Ahyou gotta love family! No really, you doyou gotta love family. - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Ah…you gotta love family! No really, you do…you gotta love family. Family comes from the same word as familiar. You’ve heard the phrase “familiarity breeds contempt”. This is true of families. We can love and seemingly dislike each other at any given moment.

One of the features that was so very attractive in the developing New Testament church was the love that was shared between people.

“It is incredible to see the fervor with which the people of that religion help each other in their wants. They spare nothing. Their first legislator [Jesus] has put it into their heads that they are all brethren.” Lucien

“Now you are no longer strangers to God and foreigners to heaven, but you are members of God’s very own family , citizens of God’s country, and you belong in God’s household with every other Christian.” Ephesians 2:19

“But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” Ephesians 2:13

“For through Him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.” Ephesians 2:19

“ Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” Ephesians 5:1

“I ask you, therefore, not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory. For this reason, I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.…” Ephesians 3:13–19

“…And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” Ephesians 3:13–19

“Tychicus, the dear brother and faithful servant in the Lord, will tell you everything, so that you also may know how I am and what I am doing. I am sending him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are, and that he may encourage you. Peace to the brothers and sisters, and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love.” Ephesians 6:21–24

These verses teach us that caring, godly relationships among believers are at the heart of God’s purpose for the church.

A) IN VERSES 21 AND 22, TYCHICUS SHOWS US HOW TO BE CARING, GODLY BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN CHRIST. 1. Be a beloved brother or sister.

“Tychicus will tell you all the news about me. He is a dear brother, a faithful minister and fellow servant in the Lord. I am sending him to you for the express purpose that you may know about our circumstances and that he may encourage your hearts. He is coming with Onesimus, our faithful and dear brother, who is one of you. They will tell you everything that is happening here”. Colossians 4:7–8

A) IN VERSES 21 AND 22, TYCHICUS SHOWS US HOW TO BE CARING, GODLY BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN CHRIST. 1. Be a beloved brother or sister. 2. Be a faithful brother or sister.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness , gentleness and self-control.” Galatians 5:22–23

A) IN VERSES 21 AND 22, TYCHICUS SHOWS US HOW TO BE CARING, GODLY BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN CHRIST. 1. Be a beloved brother or sister. 2. Be a faithful brother or sister. 3. Be a serving brother or sister.

“faithful servant”, “faithful minister” Every Christian is a minister or servant of Christ. God gives pastors and teachers gifts “to equip His people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up” (Ephesians 4:12). “servant in the Lord” (Ephesians 6:21) “fellow bond-slave” (Colossians 4:7)

“I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.” Romans 12:1

“Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.” Matthew 25:21

A) IN VERSES 21 AND 22, TYCHICUS SHOWS US HOW TO BE CARING, GODLY BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN CHRIST. 1. Be a beloved brother or sister. 2. Be a faithful brother or sister. 3. Be a serving brother or sister. 4. Be an encouraging brother or sister.

“He may comfort your hearts.” (Ephesians 6:22) “…that he may encourage your hearts.” (Colossians 4:8) parakaleo : “to come alongside to help”

B) IN VERSES 23 AND 24, PAUL SHOWS US HOW TO BE CARING, GODLY BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN CHRIST. “Peace to the brothers and sisters, and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love.” Ephesians 6:23–24

“This is more than a farewell greeting; it is a prayer for reconciliation. Paul longs to see the whole brotherhood of believers in Ephesus and its environs—Jews and Gentiles alike—at peace with each other in the one body of Christ.”

B) IN VERSES 23 AND 24, PAUL SHOWS US HOW TO BE CARING, GODLY BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN CHRIST. 1. Pray for peace for the brethren. 2. Pray for love for the brethren. 3. Pray for faith for the brethren.

“Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from His love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility, value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests, but each of you to the interests of the others.” Philippians 2:1–4

B) IN VERSES 23 AND 24, PAUL SHOWS US HOW TO BE CARING, GODLY BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN CHRIST. 1. Pray for peace for the brethren. 2. Pray for love for the brethren. 3. Pray for faith for the brethren. 4. Pray for grace for all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love.

“Grace to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love.” (Ephesians 6:24) Paul is saying, “May God grace you with the kind of love that is immortal and imperishable, incapable either of corruption or of decay, a foretaste of the eternal communion in heaven.”

This is family. Family is a community where there is undying, pure, and true love. Permanent and unfading.