When You're Here, You're Family; Romans 8:12-17

The most frequently used designation for Christians in the Bible is the word "Brother." It appears over 250 times in the book of Acts and the Epistles. So while you and I call ourselves Christians and speak of ourselves in groups as churches, the Bible shows us, again and again, that we cannot understand what it means to be a follower of Jesus without the concept of family. We often worry about the state of the family these days. We see the struggle of broken homes and absentee parents and the aftermath in children left with no role models. Unfortunately, the problem only gets worse as it perpetuates into new generations. And yet, here we are, called "The Family of God." That's a gift our world desperately needs. When I started attending church, families invited me to sit with them, adopted me for church activities, handed me an extra plate at potlucks, and made me feel . . . well . . . like family. Those gifts made lasting impressions, and they all stem from understanding that above all else, we are the family of God.