Family

How do we associate the greatest gift ever given to man with a good time to get together with our family?




I thought Thanksgiving was a good time to look at the family and see why they are so important. Our family, the one we most refer to, is our Earthly family. We live with them, we play with them, we even get angry at them from time to time. However, with the grace that God has given us we can even love them at all times even when we are angry.



What happens if we no longer have a family to go to, or if our family is so far away that we are not able to spend the holiday’s with them. With the age of technology we can converse through Face Book or even a free subscription of Skype if needed. It’s still not the same when you can’t hug your mom or sister, and that is why the right church is so important to each one of us.



Paul in his letter to the Ephesians tells us some of the struggles he was going through. To those of you who are not familiar with Paul, he has decided to follow Christ, far from the life he had know before. In order for him to do this he had to leave everyone he knew before behind him . . . Friends and Family. Here is what he says in the 3rd chapter of Ephesians:





8Although I am less than the least of all God's people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, 9and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things. 10His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, 11according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. 12In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence. 13I ask you, therefore, not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory.



A Prayer for the Ephesians



14For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15from whom his whole family[a] in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

20Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.



His new family were now going to be the Christian’s. A group of people who were all following the same person (God and his son Jesus).



We may all worship in different ways, we each have a different style that is more comfortable for us. Some of us prefer to have a minister or pastor stand high above us in an extremely formal type of service. Some of us prefer to worship using traditions and symbols to help us remember all that God, Jesus, and the Saints have done for us. Some of us prefer to have a minister or pastor lead us in scriptures that we take home and study further with friends and study groups. And some of us prefer to worship through song and dance.



I know that I have my own personal preference, however I do believe that as long as you worship God the way he has intended, with a group you can call your family you need to do that as well.



I don’t care if you are Catholic, Baptist, Protestant, Methodist, Non-denominational, etc., God will always love you and so will I. You need to find a home that is comfortable and you can call home.



I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and I wish each of you a very Merry Christmas.