"The Connection That Makes Us Family"

Scripture: "Whoever does God's will is my brother and sister and mother." -Mark 3:35, NIV

One of the greatest pastimes of African-Americans in the United States is family reunions. This event allows us to see family you normally see and even family you have never seen before. While you are there, you often look at your family members and may ask the question, "How am I related to him/her?" Due to the various members of your family, one person may be your third cousin from your mother's father, another may be your great great grandmother from your father's side, another might be your great great great aunt from your mother's side, and other relations. At the end of the day, you are a part of that family because there's a connection that makes you family. In the Kingdom of God, there's a connection that makes all of us, those who Christ in the free pardon of our sins, family. Today's text will provide us the connection that makes us family.

Today's main scripture is located in the Gospel account according to Mark. Mark, according to scholars, was the spiritual son and associate of Peter. As this Gospel account was written, Mark's intent was to give a depiction of Christ's life that would strengthen the faith of Christians everywhere who faces severe persecution and to teach them what it meant to be disciples of Jesus Christ. Within this third chapter, we find Jesus ministering to a man who had a shriveled hand on the Sabbath. Eventually, Christ heals this man in the faces of the Pharisees, which lead to them beginning their plot/scheme to kill Jesus. Watch those who you hang around because they may be plotting to kill you spiritually, emotionally, mentally, etc. The chapter continues where Mark discusses the crowds following Jesus, the appointment of the 12 Apostles or Disciples, discussion about Jesus and Beelzebub (the enemy), and Jesus' mother and brothers. Within the last discussion of Jesus' mother and brothers is where we launch into today's thought.

Right off the bat, Jesus establishes the connection that makes us family. He says, "Whoever does God's will". In other words, I can call you my brother because the connection that makes us family is the fact you are doing God's will. I can call you my sister because the connection that makes us family is the fact you are doing God's will. I can call you my mother because the connection that makes us family is the fact you are doing God's will. I can call you my father because the connection that makes us family is the fact you are doing God's will. If we check ourselves for a moment, there are times where we backbite on our brothers and sisters. We all have all sinned and come short of His Glory (Romans 3:23), but at the end of the day, we ought to watch the things our mouths birth about our family, we ought to watch the things we think about our family, and we ought to just be respectful and appreciative of our family because Daddy is watching us! Whenever you see someone and you find out that they are a part of Kingdom, then they are your brother and your sister and you ought to love them as you want to be loved, for this was Christ's greatest commandment!

If you are doing the will of God, then Jesus says that you are His "brother and sister and mother". Isn't that amazing to know that if you do the will of God, not only does He call you friend, but He calls you family? When you are a part of Christ's family, it comes with perks and privileges. David lets us know that "He is our Shepherd and we shall not want"(Psalms 23:1). Moses lets us know that He is Jehovah Rophe, the God that heals (Exodus 15:26). David also lets us know that he does not forsake the righteous or make His seed beg for bread (Psalms 37:25). Jeremiah says that He is like fire shut up in your bones (Jeremiah 20). Paul writes that He will supply the need you have according to His riches in Glory (Philippians 4:19). When you are His family, He promises to be with you until the end of the Earth! Aren't you glad that you have a family member like Jesus Christ?

In closing, family reunions allow us to meet family members near and far. It allows us to identify where certain characteristics of ours come from like pointed ears, or a big nose, or a nice skin complexion. It also allows us to understand the connection(s) that makes us family. Within Mark on today, Jesus explained to us the connection that makes us family with Him and that's doing His Father's will. The old cliché says, "blood is thicker than water" and if that's the case, is Jesus' relationship with you thicker than "water" (the things of this world)?