Family, 8 August 2021

Family
Series—Getting to the Core (values)
1 Corinthians 12:4-31; Romans 12:10; Revelation 7:9

Series Big Idea:
Our core values guide us in our mission of family restoring God’s masterpieces for His glory.

Big Idea: We are a mosaic of people loving God and doing life together.

Alliance Core Value: Completing the Great Commission will require the mobilization of every fully-devoted disciple. Matthew 28:19

What is the first thing you think of when I say…family? Some of you may picture a husband and wife, their 1.96 children, and a dog! Others may imagine a large family reunion with dozens of people gathered together. Still others think of a broken family tree, perhaps an abusive childhood and great pain. Regardless of your family, I believe most of us can at least imagine a healthy family filled with love, acceptance, and respect…a family that does life together…a family that works through conflict and is there for one another…a family that is safe and promotes flourishing.

We are all a part of a family. Actually, we’re all a part of several different families…a biological family, a community at work or school or play, and a spiritual family.

We’re in the middle of series called
Getting to the Core After years of research, conversations, and prayer, our staff and elders have gotten clarity around what we believe is God’s direction for First Alliance, including our core values:

Equipping…the next generation to fulfill the Great Commission
Faithfulness…to prayer, the Word of God, and following Jesus
Family…a mosaic of people loving God and doing life together
Generosity…trusting God with open hands and open hearts
Missional…taking faith-filled risks in launching new ministries to love our neighbors
Synergy…collaborating for the sake of the Kingdom of God

It’s who we’ve been.
It’s who we are.
It’s where we’re going.

We are a Jesus-centered family restoring God’s masterpieces in Toledo and beyond for His glory.

All followers of Jesus are part of the global family of God, sons and daughters of the Most High God. We’re related by blood…the blood of Jesus.

Our denomination, the Christian & Missionary Alliance, calls itself a Christ-centered, Acts 1:8 family. Acts 1:8 is a reference to Jesus’ words before leaving our planet.

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)

The Alliance is a family. First Alliance Church Toledo is also a family. Being family is one of our core values:

Family…a mosaic of people loving God and doing life together

One definition of
family calls it a group of one or more parents and their children living together as a unit. If you look at the end of our statement, it says doing life together. First Alliance Church is a group of people doing life together. If we are truly living out this value, last year’s lockdown wouldn’t be a big deal. After all, the Church is the people of God, wherever they are. Pandemic or not, the people of First Alliance not only worship together on Sunday mornings, they pray for one another, pray with one another, eat with one another, serve with one another, study the Bible with one another, encourage one another, take trips with one another, and most of all love one another.

That last one is critical. We love one another. Or we
should! The thing about family is when it’s good, it’s really good…and when it’s bad, it’s really bad. Although I’ve been a part of some not-so-great church families, I must say as we head toward our fall kickoff at the end of the month, I’m really encouraged by what I see in First Alliance. There is a growing sense of unity and love for one another. God has even used COVID-19 to draw us together through things like Zoom Prayer. I recently called one family to see how they were doing in the midst of a difficult trial and was told, “Pastor, we’re doing fine. The people of First Alliance have been praying, delivering meals, and calling. We’re so blessed.”

Heather and I are blessed to call this church family. I believe we are the only Schneemanns in the state of Ohio and it’s a special thing to do life together with you. Sundays are great, but the real action takes place outside of this room…in coffee shops, dining rooms, businesses, and car rides. I love hearing stories of family members visiting shut-ins together. Our worship team serves together. Our elected officers meet together. We do life together.

Perhaps as I say that, you feel left out. Lonely. Disconnected. On the margin. I have three invitations for you:

  1. 1. Join a Life Group.
  2. 2. Join a serving team.
  3. 3. Attend FAC 101 on October 3 at noon

To truly be a part of a family, you have to participate. You must engage. For decades I’ve heard people say, “Nobody cares about me” only to discover they’ve never made an effort to care about or even get to know others. Friendship is a two-way street. You can’t hide and complain that nobody sees you!

I urge you to join a Life Group. Join a serving team. Attend FAC 101 on October 3.

Family…a mosaic of people loving God and doing life together

We are a family doing life together but also a family loving God. That’s what brings us together. We are united at the foot of the cross, children of God. We love God. Together. That’s the primary reason we gather on Sunday mornings online and on campus. We like to say our focus is “up.” Our strategy is quite simple:

Up-In-Out

We gather to worship, to pray, to study the Bible, to connect with God. Up.

We also gather to get to know one another, to do life together. This is done in Life Groups, but ideally a Life Group is more than just a weekly meeting. A healthy Life Group does all of the “one anothers” I mentioned…they serve one another, visit one another, deliver meals to one another, call or text one another, love God together, love one another. We call this “In.”

The final piece of our strategy is “Out.” We reach out and serve, whether it’s through Sports & Art Camp, Dinner Church, Celebrate Recovery, or student ministry, working with one of our Home Missions partners, or some other community engagement.

Ideally, everyone in the family is connecting up, in, and out…worshipping together on Sunday mornings, doing life together during the week, and serving together. Nobody worships alone. Nobody serves alone. We are family. We are people loving God and doing life together. But there’s one more vital element to our core value of family.

We are a mosaic. We are a diverse family. This is significant. Many churches are homogeneous, meaning they are filled with people all alike, whether it be ethnicity, age, or socio-economic. We all understand the global family of God is diverse, but First Alliance Church Toledo is diverse…and growing in its diversity.

Diversity is not without its challenges, but our different help us grow…while uniting around what brings us together…our mission, our core values, the Word of God and the Testimony of Jesus Christ. I truly love that our family looks different. We have whites, blacks, and browns in our family. We have people with black hair, brown hair, gray hair, …and some with no hair! Our First Alliance family is filled with Republicans, Democrats, and Independents. We have Buckeyes and Wolverines, suburbanites and city-dwellers, and even theologically we have Arminians and Calvinists (if you don’t know what that means, look it up…or ask me later!). Again, our differences can get messy, but at a time in our culture where everyone seems to be cancelling one another and dividing over the silliest things, the Church is formed around a person…Jesus Christ. We have different incomes, educational backgrounds, musical preferences, hobbies, and zip codes, but one LORD, one faith, one baptism.

We are a Jesus-centered family restoring God’s masterpieces in Toledo and beyond for His glory.

What brings us together is Jesus and His mission. But we’re all different. We’re a mosaic…and beautiful collection of broken pieces assembled together so light can shine through. Isn’t that a perfect description of what the Body of Christ, the Bride of Christ, the Church is supposed to be? We are all broken, yet God assembles us together and the light of Jesus shines through us creating a beautiful masterpiece.

Paul wrote this to the church in Corinth in modern-day Greece:

There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. 5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6 There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work. (1 Corinthians 12:4-6)

God has created each of us unique and special. He has given all of us different kinds of gifts.

Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 8 To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. (1 Corinthians 12:7-10)

This is not the only list of spiritual gifts, but it’s a good one! We believe in all of the gifts even though not everyone necessarily knows or uses their gifts. We’ll get to that in a moment.

All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines. (1 Corinthians 12:11)

If you don’t like your gift, blame God! He has created each of us different. Some have a supernatural gift of wisdom, others knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, prophecy, discernment, tongues, and interpretation. Other gifts include helps, preaching, leadership, teaching, and the creative arts. God has gifted some with the gift of evangelism, others mercy. The key is to discover, develop, and deploy your gift(s) for God’s glory.

Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many. (1 Corinthians 12:12-14)

One body, many parts. All different. Each part is critical. If you’ve ever stubbed your toe, you know the importance of every part of your body!

Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body. (1 Corinthians 12:15-20)

Do you get the picture? If not, Paul will make sure you understand!

The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. (1 Corinthians 12:21-26)

That’s family. You need me. I need you. My gifts aren’t better than yours. Every gift is necessary. And there should be no division. We should have equal concern for one another. When one of us suffers, we all suffer. When one of us is honored, we all rejoice. That’s the Body. That’s the Church. That’s family.

Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? Now eagerly desire the greater gifts.

And yet I will show you the most excellent way. (1 Corinthians 12:27-31)

What follows is the love chapter of the Bible, 1 Corinthians 13. Love is the hallmark of family. Romans 12:10 says,

Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. (Romans 12:10)

That’s the kind of family God is building at First Alliance. Do you want to see what it will look like in the future?

After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. (Revelation 7:9)

That’s the global family. Jesus didn’t come to earth to start a white religion or even an American movement. The Body of Christ is a mosaic from every nation, tribe, people, and language and we’ll spend eternity together. We might as well celebrate our differences and unite around Jesus now! I love Toledo because it allows us to do life together with different people, even people from other nations!

You’re invited

Maybe you’re not a part of the family. I don’t mean the First Alliance family. I mean the family of God. I want to invite you to join the family. The table is a beautiful symbol of family. It’s the gathering place. It’s home. No matter who you are or what you’ve done, you are welcome to join the family. Come to the table.

One more thing…

One of the core values of the Christian & Missionary Alliance states,

Completing the Great Commission will require the mobilization of every fully-devoted disciple. Matthew 28:19

We looked at that scripture two weeks ago where we saw the Great Commission is essentially the mission of the Church…to go and make disciples of all nations, reproducing the life of Jesus. It requires all of us, every fully-devoted disciple. I hope that includes you! I can’t stress this enough…get connected.

  1. 1. Join a Life Group.
  2. 2. Join a serving team.
  3. 3. Attend FAC 101 on October 3 at noon

You’re not going to feel part of the family until you participate with the family, until you engage. I know some of you are introverts and that’s great. Join us on Facebook and Instagram. Send me an e-mail with your questions or comments. Take a risk and ask someone out for a cup of coffee…or let our office know you’re interested in connecting with a new friend.

I want to end with one final challenge: get in SHAPE. No, I don’t mean go to the gym. Go to
FreeShapeTest.com. Don’t worry, this is one test you can’t fail! It’s a free assessment that will help you better understand how God’s wired you up, your spiritual gifts, your passion and heart. If you send the results to our office (office@factoledo.org), we can help you get connected to a serving team where you can worship God, bless others, and experience the joy of doing life together. We’ll talk more about SHAPE this fall, but if you’d like to get a head-start, check it out.

You can listen to this message and others at the First Alliance Church podcast here.

You can watch this video and others at the First Alliance Church Video Library
here.
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