Freed to be Family

Galatians chapter 4, as we jump in this morning of life and liberty.

Galatians 4 · chapter mention

The message title is this Free to Be Family.

And I came across this reading this week that talked about how a song that was familiar to me came about.

And I'm going to read it to you.

I tried to memorize it, but we're going to read it.

Ron was working in a combustible material plant, and there was an explosion.

He managed to crash his way through the large double doors before the building blew apart and went in flames.

But Ron had been severely burned over most of his body.

He was alive, but not expected to make it through the night.

Within moments, a chain of calls alerted the family of God.

The whole church began to pray.

Little groups began to pray.

Big groups met to pray.

They met in homes.

They met at the church.

They prayed over the phone.

And the church building was kept open night and day.

Lights burned as a steady stream who cared and loved Ron came to talk to Jesus about Ron.

Pastor came in finally with a report from the hospital.

Ron had outlived the deadline that he was given.

And the doctors were saying now what they thought was no chance was a small chance.

Well, that infused new life into the body, and tears began to go down people's cheeks, and joy began to fill their heart as they knew the God that they served could keep his life.

And it was said this that they pledged themselves from that point forward to help with the children, to help with long trips to the hospital, to help with any money needed, meals needed.

They were going to be there.

And as this couple that was writing about this took a ride in the car home from church Sunday, they looked at each other finally and said what they had been realizing.

They said, They, the church, would do this for us too.

They would do the same thing for us if it were us suffering.

Not because we're worthy, but just because we are a part of their family.

And that night, Bill and Gloria Gaither penned the words to the following song that I want you to hear.

And I wanted to say this to you, church.

I love the church.

I love you, church.

And I cannot explain the bond that my heart feels to this family.

We're a family.

I want you to hear this song that I heard as a young boy over and over, and I mean so much.

Amen.

Thank you, Miss Niva.

Aren't you glad to be a part of the family of God?

We're a family.

We're not a place.

We're a people.

The church is a body of people.

You don't go to a place, you go to a service.

And when I preach to you today, I want you to understand that from my heart, I'm preaching to my family.

Father, we love you.

And I pray that you would help this word to be received this morning.

And God, I know that as I look out, the family has burdens today.

The family has hardship right now.

The family, God, needs this service.

And they need to meet with you.

We need to meet with our Father.

And so, God, I pray that you would speak into the heart of every person today.

But I pray that if there's someone here that's not entered the family of God, that you would draw that heart into a relationship with you.

Use this message in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Galatians chapter 4.

Galatians 4 · chapter mention

This morning, I'm going to read verses 1 and 2 as we jump in.

It says, Now I say that the heir, as long as he is a child, does not differ at all from a slave, though he is a master of all, but is under guardians and stewards unto the time appointed by the Father.

I want you to understand as we jump in, the first thing of note is this that we were rejected as slaves.

Under the law, we realize we were rejected as slaves.

And there's a comparison in verse 21 to 31 that we don't have time to dig into today, but it's Sarah and Hagar, and it's a picture of Sarah the free woman and Hagar the bondservant.

Before we come into this family, we're rejected as slaves.

And the Jewish people, the problem of Galatians is that Jewish people wanted to make non-Jewish people to adhere to Jewish rules and customs to be saved.

They wanted them to live by their law to be Messiah.

They wanted them to be circumcised to come to Christ.

But the problem for that thinking is he's everyone's Messiah.

He's not just the Jewish Messiah.

He's the chainbreaker for everybody.

He came to set everybody free, not based on the rules of the Jewish.

And it says this in Scripture: who the Son sets free will be free indeed.

And so to understand our freedom, we got to go back a little bit and understand what we came from.

And in Galatians 4, here, we come from a standing where we were birthed, letter A, in sin.

We were birthed in sin.

It says, as a child, it doesn't differ from a slave.

We have to understand what we came from.

Romans 5, verse 12 says, as one man, by one man, sin entered into the world, and by that one man all have sinned.

Romans 5:12

We all were born cursed.

It's the great tension of the Bible.

You have a spirit if you've been saved and you have a flesh, and there's this great tug of war that goes on every morning you wake up.

Anybody felt the tug of war this morning?

I tell young couples when they walk in the door with little children, I say, you made it.

You've gotten through the hardest part, right?

If you get here, I don't care, you can take a nap if that's the most spiritual thing you need.

It's okay.

Because trust me, I get it.

I remember.

We had little ones and we had to be at the church by 8 a.m.

for Sunday school.

I'm telling you, get kids bathed and all that.

Look, that was for the birds.

And if you hadn't faced the devil by the time you got to church, let me tell you what.

So I understand that there's this tug of war.

This spirit and this flesh, the great tension of life.

We were birthed in sin.

My wife has these looks.

Other husbands, do your does your wife have looks?

Okay, I saw a hand go right up.

That was good.

She has looks and she has sounds that I thought were pretty much distinctive to her.

Until one day I looked over, and the look that I thought was distinctively hers came from another source.

And I looked over and I saw what appeared to be her mini-me.

Headcocked sideways, roll of the eye, same timing, same look of disgust, and I thought, what has happened?

My wife has a grunt.

It sort of sounds like this.

I heard the grunt come from another source the other day, and I thought, what is happening?

To my surprise, it came from Cali.

I married one and I received two.

When I see her hear the boys do something honri, well, just be honest, sinful.

Most of the time I go, Yeah, I understand.

I know where that came from.

Most of the time, Heather lives by the rules.

She's, she's, you know, if they do something wrong or honri, it was probably from me.

And so I think about the way that we were birthed.

Psalms 51 says, Behold, David said that.

Psalms 51, 5, Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity.

I was brought forth in sin.

Upon birth, our children received the best and the worst of us.

We never had any training for our kids to learn how to sin.

We never had any courses.

I never had any training.

In fact, I'm pretty much an expert.

And I was pretty quickly.

Don't judge me, some of y'all are too.

Right?

So we began, we were birthed into this flesh.

The Bible says, don't and I do.

The Bible says do and I don't.

And so we're walking from the moment that we're born in this slavery.

We're birthed in it.

And letter B is we're bound by it.

Look down at verse 3.

Even so, when we were children, we're in bondage under the elements of the world.

Bondage, bound, that's the word doulos.

The Greek for that is who cannot help but make unrighteous choices.

Doolos.

We cannot help.

We were birthed in it and bound in it.

It's sort of like when you think about the word addiction, bound, chained, stuck to, addiction.

Umato said this about addiction.

You want to find anguish, you want to find sorrow, you want to find financial expense beyond belief, you want to find depression, anxiety, and suffering.

Find an addict and follow them home.

We're bound in it.

A smoker becomes enslaved to nicotine, and try as they may resist, the demand wins.

The alcoholic becomes enslaved to their substance.

And try as they may resist, it holds them tightly.

Workaholics, you say, Well, that's a good thing, Pastor.

Well, isn't it?

Get enslaved to their achievement, and I just have to achieve and achieve and achieve.

And I'm providing for my family, but I'm leaving them spiritually and emotionally dry.

The perfectionist becomes enslaved to precise standards.

A food addict becomes enslaved to food.

An addict is someone who is bound up.

Verse 3 said, We're bound up in sin.

Well, I was thinking about that, and back when COVID first struck, um, I became very domesticated, as everyone in the neighborhood was.

That's all I seen was people outside doing yard work, and I guess the government gave us money to make our yards better because everybody was taking everything at the Home Depot.

Well, I had finished putting down pine straw, I had done everything on the lawn I could do, I had pressure washed the driveway, and then I looked up and some paint was chipping, so I decided, well, I'm gonna become a painter, I guess.

And so I got a ladder, and the ladder was too small.

And I started to try to devise how do I still deal with this.

So I got my paint and everything, and I looked up, and there's a window coming out, the you know, the pitch of the roof, and it goes down.

I thought, hmm, I can get out that window.

But the thing was, I needed to get from that window to another side, which is by my front door, so it kind of L's like this, and I was looking, and I got on that roof, and as I stood there, if you've been on a roof before, one thing I learned in that moment was you don't want shoes that have no tread.

So I'm standing there and it starts to get slippery, and I'm like, ugh, this isn't good.

And I'm looking over to that L and what I gotta do, and I feel stuck.

I feel like the next move could be me on the concrete.

And I'm like, I'm sliding, so I get myself and I'm and I push myself forward on the roof.

I'm sort of laying at it, and I'm like, either I'm going back to the window and I'm jumping through, or I'm going back over to this L.

And mind you, I got a cup of paint in my hand and I brush.

So you are thinking what the wise thing to do is save your life and get back in through the window.

Not me.

What I'm thinking is I got a job to get done.

So in a last second move, I jump over across the L, I'm sliding, and I catch myself, and I get over there, and I'm able to paint, which is all good and fine, except then I gotta get back.

And so I finish my painting and I'm standing there, and again I feel stuck.

And I'm like, what do I do?

I need to jump towards my freedom, or you know what?

Never dawned on me.

There was another option.

There was an option where I could have yelled, Heather, help! I need help up here.

I need I could have sat there, no, I jumped back across the other side, and I'm very happy to tell you today that I'm standing here not dead.

I'm very pleased about that.

But I got thinking about that moment where I stood there with those options, and I felt stuck.

There was a moment where I was thinking through what my next move was, and I felt stuck, and I was bound up by it for a moment.

I was fearful.

I thought, what am I going to do?

If I miss this, I'm gonna drop and be done.

And I need you to know apart from Jesus Christ, we're absolutely stuck.

Apart from him, we are bound up, and we sang it today.

I'm not a slave to fear, but we're stuck in fear apart from it.

We're bound in chains and left to certain doom.

Galatians 5, 1 says this stand fast, therefore, in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with the yoke of bondage.

And maybe think about an Old Testament story when I think about being bound up in slavery.

Hosea was a preacher, and God told Hosea, he had revealed to him that his bachelor days were over.

He told Hosea, you need to go marry Gomer.

And the thing about Gomer was she didn't have a good reputation.

And Hosea listened to what God had said, but but Gomer had a reputation of being promiscuous, but Hosea humbly obeyed what God had said.

Well, during their relationship, Gomer's eyes were led astray, and she went into the wrong company.

And in that moment, Hosea had to be heartbroken, and God told him to do the unthinkable.

God told Hosea, you need to go, find your wife, and buy her back.

Now, I'm thinking Hosea must have cried out to God.

It's not written in scripture this way, but why should I buy back what I've already set free?

What is already mine.

See, Hosea was a faithful husband.

Gomer was not a faithful wife.

And Hosea went because God said go.

And he went and he found her at the auction block, and Hosea bought Gomer back.

He redeemed her.

Scripture says he spent 15 shekels of silver and five barleys.

And I want you to understand our picture because, church, we're Gomer.

God created us for a relationship with him.

We left him in sin and we went to the auction block of slavery, and God came back and used the ultimate price of Jesus Christ's blood, and he redeemed us.

Gomer didn't deserve to be redeemed.

Her behavior didn't merit mercy.

And neither did ours.

Neither did Israel.

But God gives us this picture of freedom through Him.

And so today, maybe you feel stuck.

I want you to think for a second.

You feel stuck in some way.

Is there something that's got a hold of you?

Because I want you to hear this exciting truth.

He will buy you back.

If you're lost today, God will find you.

If you're ashamed today about something from your past, God will cover you.

If you've wandered away for a season, God will welcome you back home.

If you've given up on him, he won't give up on you no matter where you are.

God sees what you're going through and he loves you, church.

This picture of Hosea and Gomer is like this.

God tenderly comes to us in our moment of need and touches us and says, Come on.

My love has set you free.

Don't sell yourself out.

I have paid to redeem you.

Well, his redemption is true, but what's the sign of it?

Point number two this morning is this we're redeemed through his spirit.

Redeemed through his spirit.

I want you to turn over just a couple of pages to Ephesians chapter 1.

Ephesians 1 · chapter mention

Maybe just a page.

And I want you to look at Ephesians 1 verse 13.

Ephesians 1:13

Keeping in mind we are redeemed through his spirit.

It says, in him you also trusted after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation.

In him also having believed, listen to this, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of your inheritance until the redemption of purchased possession to the praise of his glory.

We're redeemed through the Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is like our birthmark.

Anyone here you have a birthmark, or maybe somebody here you have a scar that tells a story?

I was telling our Connect group the other week we shared some scars.

I have a scar at the bottom of my chin.

Because when I was about 10 years old and a genius, I was sitting with my chin rested on a BB gun.

And I was sitting there talking, and my finger was on the trigger, and I went.

And so now I have what looks like a skin BB if you get close enough to me.

And I was sharing, don't shoot yourself with a BB gun.

It's not a good move.

Okay?

I was running back and forth in the house.

My mom was going crazy, and finally I pulled it out.

But I have a mark that shows something that I've been through, that shows something of my life.

The Holy Spirit is our marker, it's our seal.

I want you to see back in Galatians 4, verse 6, it says, And because you are sons, anyone who's a son, anyone who's in this family, because you are a son, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your heart.

Galatians 4:6

This is the marker of the Christian.

Is there any Marines here?

I knew I had one.

Another one?

Good, good.

If I look at you, Marine, and I say, Semper Fi, that means something, doesn't it?

We got a picture I want you guys to see of Semper Fi.

For any Marine, if a Marine sees Semper Fi, or you see someone tattooed with Semper Fi, it means something immediately.

Am I right, Brother Harry?

It means something to that person.

And in the core, they have a few statements that go along with Semper Fi.

Is this always faithful?

Semper Fi means always faithful.

The few, the proud.

Once a Marine, always a Marine.

There are no ex Marines.

And so they're sealed in a sense by this motto Semper Fine.

I want you to know, church, today the Holy Spirit is our marker like that.

And it bears witness, we're going to talk about that.

Every member of the family of God has the Spirit.

And every person who does not have membership in the family of God does not have the Holy Spirit.

Once you're church, you're always church.

There is no ex-church because the seal verifies the family.

Letter A is this that we have witness through that Spirit.

I want you to turn over to Romans chapter 8 and hold your place in Galatians.

Romans 8 · chapter mention

We're going to read both of them.

But I want you to see Romans chapter 8, verse 14 through 16.

Romans 8:14–16

The Spirit bears witness, the witness through the Spirit.

Says this, for as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God.

For you did not receive the spirit of bondage.

Hear that.

Again to fear, but you received the spirit of adoption, by whom we cry out, Abba Father.

The Spirit Himself bears witness with our Spirit that we are the children of God.

Again, look at Galatians.

And because you are sons, God sent forth the Spirit of His sons in your heart.

It says that the Spirit bears witness.

This means it proves what is true.

The Spirit bears witness, means it proves what is true.

In a court of law, there are witnesses, and a witness is called to give a testimony of what is truth.

The Bible tells us in other places, don't bear false witness.

And we here are living in a world that is bound up and chained up because its father is the father of lies, and so it's no surprise for them there's no witness of the truth.

If a person has not entered into a real relationship with the truth, then there's no Holy Spirit.

And so have you ever been around someone, and within moments, you just were like, you felt this connection, and you're like, you listened to them, and in moments you felt like, that's a Christian.

Just by the way that they were saying things.

And I'm not talking about because they sounded like they weren't cussing, right?

Oh, they must be a Christian.

Like you were just listening to the way that the tones in their voice and the way that they sounded, and you said, hmm.

Something within you said, huh?

And then there's other people that you've been around and you said, hmm.

There's probably been some times, and I'm not trying to get judgmental, but you've been around somebody who said they were a Christian, and you went, huh, I don't know.

Because the Spirit bears witness of the truth.

It cannot be conjured, it cannot be faked.

You can't fake the Holy Spirit in you.

And so some of you will not be convicted by things because you don't have it.

But the people of God are convicted by things and they're moved by things, and they the witness of the truth is within them.

Isaiah said it this way: Many draw near me with their mouth and lips, but their hearts are far from me.

By word, oh, it sounds good.

Oh, I want to belong in that.

But if the heart is empty, unconverted, then the spirit's not in it.

2 Timothy 3.5 said it like this: having the appearance of godliness they have, but denying the power thereof.

You can fake being a Christian, but you can't fake having the Holy Spirit.

You can come in here, you can even throw your hands up and have a worship party.

And you can say words, you can you can preach and fake it, but you can't fake the Holy Spirit.

It's a reality.

Now I want to tell you, and I just want to jump to verse 17 and tell you why Paul was being so adamant because it says this, verse 17, they zealously court you, they date you, but for no good.

They want to exclude you that you may be zealous for them.

They were trying to fake through the law, through the rules, the way that they wanted people to live, and they were courting them and dating them and said, Follow us.

But there was no witness of the Spirit.

It was fake.

There's people today, I'm gonna tell you, you can get on television and you can watch a church fake.

There's people that seek to worship in grand spectacles, and they can get up and be a fake.

But let me tell you, if you got the Holy Spirit in you, and you're with a brother or sister, there's a marker.

Harry?

When you see a marine, you know it, don't you?

It's just there's just something there.

It's different.

It's a witness through the Spirit.

Well, it's not only the witness of the Spirit, but it's also the walk.

The walk is different.

The walk of the Christian is different.

I want you to see in Galatians chapter 5, there, verse 16 through 18.

Galatians 5 · chapter mention

The walk of the Christian looks different.

He said, I say then, walk in the spirit.

So this marker that we have, he says, walk in it.

Yes, there's still a flesh side, and there's still a tug of war all your life.

I'm sorry to give you that news.

It's always going to be battling, but the person that is committed to the spirit walks, and it says, And you shall not fulfill if you'll walk in the spirit the lust of the flesh.

For the flesh lusts against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh, and these are contrary to one another, so you do not do the things that you wish.

But if you are, listen to this, led by the spirit, you're not under the law.

He says, You'll walk differently.

A person with the Holy Spirit in them, committed to what God wants in their life, should walk and look and live differently.

First Corinthians 6 19 says this about the physical life.

What know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit?

Isn't that a sobering thought?

Your body is the temple of the Spirit of His Son, God's Son, verse 6.

God's Son within you imides in this heart.

Everyone that's called a Christian.

If we did a room check right now, for some of y'all's teenagers and some of y'all's kids, it would not go so well.

Are you with me?

Some of you know that in your kid's room right now, we would find some sandwiches.

Who knows how old?

Some under the bed.

There will be clothes that they didn't even know they lost.

If we did a room check right now, there will be things that would be discovered that would make you want to send your kid away to a camp.

Right?

Not talking about church camp.

I'm talking about a get right camp.

Like if we went there right now.

So when I think about this scripture, it says, know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit of living God.

What's your heart look like?

What's the spaces, the room in your heart look like right now that the Holy Spirit is abiding in?

Is it cluttered up?

Is your focus on all kinds of things?

Or is there freedom for the Holy Spirit of God to live and breathe and work and move among you?

What does it look like?

What are the sights and the smells?

Proverbs 53 says, the eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.

He dwells in the room of your heart.

The marker of freedom is within you.

So that affects how you walk.

James said this about our walk, the indicators of our faith.

So if you're looking to see what a Christian is, here's some indicators.

James says in James 2, 18 through 20.

He says, Show me your faith without works, and I will show you my faith by my works, by what I do.

He said, You believe that there is one God?

Good.

Even the demons believe that there is a God and they tremble.

He says, If I am a Christian, I will act and live and look like a Christian.

My walk will look like a Christian.

The mark of the Holy Spirit does not allow me to not look like a Christian.

Are you hearing me, church?

We look like the family of God.

I've been working with students for this is our 17th camp we're going to.

So good heavens.

I thought I was younger.

But we're going to 17th.

And over the years I have watched students come in through youth ministry, and every time, this is sort of the evolution of high school.

The freshman comes into high school, and they're sort of like this, walking through the halls, very unsure, afraid to make eye.

Oh, oh, I almost made eye contact with a senior.

And they sort of walk in there kind of lowly and they're finding their way.

And then they become a sophomore, and it's a little little more.

Now I can make eye contact.

Just a little bit.

Don't speak yet.

Eye contact, okay.

I looked at a senior today.

They're getting a little more confident.

Junior year almost arrived at the pinnacle.

And they come walking in junior year, just about there.

And now they're looking down at the putrid freshmen.

You're nothing.

I used to be you, but you're worse.

And then they get to senior year, and their backs almost break.

They are so IT it, right?

Their walk has so changed.

And I watch them, and I'm telling you, some of the most arrogant people in the world, seniors in high school.

I love them, but some of them are jerks.

I was.

Remember how you felt.

Y'all, remember how you felt when you see that freshman and you want to put them in a locker.

Remember.

You notice a Christian by their walk, by the way that they walk.

And it should continually change as a Christian.

And honestly, in that evolution, it should get the backwards way.

The more and more you become like Christ, the more and more humble you should be.

You have not arrived.

But Matthew 7, 20 and 21 says this, therefore, by their fruits, by their walk, you will know them.

He said, the sobering thought, not everyone one day in heaven, not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven.

There's a whole lot of people doing a whole lot of things, lacking the Spirit of God because they've never entered into the family of God.

And so they're doing good things, philanthropic things, moral things.

But he says, He who does the will of my Father, which is in heaven, enters in.

If you lack that relationship, all the good, all that you can heap up one day is not gonna matter.

It's not about your works.

Your works should be a byproduct.

It'll change how you walk, how you live.

Not everybody's gonna come in.

Ephesians 5.8 says, You were formerly children of darkness, now you are children of light.

Walk as children of light.

And I thought about this.

People who walk in the dark walk without purpose.

Have you ever woken up in the middle of the night and it's pitch black and you're trying to find your way, and you're like, you're looking for just some semblance, a charge or something with light in it, and you're like, what is happening?

And you're walking around listless without much purpose, trying to just get to the next point where you can find the light.

He says, You formerly were walking with no direction.

Without God, you are without any direction.

We're all walking in fear, in the dark, not knowing what's coming, with no destination known.

I call it the the earth's walk in darkness, is the triple P power, possessions, and pleasure.

And it's darkness all the way to them.

And once I get to them, it's still empty.

Well, I thought I found enough power, I've reached the pinnacle of my workplace.

I thought I got enough possessions where people would look at me and see that I have arrived.

I thought I've got enough pleasure, I've had enough vacations, I've had enough success, and now I've reached it.

For what?

You get to the top of that ladder, and there's another ladder.

The family of God walks with purpose, on purpose, with a direction.

Ephesians 5, 15 and 16 said that they walk circumspectly, redeeming the time.

That means they're ready for attack.

They're looking to help someone around.

They're walking circumspectly, looking what they can do, how they can help, how they can use their time, redeeming the time, knowing that Satan is evil, so they're looking for a way to make a difference.

A vacation Bible school all week long, cooking camp all week long.

If you look at our summer schedule, I'm proud to say we're looking for an opportunity to help people.

The body of God, the church of God, the family of God walks with a purpose.

I have a saying around my house, sometimes comes out because I don't like to wait till tomorrow.

So I've made my own Shakespearean quote.

I don't know if it's real or not, but I'll add it, act like it is.

Do not put off for tomorrow what can be done today.

I try to say it in my British accent.

Do not put off in a I don't.

I don't want to put off.

I'm trying to redeem the time.

The family of God walks on mission.

I was talking to the students this week, and uh for our we used to do missions trips and run a vacation Bible school at churches, and we had a list of requirements, and uh, as it seemed, every year we would go and we would have this great spiritual experience, the kids would serve, and then after a month or so, after some time, things would sort of kind of get back to things per usual.

And I hated that.

I wanted them to continue to experience this mission, and so God told me one year, listen, part of the requirements became you had to invite.

If you wanted to go on a missions trip, you had to be inviting all year long.

You couldn't just that week go and blitz.

You had to be living your life a certain way, you had to memorize scriptures.

We had a list of requirements, and what it was was I wanted them to get out of their mind that we're going on a missions trip.

If you are a part of the family of God, there are no missions trips.

There is a missions field that you were put on, and you were put here wherever your circle is, that is your mission.

It's not like Halloween and you put on a costume for the trip and you go for a week and you have this experience and then you come back to reality.

Reality is the mission.

Always on mission.

And I wanted them to understand that and feel that.

Our life is supposed to be a mission.

So let me give you four practical things about that.

CCW, let's live on mission.

Here's your targets.

One, if you want to walk in a way that the Holy Spirit has found in you, there's four, there's many things you can do, but these are four that God gave to me.

One, you need a target to invite every week.

One person you can invite to church with you every week.

One person that God will give you.

Have a target.

Because you're on mission.

You're not on a missions trip running to vacation Bible school.

You're living on your mission.

So stay on your mission.

One, invite somebody.

Two, look for an opportunity to share a testimony.

Share a testimony of what God is doing in your life to someone this week.

Share how God is good.

Share how he's awesome.

Share how he got you through something.

Share a testimony.

Three, and this might be harder for some schedules and all, but have a meal with someone that you can teach.

Someone in the body of Christ.

Have a meal.

Sit down with someone that you can teach to help to grow.

Living on mission.

Four, pray with someone.

Everybody can pray with someone.

There's always, and here's how you start that conversation.

Is there anything I can pray with you about?

And most of the time, somebody's gonna have something.

I've watched waitresses.

We sat and waited, and they they come up with stuff.

And before we've left that restaurant, thank you for praying for me.

Trying to live on mission, not go on a trip.

Stay on it.

Markers of the family of God walking on mission.

Staying on mission together.

The more that we're walking on mission, the more we build God's kingdom.

And so we walk this way.

The great philosopher Arosmith said it.

Walk this way.

What lies ahead, lastly, is this.

We talked about who we were, enslaved in sin, what we are now, because of the Holy Spirit.

But what lies ahead, a future for the family of God, riches as sons.

Look at verse 5.

He said, adopted as family, to redeem those who are under the law that we might receive the adoption as sons.

Verse 7, therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.

Verse 29 of chapter 3 said, And if you are Christ, then you are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promises.

We're adopted as family.

Church of God is family.

As long as I can remember, I've been a part of the local church.

And I've loved the churches.

I love being a part of the local church.

I went to Pleasantville Baptist Church and Fairwinds Baptist Church and Middletown Baptist Church and Highland Park Baptist Church.

And I went to Calvary Baptist Church and now I'm at the church at Chelsea Westover, and all of these churches I love.

I love thinking about them, their history.

I love my church.

I love the buildings, I love cathedrals, I love sanctuaries, I love gymnasiums, aldinasiums, I love churches.

Psalms 84 says, How lovely are thy tabernacles.

There are no people like church people.

And we together have been bonded unto the blood as family.

Why don't you go to Acts chapter 2?

Acts 2 · chapter mention

Bonded as family.

And this, I would say, is our connect group theme.

If you had not gotten into a connect group, some still have space.

I would love for you.

This is what we do.

Acts 2, 42.

We're going to read through 46.

It says, And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship in the breaking of bread.

Everybody said, Amen.

That's eating.

And in prayers.

And fear came upon every soul.

Listen to this, because of what they were doing, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles.

Now all who believed were together and had all this in common, and they sold their possessions and goods and divided them among all that had need.

Continuingly daily, daily.

They were coming to church in one accord and breaking bread from house to house.

They ate food with gladness and simpleness of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people.

And the Lord, listen to this, added to the church daily those who were being saved.

The early church understood that they needed to meet together as family.

They were constantly meeting together.

They were willing learners.

They were engaged in fellowship.

They ate together and they prayed together.

And the Holy Spirit, it says, came upon every person.

He began to do miracles.

They began to see need, so they sold their stuff.

Part of the Triple P, they sold their stuff and started to give away to whoever had need.

They were persistent and devoted.

They were constantly meeting together.

And so the practical word I have for you today on that is this church.

You need to show up.

When you're not here, it's harder.

They believed and trusted that God wanted them to come together.

Hebrews 10 24 says, Forsake not the assembling of yourselves together.

The previous verse says, for this reason that we stir one another up and stir each other's gifts.

Up.

As sons and heirs, we're family, and I'm so glad to be a part of the family of God.

Last thing is this you're awarded a future.

If you're heirs of God, if you're heirs of the Spirit of God, if you have an inheritance from God, we're awarded this future.

Let me tell you five things that being church family does for you.

Number one, it gives you a sense of community.

Sense of community.

At VBS, uh I received a text last week and it said this I can't remember a week at CCW that's ever been any better.

And I said this, lots of great ministry, and it just feels like family.

This might be our new tagline at CCW.

CCW, it just feels like family.

Because that's the way I feel.

And so the second thing, if you're family, that means, secondly, you have friendship and belongingness.

Every creature on earth seeks from the moment they're born belongingness.

And that's what the family of God does for a person.

Brings them belongingness.

Thirdly, we have service opportunities.

Opportunities to make a difference in somebody's life.

We were, Heather and I were riding, we went to Starbucks as is our daily pleasure.

Not daily, but a lot.

And so we're at Starbucks, and we know the lady at the window.

Know her well.

And she goes, Hey, you guys! Hey, Amanda.

And uh she says, What are you guys doing this week?

And together, almost in unison, we looked at her and said, V VS.

And I'm telling you, whatever her character was, whatever she had going on, she spun, her eyes lit up.

We're talking to a 30-plus-year-old person, and she said, Those were always my favorite week all year.

And it got me thinking, the opportunity we have to make a difference.

Here's a 30-plus-year-old somebody, and her eyes immediately lit up by three little letters, VBS.

Somebody somewhere had an impact on that child, and at 30, she said, I love vacation Bible school.

You have an opportunity here with the family of God in the local context to make a difference.

Number four is accountability and spiritual betterment.

The family looks out for you in good and bad.

Number five, and most important, in the church of God, you have access to the patriarch.

You can get to the Father in the Church of God.

The church family is God's design.

So if you don't like the design, if you don't like church, I'm gonna tell you something that's probably gonna disappoint you.

When you one day maybe get to heaven, I say maybe, you're gonna be sorely disappointed because the family of God is filled, worshiping and praising him for all of eternity.

But that's God's design.

That's why he says we're two or more gathered together.

It's not about the place when me and Benji, and if we get together, and me and you get together, we can have church because that's who we are.

We're the family of God.

I want to close.

I want you to look at a little passage in 1 Corinthians real quick.

1 Corinthians chapter 15.

1 Corinthians 15 · chapter mention

One day, the awarded future that we have as the family of God is this.

1 Corinthians 15, 50.

Now I say, brethren, that the flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.

Without the Spirit, people are doomed to hell.

Nor does corruption inherit corruption.

Behold, I tell you a mystery, we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed.

Look down at verse 56.

Says the sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law.

That's what we've been talking about, the law.

But thanks be to God who gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

One day the family of God will spend eternity, church.

All of eternity, resting in the presence of God in heaven.

And Jesus Christ canceled the law.

He came to cancel that debt that we couldn't pay.

All will be changed.

I'm going to close by telling you this conversation I had in a barber shop with an atheist.

We're going back and forth, and he was trying to convince me that God was heartless and God killed, and God was a murderer.

And we went back and forth in all this conversation.

And I listened, I was loving, I tried to engage him, I looked in his eyes.

I complimented him, I was doing everything that I thought to do to show this person that I really cared about their soul.

And as he finished up sort of his pitch saying he didn't want to waste his time, I said this.

Sir, if everything, and I mean everything that I'm saying is completely wrong, all of it, if every letter in that book is completely wrong, you know what I've lost?

I said, all I've lost, sir, is a lot of precious time with a bunch of crazy people just like me.

I've spent a lot of time in a lot of church services, and I've done a lot of serving trying to help people, and I've been telling people this message, and all I've lost that I can think of is a lot of good times.

I said, sir, if everything that you believe is completely wrong, you're losing everything right now that could be good and everything for all of eternity.

I said, I'm willing to lose on my side if I had to.

If I'm all wrong and all I have is lost, was time with people that I loved, and I'm okay with that.

I said, Are you okay with what you might lose?