It's not something 00:39:13.119 --> 00:39:15.340 that we can just walk away from. The family is 00:39:15.340 --> 00:39:22.119 how he designed it to be. God instituted the 00:39:22.119 --> 00:39:25.800 family before the church. Dad said this the other 00:39:25.800 --> 00:39:29.119 week, and it just like light bulb to me. He institutes 00:39:29.119 --> 00:39:31.820 the family before the church, but he continues 00:39:31.820 --> 00:39:36.099 the family model in the church. Through generation 00:39:36.099 --> 00:39:41.019 to generation to generation, it happens and it's 00:39:41.019 --> 00:39:46.320 formed the same way. So in summary, what the 00:39:46.320 --> 00:39:49.400 family of God is all about, what it's about motivating 00:39:49.400 --> 00:39:53.199 each other towards radical generosity, it's about 00:39:53.199 --> 00:39:57.360 motivating each other towards love, the God kind 00:39:57.360 --> 00:40:00.519 of love, motivating each other to good works, 00:40:00.719 --> 00:40:04.809 to sharing with one another. The family of God 00:40:04.809 --> 00:40:08.190 is about miracles. We should expect to see the 00:40:08.190 --> 00:40:11.590 miracle power of God in our lives and in this 00:40:11.590 --> 00:40:16.510 body. Amen? There's no sickness in Jesus' body. 00:40:16.730 --> 00:40:19.070 Listen, so why is there sickness in our body 00:40:19.070 --> 00:40:21.710 if we're in him? Think about it. I'm going to 00:40:21.710 --> 00:40:26.030 leave that alone. The family of God is about 00:40:26.030 --> 00:40:30.380 fellowship, right? But not just fellowship, you 00:40:30.380 --> 00:40:32.460 know, it's supposed to be continual fellowship. 00:40:33.000 --> 00:40:37.219 Together, regular fellowship with people in one 00:40:37.219 --> 00:40:40.579 place. That's what we're doing. That's why you 00:40:40.579 --> 00:40:43.960 come to church. It's a vehicle for us to participate 00:40:43.960 --> 00:40:47.960 in what God has called us to do. Galatian is 00:40:47.960 --> 00:40:51.619 just a fun name that we tag on what we're doing, 00:40:51.800 --> 00:40:55.360 right? Because we're supposed to have great joy 00:40:55.360 --> 00:41:00.820 when we meet together. Right? Galatians is not 00:41:00.820 --> 00:41:03.280 the church. You are the church. You are the called 00:41:03.280 --> 00:41:08.340 out ones, the people of God, right? We're supposed 00:41:08.340 --> 00:41:12.000 to fellowship together in one place. We're supposed 00:41:12.000 --> 00:41:15.719 to be about spiritual teaching and growth, prayer, 00:41:16.079 --> 00:41:21.699 communion, multiplication. We're supposed to 00:41:21.699 --> 00:41:25.739 be welcoming. Family of God is supposed to be 00:41:25.739 --> 00:41:30.550 about honor. And great joy. This online worship 00:41:30.550 --> 00:41:33.070 experience was brought to you by the friends 00:41:33.070 --> 00:41:34.610 and partners of Elation Church.