That’s What Family Does

In very simply terms, family is defined as a group of two or more persons related by birth, marriage, or adoption who live together.

But family is so much more than that!  It is a bond of love that makes true family. It’s living life together that makes true family.

Let me introduce my grand-dog, Legend.  She is a 14-year-old border collie.  She was my daughter’s fur baby first. Then when the big, tall, guy came into the picture, she accepted him into the family. (after all, he really knows how to throw a frisbee) Because of their herding instincts, border collies are protective of their family.   In the photo here, she is lying facing the front door of the house, waiting for the big, tall guy to come home from hunting.  You see she can’t settle down until all her family is in for the night.  And, on occasion, when the arthritis in Legend’s hips get the best of her, the big guy carries her up the stairs to bed.  That’s what family does.

At Good News Church, we consider ourselves to be … a family of believers called “To love the Lord our God with all of our heart, soul, and mind, and to love one another as Christ loves us.” We are committed to one another as family… As family we eat together, worship together and grow and mature together.” (Acts2:42-47)

When you come into Good News, you are accepted. You are loved.

We eat together.  We praise together. We pray together. We grow together.  We protect one another.  We share sadness. We share joy. We mourn deaths. We celebrate births.  When someone is struggling, we come alongside to support and carry them.

When someone is missing…we watch and wait for them to come home!  That’s what family does.

 Christ brought us together through his death on the cross. The Cross got us to embrace, and that was the end of the hostility. Christ came and preached peace to you outsiders and peace to us insiders. He treated us as equals, and so made us equals. Through him we both share the same Spirit and have equal access to the Father.

 That’s plain enough, isn’t it? You’re no longer wandering exiles. This kingdom of faith is now your home country. You’re no longer strangers or outsiders. You belong here, with as much right to the name Christian as anyone. God is building a home. He’s using us all—irrespective of how we got here—in what he is building. He used the apostles and prophets for the foundation. Now he’s using you, fitting you in brick by brick, stone by stone, with Christ Jesus as the cornerstone that holds all the parts together. We see it taking shape day after day—a holy temple built by God, all of us built into it, a temple in which God is quite at home.

Ephesians 2:16-22 The Message Translation

Welcome to the family!

Darlene Shelton