God’s Family – The Forever Family

Pastor Stephen centers on the spiritual restoration of family through the lens of biblical history. He argues that while sin and trauma have historically fractured the human family, the sacrifice of Jesus Christ offers a way to reconcile these broken bonds and establish a new, eternal family. This "forever family" is defined not by biological ties, but by a shared devotion to God’s will and the unifying power of the Holy Spirit. Believers are urged to release past dysfunction and distractions to focus on their divine assignment of spreading the gospel. Ultimately, Pastor Stephen emphasizes that keeping Christ at the center is the only way for families to find their true purpose and achieve a lasting legacy 

Transcript

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Today's a special day because we have been on a journey talking about God's family. Can you say God's family? And as we've noticed, God's family traces back to the very beginning where God creates two people on earth and calls them family. And he gives them an assignment that they could only accomplish together. That they can only accomplish together with God at the center. As they're receiving God's instruction and being obedient to the assignment that God has given them. The problem is as sin enters in and begins to unravel the beautiful design of families that God intended. Where we see discord, we see dysfunction, we even see through sin, we see death begins to take root and begins to rip families apart. This is not the way that families were intended to look like. Every time there would be even a glimpse of hope for families, what would happen if you look throughout scripture? It would be the desires of the flesh, it would be jealousy, it would be envy, it would be anger, it would be unforgiveness. All of these things would come and tear apart families over and over and over again. We see this in Cain and Abel, the Tower of Babel, and other families throughout biblical history would fall apart. I ask you this this morning. How can families survive without God at the center? How can families survive without God at the center? How can families find their purpose if God is the purpose giver? Oh, you might get some good stories to talk about in your family time. Or you might get some good stories for other people to talk about. There might be some drama, there might be some trauma that takes place in your family. There could be family heirlooms, there could be some hand-me-downs, there could be some family estates and family foundations, but there's no eternal purpose, there's no long-lasting legacy. We saw how Abram is called to be the father of many nations. We watched how a family line would be chosen to be the new foundation as it pertains to family. A family line that we are the descendants of through Christ. A family line that would that was called to be separate, that was called to consecrate themselves unto God. A family line that would be given the potential, listen, the potential to have God at the center of their family again. Praise the Lord. If you've been on this journey and if you haven't and you missed a few, you can always go back and watch it online. Because there's some key moments that you have to understand. We've walked through Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, over to Joseph, Moses, and the Israelites walking out of Egypt into the promised land. Along this journey, we've sought, we saw how difficult it is for family. Even God's family to find its footing, to find its foundation. Why? Because the distance between God and man had drifted so far because of sin. Consistently, families struggled in the inevitability of never measuring up to God's holiness and missing out on the family's full created purpose. So what happens? Jesus Christ comes on the scene. Can you say praise the Lord? Jesus Christ comes on the scene, and finally, families have a hope again. Families have a future again. Families have purpose. Here comes Jesus ready to give his life so that you and I can be united unto God and united unto each other. And that's important to realize, family of God. Here comes Jesus ready to give his life to reconcile all that was scattered, all that was broken and restore peace, restore purpose, restore families once and for all. Last week we talked about the redesigned family when we saw back when Abraham was called out of his father's house, there was a severance that took place. And as Abraham stepped out from under his first earthly father's inheritance, what happened to Abraham? He stepped under the inheritance of his heavenly father. A spiritual severance took place, and there was a whole new family design. And Jesus comes, Jesus Christ comes on the scene, dies on a cross, so that this family design could come to full fruition with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. And that's what we talk about. The fullness of this design when Jesus dies on the cross. Because we see that the benefits, the inheritance are not just for one family line, but through the blood of Jesus Christ, all of humanity has access to a heavenly inheritance. Can you say amen if you believe that? Realize this everybody has the opportunity to join in on God's family. Nobody is excluded. You might have gone a long time without a family. But realize Jesus gave his life so that you could have a family. So that you could have purpose. So that you could have brothers and sisters to create life, not just today, but eternity with. Amen. Everybody has the opportunity to be recipients of God's favor as his children. In Galatians chapter 3, verse 26, for you are all sons and daughters of God through what? Faith in Jesus Christ. For all of you are baptized into Christ, having clothed yourself with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you be belong to Christ, then you are who? Abraham's descendants, according to the promise. And not only are we heirs to the promise, but through Jesus Christ, we are united by one Spirit. The Holy Spirit is now at work within each and every one of us, uniting us for one goal, one purpose. First Corinthians chapter 12, read this one with me. For just as the body is one and yet has many parts, and all the parts of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one spirit we were all baptized into one body. Whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, we were all made to drink of one spirit. By this revelation, that we realize that we are brothers and sisters in Christ. If you're sitting next to a male, I want you to say hello, brother. If you're sitting next to a female, I want you to say hello, sister. Because that's what we are. We are brothers and sisters in Christ. Even Jesus, as we said last week, even Jesus questions, who is my mother? Who are my brothers? If you missed last week, you're going to watch it online. But in scripture it says this in Matthew chapter 12. Jesus says, Who is my mother? Who are my brothers? And then extending his hand towards his disciples, he said, Behold, my mother and my brothers, for whosoever does the will of my Father who is in heaven, he is my brother and my sister and my mother. It's important to realize this. Because if we look through our eternity glasses, if we look through our eternity lens, we find out who are our brothers and sisters. This is important to realize. Because these are powerful questions. Who are you going to be spending eternity with? When all is said and done, when you take your last breath on earth and your eyes close and you go home to be with eternity, who go home to be with the Lord to your eternal home. Who is going to be there with you? Who are you spending eternity with? Who are you going to heaven with? Who are you going to worship around the throne room of heaven with? It is those who do the will of the Father. We can get caught up in the family drama. We can get caught up in the family drama and say, Well, my mother did this. My father treated me this way. My brother did this. My sister did this. We can take the family trauma and we can strap it to our backs, and we can walk through our short life with this heavy burden, this heavy, I'll call it distraction, this joy stealer. I'll even call it a sleep-depriving burden that we have strapped to our backs because of all the family drama and the family trauma. Or, capital O R. By the blood of Jesus Christ, we can be set free and realize that I am an overcomer through Christ Jesus. We are not bound by family curses, we are not bound by family dysfunction. Jesus gave his life so that we could be part of a new family, God's family, where there is freedom, where there is righteousness, peace, and there is joy in the Holy Ghost. So you need to unstrap. Unstrap that trauma. And realize that God wants to take all of that and he wants to turn it around for good. If you would allow him to. And this revelation, this revelation should cause us to look at our blood relatives, our earthly family, our brothers and sisters, even our friends, and think, I've got to introduce these people to Jesus. I've got to introduce them to a living God who has an eternity in store for them if they would just get to know who Jesus is. Because life is short and eternity is forever, and my forever family. Can you say forever family? Your forever family are the ones who do the will of the Father. Turn to your neighbor and say, You are my forever family. And then look back at that same person and say, if you do the will of the Father. John 6, verse 40, for this is the will of my father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him will have what? Eternal life. And I myself will raise him up on the last day. Can you say, Praise the Lord? See, if we look, we find that all the family and friend problems that we entertain, you know what they are? They're distractions that pull us from our true purpose. Jesus dies on a cross, gives his life, and is resurrected on the third day. And before he sends into heaven ascends into heaven, he says this, and we should all know this in Matthew chapter 28, 19. It says, Go ye therefore and teach all nations. Do you have that? Are we trying to say it from memory? We could do it. Okay, here we go. Nope, that one. Ready? Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Why is this important? Because this is your assignment. Why do you think you're breathing today? Why do you think God hasn't wiped you out in that car accident or that sickness or even at birth? Why does God have you still walking around this earth today? It's because He has an assignment for you. Stay focused on your assignment. Everything else is secondary. You can use everything else to accomplish this assignment. Not that one, the other one. With the family of God back together again because of Christ, God gives us a fresh assignment to the family, and he says to them, Listen, the family is back together. Go tell people about me. Go tell people about Jesus Christ. And then in the book of Acts, we see the outpouring of the Holy Spirit because He knows that we need more than just our own strength to be able to accomplish the assignment. We need to allow God to be at the center of our family, and then He gives us everything that is necessary to accomplish our assignment through the power of the Holy Spirit that lives inside of you and I. Adam and Eve were given an assignment, but what happened to Adam and Eve? They got distracted by disobedience and the desires of that flesh. Let that not be you. After the flood, people were given an assignment, but God was not at the center, so they did their own thing instead of keeping to God's instruction. We have been given our family assignment, but the only way for us to accomplish our assignment is for God to be at the center. Can you say God at the center? And with God at the center, we need to open up his word and we need to follow the instruction manual to finish out the task that we've been given. Listen, you want to see your loved one saved, you're not going to be able to do it on your own strength. You need to operate under the instruction of God's word. You want to see your friends in eternity, you need to follow God's word, and then you need to lean into the Holy Spirit and allow the Holy Spirit to apply God's word to your identity. And as you read God's word, you say, That's who I am. And allow the Holy Spirit to take all of that and rip out the junk that doesn't belong there and put the word of God as your new identity in Christ. Why? Because when your identity lines up with God's word, then people will see Jesus through you. Then people will see Jesus through you, and you'll be able to make an impact. Think of Rose Susie. Even in the loss of her son, people are seeing Jesus through her. Could you imagine? I've seen people go through a lot less and you don't see Jesus in them at all. People who say that they're believers. But yet when your identity is in Christ, when your identity is in, when you truly surrender to the leading of the Holy Spirit, it's a whole new output that you're bringing to the table. Put away sexual immorality. Listen, put away sexual immorality, it is going to distract you from accomplishing your task. That is not God's purpose for you. That's not why He has you living and breathing in 2026. Put away bitterness, put away gossip. It is going to distract you from accomplishing your task. Guess what? That is not God's purpose for you. That's not why you're breathing in 2026. Stop being selfish and unforgiving. It's going to distract you from accomplishing your task that is not God's purpose for you. Listen, stop sowing discord and separation. It's going to distract you from accomplishing the task that God has for you. That's not God's purpose for you to be wrapped up in all of that stuff. That's not why you're breathing in 2026. Get filled with the Holy Spirit. Get filled with the Holy Spirit. And stay focused on who you've be who've who you've been created to be. That's what Jesus tells the disciples. Be filled with the Holy Spirit. Focus on who you've been created to be. Operate in love and humility, and you are not alone in this. God has given you teammates to encourage, to hold you up, to cheer you on. God has given you a forever family members to accomplish the assignment with. You're not alone. And when your term on earth is done, it's your forever family that you will step into eternity with. Paul says this in 1 Thessalonians 4:16. But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who are asleep that have gone home to be with the Lord, so that you will not grieve, as indeed the rest of mankind do, who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose from the dead, so also God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep through Christ. For we say this to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will not precede those who have fallen asleep, for the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Go to the next slide. Verse 17. Then we who are alive, look at your brothers and sisters this morning. Then we who are alive who remain. It's we will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet them in the air. And so can you say, We will always be with the Lord. While we are on earth, we have an assignment, and the task is to be accomplished with family. Guess what? You cannot do it on your own. God has given you family. You can't do it on your own. Stop doing it on your own. You have a family, families operating as families do, or at least the way that families are intended to operate. And then as we enter the things of eternity, guess what happens? As we operate as families here, when we get to eternity, guess what? We operate as families in eternity. How do we know this? Look at scripture, two verses, Luke chapter 14. Now, when one of those who were reclining at the table with him heard this, he said to him, Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God. Amen. We know that's today, that's in eternity. Revelation chapter 19. Then he said to him, Write, blessed are those who are invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb. And he said to me, These are the true words of God. Imagine what family is going to look like in eternity. Imagine what family is going to look like in eternity. Imagine the family dinner table where we're supping together as one big happy family. We see that's what Jesus did with his disciples, did he not? We see that's what Jesus did with his disciples. What was Jesus ushering in? Jesus was ushering in family time. Hey guys, it's family time. Let's pray together. Let's sup with one another. Let's have family time together. Because what we're doing here is what's going to be happening in heaven. Because it continues in eternity. Powerful scripture in Revelation chapter 5. And every creature which is in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and such as are in the sea and all that are in them, I heard saying, blessing and honor and glory and power be to him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb forever and ever. That's how we will worship in heaven. Family worshiping God together with the family back together through Christ, there is a greater purpose that is being fulfilled, a greater purpose that is in motion. Listen, I'm gonna tell you this this morning. You can't be a family, or let me say this: we can't be a family who is fighting all the time. We cannot be a family who is holding grudges. We cannot be a family where every member prefers to work by themselves and do their own thing because it's easier. No, the forever family has bigger, better things to worry about, better things to accomplish, and we will do it together. There's a beautiful passage in Hebrews chapter 13, and I'll close in just a minute or two. In Hebrews chapter 11, I'm sorry. I don't have time to read the full passage, but as I was reading it, I'm like, this is exactly what we've been talking about through this series. But in Hebrews chapter 11, there's a beautiful recap. Of standout men and women of faith all throughout scripture. Men and women like Noah and Joseph and Sarah and Moses and others who operated in faith and were used to carry the plan of God forward. And if you read this passage, and that'll be your homework this week, Hebrews chapter 11, you see that the author of Hebrews highlights all of these faith actions that point to the fulfillment of what God was doing to restore all of humanity into God's family. And at the closing of this chapter, and we have it on the screen, the author of Hebrews says this in verse 39, and all these things having gained approval through their faith, all of these did not receive what was promised. Because God had provided something better for us, so that apart from us, they would not be made perfect. You'd have to read that a couple times to understand. But you and I, as believers in Jesus Christ in 2026, do you realize this? That we now take part in the fulfillment of God's plan. All those men and women that struggled but stayed on to the faith all throughout their journey, pointing to the restoration of God's family. And now, because of you and I, everything that the pillars of the faith gave their lives for is fulfilled because you and I are now recipients of the promise through Jesus Christ. And now, because of our belief in Jesus Christ, we too, with our founding fathers of the faith, we are all part of God's family together. Just think you have a brother Paul that you haven't even met yet, but you've read about. You have a brother Moses that you heard wonderful stories about. You have a sister Esther and a sister Ruth that have all carried the faith and now it's being fulfilled even through us. You know what this tells me? You know what this tells me? God always has family on the mind. God always has family on the mind. God always has the body of Christ on the mind. Why? And I think I learned this from my dad. You cannot accomplish what God has for you without your brothers and sisters working with you to accomplish it. I'll read it again. You can't accomplish what God has for you without your brothers and sisters working with you to accomplish it. From the beginning, God created family to accomplish an assignment. Today, God has given us an assignment. And he's given us a family to do it with. Listen, people of God, we need to keep Jesus at the center. We need to keep Jesus at the center. The center of your family can't be a movie that you watched. The center of your family can't be a book that you read that you thought, oh, this is really good. The center of your family can't be education, although these are good things. The center of your family can't be a job or a career or a foundation or a state or a backyard or a house. Listen, the center of your family cannot be drama. The center of your family cannot be trauma. Jesus died on the cross so that you could be released from all of that. Jesus needs to be the center of your life. Jesus needs to be the center of your family. Jesus needs to be the center of our family. All of us, brothers and sisters in the Lord, working together. Imagine what God wants to do with us. We all just can't be doing our own thing. There's so much more.