Church of the Nazarene – East Rock

Family Values Part 4

Grace

Today we conclude our teaching series “Family Values” where we are taking a deep dive into strengthening our family relationships.

Family is so important. Though often challenging, family can be some of our deepest and closest relationships- and those matter!

We believe your family matters, and perhaps most importantly, your family matters to God.

Family Values is about walking out faithfulness to God within our families. Over the next few weeks we will consider what it takes to build strong family relationships.

Throughout this series, we are clinging to two truths that we believe can change everything for our family relationships.

There is hope and there is help.

Today as we conclude with Part 4 of our teaching series Family Values, we are looking at the value of grace in our family relationships

Colossians 3:12-14

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

No one is proposing that extending grace to one another is easy or simple and that’s not what this passage says either.

Grace means that we are to bear with one other – extending patience, withholding anger, not insisting on our own way. Extending grace requires something of us and sometimes, it requires A LOT of us.

When a family holds grace as a family value, words that might describe that family could be: peaceful, loving, patient, understanding, growing, nurturing, authentic, safe

But a family that withholds grace from each other, you might describe as: Tense, anxious, fearful, hesitant, bitter, and certainly un-healthy

How will you define your family?

By peace, understanding, and compassion

Or by bitterness and tension?

Will you be one that holds grace as a value in your family?

Colossians 3:1-4

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

Paul is reminding his readers that we have a new life to live in Christ. We have new values and a new focus. These values apply to our lives, our friendships and certainly our families.

Colossians 3:12-14

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

It’s interesting, all these terms are relational in nature, meaning that our faith and trust in Christ as our savior, must show up in how we relate to one another.

To bear with each other is to make allowance for imperfections in others. In other words, you could say “Put up with each other”

To bear with is to withhold retaliation. To endure patiently with anther.

I think we would say- be gracious to one another.

Paul separates this act of being gracious and forgiveness

Forgiveness is largely reactive. It’s a response to an offense, intentional or not.

Grace is proactive- it’s an ongoing forbearance or allowance of daily human shortcomings.

Grace is relational flexibility that is required of us daily in family.

Grace is the proactive choice to love our family despite their flaws, just like we have been loved by our heavenly father.

G- God’s gift to you

R- Resist emotional responses

A- Adjust your thinking

C- Communicate with kindness

E- Express gratitude

If you have been a part of family for more than a minute, you can guess, this won’t always be easy.

Family is messy, but it’s worth it.

Will you be the one to lead the change with grace?

Will you proactively love others as you have been loved?

That’s grace. That’s family values. And you can be the one to bring it to your family.

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Thank you for your partnership in the Kingdom of Christ!

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Grace- unmerited favor

“See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.”

Hebrews 12:15

See to it, that no one misses grace.

Grace is love that cares and stoops to rescue.- John Stott

Grace is a word that we attach to God and he has to attach it to us.

“But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

Ephesians 2:4-10

God’s Grace is compelling when explained but it is irresistible when it is experienced.

Kyle Idleman

When grace gets a hold of you and your life, you can’t sit still, you can’t sit silent, you can’t celebrate it on your own.

https://www.bible.com/events/49138345

Church of the Nazarene – Harrisonburg

Family Weekend

Welcome to Family Weekend – a time of revival and celebration for our whole Church Family!

Today we welcome Pastor Kevin Griffin as our guest speaker for the weekend. Pastor Kevin was a faithful part of our church for 13 years before stepping into full-time ministry on the Philadelphia District Church of the Nazarene in 2018. In 2021, he was called to serve as the Lead Pastor at Grace Point Church of the Nazarene in Ephrata, PA. He and Ruth have been married for 20 years, and have two children, Jasmine (18) who will be a freshman in college this fall, and Jeremiah (13) who is going into 8th grade.

Luke 10:25-37

On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?” He answered, “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.” But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’ “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.” Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”

Mercy Has moments- and Mercy says “ I see You”.

Giving at COTN

If you ever have questions or need help with online giving, please let us know: finance@cotnaz.org

Thank you for your partnership in the Kingdom of Christ!

Giving

https://www.bible.com/events/49138276

Church of the Nazarene – East Rock

Family Values Part 3

Loyalty

Today we continue our teaching series “Family Values” where we are taking a deep dive into strengthening our family relationships.

Family is so important. Though often challenging, family can be some of our deepest and closest relationships- and those matter!

We believe your family matters, and perhaps most importantly, your family matters to God.

Family Values is about walking out faithfulness to God within our families. Over the next few weeks we will consider what it takes to build strong family relationships.

Throughout this series, we are clinging to two truths that we believe can change everything for our family relationships.

There is hope and there is help.

Today as we continue with Part 3 of our teaching series Family Values, we are looking at the value of loyalty in our family relationships

Ruth 1:14-18

At this they wept aloud again. Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye, but Ruth clung to her. “Look,” said Naomi, “your sister-in-law is going back to her people and her gods. Go back with her.” But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.” When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her.

That’s loyalty. A tough and resilient commitment despite many obstacles. It’s a commitment to maintaining connection. It’s relational endurance. It’s choosing family, no matter what.

In the case of Ruth and Naomi, loyalty took precedence over convenience, comfort, safety, and pleasure.

And that’s really the very heart of loyalty. A resolve, a commitment to loving others according to God’s word, according to how we have been loved by Christ.

Loyalty is the glue that bonds the family together.

In our families, do we cling to each other the way Ruth clung to Naomi?

The book of Ruth in the Old Testament details the life of a Jewish woman named Naomi and her family.

Naomi along with her husband and their two sons leave their hometown of Bethlehem because of a severe famine in the land. They travel to Moab, a neighboring pagan nation where they hope to find food and a new life.

But within the first 5 verses of this story, tragedy unfolds on a catastrophic scale.

Away from home, searching for food, Naomi’s husband dies, leaving her with her two sons. The son’s each marry Moabite women, one named Oprah, and the other Ruth.

After this family had lived there 10 years, both sons passed away, leaving Naomi utterly destitute and seemingly hopeless.

If you stopped the story here, it could be just another chronicled account of when death and despair had done its worst to another of God’s people.

But to stop reading now is to miss the entire reason the book of is included in the bible in the first place. You would miss God’s loyal love shown through Ruth.

Ruth 1:6-13

When Naomi heard in Moab that the Lord had come to the aid of his people by providing food for them, she and her daughters-in-law prepared to return home from there. With her two daughters-in-law she left the place where she had been living and set out on the road that would take them back to the land of Judah. Then Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go back, each of you, to your mother’s home. May the Lord show you kindness, as you have shown kindness to your dead husbands and to me. May the Lord grant that each of you will find rest in the home of another husband.” Then she kissed them goodbye and they wept aloud and said to her, “We will go back with you to your people.” But Naomi said, “Return home, my daughters. Why would you come with me? Am I going to have any more sons, who could become your husbands? Return home, my daughters; I am too old to have another husband. Even if I thought there was still hope for me—even if I had a husband tonight and then gave birth to sons— would you wait until they grew up? Would you remain unmarried for them? No, my daughters. It is more bitter for me than for you, because the Lord’s hand has turned against me!”

Naomi hears that things are better back at home, and she wants to go back there to live out the last of her days. It’s not hard to imagine, this was a decision loaded with emotion and uncertainty.

Naomi urges her daughters-in-law to return to their parents’ home- this was the cultural “right thing to do” on their behalf.

Understandably so, Naomi is wrestling with severe grief at all she has lost. She just wants to go home, to be left alone, but her daughter-in-law’s object; They don’t want to leave her.

But Naomi is insistent- there is no hope for them sticking with her, there was no hope of a future husband from Naomi- they needed to cut their ties and move on. It just didn’t make sense for them to go with her.

Ruth 1:14

At this they wept aloud again. Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye, but Ruth clung to her.

In this moment, Orpah, Naomi’s daughter-in-law, concedes to her request. Orpah is not wrong in making this decision. She had every right to leave Naomi, to return to her home, and to marry again. In fact, it was arguably the best decision she could make.

Common sense went on home, but loyal love stuck fast.

The word for clung here is the idea of sticking close, being joined together, think of being glued to one another

Ruth in these moments demonstrates a love that defies categories- when everything was against her, when common sense said cut your losses and move on- loyal love refused to let go.

Ruth demonstrates loyal love in the context of family; just as God has loved us.

Ruth 1:15-18

“Look,” said Naomi, “your sister-in-law is going back to her people and her gods. Go back with her.” But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.” When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her.

Naomi has a solid argument, one that makes sense, one that would have been considered normal. Just like Orpah- Naomi is engaging family relationships with common sense, with sound reasoning.

But Ruth doesn’t engage family with common sense or logic, or even when it’s convenient. She holds loyalty as a family value.

We have not shied away from the fact that family can be messy. You don’t need a sermon series to teach you that.

Loyalty is a critical family value because all families endure hardship, they are all messy in one way or another.

A family without loyalty is one easily scattered, quickly broken, and soon to be non-existent in any meaningful form. Loyalty is the bond of God-like love that keeps the family together.

What does loyalty look like in our daily walks with family?

I believe at its most basic form, it’s the commitment to love others as we have been loved by the father.

Loyalty is our acceptance and embrace of our families in that model- when it makes sense, and when it doesn’t.

To be clear, loyalty does not mean we have to subject ourselves to the abuse or manipulative actions family.

Loyalty does not demand that we excuse harmful, or hurtful conduct from others.

There may come a time when we must step back or allow someone to step away in relationship. Loyalty then may look like earnest and careful prayer.

Loyalty may mean that years later, we are called to forgive, to extend grace.

Loyalty is the commitment to loving others as we have been loved by our heavenly father.

Will you commit to loving like that?

When a family member doesn’t deserve your love, only then will you know if you are truly loyal… or NOT.

Will you choose loyalty now?

Giving at COTN

If you ever have questions or need help with online giving, please let us know: finance@cotnaz.org

Thank you for your partnership in the Kingdom of Christ!

Giving

http://bible.com/events/49136679

Church of the Nazarene – Harrisonburg

Family Values Part 2

God’s Word as the foundation of family

Today we continue our teaching series called “Family Values” where we are taking a deep dive into strengthening our family relationships.

Family is so important. Though often challenging, family can be some of our deepest and closest relationships- and those matter!

We believe your family matters, and perhaps most importantly, your family matters to God.

Family Values is about walking out faithfulness to God within our families. Over the next few weeks we will consider what it takes to build strong family relationships.

Whether you are a son or daughter, husband or wife, brother or sister, aunt or uncle, your family relationships matter to God.

Throughout this series, we are clinging to two truths that we believe can change everything for our family relationships.

There is hope and there is help.

Today as we continue in Part 2 of our series, we are looking at the truth- literally. Today is about the importance of God’s word for our families.

A family is only as strong as its love for and commitment to the Word of God.

IS YOUR HOME BEING BUILT ON A SOLID FOUNDATION?

Matthew 7:24-27

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

2 Timothy 3:16-17

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Deuteronomy 6:4-9

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

There are three commands here in quick succession:

1.Love God with everything you are

2.Keep the commandments on your hearts

3.Teach them to your children.

What actions are you taking right now to make God’s Word (His truth) a foundation of your family?

James 1:21-25

Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you. Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.

In our families we are called to:

-LOVE GOD’S WORD

-LEARN GOD’S WORD

-LIVE GOD’S WORD

Deuteronomy 11:20-21

Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates, so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors, as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth.

Kent Hughes

“You can never have a Christlike mind without reading and listening to the Scriptures, the Bible, regularly – because you cannot be profoundly influenced by that which you do not know!”

Look for opportunities to engage your family

This looks different according to your context

– Reading the word together

– Reflecting on the word together

– Encouraging each other with the word

– Using God’s Word as the lens when you’re processing what’s happening in your life

Seeing the word of God as a family value is a commissioning, a commitment to shape your life after the word of God. Today, will you take that step of faith by engaging his word in your family relationships?

Giving at COTN

If you ever have questions or need help with online giving, please let us know: finance@cotnaz.org

Thank you for your partnership in the Kingdom of Christ!

Giving