How do you Define Family? I - Living Grace Fellowship

Sunday 06/28/15

Series: Church Discussion

Message – How do you Define Family I.mp3

In order to encourage growth in Biblical doctrine, I every once and a while will put out a sheet with questions, intended to challenge everyone to see if our beliefs are supported by scripture.

This discussion group was about how we and our culture defines family and the impact that has of God’s intention for family.

You can download the questionnaire I sent out to everyone so you can take the survey as well and follow along as we go through it as a group.

A report by the Pew Research Center asked 2,691 randomly chosen adults whether seven trends were “good, bad or of no consequence to society.” The trends were:

more unmarried couples raising children
more gay and lesbian couples raising children
more single women having children without a male partner to help raise them
more people living together without getting married
more mothers of young children working outside the home
…etc.

How you define “family” and why. Do you think a new definition of family is starting to emerge in our society? If so, how do you see that in your own life or community?

QUESTION for church:

Does this re-defining of family work to destroy the reason why God created family in the first place? If so, how?

Starting at the beginning of this article, what are the first words that should cause a Christian to immediately suspect “foul play”?

Do you think this societal “herding” in a direction completely counter to the Biblical model is an accident or a deliberate influence of satan on our society?

In what ways do you believe you have witnessed the average Christian home being affected by this re-defining of the family, its structure and functions?

Are all the result of this type of redefining ALWAYS negative?

Just because good CAN come from evil, does that require us to reexamine the truth of what God has ordained and called good?

If this cultural redefining is the work of satan, what specifically do you think he has in mind by re-defining “family”?

How does it work to further his agenda or work to counter God’s agenda of establishing His kingdom here on earth?

What exactly DOES the Bible say about the topics in the bulleted list above?

Is what the Bible says about these things culturally derived or influenced or are they mandates God established for the purposes of His kingdom and the revealing of his character?

Is it okay to dismiss these commands?

Are there Biblical examples where …at times or under certain circumstances…these restrictions are able to be suspended or ignored?

If those cases DO exist, what might or should be done by the local church to make it easier to keep the biblical mandates?

Do any of these, create a check in your own heart?
1. Do they challenge some assumptions you have made?
2. Do they challenge some allowances you’ve made for yourself or loved ones?
3. If so, did you know why you sidestepped or have made an excuse for not keeping a biblical mandate? If so, was it to “keep peace” instead of being a Peace maker in your family?
4. When we choose to ignore rather than approach a loved one concerning breaking biblical mandates can we claim we really love them?
5. Can honoring man above God EVER yield good fruit?
6. Can honoring man above God EVER FAIL to exist as leaven in your life? (Meaning will that one act of dishonor stay isolated in your life or will it ALWAYS grow and claim more of you – enticing you to freely dishonor Him in other areas as well?)

This is where we ended this week. We will begin with hurtles to bearing fruit in our next message.

I hope this church discussion will challenge you and encourage you to place your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.

You have a special place in God’s family & kingdom. If you do not know Him, please use our ‘Contact Us‘ page and reach out so we may have the privilege of introducing you to the Lord. Attendance at our church will NOT even be mentioned nor will money.

If you have been spiritually fed by this ministry and wish to give, we truly appreciate that and you may do so here, but all outreaches of this ministry are FREE for you and anyone to enjoy at no cost.

Blessings!

Pastor Mark

View posts by Pastor Mark

Hi my name is Mark and though I am opposed to titles, I am currently the only Pastor (shepherd/elder) serving our assembly right now.

I have been Pastoring in one capacity or another for nearly 30 years now, though never quite like I am today.

Early in 2009 the Lord revealed to me that the way we had structured our assembly (church) was not scriptural in that it was out of sync with what Paul modeled for us in the New Testament. In truth, I (like many pastors I am sure) never even gave this fundamental issue of church structure the first thought. I had always assumed that church structure was largely the same everywhere and had been so from the beginning. While I knew Paul had some very stringent things to say about the local assembly of believers, the point of our gatherings together and who may or may not lead, I never even considered studying these issues but assumed we were all pretty much doing it right...safety in numbers right?! Boy, I couldn't have been more wrong!

So needless to say, my discovery that we had been doing it wrong for nearly two decades was a bit of a shock to me! Now, this "revelation" did not come about all at once but over the course of a few weeks. We were a traditional single pastor led congregation. It was a top-bottom model of ministry which is in part biblical, but not in the form of a monarchy.

The needed change did not come into focus until following 9 very intense months of study and discussions with those who were leaders in our church at the time.

We now understand and believe that the Bible teaches co-leadership with equal authority in each local assembly. Having multiple shepherds with God's heart and equal authority protects both Shepherds and sheep. Equal accountability keeps authority and doctrine in check. Multiple shepherds also provide teaching with various styles and giftings with leadership skills which are both different and complementary.

For a while we had two co-pastors (elders) (myself and one other man) who led the church with equal authority, but different giftings. We both taught in our own ways and styles, and our leadership skills were quite different, but complimentary. We were in complete submission to each other and worked side-by-side in the labor of shepherding the flock.

Our other Pastor has since moved on to other ministry which has left us with just myself. While we currently only have one Pastor/Elder, it is our desire that God, in His faithfulness and timing, may bring us more as we grow in maturity and even in numbers.

As to my home, I have been married since 1995 to my wonderful wife Terissa Woodson who is my closest friend and most trusted ally.

As far as my education goes, I grew up in a Christian home, but questioned everything I was ever taught.

I graduated from Bible college in 1990 and continued to question everything I was ever taught (I do not mention my college in order to avoid being labeled).

Perhaps my greatest preparation for ministry has been life and ministry itself. To quote an author I have come to enjoy namely Fredrick Buechner in his writing entitled, Now and Then, "If God speaks to us at all other than through such official channels as the Bible and the church, then I think that He speaks to us largely through what happens to us...if we keep our hearts open as well as our ears, if we listen with patience and hope, if we remember at all deeply and honestly, then I think we come to recognize beyond all doubt, that, however faintly we may hear Him, He is indeed speaking to us, and that, however little we may understand of it, His word to each of us is both recoverable and precious beyond telling." ~ Fredrick Buechner

Well that is about all there is of interest to tell you about me.

I hope our ministry here is a blessing to you and your family. I also hope that it is only a supplement to a local church where you are committed to other believers in a community of grace.

~God Bless!