Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “Family”
Our Bible verse for today: “And let us be concerned about one another in order to promote love and good works.” Hebrews 10:24 (HCSB)
Our thought for today: “The family of God is your most important family.”
There are some people, maybe many people, who will read our “Thought for today” and find it disturbing. For many folks the thought that their spiritual family (most of whom are not their own flesh and blood), could somehow be more important than their biological family, is a difficult idea to wrestle with.
But difficult or not, it’s a true statement. The truth is that flesh and blood relationships, as important as they are (and they are very important), are temporary and they end at death. Spiritual relationships are the ones that last for eternity. People who are members of the family of God are brothers and sisters in Christ and they will spend all of eternity together.
Now, if a blood relative is also a Christian, then in addition to the human relationship we share with that person, we also share a spiritual relationship that will last for eternity. So in those cases we get to enjoy our human relationship with them now in this lifetime, and then we have that spiritual relationship with them for all of eternity. Bonus! But if that flesh and blood relative is not a Christian, then our relationship with them will end at death.
And so, the spiritual bond we share with our brothers and sisters in Christ is at a deeper level (spiritual rather than just biological), is longer-lasting (eternal), and is therefore of greater importance.
Again, this can be a disturbing thought for a lot of people but it should serve as a motivating factor to do everything you can to win your family members to faith in Christ. And if you do, then presto change-o the problem is solved.
With respect to maintaining and nourishing our relationships with our brothers and sisters in Christ, God has ordained that we be gathered into groups known as church families. By doing that, we brothers and sisters in the family of God can help each other as we continue on our journey through this lifetime on our way towards our real home in heaven.
That’s what the writer of the letter to the Hebrews was getting at in Hebrews 10:24. Regardless of how good or bad your human family is, if you even have one, it’s your spiritual family who has been tasked by God to be a source of love, encouragement, and support for you. That being the case, you need a spiritual family, a church family, even if you do have a good biological family.
If you don’t have a good church family then I want to extend an invitation to you to join ours. Oak Hill Baptist in Crossville is a warm and friendly place filled with people who love and care for each other. We would love to have you join us. Sunday school is at 9:00 and Worship service begins at 10:00. Sunday evening services is at 6:00. You can learn more about us at our website, www.oakhillbaptist.net.
We look forward to seeing you soon!
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 