Family 1 - God's Family ...

Tuesday, May 4, 2010. In the center of the New Testament we find Jesus. And the apostles and evangelists talk about faith in Jesus and about the people of faith: God's family.

Brothers and Sisters in the Lord

There are two main pictures about God's family. One is that we are brothers and sisters in the Lord. All people who believe in Jesus are part of this family. We are adopted into his family. We are loved and we are heirs of his kingdom and his magnificence.

This image about God's family is worked out in various text passages, in remarks and parables: “God's kingdom is like …”. God's kingdom is like a father, who waits for his son for years. Even after giving him half of his possessions, which he wasted and spent, the father was waiting for him and wanted to accept him back into the family. But more than that, he wanted to reinstall him as heir, as someone who had his authority.

Being brothers and sisters in the Lord can be fantastic. It needs to be something very concrete, very practical, fully active. And it is, when you live faith and when you get to know people of faith.

God's family everywhere

We had many wonderful experiences with God's family over the last years. We have been moving around a little - driven by my jobs, from Göttingen to Cologne in Germany, then to greater London in England, then back to Göttingen and again to England - this time to Reading, finally to a little town close to Frankfurt back in Germany. And where ever we came, there were brothers and sisters in the Lord. We found churches locally, but more than that, we found people who were “in the Lord”, who knew him, who believed and lived their faith - and practically were our brothers and sisters. (We also got a lot of support by our natural families!)

As people of faith we are not perfect. We are all learning, all still on the way, have not reached the goal. But we are his children - and that can be experienced. Me and my wife have experienced a lot of help by God's family! People traveled thousand kilometers to help us move. They were there to set up cupboards and shelves. They opened their home when we needed cheap accommodation. And they helped by intensive prayer, were there to be with us. We are still amazed and strongly thankful … And until today we experience his family in a very practical manner.

How is that going on? How can you be a part of his family? How to give and how to receive? We'll talk about that! ... more texts