KINGDOM CULTURE: FAMILY (Notes, 8/9/2020)

When you leave the realm of family you’ve left the Kingdom.

3 But let all your godly lovers be glad!
Yes, let them all rejoice in your presence
and be carried away with gladness.
Let them laugh and be radiant with joy!
4 Let them sing their celebration-songs
for the coming of the cloud rider whose name is Yah!
5–6 To the fatherless he is a father.
To the widow he is a champion friend.
To the lonely he makes them part of a family.
To the prisoners he leads into prosperity until they sing for joy.

Psalm 68:3-6 (TPT)

Religion promotes people living constricted and contained. Kingdom builds people to change the world.

There are aspects about the nature of God that can only be discovered in the context of relationships.

You cannot become who God intended you to be by yourself.

“Nations will come to your light and kings to the brightness of your rising.”

Isaiah 60:3 (AMP)

KINGDOM FAMILY VALUES

– We are adopted into God’s family, so we intentionally create family and community wherever we go.

– We​ ​think like healthy family members and do what’s best for the whole environment, mutually submitting to one another in love and not being selfish.  

– In covenant relationships,  we purposely grow our capacity to trust and be trusted as we empower and confront one another in order to live out who we truly are.  

– We are loyal, which is demonstrated most radically when people fail. We do not punish and abandon those who fail to save face or show we hate sin, but instead we commit to helping them be restored.

What Does This Mean? 

– God the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit have brought us into their intimacy and family. From their love and wisdom, we build healthy families and communities. 

– Jesus explicitly created us to live in community; people are most alive when planted in a healthy family of believers.  

– The way we love people is a direct reflection of our love for God.

– Love for ourselves, which springs from God’s great love for us, is vital in truly caring for others and creating healthy families.  

– We draw from the Holy Spirit’s gifts and graces in the whole family of God, not just from those in leadership.   

– We value and honor each other, even when we disagree.

– We do nothing out of selfish ambition or gain. Instead, we intentionally partner with others to seek mutual benefit in everything we do. 

– We are responsible to speak up with loving confrontation when others in the family of God sin, based on the truth that, as a new creation in Christ, they are too amazing to be behaving that way. 

– Forgiveness is our standard; everyone is given the opportunity to rebuild trust in the community.

We also understand…

– Not all Christian communities are demonstrating healthy relationships.

– People who have experienced broken marriages and/or families are not disqualified from greatness, as Jesus is more than able to forgive and restore them into healthy, holy families and communities. 

– We recognize that it is possible for someone to behave their way out of the community, so sometimes it is unwise and unsafe for a community to extend grace at the same level that God does.  

DECLARATIONS

• I am adopted into God’s family, so I intentionally create healthy family and community wherever I go!
• I do nothing out of selfish ambition or gain. I choose to do what’s best for those around me!
• Because I’m committed to covenant relationships, I lovingly and graciously help restore people who fail.
• Because of God’s unconditional, passionate love for me, I unconditionally and passionately love myself and others.
• I value and honor others, even when we disagree.