Our Family Connection
“This, then, is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven ...’” Matthew 6:9 (NIV)
If you want to experience a little heaven on earth connect with a church family. It’s interesting to me that in the model prayer Jesus begins with how we should address God – He says, “This, then, is how you should pray: ‘Our Father …” As a Christ follower, God is both my God and your God, but He is not exclusive to either one of us regardless of our denomination, church affiliation, or ethnic group. The kind of prayer Jesus teaches us to pray should unite our hearts as children of God. The essential relationship we must share is with Jesus Christ. Only Christ followers may address God as Father.
In John 1:10-13 (NKJV) the Bible teaches us, “He (Jesus) was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” When we are born spiritually, we are born into God’s forever family and have the right to call Him Father!
I love the way The Living Bible paraphrases our family connection in Ephesians 2:19 when it says, “Now you are no longer strangers to God and foreigners to heaven, but you are members of God’s very own family, citizens of God’s country, and you belong in God’s household with every other Christian.”
Once I did not belong in God’s family. By physical birth I knew Him as my Creator, but not as my Heavenly Father. Jesus Christ changed all of that when I received Him as my personal Savior and was born spiritually into God’s forever family! Now I belong! Faith is more than just believing! It’s about belonging and when you and I pray, “Our Father ...” we are reminded that we have a family connection in Christ. We are not isolated from one another. We are connected to God and to each other through prayer! This is the blessing of a family connection!
What about you? Have you been born into God’s family? You can be – right now. Look at John 1:12-13 again. It promises, “… as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” My friend, Lee Strobel, offers a simple equation from this passage: Believe + Receive = Become! For years I believed in God as my Creator, but only when I received Jesus Christ did I become a part of His family. That decision changed my life forever! It can change yours too! It’s like marriage in a sense. For years I believed in marriage. My parents had a great marriage. I was a product of their love and faithfulness in marriage. But it was only when I said “I do” that I became married. It was a decision, an act of my will in response to a love relationship God pursued with me. God, the Creator, loves His creation. He loves you and longs for you to know Him as your Father. He gave His one and only Son to come to this earth and die for our sins and rise again to provide a way for us to be born again so we could become His children. Have you received Jesus Christ as your Savior? Receive Him now. Commit your life to Him today and ask Him to forgive you of your sins. When you do you have the joy of experiencing a little bit of heaven through your family connection. You can address God in prayer as “Our Father …” because you now belong to His forever family! You are not alone.
As part of His family, He longs for us to be connected to one another with such unity that the world will take notice of our love for one another and His love in us! Are you connected with a spiritual family like that? If you desire more information on how you can connect with other Christ followers, we invite you to join us for our LIFE Class after the final morning worship service at any of our Woodland Church campuses. You can register now. Lunch and children’s programs are free.