Who We Are: Family
I want you to close your eyes for a second and picture in your mind what a family looks like.
Think about all the ways that God makes families. They are black, brown, yellow, white. They are mixes of old and young, male and female. Family is a beautiful tapestry that doesn’t just fit one mold.
Now imagine the church, New City Church or your own. Think of the people that walk through the doors each Sunday and how not a single person is the same. One thing that we often talk about at New City is how the gospel makes us family.
We’re family not by flesh and blood, but because of the blood of Jesus. We’re brothers and sisters, heirs with Christ because of what Christ did for us on the cross. You see, no family is perfect; we’re all broken in our own ways. We all have challenges that we face and moments of joy we celebrate together.
The gospel makes us family because when we repent of our sins and believe in the good news of Jesus and what he has done, we become a child of God. I love these verses in Galatians 4:3-7 :
In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. 4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. 6 And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.
Isn’t this comforting. You and I are brothers and sisters. We are no longer slaves, but we are heirs through God. But if the gospel makes all who believe family, what does it look like to be a child of God? What should our lives look like because of this?
I recently spoke to a group of middle and high school students during our Rooted Weekend, and I posed those 2 questions. And I believe that the best answers come from Scripture; so let’s take a look together.
Question 1: What does it look like to be children of God?
For this let’s turn to Romans 8:5-17
A) We are Spirit-led.
5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. 6 For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. 8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
Because we have been given God’s own Spirit, we have the power to live as His sons and daughters, no longer captive to our destructive desires.
B) We live in peace, not fear
15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”
Because we have been adopted into God’s family, and because we are His children, we have no need to fear. Our father will protect us; He will watch over us and care for us.
C) We have a heart for worship
15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,
As children of God, we worship and cry out to our Father! We praise God for all that he has done in our lives. We see in verse 16 that the Spirit of God is actually inside us, constantly reminding us of who we are as children of God.
D) We know our worth and our value
16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ
To be a child of the King means we are heirs with Christ. What a transformation from slave to son and heir!
E) We live lives of suffering
16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.
As family in Christ, we will suffer along with him. Just as Jesus was tempted by Satan in the wilderness, we too will be tempted and tried. On this side of heaven we will all suffer — especially those who believe. But we know that we have a home and a place in heaven, a place at the table in the family of God!
And our second question is this—
Question 2: How then do we live as family?
For this, let’s turn to Acts 2:42-47
A) We devote our time to listening/teaching
42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship,
This is how we grow as family: we spend time in the Word together. The apostles did this too. Think about it, while some of the disciples were related, most weren’t. But as they spent time studying and following Jesus and his teachings, they became closer—they became family.
B) We believe in and pray for miracles together
43 And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles.
When people pray for you, it’s special. When you pray for someone else — your heart is changed towards that person. We feel compassion, empathy — we feel the same love and compassion that Jesus felt for the worst of sinners.
We should be people who not only pray for miracles for our friends and family, but we should be the kind of people that bring those we love before God, believing that He will hear and move.
C) We work to listen to one another
44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common.
The first community of believers shared all of their material belongings, sacrificing to care for one another. How much more can we strive to listen to our brothers and sisters and work to gain understanding and common ground. As followers of Christ, we should all believe and understand the gospel. If we do, then this becomes our foundation, our common ground. It is from this place of understanding that we are all sinners in need of grace that we can relate more to one another and live like family.
D) We share and sacrifice for others
45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need.
The gospel teaches us that God has been overwhelmingly generous to us! He has given us all things in Christ. So we can in turn share generously and joyfully with those around us.
E) We go to church together
46 And day by day, attending the temple
We believe that our Sunday morning gatherings are an important part of what we do here. Gathering together edifies the body, the church, it draws us closer to Jesus and one another. The disciples knew this, and so they worshipped and prayed together.
F) We eat together
46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts,
Another way that we live out our Gospel identity of family is through our weekly Missional Communities. It is here that people come and gather, we share a meal together, and discuss questions meant to point us back to the gospel.
G) We worship together
they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.
When we worship together, when we rejoice with one another in praise, others hear us.
Those who are far from God begin to listen; to question; to seek out what is so different about us.
And when that happens, as family we welcome them in and we invite them to our MC gatherings.
And when lost people come face to face with God in real biblical community—they often find themselves adopted into the family of God.