Every family has routines and values, and these are closely connected.  Take suburban family life as an example.  On the surface, we can see routines:  wake, eat, drop-off at daycare/school, commute to work, work, commute home, pickup kids, make and eat dinner, get everyone to bed, and repeat.

But we have to ask what values are behind that.  Why do families move to the suburbs?   There are choices, you could live in country, or the city.  Why here?

For some, it’s where they grew up.  Others want to be close to parents, or want their kids to have a yard of a certain size, or to be near nature.

Whatever the values, we chose the routine because of those values.

Yesterday, we saw Jesus shake up his family routine because he was pursuing a higher value.  He called it the will of his Father in heaven.  We have called these kingdom values, and it can be distilled down to loving God, and loving neighbour.

Jesus is challenging the extended family norms of his day, and replacing them with a new one.  A new kind of family.  With this new family will come new routines, all because of those founding values.

The other direction works, too.

We are trying to instill some routines in my family like saying a prayer before a meal (grace), asking our son the best and worst part of day, so we can say thanks to God in prayer, and ask for help or say sorry for the low parts of the day.  We also read a Bible story and say a prayer at bed.  We do this in hopes that our son will learn some values from those routines.

Let’s start simple, and look just at what it means to love God, and love neighbour.

Question: Based on the values of love God, love neighbour, what do you think Jesus’ family routines would be like?   What could your immediate family’s routines look like?

 

Ryan Sim - October 24, 2013

Thursday - Act On It - Becoming Like Family

So what does it mean to do the will of our father in heaven, as a family of followers of Jesus? How do our values impact our routines and traditions as we develop into a church family? One example that will guide us for the rest of this series comes from this description in the book of Acts, which tells the story of the first followers of Jesus organizing their extended family after Jesus died, rose and left the earth. 42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 43 And awe[e] came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common. 45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved. Five main elements devoted to: Growth in Discipleship – They shared some teaching and belief in common with each other, and those who knew Jesus, the apostles. Groups in Community –They were together regularly. Grace in Lifestyle – They gained favour with all the people through their changed hearts Generosity of Resources – They were selling and sharing their possessions to ensure no one was in need. God in Worship – They regularly attended temple worship, and were breaking bread in homes in keeping with Jesus’ instructions from the night before he died We’ll explore each of these things in depth these next few weeks, because these are the same things our church community will be devoted to. We will try to keep it well rounded, and not just focus on one thing or another. Challenge: Rank these from easiest to hardest for you.

From Series: "Becoming Like Family"

This series looks at becoming “like family” with others learning to follow Jesus. We're exploring how the church is not a building, institution or event, but a community of people. It's important that explore what church means as we prepare to launch a new church in Ajax in 2014.

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