{"id":225,"date":"2012-06-28T18:17:41","date_gmt":"2012-06-28T23:17:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/?p=225"},"modified":"2014-11-25T10:20:27","modified_gmt":"2014-11-25T16:20:27","slug":"a-new-family-in-christ","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/2012\/06\/28\/a-new-family-in-christ\/","title":{"rendered":"A New Family in Christ"},"content":{"rendered":"

Link to my Audio version<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Mark 3:20 – 35<\/p>\n

What is family?\u00a0 Your mother, father, brother and sisters that you live with?\u00a0 Is there something more?\u00a0 Sure, we have grown up maybe with siblings, one or more parents…some may not have had blood related parents but parents none the less.<\/p>\n

Some of us, if not most of us have heard the term, blood is thicker than water.\u00a0 However, does blood\u2026.. determine family?\u00a0 Maybe it is just who you grow up with, but that does to have to be blood?…..what is family?<\/p>\n

In Matthew we are told a very full account of the genealogy of Jesus; this is the family of Jesus.\u00a0 However, the others Gospels do not give this genealogy….just how important is your family of origin?\u00a0 In the Old Testament, we have accounts of who is related to who……..a very large family that comes to mind is Jacob and all of his sons….that was a very big family.<\/p>\n

In the world today, we are constantly being told what families are and how they should or do act.\u00a0 Take a look at these videos for example….<\/p>\n

Video 1<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Video 2<\/a><\/p>\n

Now\u2026\u2026 these videos may accurately depict some families…I hope not to many however.\u00a0 I had always thought that a family contains people you are related by blood, who love you unconditionally and support each other.\u00a0 As many of you know, heading off to seminary, was not a well-supported idea from my family of origin…and to be honest, not even from the family I married into.\u00a0 However some have been more supportive than others.\u00a0 I am living with my wife’s cousin’s ex-husband while doing my CPE.\u00a0 In many respects, he is more \u201cfamily\u201d than the cousin who is a blood relation to my wife.<\/p>\n

As I mentioned, I have started my CPE….being a chaplain at a hospital down town.\u00a0 My fellow CPE students, as well as the full time chaplains, have started to bond together into a large fully supportive family.\u00a0 Wait a second…..family with no blood relation all.\u00a0 Part of being family is trust, honesty, respect.<\/p>\n

Let’s go back to the Gospel and set the context of this scripture.\u00a0 Prior the text today, Jesus had just named his twelve….some of the original texts also indicate that Jesus named the twelve, His apostles.\u00a0 Even prior to the appointment of twelve, Jesus had been teaching, healing and performing miracles.<\/p>\n

In verse 21, we have Jesus’s own family we can only presume that this may be His blood relations, turn on Him.\u00a0 They accuse Jesus of being out of his mind….yea, he is teaching…many follow……healing….many follow…..performing miracles….many follow……yet He is out of His mind…..maybe it was the appointing of the twelve and calling them apostles.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Teachers of the law from Jerusalem accuse Jesus of being possessed by Beelzebul, which is a demon.\u00a0 Where is that support I thought family gives you?\u00a0 Now with no support, others attack and try to divide.\u00a0 As Jesus points out in verses 23-27…a kingdom cannot stand divided, nor can a house….meaning a family.<\/p>\n

Here is the meat of this text for today\u2026<\/p>\n

Jesus redefines family in verses 33 through 35 Jesus says:<\/p>\n

33\u00a0\u201cWho are my mother and my brothers?\u201d he asked. 34\u00a0Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, \u201cHere are my mother and my brothers! 35\u00a0Whoever does God\u2019s will is my brother and sister and mother.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jesus takes his family to be those that do the will of God.<\/p>\n

Dividing the family of Jesus however does not work….dividing what the world calls family only divides a family on earth.\u00a0 However Jesus redefines who family is….family is not by blood, nor by association, nor is it who you live with, grow up with…..<\/p>\n

None of these define the true family that we have in Jesus Christ.\u00a0 We as Christians are family…we stand united in Christ as bothers and sisters with Christ who is the Son of God, making us heirs in the kingdom of God the Father, creator of the heavens and earth, of all that is seen and unseen.\u00a0 When we do the will of God, we are the family of Christ and in that we are all family with each other.<\/p>\n

Think of what you define as family.\u00a0 When I look at what I have defined as my family…..we have Christ in common, uniting us not dividing us.<\/p>\n

Wow…… What an Awesome God….what an Awesome family!<\/p>\n

Amen<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Link to my Audio version Mark 3:20 – 35 What is family?\u00a0 Your mother, father, brother and sisters that you live with?\u00a0 Is there something more?\u00a0 Sure, we have grown up maybe with siblings, one or more parents…some may not have had blood related parents but parents none the less. Some of us, if not … [Read more…]<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[13,10,26],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"entry","1":"post","2":"publish","3":"author-dougd","4":"post-225","6":"format-standard","7":"category-family","8":"category-jesus","9":"category-seminary"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2m6h5-3D","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1347,"url":"https:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/2015\/06\/17\/baptism-changes-our-reality\/","url_meta":{"origin":225,"position":0},"title":"Baptism Changes Our Reality","author":"Douglas Dill","date":"June 17, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"http:\/\/youtu.be\/xW616MbaGA0 Audio Link Sunday, June 7, 2015 | After Pentecost Genesis 3:8-15 Psalm 130: 1-8 2 Corinthians 4:13\u20135:1 Mark 3:20\u201335 Isn't it nice that we are in a different gospel today? 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