Family Time

Introduction

Good morning. Good to be with you this morning. And let me say, since I don’t know the audience, if there may be some visitors here, I am not the regular preacher. I don’t know what that makes me, but that does mean that if you have some interest in getting to know Tony, you need to do that at your convenience and his. But I also want to just say, if you’re visiting from the community, that if you have any questions or comments about anything that I say, that you’ll feel free to express them. I will do my best to give you a Bible answer for the things that I present, as well as other things that you might have questions about. I hope you’ll feel free to ask those questions if I can help in any way.

Also want to just make a note about a few personal things. First of all, how good it is to be with you, brethren here. I look forward to getting to know you. You are my brothers. You are my sisters. We have maybe not met, but we have a common faith. And just like in other places that we might go and meet those that we’ve never met personally, we already have a great deal in common. And we should be thankful for that. I really enjoyed the week that we had with Tony and Sherry. I was so glad Sherry got to come. It might have been a difficulty keeping up, you know, dealing with Tony the whole week without him. So we were certainly glad that Sherry came and Gina and I enjoyed getting to know them and spending some time with them and got to feeling like we were old friends.

There are others here that I’ve known for a very long time. Sean O’Linick was a little boy with a baseball glove coming up to me when I first moved to Corrigan and preached there, and he started talking to me almost nonstop and hasn’t stopped much since. So certainly glad to see him and Teresa and their brood. which at one time his mother told me that she he was following in my footsteps because I have five children. He passed me a long time ago. And Ross and Laura Parkrider, who we I knew Ross when he was in high school there in Bulverdi, and him and his family, his father’s one of my best friends, was a great asset to have in that work, and have always been encouraged by the faith of those three boys as well as the wonderful wives that they found.

We were all glad when Ross found Laura, and I just felt like I knew her already when I got to meet her at one time. So I know you’re glad to have them here. The bannings I met years ago, and Martha and I were trying to think of back when it was that we met, and I know there may be others among here. If I’ve met you before, and I’m not I don’t remember that, please help me remember where I might have met you before. I’ll be glad to reacquaint myself with you. I want to talk a little bit this morning about how important family time is. And I think this is something that various people, even in the world recognize how important family tie is that we not just get so caught up in all the other affairs of life.

And you’ll hear phrases like how that we shouldn’t just work to live. excuse me, we should work to live, we should not live to work. And unfortunately, that’s things that have happened at times that people have found themselves their whole life is about their work, and they didn’t take the time when they could with their family. I can’t tell you how many people have told me how much they’ve regretted not spending more time with their children. And that so quickly they’re grown. And I can just attest to that. It just seems like just the other day that my children were around my feet. And now the youngest one, Johnna, many of you know, that is 22 years old and married and expecting the baby.

You know, it just changes so fast. And there’s been a lot of different songs that people have written through the through time. We hear, you know, I guess maybe one of the most famous ones that really emphasize that need to spend time with your children is that old Harry Chapin song, Cat in the Cradle. Cats in the Cradle in the Silver Speed. You know, he talks about this, and if you haven’t, some of you younger ones may not have heard the song, but it’s a story about this father who’s too busy. He wants to spend time. I’ll do it when I have the time. I’m going to get with you. He’s just got some other things to do. He’s going to spend this time with his children.

And then he gets, before you know it, his son’s gone, his son’s off, and now he wants to spend some time with his son. And the son says, I just don’t have time, Dad. You know. New job’s a hassle, the kids have the flu, you know. But it’s sure nice talking to you know. And then Toby Keith came out with a song a few years ago called My List. He’s got a list of chores to do, and he says, you know, some of those things have to do with playing catch with my son and pushing my kid in the backyard swing and sit on the porch with my wife and giving her a kiss. I mean, that family time is something that many people realize is something that should be treasured, and it’s something that should be fought for because we really have to make time for the things that are important.

They’re not just gonna, it’s not just gonna happen. There’s always things to do. And maybe if I say, what is one of the big drawbacks of American society, it’s that we have just we have put so much on ourselves, some of it because of hobbies, some of it because of work, some of it because of financial pressure, that we have sometimes gotten to where we don’t take the time for things that are really important. And we really have to make the time. We can’t just say, well, I’m just gonna do what’s left over. But because it never comes around. We need that family time. But I want to focus this morning, and I kind of set you up there a little bit. I want to talk about our spiritual family.

1. The Early Church Spent Time Together

What about our spiritual family? We are brothers and sisters in Christ. We do have a family that we also need to spend time with. And I’m not trying to overwhelm you with say, I don’t have enough time for my own kids. What makes you think I’m gonna have any time for my brothers and sisters in Christ? And again, I’m going to say that it’s important that we make time, and I’m going to try to emphasize some reason why that’s important. Think about the early church. Think about their time. Realize that the two day weekend, and I know not all of you have a two day weekend, but the two day weekend is not something that existed during the first century. Among the Jewish culture, where we find the early church arising, their work day was from dawn till dusk, and it was a six-day work week.

The only day they had off was the Sabbath day, and only because it was mandated by God. And yet they spent time together. Not only did they make time to be together on their assemblies, they spent time together apart from the assemblies. And we see this in some of the examples that we find. In Acts chapter 2, beginning in verse 44, we see the description of the way that the early church not only was together, but they were taking care of each other. And I know a lot of times as we look at this verse, we tend to emphasize the monetary aspect of it, and that’s a lesson to itself. But for our purpose this morning, I want to emphasize their time together. Look at these phrases.

Now, all who believed were together. And they had all things in common. And goes on and says, So continuing daily with one accord in the temple. And breaking bread from house to house. This verse doesn’t, I believe, referred to the Lord’s Supper like it does in Acts 2 verse 7. This is talking about just simply they’re eating their meals together. And before we minimize that, I know when we say, well, this is not a work of the church, this is not something to be provided out of the treasury. No, but it is something that should be part of our life. There’s some value in us spending time eating our meals together. You know, that’s one of the things people talk about families. Used to be at the end of the day, almost every family would sit down and they’d have a family meal.

And it was a bonding experience, and it was a time to relax, and it was a time to discuss the affairs of the day, and it was a time to bond. And this was what the early Christians were doing. And that they were eating their food with gladness and singleness is what most of the virgins say of heart or simplicity of heart. But they felt this closeness. They felt this bond. They felt this identity with one another. This is also why, when the Bible talks about the process of withdrawal, why it was so effective. You know, why it was something to wake people up when they weren’t putting the priorities right in their life. The terminologies that used, that they were not to company with or not to keep company with them in 1 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 11.

Why did that matter? Because they were used to spending time together. You think about it today, sometimes when churches withdraw from somebody, sometimes it doesn’t really have as much effect. Because they weren’t really spending that much time together anyway. You know, if we say, oh, well, we’re not going to eat with you anymore. Does it make a difference? Not if you really weren’t with them to begin with. Not if there wasn’t some times you were spending with them. That’s why it was so effective in the first century. That’s why it should be effective today, is because our lives are so intertwined that when that’s removed, it’s something that somebody sees as a great loss. I don’t want to lose that. I don’t want to lose that connection.

2. The Value of Our Casual Interactions

It would be as if your family is disowning you. That’s happened in some places where people say, look, what you’re doing, I’m not going to have anything to do with you. And the family just isolate somebody. And that’s so effective because that’s something that they value and they treasure. And that’s certainly the way it should be with our brothers and sisters in Christ. That we value that. We see that something as a valuable thing. So that it is something that can be effective in terminologies like in circumstances like that. The value of our casual, and I use the word casual just to represent those interactions that we have with Christians outside of our assemblies. And I don’t want to minimize this. I don’t want to minimize how important our assemblies are.

Do not misunderstand me. In fact, if you think about it, much of what we do when we’re gathered in times like this is that we’re preparing ourselves for our work that we do out in the real world. But most of our life as a Christian is not about the learning of it’s about the application, like what James says in James chapter 1 and verse 22. Be ye doers of the word and not hearers only. The idea of putting things into practice, you think about maybe some of the times that it’s been the most meaningful conversations you’ve had with people about living as a Christian, probably, I’m not saying it’s exclusive, but it probably didn’t occur in a gathering like this. It probably occurred over around a dinner table.

It probably occurred in a maybe in a quiet restaurant. It probably occurred in somebody’s home. It probably occurred sometime that you were able to sit down and interact with your brother or your sister in Christ and really have a meaningful conversation about living for Him. And it probably also was affected because you saw it being put into practice. And you start talking to people and you realize they’re dealing with some of the same problems you are. They’re facing the same kind of challenges that you are. You know, sometimes we can almost get the impression that I’m the only one in the room who has challenges living for Christ. Instead of realizing when I get time to sit down and talk with somebody that they’re struggling with things just like I am.

It becomes real when we have that kind of interaction. It’s also important when we think about all the warnings that are given about not being worldly minded. For example, in 1 John chapter 2 and verse 15, do not love the world or the things in the world. Why would God have to tell us that? Don’t love the world or the things in the world. Because we live in this world. We get attached to things of this world. We start thinking that worldly things are more important than they really are. We’re asked, and we’re challenged by God to put a priority on things that we do not see. Him and His promises. Living by faith. And we’ve got a world around us that’s telling us to live for the moment.

Grab all the gusto while you can, is the beer commercial used to say. We’ve got a world and people around us that we work with, that we go to school with, that we have for neighbors, that their focus is the here and now. And we’re with them probably somewhere around a hundred, you know, if we think about the week, 168 hours, if we spend four hours a week in our assemblies together, and the rest of the time we’re with worldly people. Unless we make time to be with our brothers and sisters in Christ. That we’re with them. I can’t emphasize that too much to those of you that are young. Make friends with people that have the same values. Spend time with people that appreciate things.

You’re going to face challenges. You’re going to have other people in the world that are going to be telling you, oh, you know, that’s not really important. That’s just being a square. I don’t know what term. They don’t probably not use the word square anymore, do they? I don’t know what terminology they use now. You’ll have to catch me up later, okay? And you need these people that you can really connect with and have the same values. You need that encouragement. I grew up in a congregation. I almost had a lot, there was kind of a lost generation. I grew up in San Antonio. And my particular generation, most of the kids my age, were either not Christians or not serious about being Christians. I really had one friend in that congregation.

He was about a year and a half older than me. His name’s John Evans. Some of you know him. He’s a preacher. And me and John would spend time together when we could. He went to a different high school. He was a couple of years older, a couple of grades ahead of me. So we were limited in that way, but I can’t tell you how much that meant to me. To just have somebody that was serious about living for Christ. And I’m not saying that I live perfectly because I struggled with sin. I struggled with weakness. I sure struggled with temptation. I struggled with other things. But I have somebody that I knew was as serious about living for God as I was. You need those people.

3. Love the Brethren

You need that time with them. And the bond that we establish in that way is something that should be there to where we really appreciate brethren. And I think, you know, this is maybe the fault of us preachers sometimes. Here’s, you know, in so many ways, I’m always looking for things that need improvement. You know, if I’m more if I’m preaching for a congregation, okay, what do we need to, what subjects do I need to cover? What kind of things, what faults can I find in brethren? I mean, that’s essentially what we do, right? Hopefully with the idea of improving it, but I’m afraid sometimes because we’re constantly doing that we don’t stop and say how much we should appreciate our brethren for who they are.

And love the brethren. You notice that phrase as it occurs, for example, in 1 John chapter T 2 and verse 10. He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him. We know that we have passed from death to life because we love the brethren. You know, not we resent the brethren.

There was this guy that was didn’t feel like going to services one Sunday morning. And the wife said, now honey, what’s wrong? Why don’t you want to get up and go? He said, well, first of all, there’s a lot of people there that don’t like me. And I don’t, and there’s a lot of people I don’t like. And not only that, you know, they don’t appreciate me, and I just I don’t think I’m getting much out of it. And she said, well, first of all, the reason you’re going is to serve God. Second of all, you need to be thinking about how you can encourage other people. And third, you’re the preacher.

So, you know, those are the kinds of things that sometimes people can get to where they don’t appreciate brethren like they should. And I do think when we think about this idea of loving the brethren, loving the brotherhood, that’s something that we should appreciate because Christ, first of all, Christ died for them. What does he think of them? Yes, they’re sinners, yes, they have faults, yes, they are, they’re dealing with struggles and problems, but Christ loved them. They’re children of God. How do you treat the children of your friends? What do you think about, you know, sometimes children of our friends get a little special privilege in certain circumstances, a little benefit of the doubt?

Well, though, what about children of God?

That’s what he calls them. They’re his children. They’re our brothers. They’re our family. You say, well, yeah, they’re just our they’re just our Christian brothers. They’re just our spiritual family. They’re not our real family. What is real? What is real? Something that only lasts for a period of time because you happen to have the genetics that put you in this position? You happen to be born to the same parents, and for a period of whatever time of your life on earth, and it’s over? Or a lot or a relationship that is eternal that was provided for by God through the death of his son. And the willingness to share with us his sonship as we become children of God. Is that not more real?

These are your family. Remember the things that Jesus said when he was talking about people that would lose their family because of their faith in him? And then he says that they would receive a hundredfold in this life and in that to come eternal life? What was he talking about? He’s saying we have a bigger family. We have a much bigger family because of Christ. And there have been people that have lost their families because of their faith. Because there is a conflict with what the family teaches, but they find comfort in saying, this is my family. This is I went down to Mexico several years ago into the southern chip of Mexico. And there were, I was always just amazed at the way these people who had never met me, I was their brother.

And they’re kind of better about that, about appreciating that, maybe because they’re so few. And they would, you know, they had they don’t hardly say your name without saying brother.

But it was a it was an affection, it was an appreciation. It was that it was that realization, I’m going to add a verse that’s not on the slide, but in 2 Peter, excuse me, 1 Peter chapter 1. 1 Peter chapter 1, there’s a reference here to what takes place when we become a Christian, that we have turned, become part of this family of God, and he talks about the need for us to have this tender affection toward our brothers. He says in verse 22, 1 Peter chapter 1, verse 22, since you have in obedience to the truth, purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren. Fervently love one another from the heart. And somebody says, well, you know, you can’t really command Philaeal love.

Well, it’s expected by God for us. Now, not toward the world. We’re never expected to have that affection toward wicked people and their things, but we still need to love them with the godly love, but we are to have affection toward our brothers. If we don’t, there’s something wrong. There’s something wrong. If we don’t appreciate them, look at this verse. And we think about how much we have in common with him. 1 Peter chapter 2, verse 9. You’re a chosen generation. Now, we read this. Me, right? I’m a chosen generation. I’m part of that. I’m the part of the royal priesthood. I’m part of the holy nation. But think about it from the standpoint of your brethren. They’re a chosen nation. By God’s choosing. They’re a royal priesthood.

A holy nation. God’s special people. The King James Version says, a peculiar people. And that doesn’t mean the same thing as we think about peculiar. It means it has to do with ownership. It’s God’s people. These are God’s people. How are you going to treat God’s people? How do you feel about being around God’s people? And you think about this from the standpoint of the things that are going out in the world. He says, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous lights, into his marvelous light, who once were not a people, but now are the people of God. Being the people of God, these are the people, and you know this if you have conversations with people in the world.

Have you ever done this? Where you’re having a conversation with somebody and you know they’re pretty worldly, and all of a sudden you find something you agree on? And you say, oh, good. I’m glad at least at least there’s that I can that we have in common. Maybe something we’re seeing the same on. Well, do you realize how much of that there is? And I know sometimes we focus on disagreements with brethren and things that we see that are not the way they should be. But think about how much you have in common with brethren compared to the people in the world. That should be the kind of thing that makes you appreciate your brethren. I want to be with them. I want to spend time.

I want to spend time with the people that are going to help me be more what God wants me to be. And that I that I don’t have to feel like I’m constantly trying to convince them about believing in God and constantly convince them about believing in Christ. Here’s a little disclaimer a little bit, okay? That doesn’t mean we come out of the world. It doesn’t mean we isolate ourselves from influencing other people. That’s as much a part of what we need to do. We need to be an influence on people that don’t see things in the way the Bible teaches them. But it ought to be a great belief that you’ve got some time. You got some reinforcement. You have some time that you’re spending with God’s people.

4. There's Some Accountability That's of Value

Not only does it provide these bond with our brethren, but there’s some accountability that’s of value there. I mean, sometimes we do have weaknesses, and we need to be reminded of them. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 and verse 13. We exhort your brethren. Warn those who are unruly. If there’s not a relationship already established with somebody, that’s going to be really hard to do. Let me put it this way. I’ve had some people come to me and monish me about some things. I’m very thankful. I’m very thankful for my brother who did that. But you know what? I knew he cared about me. I already knew that. If the first time I spent any time with him was when he came to me challenging me about things that were in my life, I wouldn’t feel very good about what he’s telling me.

Not only that, he probably wouldn’t have known about it anyway. We need each other sometimes to give ourselves, as they say, a swift kick in the pants. Sometimes we need that.

We need to have friends that are that love us enough to help us with those things. And what about when we’re faint hearted? The comfort that we get when we’re discouraged might be the better word. When we’re discouraged. Do people get discouraged? Anyone here ever get discouraged? Where do you go? Who’s going to help you with that? Should be your brethren. I mean, we should be, it should be that we’re we’re so connected with each other that we know as soon as somebody’s discouraged, they don’t have to tell us. If you’re part of your in and you think about the things in your family, people you’re part of their lives every day, they don’t have to say, I’m feeling discouraged. You see it on their face.

You realize you know them well enough and you say, What’s wrong? You know, Gina and I, we depend on each other for that. What’s wrong, honey? What I do this time. We see those kind of things in each other. Because we know each other. But what about our brethren? We certainly should be there for each other. And this is written to brethren in general. Up hold the week. You know, sometimes when we think about people that are weak, you know, we kind of we kind of think in terms of we just hope they’re going to get stronger. Somebody made this point the other day. We’ve had a number of baptisms. We’ve had about 26 baptisms since I moved to Prescott in 2013, beginning of 2013. And there’s new Christians there, and I’ve been appreciative that somebody have so many have pointed out that you know we wouldn’t take a baby right after they’re born and just set them out there and just say, okay, you’re born.

There you go. Take care of yourself. We can’t do that with new Christians either. There are natural weaknesses that are there, and the devil knows it. They need encouragement. They need upheld. They have habits. They have a lifetime of habits that they’re trying to change. And rather than just cast them off, we need to be there to help them. The idea of upholding the weak is something that’s also brought out in another verse. We’ll talk about in a moment. But let me let me mention this one as well. There’s a phrase in 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 and verse 12 that says, We beseech you, brethren, to know them which labor among you and are over you in the Lord. Now, obviously, he’s talking primarily about elders.

How well do you know? How well do you know the elders? That’s a question that a lot of Christians need to hear. And recognize that God really gives the responsibility to the members toward that. And that this is something that goes the other way as well. Elders, if they’re going to be doing their work, they need to know their congregation. You don’t know that much about people just because they show up on Sundays. Now, typically we say things like, well, these people are faithful because they come every time the door’s open. It’s an indication, but it certainly doesn’t speak to it. I’ve known people that have been there in every service that when they walk out that door, they’re not living like a Christian. And the only way we can know about what’s going on is that we have that time with them.

Did you know, for example, when we look at this responsibility of elders watching out for the souls and giving an account? And then he says, and notice this is also addressed to the congregation. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you. In other words, make it easy on them. Do your part. But the word for elder, one of the words is the word that’s translated with the word bishop and the word overseer, and it’s a Greek word episcopals. It’s also used in a negative sense of people that are meddling in other people’s matters in 1 Peter chapter 4. And basically what it’s saying is that we don’t need to be meddling in matters that are not ours, but the elders, their work is your business.

Let me rephrase that. I said that backwards. Your business is their work. They do have a need to look into the things that are going on in your life that affect your spiritual life. That they are overseeing you and your life and the things that are involved in your relationship with God. James 5 and verse 14. Anyone among you sick, let him call for the elders of the church. And again, some people get hung up on some of the other things about the anointing with oil and that sort of thing. But this shows that there’s a there’s a connection between what’s going on in people’s lives and the way that the elders are involved in that. In James chapter 5 and verse 16, we see this phrase confess your trespasses one to another.

Now be honest with me in your own mind, you don’t have to raise your hand. Do you have somebody in here you can really talk to? You can confess to them the struggles you’re facing. You know that’s not an easy thing. I’m not saying that necessarily anyone and everyone is going to fit that mold, but there certainly should be someone that you can really talk to that will help you and help hold you accountable. This is something that people who’ve had bad habits like alcoholism and drug addiction, they know that they need somebody they can really be accountable to that’s going to help them to overcome those bad habits. And sometimes people have they have sinfulness, they’ve never been able to get behind them, somewhat because of the secrecy.

And not being able to have somebody they can talk to about it and be held accountable to.

5. Bear One Another's Burdens

In Galatians chapter 6, and this is the one I’ll mention a while ago. Brethren, if any man who is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself, lest you also be tempted. Bear ye one another’s burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. Here’s the picture of this bearing one another’s burdens. It’s like somebody’s got a load that they can’t, that they’re they have the responsibility of carrying, but it’s a very heavy load. And they’ve got it on their shoulders. And the spiritual members of the congregation are coming on either side like they did with Moses. And they’re helping to lift, to help him carry that burden. They can’t take it away from him. But they can help him carry it.

Conclusion

They can help him deal with the burdens that he’s facing. They might be financial, they may be marital, they may be, they may be maybe morality, they may have to do with bad habits that he’s had, addictions. Somebody needs to help him. And it shouldn’t it be brethren? Shouldn’t it be their brothers and sisters in Christ? And that they then therefore they can be restored. So, end the lesson with this. Who will you spend time with this week? Well, guess what? You got an opportunity every night from now until Wednesday night. You can be with your brethren. You might say that’s a plug, but it’s but it’s also a reality. But think about this in this way. Who do you need to know better? Round the room.

Who in this congregation do you not know better? I can preach this lesson here because I know it’s the same thing almost anywhere. I don’t know that much. And don’t get me wrong, Tony didn’t come up there and say, now, when you get there, I want you to preach these sermons, okay? He didn’t do that. Okay. These are just things that I know brethren have in common. The things we need to deal with. And sometimes there are those that get that fall between the cracks, people that we need to spend more time with. And who needs to know you better? I grew up at West Avenue in San Antonio. And I can honestly say there were people in that congregation that I went to services with for 18 years.

There were people I didn’t know their name. Now, whose fault is that?

Mine. Now I could say, well, they should have come talk to me. It was a big congregation at the time. It was easy to get lost in the crowd. Here’s some opportunities for this week. Yes, we’re going to have some lessons from God’s Word. I hope you will invite your friends and neighbors. This is a good opportunity. Always consider it this way that a gospel meeting is a good chance, not just to get people to come to the meeting, but an opportunity for something for you to say to your friends that even if they don’t come to the meeting, you’ve opened the door. You’ve opened the door to a spiritual subject. And maybe some other things can come from that.

You can spend time together as we’re as we’re worshiping together, time afterward. That can be both the local members here as well as those from the community that are coming. And then also for someone who may be here this morning, who your life isn’t right with God, that you’re really outside the family of God, realize this is a great time to begin your life with Christ. Or to renew some things that you’ve let change and the priorities they need to have in your life. This is this is, you know, you think about a lot of times somebody becomes a Christian, and there’s there’s kind of a gap between when they become a Christian and the time they’re back with brethren. Let’s start off the week right.

Somebody here this morning, you’re thinking about making a change in your life. If you’re here and you’re in that position, make use of this opportunity. We’ll be glad to help in whatever way we can in becoming a Christian or returning to him. And we will encourage you to make use of that opportunity while we stand, while we sing.