Word for the day by Christian Education forum

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Family: a recreation of relationship
Eph: 3: 14-21

“For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name.”
Recently our Church family experienced the joys of family retreat at a Christian Retreat Center in New York. At retreat we all embarked upon many adventures such as boating, zip-lining, sports, and various indoor games. These activities helped us all to foster a communal bond with the members of our church. One of the byproducts of retreat is recreation of relationships. However, recreate means prepare before you create. We must personally prepare our mind, body and atmosphere as well as our circumstances before we reach out to others to create relationships.

In order to create long lasting relationships with God’s holy people, we must first nurture our own faith and power within our heart. Ephesians 3 prays for one to possess “power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.” In order to strengthen our very most inner being, we need to understand that our time, money, and personal interest must all be sacrificed to maintain a good relationship with others. Once we are willing to give all these things, we can start to show love to others. Only when we are rooted and established in a sacrificial love can we begin to create a familial relationship with others. Through this new connection, we are then able to truly understand the depth and immortal love of Christ for us.

Family does not come from human creation. Family comes from the Father. The word “family” is derived from the Greek word “Patria” which comes from the word “Pater” which means “Father”. Family is directly linked to the Father. He has intended our family to be a worshipping community of believers. In other words, our community is our family. In order to strengthen these communal and familial ties, we need to share our experiences with each other and we need to make ourselves available. We must not close our social circles to those who have disabilities; rather we must be the Christ to all people. Christ was known to have friends who were lepers, prostitutes, beggars, and thieves – we too must have open hearts and minds. Once we are able to open our personal lives to others, we are able to invite Christ and his love in and that is how family is will become complete.  

Let us continue to grow with each other in Christ. Openly accept those around us because only then will we be able to truly experience God's love in our life. Today, let us reflect on family in the community and bear in mind that the worshipping community is the body of Christ and therefore we must continually work to strengthen this body. We must always hold steadfast to the teaching of Romans 12:5 which states "So we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another." 

Prayer: - Father we bow before you. Strengthen us with your power so that we are able to love others and invite others in to your family.  

Joseph V. Thomas. Long Island M T C, NY


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