Blended
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Blended
Blended
One thousand, three hundred blended families form everyday. A little over 2,000 years ago a blended family would be home to the savior of this world. It is interesting to note that blended families can be traced back to the beginning of time. Abraham’s sons were the product of a blended family. David’s sons were the product of a blended family. Most of all we know that Joseph was not the biological father of Jesus. Considering this idea of a blended family, not only does the bible provide examples but the church is one big blended family belonging to God.
Although God is the Father of all, we all have various backgrounds that provide this blended family we are a part of right now. Different races, different blood lines and lineages, different upbringings, various financial backgrounds nonetheless we all belong to God.
We are a family and it is important that we act like it. When you think of your brother or sister in Christ, do you think family? When you talk to your “church” family, do you actually see family?
Our Family Foundation Must Be Christ
Our Family Foundation Must Be Christ
Let us, John prescribes us to a let us love. John writing the phrase “let us” exclaims that this is action packed. It is more than words it is a seen by our deeds as well as our words toward one another.
Let us love one another, it should be mutual it should be reciprocal.
Our love must be built on the foundation of God. It is a love that seeks forgiveness, moving forward from the past to seek future opportunities of love.
Although there are many parts to the body, similar to our physical bodies we have different parts but they have to work together in effort for our bodies to function properly.
Families have various roles. A child has the role of honoring their parents, the parents have a role of taking care of their child. The Husband has the role of taking care of his family and loving his wife as Christ loves the church.
When one part of our body is hurting the entire family hurts. Without love the church does not have the ability to work like it was intended to.
We love one another because love is from God, love is the designation of belonging to God. This idea of being born or belonging to God, knowing God begins with love.
When we look at our blended families how many times have you heard that my step-father/mother was the parent I always needed.
Our inability to love each other points to one fact that we do not know God, because if we know God then we should have the compass to love one another.
to be specific, that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.
Listen, there is no such thing as a second class citizen in heaven. There is no first class or preferred seating on the plane of heaven. God loves all of us, despite our sin, our unwillingness to forgive, our mistreatment of people, our inability to be a blessing to others when God has never stopped being a blessing to you.
Our foundation is brought to life by the love of God. God’s love for us was made apparent through his sacrifice of his only son.
You cannot live through Jesus if you are unwilling to live like him.
Recognize and Find Thanksgiving in your Differences
Recognize and Find Thanksgiving in your Differences
The blind man was unlike the demon possessed man. Judas was unlike Peter, nonetheless Jesus entreating them like brothers says in spite their differences God can still work in your life.
Despite differences we must be devoted to each other and love does that.
10 Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor;
11 not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord;
12 rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer,
I am kindly affectioned meanwhile disregarding preferences. As we seek to blend as a family we have to allow people the freedom to express their own personality, skills, and abilities.
If Jesus tells us to come to him, all of us who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Is there anyone here that has been tired regardless of money? Is there anyone who has had to carry a heavy burden? Why would Jesus invite us in as we are, meanwhile we try to give stipulations to people based on what we want to deal with.
I’m thankful for differences, that is the beauty of a family. No two people are alike. Sometimes we have to compromise in effort to blend. Think about blending a smoothie, the fruit, ice, vegetables or liquid has to alter its natural state in effort to meet the need prescribed.
It does not mean altering means absence, it just means sometimes we have to submit ourselves to one another to meet a need.
Refraining from preference giving does not mean that I lack diligence but I am doing it because it is what service looks like.
I have the ability to rejoice in hope.
I have the ability to persevere in tribulation because my family has my back.
I am praying for you, I am praising with you, I am contributing to your needs, I am hospitable.
We become family because of a common love not a last name, interest, geographical commonality, or profession. We are family because I love you because God loved me despite my dysfunction.
Some of us are the almond milk in the blender, we have the ability to make situations easier to digest. Some of us are the fruit in the blender we add a level of sweetness to the situation. And some of us are the protein powder, a little hard to digest by ourselves but we add nutrients to the body.
The word of God is the blade, the tough part about any blade is it does have the ability to cut you but it also has the ability to blend us up into a sweet smelling beverage pleasing unto the Lord.
Listen, the blades are only as powerful as the outlet it is plugged into. I can press buttons, I can stir violently but some things will not turn out the way they are supposed to turn out unless they are powered up by God.
God can give this church all the resources but if we cannot find a way to blend, we will just be a beautiful blender filled with a bunch of stuff. And let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds.
New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). (). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). (). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.