Jump in the well

How have you made intentional steps toward understanding or attuning to your family relationships this week?  Maybe it was sitting around the table, taking a walk or making a phone call.  Come prepared to talk about this on Sunday as we come to the table of the Family of God.  You can also email me with your story.   


I love the image of jumping in the well with that person in your life that needs to be understood. “The purposes of a man’s heart are deep waters, but a man of understanding draws them out.” Proverbs 20:5 (NIV84)  This jumping in the well with one another as the Family of God is the process that brings unity and understanding to the generations around the table.  “I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” Eph. 4:1-6 (NIV84)   


Prime the Pump 
Read Acts 2:37-47 in preparation for Sunday.  We will be talking about the fullness of salvation and the Family of God.  How did you come to the decision to follow Jesus?  Remembering back to that time in your life, what was significant about that decision?

The Table

I was moved by seeing the generations gathered around the table of the Family of God last week.  How do the vast generations, in all their cultural differences, come together in unity as the family of God?   We know that God is restamping His image in us through Christ and His family.  This is God’s rescue plan.  Jesus came to bring reconciliation to our relationship with God and each other by defeating sin at its source on the cross.  The resurrected Jesus invites us to new life at the table of the Family of God. At the table, we tune in to one another as we experience reconciliation and forgiveness. At the table, we start to understand each other at a deeper level, moving in the direction of what unifies and heals us rather than what makes us different.

This Sunday is about all about tools!  All dads love tools!  These are tools to prepare your family for the Family of God.  These are the tools that impact eternity as we join in the rescue mission of God.  Read Ephesians 6:4, Colossians 3:12 and Proverbs 20:5 in preparation for our Father’s Day Sunday.

Ultimate

The Family of God is God’s master plan to bring about the restoration of His image in us, bringing the hope of the gospel to the broken world through His people.  Christ, through the cross and resurrection, has defeated the sin that separates us from God and His family.  In Christ we have been adopted into the Family of God. We must keep the ultimate purpose of God in view as we live in a culture that is counter to the rescue mission of God.  What does it look like to commit our lives, families and resources to the purposes of the Family of God?

Come this Sunday to hear more about this family that Christ invites us to enter.  Read Mark 3:33-35 for Sunday.

FYI – this Sunday

• ·      Retirement party for Becky!  Come over to the Family Center to love on Becky for the life she has poured into Wabash Friends Church.
• ·      There will be a Q&A session in the sanctuary during the Sunday School hour for Discipleship and Outreach Pastor candidate Daniel Burnham.  

We Are Family

When the church is working well together, it is a beautiful picture of the love and character of God.  I have seen our church working well, and I long to see more of God and his purposes through the people at Wabash Friends.  Last week we talked about Paul’s prayer that pointed to God as the source of endurance and encouragement.   Endurance is our foundation for life, and encouragement is our fuel for daily living.  The truth and grace of God is spelled out in the scriptures.  The scripture is where the church should go as the source to learn about God. 

This solid foundation is needed as we look into God’s purpose for family.  There are very few people who don’t want more healing, health, love and joy from their family.  We will find in our next series that family is built into us from the very beginning, so we long for what was once very good.  How do we enter into God’s design and redemption plan today for our family of origin and for the family of God?  Read Genesis chapters one and two for Sunday as we enter this area of family. 

See you Sunday,

Alex

FYI – VBS is starting this Sunday evening.   We could always use more help from our church family as we teach and train our kids about God.  Deut. 6:4-9