CHURCH AS FAMILY: Church as a faithful family 4-26-26
INTRODUCTION
The Tater Family
Some families make church their home. Others find other uses for the church. Take the notorious Tater family, for example. Perhaps you’ve met some of them.
· The chief of the clan is old Dick Tater, who insists on running everything in church.
· His brother Ro Tater keeps everything in a spin.
· Aunt Agi Tater has a knack for stirring up trouble;
· and her husband, Irri Tater, is always getting under someone’s skin.
The next generation of Taters has its own characteristics.
· Hesi Tater and his wife, Vege Tater, would just as soon wait until next year whenever a new project is suggested.
· Aunt Imi Tater would love to create the first generic church.
· Devas Tater announces constantly that everyone in the church is doomed,
· Her husband Poten Tater promises he can lead the church out of trouble.
Today in the Word, May, 1996, p. 8.
Faithfulness in the family
Animals that mate for life
Gibbons, swans, black vultures, French angel fish, wolves, albatrosses, termites, prairie voles, turtle doves, schistosoma mansoni worms (parasitic worms), bald eagle
1 Corinthians 4:1-5 NIV
“This, then, is how you ought to regard us: as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the mysteries God has revealed. Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful. I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise from God.”
1 Corinthians 4:1-5 NIV
DO WE UNDERSTAND FAITHFULNESS?
Have you heard RHONDA VINCENT’S STORY OF FAITHFULNESS? Rhonda and her family were under contract at SILVER DOLLAR CITY TO DO 5—ONE HOUR MUSIC PROGRAMS A DAY. One day it was raining real hard. No one was in the crowd. No one, but the contract was for 5 shows. Rhonda and her family stepped to the stage and did their show as promised. A few days later Rhonda got an important phone call from a man named HOUSER. Houser was the GENERAL MANGER of the GRAND OLE OPRY in Nashville, Tennessee. He invited Rhonda and her band to come to Nashville to perform. She said: SIR, HOW DID YOU HEAR ABOUT US? He said: Last week we were on vacation at Silver Dollar City. It was raining real hard. We sat around the corner in the dry and we heard you and we liked what we heard. WHAT IF RHONDA VINCENT AND HER BAND HAD NOT PREFORMED THAT DAY BECAUSE NO ONE WAS IN THE CROWD? THEY ALMOST MISSED THE OPPORTUNITY?
Wade Martin Hughes, Sr., Sermon Central, January 1, 2026.
Let us pray.
I. FAITHFUL TO GOD
A. Faithful in life
Revelation 2:8-11 NIV
““To the angel of the church in Smyrna write: These are the words of him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again. I know your afflictions and your poverty—yet you are rich! I know about the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor’s crown. Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who is victorious will not be hurt at all by the second death.”
Revelation 2:8-11 NIV
B. Faithful in death
Dog named Bullet - Sarena Moore 44 in a wheelchair was the victim of a mass shooting of 9 people in October of 2015. As the shooter ordered Serena to get out of her wheelchair and shot her as she struggled, Bullet remained with her. Bullet stayed by her side as she died. He was faithful in death.
II. FAITHFUL TO FAMILY
Some of us can remember the Sunday morning terrorist bombing of the Marine barracks in Beirut, in which hundreds of Americans were killed or wounded as they slept.
Many of us can still recall the terrible scenes as the dazed survivors worked to dig out their trapped brothers from beneath the rubble.
A few days after the tragedy, Marine Corps Commandant Paul X Kelly, visited some of the wounded survivors then in a Frankfurt, Germany, hospital. Among them was Corporal Jeffrey Lee Nashton, severely wounded in the incident. Nashton had so many tubes running in and out of his body that a witness said he looked more like a machine than a man; yet he survived.
As Kelly neared him, Nashton, struggling to move and racked with pain, motioned for a piece of paper and a pen. He wrote a brief note and passed it back to the Commandant. On the slip of paper were but two words -- "Semper Fi" the Latin motto of the Marines meaning "forever faithful." With those two simple words Nashton spoke for the millions of Americans who have sacrificed body and limb and their lives for their country -- those who have remained faithful.
J. Dobson & Gary Bauer, Children at Risk, Word, 1990, pp. 187-188.
A. Our family
1 Timothy 5:8 NIV
“Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.”
1 Timothy 5:8 NIV
B. Our church family
Hebrews 10:24-25 NIV
“And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”
Hebrews 10:24-25 NIV
C. Faithful to who we are
III. FAITHFUL TO GOD'S PLAN
John Wesley once said: "Give me a hundred men who love nothing but God and hate nothing but sin, and I will shake the whole world for Christ."
A. Jesus
B. Believe
C. Repent
D. Confess
E. Baptism
THE CHURCH
Hebrews 10:23 NIV
“Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.”
Hebrews 10:23 NIV
Author Keith Miller tells of an outgoing 40-year-old woman who was part of a sharing group he led. Here is her story:
"When I was a tiny little girl, my parents died and I was put in an orphanage. I was not pretty at all and no one seemed to want me. But I longed to be adopted and loved by a family as far back as I can remember. I thought about it day and night, but everything I did seemed to go wrong. I must have tried too hard to please the people who came to look me over and what I did was to drive them away.
"But then one day the head of the orphanage told me that a family was coming to take me home with them. I was so excited that I jumped up and down and cried like a little baby. The matron reminded me that I was on trial and this might not be a permanent arrangement, but I just knew that somehow it would work out.
"So I went with this family and started to school. I was the happiest little girl you can imagine, and life began to open up for me just a little. But then one day a few months later, I skipped home from school and ran into the front door of the big old house we lived in. No one was at home, but in the middle of the front hall was my battered suitcase with my little coat thrown across it. As I stood there it suddenly dawned on me what it meant---I didn’t belong there anymore."
Miller reports that when the woman stopped speaking there was hardly a dry eye in the group. But then she cleared her throat and said almost matter-of-factly, "This happened to me seven times before I was 13 years old. But wait, don’t feel too badly. It was experiences like these that ultimately brought me to God---and there I found what I had always longed for---a place, a sense of belonging, a forever family."
Bruce Howell, "The Essence!" 2/21/2009.
That is what our faithful Father and our faithfulness can do for others who need a forever family.
CONCLUSION
How can we ignore what God has done? We must be faithful to God. We must be faithful to our family and church family. We must be faithful to God’s plan.
Who should we reach?
Look around you
Reach you
Missionary planted in Livonia today
INVITATION
It is our custom to offer an "invitation" following the preaching of the Word. You may want to follow Jesus. You may want to proclaim your faith. You may want to repent (stop doing ungodly things and start doing Godly things). Perhaps you want to be baptized for the forgiveness of your sins and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Possibly, if you have already responded to God’s call in these ways, you would like to become a member of Kenwood Church. If you have been moved by the Holy Spirit to make a decision in your life, you can come forward now. If you would like, I would be honored to speak with you following the service about what God is doing in your life.
