Stormy Seas and Strength in the Family of God
Sermon Notes
1. Our identity comes from the Word of God – God Himself.
God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them (Genesis 1.27).
For whoever does the will of God, he is My brother and sister and mother (Mark 3.35).
2. Our mission comes from Him through His Word.
For in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, “For we also are His children.” Being then the children of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, the image formed the art and thought of man (Acts 17.28, 29).
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth (Acts 1.8).
“Make disciples of all the nations” (Matthew 28.19).
3. Our unity comes from Him through His Word.
Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth (John 17.17).
I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me (John 17.20-21).
With all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace (Eph 4.2-3).
4. Our power in resisting the enemy comes from Him through His Word.
But He answered and said, "It is written, ‘MAN SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE, BUT ON EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS OUT OF THE MOUTH OF GOD’ " (Matt 4.4).
5. Our life together is born out of His great love for us.
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God
(1 John 4.7).
So what?
• The church (marriage, parenting, grand-parenting, singles, and all relationships) is all about making God’s agenda our agenda – personally and together. Learn it together. Pray together about it.
• Talk about it together – consistently.
• Grow deeper into it together – develop strategies to do it. Embrace the challenges and hardships – process them together.
• This is love – “not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4.10).
• Keep investing yourself in your church (singles, marriage, and family [parenting and grand-parenting]). Invest spiritually and materially.
• Just as you welcome new members into your family, welcome new people into the family of God in the same way.