The church is the family of God.

The church is the family of God. Once in a while, it's really helpful to talk about family matters.

How should we be as a body of Christ?How should we interact with each other?

In the closing days of this year, let's discuss how to prepare for 2017. A family that talks together stays together! May we be united in Christ.

Setting resolutions for the family. What are the things we are looking for in the body of Christ?

Hear strong word, what god has to say? Want to be part of community? Make new Friends?

1. On Worship

A). Clap and shout for lord

Worship is an internal expression of appreciation for god

Ps 47:1-2

1 Oh, clap your hands, all you peoples!

Shout to God with the voice of triumph!

2 For the LORD Most High is awesome;

He is a great King over all the earth.

David said we have to shout to god with loud sounds. He is to be feared and praised. If we want to see life we bring it.

B. Bow and kneel before God.

It is a sign of total respect. We don't need to be told to worship god. God is to be loved and feared. Our love for god means that if one day we have a worship leader who sings out of tune, we still hold on to His love and show our affection and kneel and bow before Him.

Ps 95:6-7

6 Oh come, let us worship and bow down;

Let us kneel before the LORD our Maker.

7 For He is our God, And we are the people of His pasture, And the sheep of His hand.

2. On Word

A) Hear and practice God's Word

Something new does not mean it is wrong cos it could have always been there but we did not hear it. But if we are always looking for something new, it is not right.

Luke 11:27-28

27 And it happened, as He spoke these things, that a certain woman from the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, “Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts which nursed You!” 28 But He said, “More than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”

The problem with this sentence is that the teaching is to show how blessed we are not how blessed Mary is. Jesus says why get someone else blessing when we can have it - we heard His teachings and we keep it.

B. Affirm God's Word

We cannot hear God's Words casually. It has to be Intentional. If we say the Word of God is important, it has to be lodged in our heart, just like the birth dates of our loved ones, telephone numbers of our family members.

1 Chronicles 16:36

36 Blessed be the LORD God of Israel

From everlasting to everlasting!

And all the people said, “Amen!” and praised the LORD.

They heard that God is a powerful god and they say Amen and want it to be lodged in our heart.

3. On Community

A. Living in unity

We cannot exist alone. If we are a lone sheep wihout shepherd, it means when the wolf comes we stand no chance. If we want to pursue the kingdom, we have to grow and live in a community. God knows us and He wants us to be in a congregation / community.

Ps 133:1

1 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is

For brethren to dwell together in unity!

We cannot dwell in church service but we can dwell in a cell in unity. Every talk about diffusing community is from the devil. Satan will tell us it is better to be alone when we quarrel. God says despite the challenges we have with our spouse, god says we have to stay together and work things out.

Church is for us towards god, we are here to say God is amazing. All the happy and sad moments in our life we need someone to be around us. Good and bad times are best shared with someone else.

B. United in heart and mind

1 Peter 3:8

8 Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous;

What is a community of God supposed to be?

When we come to church, we come together for the 2 hours, not going through our life - how we raise our kids, how we go through our work, etc.

Tenderhearted - to be in community we cannot be too bossy and hard. We have to have tender heart.

4. On Love

A. Live by Love

God's love is a unique and Divine kind of love.

1 Cor 16:14

Let all that you do be done in love

Everything we do should be done in love. Love one another and everything we do we do in love. People serving us may not be always doing in love, but how do we respond?

The church is us. It is about god. We don't assume church to be a shopping mall, where we are consumers and we rate the staff, the pastors, etc.

B. Love is everything

1 Cor 13:7

7 love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Sermon by PS Pacer. Note by sister Veron.