We say it so often that it may actually lose the significance of what we are saying. "Our Father, who art in heaven." These words of Jesus teach us, as we learn in Martin Luther's small catechism, that "With these words God tenderly invites us to believe that He is our true Father and that we are His true children, so that with all boldness and confidence we may ask Him as dear children ask their dear father."
God is our Father. That's what Jesus teaches us. And that introduces something significant for us. If God is the father of us all, that means that have a unique connection with each other. If we have a common Father, then we are all His dear children, and that makes us a family. Perhaps, in your reading of the New Testament, you catch the frequency with which God's people address each other as brothers, or as brothers and sisters. This is because, through Jesus, God creates a new family.
This creates a new dynamic for God's people as they gather together. It isn't just simply coming together for worship, or for fellowship, or for learning. It is coming together as a family gathering. Think about the ways that you greet your family members when you see each other. It's a joy to be with them. You give hugs (and maybe even kisses). You have smiles on your faces. You have things you want to talk about. You want to hear what is going on in their lives. Sometimes you simply want to spend some time with them, and at other times, you have one or two matters that need to be worked through.
When you look around your gathering of God's saints, you are looking at your brothers and sisters. Now, as I go through this series of blog posts, we are going to see how God intends for this family and its connections to be even more powerful than the "blood" family connections that we have, at least when it comes to the family He creates. In many cases, it shouldn't introduce too much of a challenge to us. Yet, there will also be times when it presents a major challenge to us. Plus, as a family, it means that there are things we work toward with each other, and there are things that we simply do not do to family members. We will be covering a lot of these things as we "think out loud" here.
For now, give some thought to how you would approach God's people at your congregation if you were to think of them as your family. Think about how you would be different toward them, and in what ways you would remain the same.
God is our Father. That's what Jesus teaches us. And that introduces something significant for us. If God is the father of us all, that means that have a unique connection with each other. If we have a common Father, then we are all His dear children, and that makes us a family. Perhaps, in your reading of the New Testament, you catch the frequency with which God's people address each other as brothers, or as brothers and sisters. This is because, through Jesus, God creates a new family.
This creates a new dynamic for God's people as they gather together. It isn't just simply coming together for worship, or for fellowship, or for learning. It is coming together as a family gathering. Think about the ways that you greet your family members when you see each other. It's a joy to be with them. You give hugs (and maybe even kisses). You have smiles on your faces. You have things you want to talk about. You want to hear what is going on in their lives. Sometimes you simply want to spend some time with them, and at other times, you have one or two matters that need to be worked through.
When you look around your gathering of God's saints, you are looking at your brothers and sisters. Now, as I go through this series of blog posts, we are going to see how God intends for this family and its connections to be even more powerful than the "blood" family connections that we have, at least when it comes to the family He creates. In many cases, it shouldn't introduce too much of a challenge to us. Yet, there will also be times when it presents a major challenge to us. Plus, as a family, it means that there are things we work toward with each other, and there are things that we simply do not do to family members. We will be covering a lot of these things as we "think out loud" here.
For now, give some thought to how you would approach God's people at your congregation if you were to think of them as your family. Think about how you would be different toward them, and in what ways you would remain the same.
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