Ask five people to define the word ‘family’ and you’ll most likely get five different answers. Some see the family as a father, a mother and children. Others see a family as grandparents, mother, father and children. Still others say the family need only be a mom and dad…with or without kids. Regardless as to how you define ‘family,’ the best definition comes when we examine God’s Word. His design through the Bible, shows us the ultimate family, God is our Father and we are His children.

Sunday morning at Waterview church of Christ, David Friesen will make his annual report concerning the growth of the family of God in Camrose, Alberta, Canada. What a great day to come together and worship with “The Family.”

“…I will sing with the spirit and I will sing with the mind also.” I Corinthians 14:15

Sunday morning, April 19, 2015

You’ll notice the following songs come from the hymnal, Songs of Faith & Praise.

“How Sweet, How Heavenly” – 709

“Love is the golden chain that binds our happy souls above. And he’s an heir of heaven who finds his bosom (heart) glow with love.” Some might get hung up on the poetry, ‘how can your heart glow?’, but realizing the symbolism we see past the imagery. Would that we focus on the family! We are heirs of heaven when we are the family of God!

“A Common Love” – 705

Wherever we live. whether we’re in Canada or across the globe, if we are children of God, we are a part of His family. This is our common bond, a common love we share in Christ.

“God’s Family” – 744

When we sing about family, this song rises to the top of the list. Written less than 50 years ago, this spiritual song resonates as we consider all the emotions a family might go through. “Sometimes we laugh together, sometimes we cry; sometimes we share together heartaches and sighs. Sometimes we dream together of how it will be when we all get to heaven…God’s family.”

“Come Share the Lord” – 364

Each Sunday morning we come together for a purpose. We sing, we pray, we study and we give. But ask any brother or sister in Christ why they meet on Sunday morning and they’ll tell you; “We gather here in Jesus name. His love is burning in our hearts like living flame. The one we love the most, is now our gracious host. (We…) Come take the bread, come drink the wine (the fruit of the vine, and we) come…share the Lord.” Are you part of the family of God? The saved know…we are now a family!

“The Greatest Commands” – 448

Already a popular psalm, and a favorite in the brotherhood, we sing the scripture as each of the four parts sing their specific lines. Kind of like a family, we all have a role to play, a job to do, a song to sing. This contemporary psalm finds it’s root in the New Testament, I John 4: 7, 8: “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love, does not know God, for God is love.”

“Sing to Me of Heaven” – 716

Before our lesson this morning we’ll sing a rousing song that dates back 100 years. Old by the calendar, but the message is new and fresh in our hearts as we encourage one another in song. “Sing to me of heaven as I walk alone, dreaming of the comrades (family members) that so long have gone; in a fairer region among the angel throng they are happy as they sing that old, sweet song. Sing to me of heaven, let me fondly dream of it’s golden glory of it’s pearly gleam…” Not sure about you, but it makes me cherish the family all the more!

“Why Not Now?” – no book

“Why not now?” What is it that causes some to delay in coming to Christ, hesitant to become a part of the family of God? All too often the answer is found within the lines of our songs. Notice the last verse of this old invitation song; “Come to Christ, confession make, come to Christ and pardon take. (Are you ready, here it is) Trust in Him from day to day, He will keep you all the way.” If it’s not because I don’t want to ‘confess’ my weakness, it’s because I can’t trust anyone but myself. So many do not come because they have decided to continue on their own, risking another day. Turning away from God they are only denying themselves the peace and joy of being part of the the family, the family of God.

“Blest Be the Tie that Binds” – 711

We feel a void when the family has to part. At the end of the vacation when families pile in the car and head home, there is an emptiness left in their wake. But in God’s family, “…we shall still be joined in heart, and hope to meet again.”