Scripture Matthew 1 & 2
Notes – not
actual part of sermon:
SERMON POINT:
God’s Greatest Social Network is Family – His Family
The
central character of God’s family is Love.
The
ideal size of God’s family is ever growing.
The
only way to be in God’s family, is to be born into it.
I may make a video for this scripture or read it quickly
at the beginning of the message:
Matthew 1:1-18 paraphrased
A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David,
the son of Abraham:
Abraham was the father of
Isaac, the father of Jacob,
father of Judah and his brothers,
Judah the father of Perez
the father of Hezron,
the father of Ram,
the father of Amminadab,
the father of Nahshon,
the father of Salmon,
the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab,
the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth,
the father of Jesse,
and Jesse the father of David who became the greatest King
of Israel.
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David was the father of Solomon,
the father of Rehoboam,
the father of Abijah,
the father of Asa,
the father of Jehoshaphat,
the father of Jehoram,
the father of Uzziah,
the father of Jotham,
the father of Ahaz,
the father of Hezekiah,
the father of Manasseh,
the father of Amon,
the father of Josiah,
and Josiah the father of Jeconiah and his brothers at the
time of the exile to Babylon.
--------------------------------
After the exile to Babylon:
Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel,
the father of Zerubbabel,
the father of Abiud,
the father of Eliakim,
the father of Azor,
the father of Zadok,
the father of Akim,
the father of Eliud,
the father of Eleazar,
the father of Matthan,
the father of Jacob,
& Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, of
whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.
Matthew 1:17 There were 14
generations in all from Abraham to David, 14 from David to the exile to
Babylon, and 14 from the exile to the Christ. This is how the birth of Jesus
Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but
before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy
Spirit…
DEPRESSING STORY # 1
Saddest funeral I ever did:
Graveside service of a woman I did not know; she was from a nursing home. Those
coming for the service were late – two women who worked at the nursing home
came and were the only two there besides the grave digger and me.
It is sad but
there are people on earth, people you know, maybe people here today who either
don’t have a single living family member, or are not in contact with any family
or who have very small families.
SURVEY: How many people are in
your family?
SHARE: My family make up
All of creation led up to the last
thing that happened in creation. God’s Greatest Social Network was the pinnacle
of His creation. Gen 2:18 The Lord God
said, "It is not good for the man to be alone.
I will make a helper suitable for him." Gen 2:21-24 So the
Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping,
he took one of the man's ribs and closed up the place with flesh. Then the Lord
God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her
to the man. The man said, "This is now bone of
my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called 'woman,' for she was taken
out of man." For this reason a man will leave his father and mother
and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.
Gen 1:27-28 So God created man in his
own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and
increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.”
God had one
plan for how we should live on earth. Our character should be one that loved
our creator and also those who were created (Love God, Love others). That love
would be expressed through a Social Network (not in isolation) beginning with a
husband and wife followed by them having children and thus creating God’s
greatest Social Network = THE FAMILY. The family was not only God’s idea; it
was the essential element for having His creation work.
Unfortunately,
that original couple decided they knew better than God, or at least believed
they could know as much as God (that was the temptation) Gen 3:4-5 "You will not surely die,"
the serpent said to the woman. "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes
will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."
And once they decided they could make a better plan than God – all hell
broke loose – literally! But even that did not change God’s original
centerpiece of life – the family. When all hell broke loose and God decided to
start over he chose a righteous “family” husband and wife and their 3 sons and
their wives. Without that family – the flood would have been the end of the
story.
Even when
that family messed up later-on, God did not waver from His original creation or
original design. Family has remained at the center of His design.
SO, what does
that mean for the lady with no one to bury her? What does that mean for the
person with only a handful of relatives? What does that mean for the person
with a family they wish they had never known? What does that mean for the
people with a large family or the most awesome family? What does it mean that
God created us in such a way that we are wired within to live within the Social
Network of a family?
Let’s state some facts:
There is no
perfect God designed flawless family.
Every family
could be labeled a ‘dysfunctional’ family.
Societies
throughout history have greatly distorted God’s intent for family.
Knowing the centerpiece of His creation would be so messed
up and flawed, why did God create it in the first place? Why not just create
every individual human – forget male and female, husband and wife, parents and
children, siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins. Why not just zap the dirt with the number of
individuals He wants on earth at any given time?
The answer?
For the same reason, he did create you and me – as distorted, dysfunctional,
and sinful as we are, God is able to redeem that which He created. He can take
what is broken and fix it. He can take what is unsalvageable and save it. God
can make right what we have made wrong. God can take each individual, no matter
their natural situation and make them become part of the Greatest Social
Network possible – the FAMILY OF GOD!
The flawed
earthly family serves as a shadow of the perfected family of God. The word
family denotes that people are part of the same blood line and if not blood
part of the same love line (as in adoption). Those who are part of God’s family
all have the same blood line and same love line, both of which come through
what Jesus did on the cross – shed his blood and showed the full extent of
God’s love!
DEPRESSING STORY # 2
Totally Alone in The World
First let me say this isn't
intended as a pity party. I just have to know if there are others out there
like me. Let me start. I grew up in a dysfunctional and abusive family. I have
had both emotional and physical scars from that time. A secret I kept from
everyone until I was about 23 and moved to California. I left the house when I
was 18 and never looked back. It was always expected from as far back as I can
remember to have 2 faces. The one you show in public (happy, smiling, full of
life and love) and the one you have when you are alone (doubtful, scared,
vulnerable). In my household, it was just my mother and I. She was a survivor
of childhood abuse from her family that left her with permanent brain damage
(in the form of epilepsy) and an extremely violent temper (that would have sent
me to the hospital but no one ever called). She had a very low tolerance for
imperfection and I was the daughter that was always all thumbs around her. Most
of her out bursts left me with permanent scars (inside and out), joint damage,
and a back injury. I knew I didn't want to live like that, so I used college as
a way to get escape. She has always told me that when I turned 18 she didn't
care if I graduated or not, she just wanted me gone. So, that is what I did. I
haven't been back since. She has contacted me from time to time, but it's only
to bring me down. I stop taking those calls after a while. So, the harassment
stopped for a while. Then some jackass showed her how to text message. Damn
that person.
It's weird because even though my
brain knows that she will never change, my heart still longs for a feeling that
I missed out on. A sense of a family. I never really had that. I don't have a
single picture of me with family or even a single picture of my mother. I only have
3 pictures of me during my childhood years. Again, this is not a pity party. I
just needed to give some background. I have never let my childhood stand in the
way of accomplishing goals. I graduated from college I work in a lab and have
been promoted to supervisor. When people meet me, they have no idea that I had
a horrible childhood because (as I was well trained) I am always the life of
the party. This has left me with in a weird position in life. I had a horrible upbringing,
but never once strayed from the straight and narrow. Never did drugs, alcohol
and wasn’t promiscuous. This seems like the exact opposite of many that
survived this severe of abuse. I just saw what I didn't want to be and never
lived my life like that. Although I am a normal functioning member of society,
I still feel like I live outside the glass snow globe. I feel like I have my
face pressed against the glass and am watching everyone live their lives. Many
of the conversations I can't participate in like funny things my mom, dad,
sister, brother, etc... said or did. I don't even have an emergency contact.
And dating has been a joke. I was never taught body language of the opposite
sex so I have never understood the rules of flirting or even picking up
signals. And it doesn't help that I now live in Los Angeles. For
anyone who doesn't know what that means, most people here only judge others
based solely on their stereotype (as I had to find out the hard way). So,
since I am black, it makes dating here impossible.
Living outside the glass snow globe
also means you don't have anyone who understands. I don't talk about this
often, because most of the people I know never had to deal with abuse. The few
times I do, the only thing they would say is "Don't worry, you will find a
great guy someday". Don't get me wrong, I do want that. Yes, it would be
nice to find someone that makes me feel special, since I've never experienced
that before growing up. But this is way deeper than that. I've never had a
birthday party. I don't know what it is like to have a holiday with
family. Sure, people invite for their family functions, but that only
feel worse because I am only an observer watching someone else’s family
traditions. While the people who invite me are patting themselves on the
back for their good deed of the day, I am left wondering what is worse.
Spending a holiday alone or being somewhere that is a constant reminder of what
I have never had.
Most important, I would like to
know that there is someone, anyone out there that knows how this feels. How did
you move inside the glass snow globe to join everyone else? I just want to know
I'm not alone in this. I even went to therapy, but that was a bust. I'm not
depressed. The therapist said that there is nothing wrong with me, which
I already knew. In fact, she seemed to be in awe on how functional I was based
on the stories I told. So, that brings me back to this post. Does anyone out
there understand what it is like to live outside the glass snow globes?
Thanks for listening, Outsider
Only ONE WAY to enter the Christian Snow Globe – to be
BORN AGAIN!
Who do you
know outside the snow globe of God’s Family?
What are
you doing to make inside the globe attractive to an outsider?
Are you
sharing with outsiders how to be born again as the only way to enter the snow
globe – God’s family?
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