Household

Well, good morning to everyone here both in this room at our Lockport campus, super grateful. My name is Edwin Perez. I'm the Lockport campus Pastor here. We're really grateful to be able to be streaming out to all of our campuses here today. And I just wanted to bring your attention to just some quotes that I was reading even throughout this past week that was reminding me of really a family. And maybe you might find enjoyment like I did in some of these quotes. Here's this one, "A family is a unit composed not only of children, "but of men, women, an occasional animal "and the common cold." "All of us have moments in our lives that test our courage. "Taking children into a house "with white carpet is one of them." "Families are like fudge, mostly sweet with a few nuts." "Happiness is having a large, loving, "caring, close-knit family in another city." And then this one from an American journalist, previous American journalist. She said this, "Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, "call it a family, whatever you call it, "whoever you are, you need one." I thought that was fairly intuitive coming from an American journalist and even thinking about the nature of family and our need for it. But maybe when you hear that idea in terms of the word family, maybe there's a lot that might come to your mind. Maybe for instance, what comes to your mind is deep joy and deep happiness as you reflect on and think of family. Maybe it's absolute craziness in absolute chaos, and that's okay. Maybe it's loud and shouting, or maybe it's pain and difficulty, or brokenness or confusion, heartache, or maybe even some regret. I know that there is much that might come to our minds, that might come to our attention when we think of the word family. There's much that we might be able to associate that with. But, what's clear and what I hope that we would recognize this day, my hope for all of us regardless of where you're watching from is that we would recognize that God wants us in his family, that God has a family, that God has a household, that we can be a part of that, that we can grow in that, that we can know what that means, that we can know what that is like, that we can know the pureness of this family, the wholeness of this family, regardless of maybe what comes to mind when we think of the term family or even household. But even as we see this concept, I hope we do. And in fact, we're going to turn to Ephesians 2 this day. So if you have your Bible, you can turn there, Ephesians 2. And thus far, we've been in this series called "Church reset". And pastor Jerry has talked to us about how the church is a priesthood in the first week of this series. And then even last week, we talked about how the church is a bride. And today what we are going to see is that the church is a household. And in fact, listen to what the apostle Paul said in Ephesians 2. He said, "Consequently, you are no longer foreigners "and strangers, but fellow citizens with God's people." And also, here it is, "Members of His household". You see, we get this picture of the household in terms of how we are a part of it as the church. And so when we think about this, what we have to also recognize is that when Paul uses this term household, that there be much associated with this in terms of its original context. So the family unit or cluster in the ancient world, in the Greco Roman world, they would have been the most important social unit that you had. Most important, really, really vital in terms of how well you looked after one another and all of those things especially in an honor and shamed culture. This is why maybe for instance, when you hear of the prodigal son's story and the younger son taking his father's wealth and going off to a distant country and then squandering his father's wealth, that would have been so unheard of even for the Pharisees that were listening to think Wow, the fact that this younger son would so disrespect his father in that way would have been really, really difficult for these Pharisees even when we think about that story to hear. And so that's why that just helps us to get some context related to just how important family was and how really important it is. And so even as we see that more over, we can see that households in the first century as well, that it was also very common for households to potentially include not just mom, dad and the kids, but extended family members as well. And some of you are thinking, "No way, there is no chance that it would be happening." But it was actually very common for that to be the case. Maybe households were made up of in addition to kind of mom, dad and the kids, maybe there were aunts, and uncles, brothers, and sisters. And even if the family was wealthy enough, they might potentially even have servants or slaves that were living in the household as well. And so all of these factors is at play when we start to see how Paul is using this word household. And that's why even in Ephesians 5 and 6, you can see a little bit later that there's practical application that Paul gives in terms of how this plays out in your everyday life, in your family, in your households. But we see this that the church is a household that Paul describes here in Ephesians 2, but also we can recognize that for the Jewish mind here, they would have probably hearkened back to even the very beginning when we start to think about this idea and the nature of the household. In fact, if you go all the way back to creation, we can see the original first family, not of the United States either but of creation. And in fact, listen to what Genesis 2 says, "Then the Lord, God made a woman "from the rib He had taken out of the man "and He brought her to the man. "The man said, "'This is now bone from my bones and flesh of my flesh. "'She shall be called woman, for she was taken out of man.' "This is why a man leaves his father and mother "and is united to his wife and they become one flesh." So we see in the very beginning of time, this first family that originated from the heartbeat of God, from His creation in Adam and Eve and eventually their offspring. But even as we continue further, we can see the importance that God even places on family as God is referring to Abraham here and later in Genesis 18, we can see this, "Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation "and all nations on earth will be blessed through him. "For I have chosen him "so that he will direct his children and his," there it is, "Household after him to keep the way "of the Lord by doing what is right and just "so that the Lord will bring about for Abraham "what He has promised him." So we can see this idea of the household even originating in creation, even moving through Genesis. And then also when God is instructing Moses and Aaron about the Passover, we can also see God addressing the household as well in Exodus. Take a listen. It says this, God said, "Tell the whole community of Israel "that on the 10th day of this month, "each man is to take a lamb for his family, "one for each household." So we can see that this is something that God has established, the idea of household, the idea of family as something that has originated in creation. And it is something that God has established for every culture in every society. That's powerful to think about, that's remarkable, that this is God's idea. And then even in the first century when we were talking about Ephesians in the context there, we can also conclude that we learned that there were multiple people typically in a household united under one family name. And we learned that the household would have been the most important social unit. So with this as the backdrop, with this as the context, with all of this going on when Paul talks about the idea of the household, we can see that the church of the living God is God's household, it's His family. And so even with that said, we can continue to see Paul building on this as he continues in Ephesians 2, "Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, "but fellow citizens with God's people and also members "of his household," here it is, "Built on the foundation "of the apostles and prophets with Christ Jesus Himself "as the Chief Cornerstone." Hold this up for just a second. You see, even as we see this here, we can see that the household of God is built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets with Jesus being the cornerstone. Everything is held together in Jesus, He is our foundation. And this is what Paul is talking about even as we were singing earlier that He is our Cornerstone. But even as we see this phrase here, that the household of God, members of His household were built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets. What that means, and scholars would also say that this is referring to the new Testament apostles and prophets, to their teaching. And so thankfully, even as we start to think about this idea, we have record of their teaching in our new Testament. And so maybe the question we could ask ourselves for today is, what concepts can we learn from the new Testament apostles and prophets about the household of God? Because this is what we're built on. We're built upon this foundation as it all holds together as Jesus is our Chief Cornerstone, but what concepts can we learn from the New Testament apostles and prophets about the household of God? And so what I'm going to do is I'm going to pull out different truths throughout the New Testament here that can hopefully help us understand four concepts that I believe will help us relate it to God's household. And then from there, what I'm going to do is I'm going to summarize everything that I say into one simple statement that we can walk out of here with. And then really the last thing I'm going to do is I'm going to pose a question that will hopefully challenge us and get us to think a little bit about the nature of the household. So first concept related to God's household would be this, that God's household, we have to understand this concept, household entry. Again, household entry. With that, maybe I could ask this question. What does it look like to enter the household of God? What does that mean? What does that look like? One word, you ready for it? Jesus, one name, Jesus. It's powerful to think about what He has done on our behalf and even knowing what He has done in dying for our sins and going to the grave and rising again to make us brand new in Him, to know the gospel, the power of this good news. You see, Paul made the argument in Ephesians even as we were looking at just briefly there that Jesus, He is the Chief Cornerstone. He is the one upon which the whole house is built together. But when we look at verse 19 in Ephesians 2 which we're all looking at, the beginning word there if you're reading the NIV, it says this, "Consequently." That's an interesting word for us to pay attention to because that must mean that there were things that came before. What is of consequence that Paul is talking about? Well, throughout Ephesians, we can see that Paul has already talked about throughout this book how Jesus has made all things new, that we are made alive in Christ. You can again see this even as you begin to read through it. And not only that, but even by grace through faith, we are one new humanity. We're now Jew and Gentile, non-Jewish can be brought together as one, as the people of God, as the church. And so with all of that being said already, Paul then uses that word there in Ephesians 2:16, "Consequently." But even before that, what I wanted to do is I just wanted to briefly read for you some of the proceeding verses, verses 14 through 18 in Ephesians 2 because that helps to set up that word that we just read. Beginning in verse 14, Paul says, "For He, Jesus, He Himself is our peace "who has made the two groups one." Talking about Jew and Gentile being one new humanity. "And has destroyed the barrier, "the dividing wall of hostility "by setting aside in His flesh the law "with its commands and regulations. "His purpose was to create "in Himself one new humanity out of the two, "thus making peace and in one body to reconcile both "of them to God through the cross "by what He has put to death, their hostility. "He came and preached peace to you who were far away "and peace to those who were near." Then listen to this verse, verse 18, "For through Him, through Jesus, "we both have access to the Father by one Spirit." That's a beautiful, beautiful verse when we sit with that, that we have access to the Father by one Spirit. We could even see that familial language being used, God is our Father. But not only that, Paul, to describe these events and really, to describe the works of what Jesus has done on our behalf, Paul, in another place in Romans talks about this work being adoption. And he talks about how we are adopted into the family of God, that this transforming power of knowing Jesus, of coming to faith in Him, the beautiful result is that we are adopted into the family, into the household of God. In fact, listen to Romans 8, listen to it. Get back up just one slide, perfect. "For those who are led by the Spirit "of God are the children of God. "The spirit you received does not make you slaves "so that you will live in fear again, "rather the Spirit you received brought "about your adoption to sonship. "And by Him we cry, 'Abba Father'." You see, it's such a beautiful work when we start to see that we are adopted into the family of God. You see, especially as we start to talk about the idea of household entry, it's through faith in Jesus. And when we come to faith in Jesus, we're adopted and brought into God's household. And when Paul used that term that I pointed out there, adopted in Romans 8, some context even just to help just briefly is that in that time even in that setting, the adoptee, they could start a new life with all of their old debts being canceled. Not only that, but the adoptee would experience a change status with his old name set aside and he was given a new name by his adopting Heavenly Father or by or by his adoptive father. And so, this is something that when we start to realize the work that has been done on our behalf, that we are adopted into the family of God, that God adopts us, that's a beautiful, beautiful picture that we have to recognize that as adoptees, we can start a brand new life with all of our sin debts being forgiven and canceled, that as adoptees, we can experience a change status being brought from death to life with our old name being set aside and we are given a new name by our Heavenly Father. You see, this is such a beautiful picture that we see of the household entry as we see that we can be adopted into his family. And I know that maybe today is a day that might be difficult especially as you start to think about a Father's Day. Maybe today is a difficult day for you. And even with that said, I know that there might be difficult relationships or strained relationships. Maybe especially today might be reminding you of or whatnot. What I want you to know is that regardless of your earthly father in the picture, maybe you had a great one, that's awesome. I know we have tons and tons of great fathers in our church and I'm so grateful for them. But I also know that maybe there's some broken relationships. And with that said, here's what I want you to know, is that you can know a Father in heaven who loves you. You can know a Father who pursues you. You can know a Father who sent His one and only Son to die on a cross so that in faith and trust in what He has done, you can be forgiven. You can be given a new name. You can be given a brand new start. This is the picture. This is the hope that we have as people that have been adopted into the family of God. You can know that today. You can experience that life changing power in your heart, in your life where you can cry out to God as Abba. That's an Aramaic term which means like a personal designation that you would call your father, Abba. And then Paul follows that up with a Greek term used there for father as well. So you see Abba, Aramaic, Father, the Greek word there. So whether you speak Aramaic or whether you speak Greek, you can know God as your Father. You can call out to Him. You can cry out to Him and He hears you. And that's the invitation that you can experience today, this day and I hope you will. So we see this concept of household entry through faith and trust in Jesus. Jesus has made a way where we can be adopted into the family of God. But there's a second that I hope that we would see and it's related to this, the household rule. The household rule. Now, for some of us, maybe we're thinking, "Okay Edwin, of course, "you're gonna bring up rules and stuff "especially when it comes to the church "and what we're supposed to do. "And all of that stuff." Listen, these rules are for our benefit. These rules are actually for us to help us. I'm only gonna pull out one 'cause I believe it's really, really helpful for us. But maybe even as I'm mentioning that, there's some household rules that you are thinking about maybe that you have in your home or maybe that you had growing up. Maybe for instance, there were rules around, if you break it fix it, or call someone who can. I would definitely be the person calling someone who can because I would just break it even more. That's what I would just do. Too many people are laughing at that, but it is what it is. Maybe if you dirty it, clean it. Or, don't talk to me when I'm hungry. Or maybe don't talk back to me. Maybe you've said that to your kids or whatnot. I know that there is a lot of different rules that might come to our minds or come to our attention as we start to think of different household rules maybe that we have. I can remember even one rule growing up, every single Sunday, I had to be in church. It was just the rule. There was just no if, and or buts. I had to be in church on a Sunday morning. And so that was the expectation. And I grew up playing sports and really playing a variety of different sports, but one sport I played a lot was baseball. And so I can remember maybe even championship games and having to call my coach maybe 14, 15 years old and say, "Coach, that game on a Sunday morning, can't make it." "Why?" "I gotta go to church, but maybe I can still make part "of the game afterward and bring the Lord's favor with us, "and maybe we might win the game." So I can even remember times growing up where I would leave church early and suit up real quick, get to a baseball game and all of those things, but I can remember that rule, that was just the expectation. And the reason being, when I think about that, it was for my benefit. It was for my benefit. It was for me hearing the Word of God. It was for me being able to listen and to respond to what Jesus has done. And I'm so grateful for that. And so when I talk about the household rule of the family of God, I hope we would see that this is for our benefit. And this is something that we should all cling to and recognize. And here it is, the household rule , love is the way of the house. You see, love is the way of the house. And while I can point your attention to multiple different commands and whatnot, the reality is if it's not all done in love, we're clanging symbols as Paul talked about. So who we are, what we do, who we should be about is all done in love. Why? Because love is the way of the house. In fact, when we start to see John's writing in this, we can even see this very clearly as he talks about even this idea. We love in 1 John 4:19, "We love because He first loved us. "Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother "or sister is a liar. "For whoever does not love their brother and sister, "whom they have seen." That we can see physically with our own eyes our brothers and sisters in Jesus. We can see them as fellow adoptees, fellow children of God, whom we have seen cannot love God, whom they have not seen in terms of being able to physically see God. "But He has given us this command, "Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister." If you claim to love God, we are called to love our brother and our sister. And when we sit with that, we also have to first recognize that our ability and our capacity to love comes from the fact that we have been so loved by God, that we have been first loved by Him. That we could recognize that His love will change us, that His love will mold us, that His love will shape us from the inside out so that we would be a people of love. Because by the way, when we think about this, we can recognize that as people who have been adopted into the family of God and as people who belong to a God of love, wouldn't it make sense for us to be a people of love if we belong to a God who is love? I mean, think about it for a second. God in His essence is love. The Father loves the Son. The Father loves the Spirit. The Son loves the Father. The Son loves the Spirit. The Spirit loves the Son. The Spirit loves the Father. It is an existing community of love demonstrated in the Godhead. And as people who belong to God's family, as people who belong to His house, wouldn't it make sense that we would demonstrate that as image bearers, as adoptees and that we would demonstrate that toward one another and be a community of love because we belong to a God of love. In fact, listen to what John even talked about. He talked about plainly how God is loving 1 John 4. And so we know and rely on the love that God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love, lives in God and God in them. You see, this is God's essence. This is what it means to talk about that, that God is love. We should realize that love brought us into the house, that love pursued us, That our reason of entry was because God so loved the world. And if love brought us into the house, love should also bind the house together in perfect unity. You see love should be the heartbeat of who we are because this is God's heartbeat of who he is. And so even as we see that, we should think about how love is the way of the house. But how could we not be a people of love? How could we not be a people of love as we are now called children of God, as we can experience this love, as we can experience the reality of His pursuit toward us? You see, listen to 1 John 3, "See what great love the Father has lavished on us, "that we should be called children of God. "And that is what we are." How could we not be a people of love? And that's why it's unfathomable to John as he was writing to say that we love God and hate a brother or sister in Christ, whom we can see. It doesn't even add up. In fact, John would say, "You're lying. "You're lying to yourself." And this is what I would hope that we would be a church who is known by love as we experience the incredible love of God being poured out in our hearts, as we love God and then distribute that love to the world around us. As we love the church, his people and then also love those within the world that He has created. That's why we say, "Love God, love the church, "love the world."
We should also recognize that the nature of our love should be compelling to a lost world, that in the way that we love one another, it should actually compel a lost world. In fact, listen to what Jesus said to His disciples. He said this, "A new command I give you, love one another. "As I have loved you, "so you must love one another. "By this, everyone will know that you are my disciples "if you love one another." See love, ladies and gentlemen must be the way of the house. We belong to a God of love. And therefore, we should be a people of love. But that doesn't mean by the way that we're soft and bubbly all of the time. It doesn't mean that. I think maybe sometimes we can have a shallow view of love because maybe when we start to think about what love is all about, it's sacrificial, it's other centric. When we think about that, we know that maybe the face of love is corrective at times. That's loving, if it's done in love, it's loving. Maybe the face of love is challenging someone to grow. It's pointing some things out in their lives, within their hearts to say, "Hey, you know what, "I see that in you. "You should work on that." That's love, I've had people do that in my own life, call things out in me, that's loving. I'm grateful for that. I mean, love of course can be compassionate. Maybe the face of love looks gracious in certain seasons. But here's what I'll tell you, with whatever we do, if it's not done in love, it has no place in the house. It has no place in the house if it is not done in love. We're just a clanging symbol as 1 Corinthians 13. Paul talks about it there, if we don't have love. So may we be a people who live up to that household rule that love is the way of the house. But let me pull out a third concept for all of us together today and it would be this, it's household responsibilities. So we see that there's this beautiful concept of household entry by faith and by way of Jesus as we're adopted into His family. We noted this household rule that love is the way of the house, but we could also see that there are household responsibilities to be shared. If my wife and I, if we were going to be having people over for dinner or whatnot, it probably wouldn't go so well for me if I go home and say, "Hey, you know what Val, "I had such a long day at work today. "You take care of all the dinner. "You take care of straightening out the house. "You clean everything. "I'm just gonna go lay on the couch and watch TV, "or watch maybe a TV show, or a baseball game, or whatnot." I don't think that would go so well for me. It wouldn't go well for me in fact at all. Why? Because I'm a part of this house. I'm a part of my household and there's responsibilities to be shared. I would help out. I would help straighten things out. Maybe I would be grilling. The grill master here flipping those burgers, rolling those hotdogs, that's it. But even when we see that, I know that that is part of what makes up a household, that there is shared or there are shared responsibilities among family members. And so even with that, what we have to recognize is that this shouldn't be different among the household of God. That this isn't about just seeing the pastor do all the work or people on staff or the Christian professionals. That's not what this is about at all. In fact, I don't see that designation given in terms of Christian professional, that doesn't exist. In fact, we're all called the job of a ministry leader and Ephesians 4 talks about equipping the saints, equipping the body of Christ for the work of the ministry because we're all in this together. We're all part of the household of faith designed to be on mission together which I'll talk about briefly in just a few moments. So what would it looked like maybe for us to adopt a family mindset? What would it look like for you, for me to better adopt a family mindset? Maybe that means serving, maybe you hear a need, maybe in your particular campus and you say, "You know what, I'm a part of this community of faith. "I'm a part of this household. "I'm a part of this family. "I'm just gonna serve." Because that's what families do." They share the responsibility. They help one another. Maybe it means picking up a coffee cup on your way out. I mean, I'm sure people would be gracious enough to do it for you, but if you brought it in, take it out, throw it out. Our facilities team will probably be thanking me for that one. But maybe it's sticking around after an event or whatnot, especially as more events may start to happen and maybe it's helping to reset chairs or clean up or do some of those things because this isn't just about being a consumer. This is about recognizing and understanding that we all have a responsibility within the family of God, within his household. Or maybe it's even just helping a brother or sister in Christ, praying for them, calling them, checking in on them. Maybe it's some of those things. Because even Paul when he talked or when he wrote to the church Galatia, what he wrote about in Galatians 6. Take a listen to what he said. "Let us not become weary in doing good, "for at the proper time, we will reap a harvest "if we do not give up. "Therefore, as we have opportunity, "let us do good to all people." Here it is, "Especially." Highlight that, circle that, do whatever you need to do. "But especially to those "who belong to the family of believers." See, "Especially to the family of believers." And so with that in mind, we are called to take care of one another, to be there for one another, to demonstrate goodness to one another. I can even point back to a home visit that I did recently. And I was pulling up and this person had ended up just having surgery. And so they weren't able to repair the house in the way that they needed to. And we pull up to the house and there was another member from our church that was just leaving, just leaving the house. And he said, "Hey, this family, "they needed their railing repaired "so that they can walk up and down the stairs "and I just fixed it for them. "I just fixed the railing. And he's walking out with his toolkit and whatnot. And he's like, "They're ready for you." We had a team they're getting ready to go and pray for them and all of that cool stuff. But what's powerful about that is I just thought to myself, "Exactly, that is exactly "how the household of God should function." Taking care of one another, being there for one another, even fixing railings for one another. This is a part of even what it looks like to care for, to do good for all, but especially, especially those who belong to the family of faith, the family of believers. But even more so when we start to think of the importance of this, when you think about the early church and you think about how maybe there would have been people who gave their lives for the sake of Christ. And because of that, they lost family members. Maybe they had family members turn on them because that wasn't what they believed. That happened even as we start to see that throughout the New Testament. You see, that was something that could easily happen. And so even with that being said, Paul talks about the idea of caring for one another because people lost maybe their family, their earthly family. And that's why even Jesus talked about in Mark 10, He talks about the idea that yes, you may have lost brothers or sisters. And then He talks about different family members. But on the other side of putting your faith and trust in Him, you gain 100 fold more. You gain brothers and sisters, you gain mothers. The father, it's interesting, Jesus, doesn't say you gain fathers because you actually gain one perfect heavenly Father. But you gain 100 fold. You see, you have brothers and sisters in Jesus as a part of your family, the family of God. And so even if maybe your scenario is you've lost family members or maybe you've had strained relationships because of your faith in Christ, here's what I hope you would recognize is that there is a family here that loves you, that cares for you and that will be there for you. That is what we are called to be about as the household, the family of God that we would care for one another, especially those who belong to the family of believers. That is our shared responsibility together. But let me give you a last concept. And this is the fourth one I wanted to highlight for us and it's this, is that we can recognize that there is a household purpose. God has a household and there is a household purpose. Let me tell it to you very plainly. The purpose of the household of God, grow the house. That's the purpose. Grow the house. The house is designed to grow. People get married. Even if you start to think of your own household, people raise kids. They have grandkids, have great grandkids. What happens? Over time, the house grows. And when we think about what Jesus has commissioned us to be about that we are to make disciples of all nations, that we wanna continue to see us grow in our faith, that we wanna continue to see our relationship with Jesus grow so that we would be sent into mission, sent within the world that we live in to give every man, every woman and every child repeated opportunities to hear and to see and prayerfully to respond to the good news, to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Why? So that the house would grow, so that people from all walks of life can experience this life changing news and be molded and shaped by this glorious hope of Jesus and being brought into, adopted into the family of God as this household is such a beautiful, beautiful household that we all need. You see this is the purpose of the household. Grow the house. But what we also have to recognize is that God is telling a story of His grace through His household by using His household, by using our testimony to the world. If we were to return back to Ephesians 2, the verses that we were at initially. I want to point your attention back here. Paul said, "Consequently, you are no longer foreigners "and strangers, but fellow citizens with God's people "and also members of his household built on the foundation "of the apostles and prophets "with Christ Jesus himself as the Chief Cornerstone. "In Him, the whole building is joined together "and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. "And in Him, you too are being built together to become." Listen to this, "A dwelling in which God lives by His Spirit." The household of God, listen to this, now houses the very presence of God. We together are a holy temple in the Lord being built up in Him. We together are a dwelling place for God Himself. That's a powerful, fascinating thought to think of. But also, when we realized that God has made His dwelling among His household, among us as believers, we can also realize that God will forever dwell among His people, that God will forever dwell among His household. In fact, listen to Revelation 21, "When Jesus returns, everything is made new." John says, "Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, "for the first heaven and the first earth has passed away "and there was no longer any sea. "I saw the Holy City, "the new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, "prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. "And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "'Look, God's dwelling places now among the people "'and He will dwell with them. "'They will be His people "'and God Himself will be with them and be their God. "'He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. "'There will be no more death, or mourning, or crying, "'or pain for the old order of things has passed away.'" This is the only family, the family of God, God's people. We're the only family that is forever. This is the only family that lasts forever. And it's made up of all kinds of believers from everywhere, every tribe, nation and tongue. And when the world sees that, think about how compelling that, that is? This glorious hope that God now dwells among His household, that we now tell the story of this glorious hope to the world around us of His grace. How compelling is that to a lost world as we seek to live out our purpose and to grow the house? If I were to summarize everything that I've said which I said I was going to do. If I were to summarize everything that I've said to us today, here's what I would tell you, is that the household of God is an eternal family designed to compel a lost world to Jesus. That's it, the household of God is an eternal family designed to compel a lost world to Jesus. I mean, just think about it for a second. When we tell the story of how we've been brought into the family of God by way of Christ and adopted into the family of God, how compelling is that? When we think about love binding us together in perfect unity and being so attractive prayerfully to a lost world. Jesus said, "By this, everyone will know "that you are my disciples "in the way that you love one another." When we think about telling even our stories of our household responsibilities and engaging in the house, being a part of this family, caring for one another, how compelling is that? And when we together are United on one common purpose, one common mission to see every single person here and see this glorious news of Jesus that has saved and set us free and our hope and our prayers that that would compel a lost world to Jesus. And this is exactly what the household of God is designed to do. It is designed to compel a lost world to Jesus. But here's the problem, is I think that maybe at times, instead of compelling the world to Jesus based on our testimony, maybe we've done damage to the house and therefore have done quite the opposite. You see, maybe the question that I can leave us with today is this question, am I doing damage to the house or am I seeking to grow the house? Am I doing damage to the house or am I seeking to grow the house? Maybe some of us here today, maybe we've been doing damage to the house. Maybe we're harboring unforgiveness or bitterness in our hearts against our brothers and sisters in Jesus that's damaging to the house. Maybe we are judgmental because that person aligns with that political party. And we see that person first as a Democrat or a Republican before we see them as a brother or sister in Christ, that's damaging to the house. Maybe we see skin color and we hold prejudices in our hearts instead of first seeing that person as a brother or sister in Jesus, that's damaging to the house. Maybe we see vaccinated or unvaccinated instead of first seeing brother or sister in Jesus. It's damaging to the house. Maybe we try to use the family of God for personal gain or for personal advancement of any kind. If I just knew that person, then maybe I can climb up the ladder a little bit more, have more influence, that's damaging to the house. Maybe we are gossiping and slandering our brothers and sisters in Jesus, that's damaging to the house. Maybe there is unrepentant sin that is inconsistent with our testimony and witness, that is damaging to the house. Am I doing damage to the house or am I seeking to grow the house? We are an eternal family. This is who we are. It's the household of God. You can find in this family, a family to belong no matter what your background is, no matter where you've come from, this is family. You can find a place of connection maybe even at any one of our campuses. And so maybe some of us, maybe we need to repent. Maybe there's there's things that we need to do or maybe we just need to turn from our sin and turn maybe from some of those things that I was describing because we're doing damage to the house and maybe we need to turn to what God would have for us and really live out what it means to allow the love of God to be so washed over us that we distribute that to one another. Maybe it's seeking forgiveness. Maybe it's just even on your way home, someone comes to mind and maybe that's an opportunity to forgive someone or seek out forgiveness. Or maybe even as I'm talking, maybe there's some folks that just need to take responsibility as a member of this household and be engaged, be a part of what we're doing, be a part of the mission that God has called us to be on. You see, because this is what families do. Let's act like family. Let's act like the family of God and let's allow our love for one another to compel a lost world to Jesus so that the house would grow for the glory of God. This family, listen closely, this is the family that you truly need. So let's live that out together as the people of God as we seek to compel a lost world to the glorious hope of Jesus.