3/5 Sermon on Family Life, Part 1

At The Family Church here in Gainesville last Sunday morning, Pastor Philip Griffin embarked on a new series...I'm not quite sure how long it'll be...titled Family Life.  The first message concerned the nature of Christ's church and what it is not: it is not a building, something to attend instead of being, something that is optional, or something that, like a business, is consumer-based.  Instead, Pastor Philip stresses that the church is a family, of which all Christians are integral members, each with their own specific roles to play according to the spiritual gifts that God has bestowed upon them.  And being so equipped, each is then deployed to advance God's kingdom...so in this way each of us changes our world.   The pastor raises some questions for us to ask ourselves in order to ascertain whether we are truly living out our family role in the church: do we bear others' burdens and allow others to bear ours, do we encourage others in a constructive way, do we confess our sins and demonstrate accountability to others, and are we engaged in service to others...notice the connection between "we" and "others":  it's all about relationships, isn't it?

This message wasn't presented in the usual manner that Pastor Philip is accustomed...instead of taking a section of Biblical text and exploring its underlying themes, he has taken the theme and then used various short passages as illustrations.  He used 1 Corinthians 12:20-22, 26 and Ephesians 2:19-21, 4:11-16.  You can look them up for yourself through this link to Bible Gateway: [link]...

Yes, I knew that the church isn't a building or a business, but rather the collective body of believers in Christ...yet here we are with this "church", The Family Church...as opposed to the other fellowship bodies scattered about, often in a sort of unspoken competition with each other for members.  And I do attend church, and it does have to be accountable and solvent like a business as well.  But the message's main point is to get people thinking and acting on their own attitudes and purposes within this fellowship.  If you want to hear Philip Griffin's message, here is a link to it through The Family Church's YouTube video website: [link]...