This Is Family | Pastor Brandon Barber | Hope City

Paul’s words in Galatians 6 call God’s people to stay planted in the household of faith. The text says that a harvest comes from what gets planted, and a harvest of blessing comes “if you do not give up.” The family of faith is not just a place to attend on Sunday. The family of faith is where people do good to one another, carry life together, and find the help they need in every season.

God’s house becomes even more important when home family has been painful, broken, or complicated. The local church becomes the family many people have been looking for their whole life. The house of God has room for the person who feels far from God, mad at church, stuck on stupid, or ashamed of what happened last week. God’s grace does not look at anybody and say, “I didn’t see that coming.” God calls people to run toward the church, not away from it, because His family loves people right where they are and helps them get where they are going.

The busyness of life constantly tries to disconnect people from what matters most. Sports, school, work, events, and packed calendars can become priorities, while eternity gets pushed aside. The household of faith remains God’s plan, and God’s plan does not fail. The church is not losing, no matter what social media, fear, or the enemy’s illusion may say. God is moving in His house, and a generation is rising up to follow Jesus.

Jesus’ fig tree in Mark 11 exposes the danger of looking healthy while dying underneath. The leaves gave an appearance of fruit, but Jesus found no figs. The fruitless tree pictures a life that says, “Too blessed to be stressed,” while pain, shame, anxiety, addiction, anger, and hidden battles are still winning underground. The family of faith provides fruit inspectors, not people looking to call out shame, but people willing to ask, “What’s going on?” and bring life.

Fig trees thrive in an orchard, where roots feed one another. The underground battle is not meant to be fought alone. Strongholds grow when people buy into lies stronger than joy, faith, and hope, but God demolishes strongholds. Jesus brings fresh hope, freedom, and a new heart. The family of faith gives that hope a place to grow, but everything begins with saying yes to Jesus.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Stay planted for the harvest [06:21] Galatians 6 connects harvest with planting and perseverance. The blessing may not show up on the first hard week, but God does not waste faithfulness that remains rooted in His house. The family of faith becomes a place where people keep doing good when life gives them every reason to quit. [06:21]
• 2. God knows your name and address [21:36] God knows every person by name, before performance, failure, or reputation enters the picture. The address matters because belonging requires more than floating from place to place. The household of faith becomes a spiritual home where people are known, found, and planted. [21:36]
• 3. Fruitlessness cannot hide behind leaves [29:59] The fig tree looked alive from a distance, but it had no fruit when Jesus came near. Hidden pain can sit beneath a polished church appearance for a long time. Freedom begins when people stop protecting appearances and let God bring truth into the underground places. [29:59]
• 4. Underground battles need family [35:13] Fig trees survive in clusters, and believers grow stronger through the life of other believers. Isolation gives hidden battles room to become strongholds. God often brings His answer through a group, a friend, a prayer, and a family that refuses to let somebody fight alone. [35:13]
• 5. Jesus brings fresh hope and freedom [38:20] Strongholds may feel stronger than faith, joy, or hope, but God is stronger still. Jesus does not merely improve a broken life on the outside. Jesus gives a new heart, demolishes lies, and brings people into the family of heaven.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [05:00] - The Importance of God’s House
• [05:44] - Galatians 6 and the Family of Faith
• [07:03] - This Is Family
• [09:57] - Why God’s House Matters
• [11:31] - Coming Back Through Church Family
• [14:08] - Busyness Can Disconnect People
• [15:49] - God’s Plan Does Not Fail
• [18:33] - Believe You Are Meant to Be Here
• [21:36] - Know Your Name and Address
• [24:56] - Become What God Has For You
• [26:05] - Jesus and the Fig Tree
• [29:36] - Leaves Without Fruit
• [31:16] - Fig Trees Thrive in an Orchard
• [35:41] - Winning the Underground Battle
• [38:20] - Fresh Hope Starts With Jesus

Bible Reading

Galatians 6:6-10

Verse 6: “Let the one who is taught the word share all good things with the one who teaches.” [05:39]

Verse 7: “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.” [05:50]

Verse 8: “For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.” [06:01]

Verse 9: “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” [06:21]

Verse 10: “So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.” [07:00]

Mark 11:12-14, 20-21

Verse 12: “On the following day, when they came from Bethany, he was hungry.” [26:18]

Verse 13: “And seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see if he could find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs.” [26:24]

Verse 14: “And he said to it, ‘May no one ever eat fruit from you again.’ And his disciples heard it.” [26:29]

Verse 20: “As they passed by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots.” [26:58]

Verse 21: “And Peter remembered and said to him, ‘Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.’” [27:12]

Ephesians 2:19-20

Verse 19: “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,” [20:27]

Verse 20: “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone,” [20:35]

2 Corinthians 10:4-5

Verse 4: “For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.” [36:28]

Verse 5: “We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,” [36:43]

Observation questions

1. In Galatians 6:7-10, what is the connection between sowing, reaping, not giving up, and doing good to the household of faith? [06:21]
2. What different outcomes does Paul describe for a person who sows to the flesh versus one who sows to the Spirit?
3. In Mark 11, what did the fig tree have when Jesus first saw it, what did it lack when He came near, and what happened by the next morning? [29:59]
4. According to Ephesians 2:19-20, what words describe believers’ new identity and their place in God’s house?

Interpretation questions

1. Paul promises a harvest “in due season” if believers do not give up. What kinds of good actions toward other believers may feel tiring before the harvest becomes visible? [23:13]
2. Ephesians says believers are no longer strangers but members of God’s household. How does this truth speak to a person who feels ashamed, disconnected, or unsure whether there is a place for them in the church? [19:36]
3. The fig tree had leaves but no fruit. What might “leaves without fruit” look like in a believer’s life when someone appears fine on the outside but is struggling underneath? [34:10]
4. A stronghold can begin when someone believes a lie that becomes stronger than their joy, faith, or hope. What kinds of lies can keep a believer isolated instead of bringing their struggle into the light? [36:06]

Application questions

1. Where have you been tempted to give up on doing good—at home, in a relationship, in serving, or in your walk with God? What might it look like to stay planted and trust God for His harvest? [06:21]
2. What pressures in your weekly schedule compete with being connected to the household of faith? Is there one practical change that could make room for worship, community, serving, or a group? [14:38]
3. God knows your name, and belonging also means having a spiritual “address”—a place where you are known and planted. Do you have people in the family of faith who know what is really going on in your life? If not, what is one safe next step you could take? [21:43]
4. Is there an area where you have been keeping up appearances with “leaves” while lacking peace, joy, obedience, or freedom underneath? What would honest conversation with God and a trusted believer look like this week? [30:36]
5. Who has been a life-giving “fruit inspector” for you—someone who cared enough to ask, “What’s going on?” How can you receive that kind of care without hearing it as shame or condemnation? [30:44]
6. What underground battle—such as anxiety, anger, addiction, shame, pain from the past, or fear—needs to be brought out of isolation? Who could you ask to pray with you and walk with you? [35:29]
7. Jesus is the foundation of God’s household and the source of fresh hope. What do you need to bring to Him today so that His freedom can become more real in your life? [38:52]