Message Notes
FORMED FOR GOD’S FAMILY
40 Days of Purpose - Part 3

Galatians 6:10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.

Hebrews 2:11a Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family.

1 Tim. 3:14-15 I am writing you these instructions so that, ¹⁵if I am delayed, you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God's household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth.

Romans 12:5 so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.

My 2^nd purpose in life is FELLOWSHIP

1 John 4:21 And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.           

Real Fellowship is LOVING GOD'S FAMILY

Four Levels of Fellowship

LEVEL 1 is MEMBERSHIP: CHOOSING TO BELONG
John 1:12 Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God…

1 Cor. 12:13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free…

Romans 6:4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

Ephesians 2:19b …you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household.

Hebrews 10:25a Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another…

LEVEL 2 is FRIENDSHIP: LEARNING TO SHARE
Acts 2:44-45 All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need.

A Few Examples of how Fellowship shares:

Our WEALTH
1 Timothy 6:18 Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.

Our EXPERIENCES
2 Corinthians 1:3-4 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, ⁴ who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.

 Our HOMES
1 Peter 4:9a Offer hospitality to one another….

Our PROBLEMS
Galatians 6:2 Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.

LEVEL 3 is PARTNERSHIP:  DOING MY PART
Ephesians 4:16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

Galatians 5:13b …serve one another in love.

LEVEL 4 is KINSHIP: LOVING OTHER BELIEVERS LIKE FAMILY
Romans 12:10 Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.

1 John 3:16 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.

1 Timothy 5:1-2 Do not rebuke an older man harshly, but exhort him as if he were your father. Treat younger men as brothers, ² older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity.

John 13:35 By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.

1 John 4:20 If anyone says, “I love God,” yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.

1 John 3:14  We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death.

Prayer of Commitment:
Dear God, I want to be a part of your family and I want to learn to love my spiritual family just like you do. Forgive me for taking it casually.  I want to grow in the levels of fellowship, so today I’m choosing to belong.  I’m not going to float around anymore.  I want to learn to share and make time to develop real friendships.  I want to do my part in the family of God.  I want to learn to love other believers like brothers and sisters. Teach me the meaning of real love. In your name I pray, Amen

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Jesus, thank You for giving Your life for me.  As much as I know how, I want to give my life back to You. I want to know you and the purposes for which I was created. I turn to you and ask you to be the leader of my life. Please forgive me for the wrongs I have done against you. I ask You, Jesus Christ, to start changing me from the inside out beginning right now. In your name I pray, Amen.