Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “Family”
Our Bible verse for today: “God sets the lonely in families …” Psalm 68:6 (NIV)
Our thought for today: “Family was God’s idea.”
The dictionary tells us that a family is, “1. Parents and their children. 2. The members of one household. 3. A group of persons related by blood or marriage. 4. A collective noun which describes a group of like things.”
The most common understanding of “family” is what is normally termed the “nuclear” family. By that we’re not referring to a group of people who tend to go nuclear on each other, as in being volatile and explosive (although I know families like that). The term “nuclear” refers to the most common family grouping which consists of a father, a mother, and children, all living in the same household.
However there are many other understandings of family as well, some of them normal, healthy, and time-honored, and some of them not so much. That’s becoming increasingly true in our day. This month we’ll take some time to consider many of them.
Family was actually God’s idea from the beginning. It started with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, and soon the kids followed. Therefore family groupings have always been an important part of the human story. That’s because we humans are relational beings – we need to be together.
Today families come in all shapes and sizes. Many of them fit the traditional model of the nuclear family, and many of them are a mix. There are also other groupings of people that do not involve blood or marriage but which do still constitute a “family” of sorts, such as a church family, a close-knit group of friends, or even something like an inner city gang.
Because families are filled with people, and because people can sometimes be odd and even strange, family life can be difficult or encouraging, happy or sad, infuriating or funny – and sometimes all of the above in a short span of time! I think of the proverbial family Thanksgiving dinner with crazy Uncle Arnold in his plaid sports coat and stinky cigar; sweet Aunt Erma who smells like moth balls and insists on giving all the kids big sloppy kisses; and that rotten eight year old nephew who keeps poking the cat with a fork. Someone once said, “My family coat-of-arms is a straight jacket!” Can I get a witness?
December is a month that normally involves all sorts of “family” activities, including traditional family gatherings, church activities, office Christmas parties, and much more. So this seems like the appropriate time to devotionally consider family life – in all its strange and not-so-strange manifestations, and with all its warts and pimples, highs and lows.
I think it’s going to be a fun month.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 