What does it mean to be a part of family? Is it just about blood relations? Or maybe about living situations? How do you define family and what does it mean for someone to be a part of your family?
My family is pretty big and we grew up all over. I don’t necessarily feel very close to my extended family, many of whom I haven’t seen in person since I was a young child. In a lot of ways, I feel closer to my wife’s extended family who we have vacationed with and who we have had shared experiences with and who we see on a regular basis.
I imagine that for some, family of course has to do with blood relations, but also who you see and interact with on a regular basis. Who you get a long with. Perhaps for others, family is just about the people who you have decided to do life with on a consistent basis, who you choose to live with or who is in your immediate community, whether they are blood relations or not.
What does family mean for the follower of Jesus? How does coming into a faith system where we regularly refer to God as our Heavenly Father impact how we view others both in our church and in the universal church?
To prepare for this Sunday, I would encourage you to meditate on what it means to be in the family of God and to read Matthew 12, Luke 8, and Mark 3 and pay special attention to the story of how Jesus described being in the family of God. On Sunday, we will take a deeper look on Matthew 12:46-50 and discuss how we can better follow Jesus as part of His family.