~ by Terry Walters
Galatians 4:4-6; Acts 2:41-47
The New Testament speaks of the church as the body of Christ,
the bride of Christ, and the family of God.
Being the family of God means true Christians
are brothers and sisters in the Lord.
The true church is indeed family and we often even
call each other Brother or Sister…(so and so).
It is great to have people other than
our physical family who are family anyway.
The world mistakenly claims that we are all God's children.
That's not what God says! The Bible is clear
that we are all God's creation,
but only become His children through faith
in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
When we repent of our sin and confess Him as Lord,
the heavenly Father adopts us into His family.
Back in the ‘60s and ‘70s while growing up in Forsyth,
we were also growing up in Forsyth Baptist Church,
which eventually got its own building across town.
We had four kids in our family, and often
did not all ride together to and from church.
We might go in two cars, I might ride a bicycle, or some might even walk.
That sometimes led to us all getting ready for Sunday dinner
and then noticing our youngest sibling, Craig, wasn't even home.
Before driving back to church to find him,
one of us would call the Spriggs family who had six kids.
Scott would ‘count noses’ and usually find an extra one – Craig’s.
They would send him the half a block up the street to home.
They hadn’t even noticed the extra family member!
Years later, we attended Jack Hockaday’s funeral.
He and Dad were deacons together back in the day.
After the funeral, Jack’s boys invited us to go out for pizza with the family.
After all, they said, “You’re family.” And yes, we are.
If you don't get involved with the church and feel like it is family,
you do a disservice to the work of God in Christ.
If your church just doesn't act that way,
you need to find one that does! It's God's design.
Prayer: Dear Father, it is such a privilege to be able to call You “Father.”
Thank You for adopting us into Your family!
Thank You for our spiritual family and please bless them.
Help us find a way to convince them of the importance
of being an active part of their family.
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