The Bible talks about over and over that the church is a representation of the family of God. There is a Greek word – adelphos which is translated as either “brothers” or “brothers and sisters” – that appears in the New Testament about 150 times. I believe all but one of those instances is referring to Christians and how they should see one another. We are not strangers or people who are loosely associated.

The Bible uses family language to talk about Christians. God created the family to be a place where one is loved, cared for, and given what is necessary to grow into maturity. That is true of the biological family, but it is just as true as the church family.

So, then, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with the saints, and members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. In him the whole building, being put together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you are also being built together for God’s dwelling in the Spirit.

Ephesians 2:19-22 CSB

In this passage, Paul is writing to Christians in the city of Ephesus. This was a group of people that were very dear to Paul. Paul stayed in Ephesus during his ministry work longer than any other place, about two and a half years. Paul reminds these Christians that they have a new identification on them – they were members of the household of God. This is a family reference. Not just anyone is a member of your household. There may be people who stay the night or visit from time to time, but they are not members of the household. To be a member of the household means that one is part of the family.

How are we made family?

As we look to the Bible to answer this question for us, we notice that it happens much the same way as in other areas of our lives. To become part of a family, one is either born into the family or adopted into the family. There is no accidentally falling into a family. When it comes to the family of God, there is no accidental or by chance becoming a member of the family of God.

He was in the world, and the world was created through him, and yet the world did not recognize him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, he gave them the right to be children of God, to those who believe in his name,

John 1:10-12 CSB

A person is welcomed into the family of God when they trust in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of his or her sin. Jesus calls this act being “born again” in John 3. We are born, by faith, into the family of God.

When the time came to completion, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba, Father!” So you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then God has made you an heir.

Galatians 4:4-7 CSB

In this passage, we see a picture of the adoption that God did on our behalf. We were slaves to our sin, but through the finished work of Jesus, we are adopted into the family of God as one of His children. There is no other way that a person comes into the family of God. We are not part of the family of God because our parents were. We cannot purchase our way in. We cannot do a certain amount of good works. It is solely through faith in Jesus Christ that we become part of the family of God. As we are brought into this family of God, we see that God has provided the local church to be a faith family that we are to be in so that we can grow in our faith and help our brothers and sisters in Christ to do the same.

How this faith family functions

It is good to know that God has provided us with a faith family to be a part of. Every family has a function though, and our faith family is no different.

Peace to you. The friends send you greetings. Greet the friends by name.

​3 John 15 CSB

3 John was a small letter written by one of Jesus’ apostles, John. John wrote this small letter to someone named Gaius. In this final verse of the letter, Gaius is told to be sure to greet the “friends” by name. “Friends” here is a reference to fellow Christians.

Don’t miss this important element. The faith family is to know and greet one another by name. That means that there is intentional work done by its members to know one another. It’s not just knowing what they go by, but rather, it is knowing who they are. That comes about from spending time with one another.

There is something special that happens when a person remembers your name. I remember the time when I was about 10 years old and had a baseball banquet with my team at the end of the year. We had a former professional player who had played with Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco come to speak. Fast forward from that day about 6-7 years, this same baseball player was the camp pastor at our student ministry’s summer camp. I got to talk to him and brought the autograph he gave me years ago. He was able to recall the place, our team, and even got my name right! I felt like somebody.

I’m not the greatest at remembering the names of people, but that is no excuse. I find that the more time I spend with someone, there is something that happens that connects me with that person and their name is easy to remember. We can encourage someone greatly just by getting to the point where we are on a first-name basis and remembering them. We see four functions of the family in Acts 2 as the church is started.

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer.

​Acts 2:42 CSB

They were grounded in the same solid teaching of the Bible.

This is important. Every family has something that teaches and guides it. For the family of God, it is the Word of God. The family of God must center itself around the clear and right teaching of God’s holy word.

They were living in each other’s lives.

When verse 42 says “fellowship”, it is not necessarily talking about just eating a meal together. The Greek word here is koinonia, which means “full participation in another’s life.” This doesn’t mean that we are necessarily all up in everyone’s business, but it does mean that we are more than acquaintances. It means that we do life – the good, the bad, and the ugly – together.

They were remembering and giving thanks together.

When verse 42 talks about “breaking of bread”, it could mean one of two things… or both. Most commonly think that it talks about doing the Lord’s Supper, which it could be. There was also something that was practiced by the early church known as the “love feast”. This was a meal that was shared by the church together alongside the Lord’s Supper. We enjoy meals together. They are times when we can let our hair down and just enjoy one another’s company as we talk about things going on and bond deeper. It is a time to remember and give thanks together.

They were hoping forward together.

The last thing we see in verse 42 is that they devoted themselves to prayer. The word “prayer” here is actually plural. As they would be together, they would pray many kinds of prayers together – prayers of confession, thanksgiving, praise, need, and more. They had a common hope in the power of God and would go to Him in prayer as a family.

Now all the believers were together and held all things in common.

Acts 2:44 CSB

We see here in this verse another key function: they were committed to being with one another. It is hard to be a healthy family if you are not with one another.

They sold their possessions and property and distributed the proceeds to all, as any had need.

​Acts 2:45 CSB

This is not a verse that justifies communism. That wasn’t what was happening here. No, what we see in this verse is that the church was caring for one another in a great way. There were needs in the family, and the family did whatever was necessary to take care of those needs. Isn’t that what we do in our individual families? If a need arises, you come together and take care of it – because you love one another.

The same should be true in the faith family. There’s not a single one of us in this faith family that has it all together all the time. There are times when we have needs, and we need to call on one another and care for one another because we are family.

Conclusion

These are just a few of the verses contained in the New Testament that talk about how the local church is a faith family. We are brought in by the grace of God through the work of Jesus. Being a family takes work though. We all know that. Just because you have people that live in the same house doesn’t automatically mean that they are a family. Hotels have many people under one roof, but it doesn’t mean that they are all family.

We want to be what God has created us to be as a church. We were not created to be some spiritual motel that people can check in to and leave. Your local church was created to be a representation of the family of God. We are a faith family. How are we doing at that? Are we grounding ourselves in the common message of the gospel? Are we taking the time to really get to know one another? That won’t happen in one hour once a week. Are we giving thanks and hoping forward through prayer together?

If we want to be the faith family that God desires us to be, we must commit to that. It takes work. It takes time. But it is so worth it because it is what God desires for each of us. In the coming weeks, we are going to look at how we can be a healthy faith family together. I hope that you will join us for that.