Right, amen, amen. What a great reminder of who God is this morning.
Well, hi everyone and welcome to Radiant Church this morning. I know I am not the usual offering that you get in terms of who is up here and preaching the word. My name is Merlyn and I am blessed and honored to be on staff here at Radiant Church as part of our outreach team. And I am excited to share with you what God has put in my heart this morning.
And can I be real and honest with you? Like I may seem all cool, calm, and composed up here, but I'm like really nervous, okay? Like inside I'm like ahhh! Because I'm not used to being up here by myself. There's usually other people. So at this moment I just want to invite Pastor Marcus to come up. Pastor Collin, would you join me? I'm joking, I'm joking. But also kind of serious, but it's okay.
And if you are here for the first time, I just want to apologize and ask you to come back again for Pastor Marcus or Pastor Collin. You gotta come back, okay? They are great as well.
So as a church, we are in this series that's called "God Help My" and you can fill in the blank of what it is. And we started off with Pastor Collin sharing, "God, would you start by just helping me?" And last week Pastor Marcus shared really powerfully, "God help my pain." And when Pastor Marcus asked me and Collin to share, I was like, "Oh, I want an easy one, you know, like pain and purpose I understand." And he was like, "No, I need you to stretch yourself in a way."
And so today we're gonna share and we're gonna talk about "God help my family." And as I said this, there were either two ways that you heard that in your head. It would either have been, "God, would you help my family?" or you heard that as, "God help my family." And you know you had that little oomph in your brain as well.
So the beautiful thing about family is that it's a universal thing we all experience. We all have family. And I wanna just remind you that no family is perfect. And there will always be some little outliers or crazy people in every family. Now as you're sitting here, if you can't identify those people in your family, it just might be you.
But what we can see is we all have families and our dependence and our reliance on our families vary. Some people are best friends with their family members, and others kind of keep them at a distance and have to set boundaries. And both those are okay.
But however, in society today, the family unit is under attack. And we can see that roles and definitions and gender are being erased or redefined or being taken away. So what do we do as the body of believers? What is our response in light of this?
So the only place that we can go to get the real answer is let's go back to the beginning. Let's go back to how God or what He said about the role of the family. So I want you to turn with me all the way to the first book. If you got your physical Bible, just go all the way back to the front. Skip the table of contents. But let's sit in Genesis chapter 1.
And we can see that from the creation narrative, from the first chapter of the first book of the Bible, God was intentional in creating the family. It was God that created man. God created woman. And God put them together for a very specific purpose. And God said within this relationship between the man and the woman, there will come a byproduct of it or a fruit of it will come, and that is children.
So this is what God intended, and God is the one that defined what it means to be a family. So if we look at Genesis 1:26 through 28, it says, "Then God said, 'Let us make humans in our image to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.' Yes, the rats and rodents are also created by God."
In the next part it says, "So God created human beings in His own image. In the image of God He created them. Male and female He created them. Then God blessed them and said, 'Be fruitful and multiply.'"
You and I, as human beings, get to have the privilege to be created in the image of God. Men and women, our gender doesn't matter. God created us to reflect His identity and His glory. How amazing is that when we think about it? How special and called are we that we get to represent the image of God?
When I look at you, I see God reflected back to me. And we can see here that many times in society we're trying to find what is the root of our identity. Where do I come from? What do I do? Who am I? And if that's you here this morning, can I remind you that finding yourself in that process, would you start by finding the God who created you in His image? Would you start by seeking out your purpose that was put in you?
And scripture tells us that even before you were born, "Your eyes saw my unformed substance. In your book were written every one of them, the days that were meant for me before they ever came to be." God saw you. God created you. You are not a mistake. You are not accidental.
And when I look in this room and I see all of us here together, I can see that so much diversity and beauty in the creation of God. And we are all united together because we are fashioned and made after the nature of our amazing God.
And like I said before, the culture is trying to change our identity and gender roles, but as believers, we have to know the truth. Scripture tells us God created them two options: male and female. There is no room for confusion. We must, as a people of God, go back to what He says and stand and represent the truth that we see in this eternal word of God.
Society can't define that for us, but this eternal word spoken by God Himself is what defines. Now for those of you that were born in Christian homes, you know your parents, you're a church kid, there might be a danger that you face in your walk with God. And you got faithful parents who love the Lord and maybe a really praying grandma or like Pastor Marcus' mom, someone like that in your life.
And the danger that we can face if we've grown up in an environment like that is that we forget that when God created each one of us, He wants an individual relationship with each person. So for the children and the young adults and even the older adults here, your mother and father's faith will not get you into heaven. You have to have it on an individual level.
To have a praying mom, to have a mom who serves the Lord, or having a prayerful father does not guarantee your own entrance into the kingdom of God. But what God wants is for you to seek Him for yourself. And that's why you have to, on your own, accept the Lord into your heart as your Lord and Savior.
And if you've never done that before, there is no greater time and day like today. Today could be the day of salvation for you. So we can see here that God is the one who instituted the family. God is the one that created us to reflect His own image.
So let's take a deeper look at what does God want to do through our families. So let's turn with me to Ephesians 3 and we're going to look from verses 14 through 19. And it reads like this: "For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of His glory, He may grant you to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled to the fullness of God."
In this section, in this portion, in this passage, it says that Paul is praying that to God from which every family gets its name. God is the author and creator of every single family. And verse 15 reminds us of that, that God has, because He is the creator, He has a plan and a purpose for every single family.
And when we look at the root of this word family in the original text, it means coming from one father. It means emanating and flowing from one origin. So we can see that though we are here as individual families, God has a plan and purpose for all of us together as the family and children of God as well.
But how would it change your perspective knowing that if God is the one that places us in our individual families, so when that annoying cousin comes and just wants to like bug you, the next time just think like it was God's plan that that person was in your life. God put them there for a plan and a purpose.
So nothing with God is a coincidence; nothing is a mistake because we know that God that we love and serve is all-knowing. So God is intentional; He's not accidental. He doesn't make mistakes when He designs and forms families together.
So because we know and we trust that God is the one who created the families, He is intentional with who He puts into the family unit, we want to look at now what are the foundations, what are the kind of building blocks of a Christian family.
So the first thing, and to my fellow note takers, I made sure all of them started with L so it will be easy for you to remember, and you're welcome. So the first thing that we can see here is that a Christian home, a Christian family, must be one that has love as its anchor.
Now in the world, in everywhere around us, it's like, "Oh my gosh, I love you," and kids these days started doing the hearts like differently. Like in my generation, we're making a heart, you do it like this, and now they use all different sorts of fingers and stuff; they're just making it more confusing for themselves.
But love sometimes can seem so just common; it can seem so changing when we look at it in terms of human love and human relationships. But the love that we're talking about here that’s going to anchor a Christian home is a love that comes from God. Because 1 John 4:16 says that God is love. Whoever lives in God loves, and God lives in them.
So often we can see examples of love around us, and many times our foundation or our examples of love can come from how our parents loved us or how different family dynamics, but all of those are imperfect and should not be the basis of what you see as love. The most pure and perfect example of love is God Himself.
So the more you get to know God and you get to know and understand this love that flows from God Himself, that is a love that must be the anchor and the root for your family. Ephesians 3:17, we read it before, but it says that this love, you are rooted in this love. That means when the storms of life come, that when trials and temptation come, that when problems and tensions arise in the family, you are connected to something deeper and greater than you.
And that is what holds the Christian home together. And so when we think about the love of God, what sort of characteristics come to mind? And it's not like we can base it on the love that we see around us. But when I think about the love of God, I think that it is steadfast. That it is enduring. That it is everlasting. That it doesn't hold my wrongs against me. That it is patient.
And like it says in 1 Corinthians 13, that love is patient. Love is kind. It does not envy. It does not boast. It is not proud. It is not rude. It is not self-seeking. It is not easily angered. It keeps no record of wrongs. Some of you need to hear that this morning. Because you are like, "Oh, remember that time when I was in the fifth grade and you did that." Like love keeps no record of wrongs.
Love takes no pleasure in evil but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things. It believes all things. It hopes all things. It endures all things. So no matter what your definition of love was before, this is a type of love that will anchor and keep a Christian family together. It is a supernatural expression of love. And it doesn't come from us; it can only come from God itself.
And now I imagine how many broken relationships, how many fractured friendships, or even family connections can be restored if we use this godly definition of love. I imagine how many people can be restored if we lived out this divine expression of what truly love means.
And I know like some of you are sitting there and you're like, "Merlyn, you have no idea what you're asking me to do." Believe me, I get it. As I was preparing this message, God was speaking in my own heart and I was like, "Oh God, that is hard to do. That is really hard to do." And God knows and understands that.
And I just began to speak to God and I told Him, "God, this is my prayer. I know that you are the source of all love. And my hope is and desire with my life is to express this love to the world and to the people around me. So would you help me start with the individuals you intentionally put in my life? I don't want at the end of my life to have gone and shared the love of Jesus with everyone around me and forgot the people in my own home. I need God to start and anchor that love with the family that He has given me."
And since we know that God is the source of all love, if you're like me and you're like, "You know, I'm deficient, I'm low in certain areas," we have an amazing chance to go and be replenished from the source of love Himself, who is God.
So this morning, can I ask you to ask God what are the areas in your own life where you feel like your love is a little low or may need to be strengthened? Does your love need to be more patient? Does your love need to be more kind? Does your love need to be more forgiving of others around you?
I love how Ephesians 3:19 tells us, "And we know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with the fullness of God." You and I are most like God and most like Christ when we love. And the byproduct of that love means that we are filled with more of God Himself.
And I don't know about you, but I would love to have more of God in my own life. And that means that God has to stretch my definition of love. And God has to fill me with more of His divine love in my heart so that I can get and get more of Him.
So a Christian home, a Christian family, must have and be anchored in love. We don't weather the storms of life; we can't without this. And we can see that this is a love that binds us together as one unit, as one collaborative place where God can fulfill His plan and purpose in and through us.
So we can also see here for the second building block of a godly family is that we live lives in service to one another. A Christian home must be defined by service, honor, and respect. And we know that there is no greater or better example of how to serve than our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
I mean, we can see in Mark 10:45, He says, "For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many." A fundamental and key part of Jesus' character was that He came to serve. And He, being God Himself, did not serve from a very lofty place, did not come serve from a place of pride, but scripture tells us He humbled Himself.
Imagine for me, imagine with me for a second that the God of the universe came and washed the dirty feet of His disciples. He came and He spoke to and He healed the outcasts of society. Those are the people that He went after. God came and met the physical needs and filled the hunger of those that didn't have. This is our example of what it means to serve.
And what a great example for us to follow in our own relationships as well. Hebrews reminds us that, "Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God."
So how do we do it? How do we do good? How do we share what we have? How do we sacrifice? How do we please the Lord? It can just begin with very, very simple steps. It could just be like close the cabinet door after you're done. It could simply be by washing and doing the dishes for a tired family member. It could simply be by making the bed or putting the clothes in the hamper, not on the side of the hamper, but inside the hamper.
Some of you, I can see some looks going on back and forth, it's okay. Imagine how good it feels when something that you were just tired and you didn't want to do it, but someone even without you asking just did it. How much joy does that come? How much joy and maybe even some tears come because they did something like that. They served you in that way.
That should be the definition of what it means to serve in a Christian family, in a godly centered home. That we live our lives in service to each other.
So every morning I want to challenge you with this, that when we wake up, we're going to ask ourselves this: God, how can I make life easier for someone today? Is there a burden that someone else is carrying that I have within my power to alleviate? Is there some way that I can make someone feel loved, appreciated, honored, and seen?
It doesn't have to be in the big things. In the small, God can work and it could be a marker of how we can serve. And can I encourage you that when our hearts are tuned into the heart of God in this way, that our eyes are open to see these different opportunities in how to serve, God begins to expand our eyes to see that there are other ways that we can become more like God.
That God begins to use our availability to transform our character and to make us more and more and more like Him. And oftentimes, changes in this perspective is contagious. When God begins to work in one, then it will naturally flow to the other like a domino effect.
And you will see that the nature of your family itself will change when you submit in service to one another. And oftentimes we make the mistake of we're like, "God, would you just change that person? They need a fix X, Y, and Z in them," and we're so good at seeing the faults and the flaws in another person.
But what if, what if God is looking at you? Have you ever asked God, "God, can you start with me? Can you begin with me?" Instead of going and asking God to change and transform someone else. God, would you begin this work of refinement and transformation in my heart?
And once that happens, you will be amazed to see how God can use that to change not only you but your family, but that impact will last for generations. But it takes one heart that's willing to be used and transformed by God.
We can also see here that the third building block of a godly family is that they are led by unity. Psalms 68:6 tells us that God sets the lonely in families. And so God is the one that places each person in the distinct place and the distinct family that each of us have.
And we can see that God has a divine plan and purpose for each person within the family. You may be the funny one. You may be the one that's good at organizing. Each of us are not created the same. God has a distinct purpose for each of us.
But when we come together, it's like, you know the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers from the 90s, like by our powers combined. That was Captain Planet. Sorry, wrong one. It's like by our powers combined, they could become like something greater than the individual.
And that is what God wants to accomplish in each family through the power of unity. So as all of you know, it is the season of the Olympics. And I, for one, love this time. And so just yesterday I was watching the 400, no, 100 meter IM mixed relay.
And I love how that's just part of our vernacular in this time. Like, yeah, you know it's a 400 meter mixed relay, whatever. But like in a few months, like no one will even know what that is. But what this race was, it was a swimming race. And it had four members of a team. It was a relay race. And each person, it was men and women, both of them together on the team.
And each person had to swim a distinctive stroke. So one person had to do the freestyle. One person had to do the backstroke. One person had to do the breaststroke. One person had to do the other stroke. I don't remember which one it is. The butterfly.
So we had four people that were specialists in what they did. But when they came together at this race, they were united with one mission, one goal. And so when people, they can swim their own races as individuals and it was just them against their competitors.
But when they came together as a group, there was a dynamic that was there. And you saw as one person jumped in the water, the other people were on the sidelines were like, "Yes, come on, let's go, let's go." When they came back, they were like cheering each other on. And they were spurring each other to go further, to go faster.
And when one was going a little bit slower, the other one made up for it. That is the unity that we want to see in a Christian home. And spoiler alert, the US won that, so another goal for us. Let's go USA.
So often we forget that within a godly home, a Christian home, that God has created us to be teammates and not competitors. We are not meant to be a stumbling block or an obstacle to the other people within our family.
But we are meant, just like that group did in the relay, to spur each other on, to encourage each other. They did as well as they did because they knew we have the same goal. We got to go fast. We got to press on because we want to win the best. We want to win the gold.
And that's the same thing that God wants to see in and through us as a family. Push each other on. Keep each other accountable. Spur each other to good works. Be the biggest cheerleader to the people within your own family. Encourage them in the Lord.
But be united in your purpose and your vision and your mission. And we can see here in Psalms 133, I love the descriptiveness of this, of how it describes godly unity. And it says, "How wonderful and pleasant it is to be when brothers dwell together in unity. For harmony is as precious as the anointing oil that was poured over Aaron's beard, that ran down his beard and onto the border of his robe. That was his priestly anointing. Harmony is as refreshing as the dew from Mount Hermon that falls on the mountains of Zion. A beautiful, eternal mountain. And there the Lord has pronounced His blessing, even life everlasting."
How many of our petty squabbles and little infighting would forever be squashed if we embraced the unity described here? When we know that for God, He is so pleased, He is happy when His children are living together in unity as one.
And even more importantly, God explains here that there is a blessing that comes when we dwell in unity. We want our lives and our families to be blessed, but how much are you willing to sacrifice of your own pride, of your own desires to embrace this godly unity?
If God is intentional in creating the families, we must be intentional in making sure that we are embracing this harmony that God is looking for. So I want to question you this morning: Are there any things in your life that are blocking this level of godly unity from coming and working and moving in your life and in that of your family?
Is there anything that you need to let go of? Is there a work of refinement that the Holy Spirit has to do within your own heart so that your family can be unified, so you will receive the blessing from God that comes from being united and harmonious to one another?
And knowing that you all are on the same team with the same purpose. In Deuteronomy, it says that one can put to flight one thousand. And the natural response is when two get together, the double of one thousand is two thousand. But godly math doesn't work like that.
So God says that if one can put to flight one thousand, then two can put to flight ten thousand. There is an exponential growth and blessing that comes when families come together, when people come together and they are united.
Those things, those problems, those obstacles that stood in your way before, when you come united together in prayer, in seeking the Lord intentionally, you can put to flight not two thousand but ten thousand because of the God that works and lives and wants to have a relationship with each and every one of you.
So would you allow this godly math of unity to come and work in your own life today? And we can see here that God is not accidental. And as I look here and I see all the beautiful families that are sitting here, did you ever think and ask God, "God, what is your purpose not only with my life but with us? Not only what you can do through me, God, but what you can do through my family?"
Because there is a power that comes when we are united. There is a godly blessing that comes. And I love how in scripture the man named Joshua, he created a mission statement for his family and he declared that as for me and my house, I know what we will do, our mission, our goal, our aim in life is to serve the Lord.
And I feel like God wants to speak to the families that are here today. Come together and ask God, not as an individual, but God, with the people that you have put around me, how do you want to use us? How can we be useful to your kingdom? How can we be useful to the people around us to show the hope, to be an example of the light and truth and love and all that you are? How can you use us, God? Not me, but us.
And I really encourage you, I feel like God wants to speak His purpose to families that are here. Go and ask the Lord this week, "God, what do you have for us?" And maybe God will speak to you the same thing He spoke to Joshua that said, "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."
So it gets us out of our me-centered view but gets us in God and us together. And we can see that Joshua lived this out and he received this blessing and his family did in fact serve the Lord.
And you know Ephesians 3 verses 18 tells us that God gives every family a name. So what is a name that God has given your family? What is a reputation that God wants your family to have?
Now some of you, when I say that, it's like, "Oh Merlyn, you don't know my family. We're seen as the messed up ones, we're seen as the broken ones, we're seen as those that are just kind of abandoned, good for nothing." Can I encourage you that God has a history of changing names and changing destinies?
So God is the one that changed an Abram to an Abraham. God is the one that changed a Sarah to a Sarah. God is the one that changed a Jacob to an Israel. God is the one that changed a Saul to a Paul. The name that your family has been living with does not have to be the name that it will have going forward.
Because in this moment, all it takes is one person and one individual. Surrender to God. Open to the power of God to come into your heart and your life to bring an everlasting change to your destiny. All it takes is one. And God can use each and every one of you.
So don't be ashamed with the past that your family has. Don't let that name define you. Because there is a God who we serve that can change every name. That can change every reputation. That can change every destiny into the purpose that He has for each and every family. Amen.
And we can see here the last hallmark or building block of a Christian home is that it leaves a legacy. This week I unexpectedly came upon a video from 1999 and it was of my grandfather sharing his testimony at his conference. And a few years after that, my grandfather passed away.
And I was so surprised because he comes from a very simple village in South India in our state of Kerala. He didn't accumulate any wealth. He didn't have anything great to leave his children. But the thing that he was the most proud of, even to the point of tears, was that his children and his grandchildren knew the Lord and were serving the Lord. That is a godly legacy.
Whatever else you accumulate in this world, whether it's money, whether it's houses, whether it's a good name, it will fade. And as generations pass, it will get lessened. It will decrease. I can guarantee you that.
But the legacy you leave of faith will endure. I can see that the children of Israel were so intentional in what they did because they said that we will not hide it from our children. We will tell the generation to come the praises of the Lord. We will tell him His strength and the wonderful things that He has done.
As it says in Psalm 78 verse 4, that is the legacy you and I should strive for. To let the next generation know who this God is. And one generation will tell the next of the goodness of God, of the faithfulness of God if we are intentional in teaching them and showing it through our own life and example.
That's why I love the song "The Blessing" because it tells us, "May His favor be upon you and a thousand generations of children." That's the legacy of faith that a godly home leaves behind. It's not in the things that you accumulate. It's not in your 401k or anything like that.
But the legacy a Christian and godly family leaves behind is a legacy of faith. So often in my life, when I think about moments where I question God and I'm like, "God, will you come through for me?" I can remember my ancestors and I can remember that the same God that showed up for them will show up for me.
I can be confident in the fact that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. I can be confident in the fact that the character of God does not change from one generation to the next. Because I have been given this legacy of faith.
And you, my dear brother and sister, you are the one that starts the legacy of faith in your family if you trust Him and look to Him today. So can I encourage all of you to think about what is the legacy you are leaving to the next generation? What are your children growing up and seeing in you?
One of the things I remember the most from when I was a child was my parents used to pray together every night after me and my sister went to sleep. Sometimes if I wasn't like, if I was restless in my sleep, I would wake up and I would hear the two of them praying and crying out to the Lord together.
And what a great blessing that was. And I hold on to that, that I can cry out to that same God even today. It is great to have priorities; it is great to make sure that your children get a great education, that are active in sports, that are doing things that naturally they are inclined to.
But are you giving priority to God? They will only respect what you respect. They will follow the example that you set. So if that means that you make coming and congregating with believers a priority, it will be a priority to them.
But if you make anything else the first thing in their life, you can be confident that they will also follow the path that you have taken. So really think about this: What is the legacy you want to leave behind?
And I know that even 10 generations from now, they will look on you and say, "Wow, she lived a life of faith; she followed God with everything," and that will endure forever.
Now I know some of you, all of these things have been kind of hard for you to hear because you're like, "I don't come from the perfect family. My family may have been toxic; it may have been abusive; it may have been broken." And I understand that, I completely do.
Ephesians 3 verse 20 tells us that we serve a God who is able to do exceedingly more than we can ask or imagine according to His power that works in us. No person is beyond the redemption of God. No family is beyond healing if the power of God is at work in us.
And some of you may be here today and you are like, "You are in the storm of a broken family, of a broken relationship." This still rings true for you today. Would you begin to cry out to God? Would you begin to seek His face? Just like a fire will start with a single spark, the transformation within your family can begin with your surrender and sacrifice to God.
All it takes is one heart, and God can change your family name. God can change your family name. God can change your family destiny. God can change your family dynamic. But would you be willing to be used by God and surrendered to Him?
And I know some of you here, you're like, "Well, you know what? That sounds all well and good, but I've been praying for a family and it just has not happened." So like, what is going on, God? Believe me, I'm with you there too.
But I recently, I was speaking to a fellow missionary that I met in Egypt, and she encouraged me in this, and she encourages you as well because she reminded me of this: that God has a pattern that He follows, right? Like the days, the seasons are all cyclical. There are just God uses the same things over and over again.
The sun will come up in the morning and it will set at night, and the moon will come back in the evening. So if we know this about God, that His patterns don't change, then we can trust His character. If God says that He will put the lonely in families, He can do it for you.
Because the promises of God are not null and void for just certain individuals. He's like, "Okay, everybody on this side, yup, that's true; we're gonna void that for everybody on the right." That's not how God works. He is consistent. He is constant.
And every promise that He has spoken is for every one of His sons and daughters. So if we believe that, unless God has explicitly told you, "You know, I want you to remain single for the rest of your life," unless God has told you that, otherwise we can believe in the God who will do what He has promised.
And so what we can do in that, we can be confident that God is at work. We can be confident that God has a future for us, that God wants to put us in families, and we can be confident that God will be constant. But He just might be a little creative in His timing and the methods that He uses.
He likes to keep His sons and His daughters on their toes. So the thing that worked for somebody else might not work for you, but you know what? Be confident that God is gonna be creative when He writes your story.
And the beautiful thing about that is it will be yours; it won't be like anybody else's. So don't feel like I'm just waiting and I'm suffering and I'm languishing away. God knows that God's heart for you is, "I want to put you into a family."
Would you trust me in this waiting? Would you be confident in my heart knowing that I want the best for you? Would you allow Him to be creative with your story? And as He's writing your story, remain faithful, remain fruitful, get closer to God because that's what He longs to do in your life.
And lastly, I want to end with this invitation. If any of you here have not joined this amazing family that we are all part of, and that is a family of God, I want to invite you now. If you've never been accepted Jesus Christ into your heart as your Lord and your Savior, I want to offer you this invitation now.
You don't earn your way into this family; you don't buy your way into this family. But it is a free gift from God that brings you into His family as His son and His daughter. All you have to do to gain entry, to be adopted as His stepchild or as an orphan, you are adopted as a full son and daughter of God.
All you have to do is declare with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, believe in your heart that He raised Him from the dead, and you will be saved. For if with your heart you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and you are saved.
Your family is imperfect. Can I invite you into a heavenly family where God is our Father and He is a perfect Father? And we are given entry into a body of believers that we are brothers and sisters, that we are anchored by love, that we are led by acts of service to one another, that we are led by unity, and we get to share an eternal legacy of faith.
If that's you this morning, can I ask that you pray this prayer with me?
Dear God, I invite you into my heart as my Lord and my Savior. Jesus, forgive my sins, make me new. I want to be your child, Lord. I want to follow you. Come into my heart and cleanse me.
Thank you, God, that if I confess with my mouth and believe in my heart, I will be saved. That today begins a new life for me through you. In your name I pray, amen.
And for the hearts that are here this morning, you might be in the midst of a family struggle. You might have walked in here and one or more of you might be thinking, "You know, maybe it's time just to separate." God still can work. God still has His plan and purpose in each family.
You might be thinking, "Well, my family is so far from ideal." He can do immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine. So can I ask you just to rise to your feet and just take a few minutes and ask the Lord, "What are the areas in my heart, God, that you need to change? What are some things, God, that may be stopping me, Lord? Has my love gone low? Am I living in service to those around me? God, is there anything in my heart and mind that is stopping me from living in perfect harmony? Show me, God, how to live a life of godly legacy that the next generation may know and see you through me."
God, we just need you.
Father God, I thank you for this morning. I thank you, God, for every family that is here because we know that you have created them. You brought them together; it was not an accident but Lord, an act from you.
So Father, we submit every family here into your hands. We pray, God, for the hearts that are grieved that come from broken families, that may be, God, in the midst of conflict, that may be, God, struggling with past hurt and pain.
Lord, for families that were abusive or toxic, we know that was not what you intended, God. But Lord, would you redeem? Father, would you send your Holy Spirit and change hearts, transform lives, Lord, like only you can?
Father, I pray a special blessing over every family here at Radiant Church. May they be an example of what it means to be a godly family, Lord, to their neighbors, to their friends, God, to their extended families, to their co-workers.
May they see something different in every family here. May they see the love that comes from you, God. May they see a heart to serve one another. May they see such unity that flows from your throne itself. May they see, God, that they strive for something greater and eternal.
Help us, God, to be these examples of this to the world around us. And Lord, we thank you that you can do immeasurably more than we can ask or think and that you are a God who changes names.
So we pray, God, that cycles of hurt and abuse and brokenness and isolation and neglect would be broken in Jesus' name. May your people awaken. May your people awaken and be the one that makes a difference, not because of anything they've done but because of the God they serve.
So I thank you, Abba. And Lord, I pray that you would continue to speak to families here what your plan and purpose is. What is their vision? What is their mission? What do you want to accomplish through them as a unit?
We pray, God, for the hearts that would like to be placed in families. Help them, Lord, not to grow weary but to trust that you are moving and that you are working and that your promises never fail.
So we thank you, God, for this morning. Thank you, God, for this word. In your name we pray, amen, amen.
And before I let you go, I just want to pray over you the blessing from Numbers that the Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. That the Lord will turn His face towards you and give you peace. Amen.
Have an amazing week, Radiant Church. Take this time in this moment; don't let it pass. If you are here with your family, embrace them. Pray even in this time like we'll break down around you, but really just pray together.
I feel like some of you haven't even really seen each other. Look at your family and be like, "Oh, that's what you look like." But don't rush out, but use this time that God has given you in this space.
And as always, our spiritual care team will be here in the front to pray with any of you that have need. But God bless you and have an amazing week. Amen.
on Aug 05, 2024
