Can you hear me?
Soon the Lamb will take his pride
To be ever at his side
Although most of heaven
Will the sick will be
O to be a glorious sight
All the saints of Godless might
On with Jesus they will
Weest eternally
Come and die the Master
Come and die
In the peace of Jesus
Take hold all the time
In the bed of the tombs
Turn the water into wine
Do the hungry call
And have now been done
Okay, what about Friday?
Okay, what about Saturday?
Alright, 11 for Saturday
What about today?
The church van had 5
What about outside of that?
It's like 11 for the day
Praise the Lord on that
As well as a long list of prayers
If you can keep everyone in your prayer
Also if you have any
Other additional prayer requests
Please submit them
So we can continue to pray with you
Also on the back we have
Our upcoming events
We had music practice again
And it was sounding really good when I walked in
And then also
We have a couple of soul winning events
We have our conference
And everything like that
And the fall swap on October 2
Even if you're not having anything to donate
Just show up, see if there's something that you'd like
You don't have to
You have to give in order to take
You can just take
I know lots of people like that
They just take their whole life
That's pretty much all I had for announcements
Let's go to our third song real quick
160
It's gonna be 160
Crown Him With Many Crowns
My soul and singing
Amen
Who died for thee
And heaven
As I match whiskey
Through all eternity
Crown Him
The Lord of Love
Behold
His hand and side
Praise to death
His apple
On above
The dirty,
Glorified
No angel
In the sky
Can fully
Bear that
Sign
But down for days
Is wandering
That mystery
So bright
Round in the
Lord of Life
Who triumphed
Who rose victorious
To the strike
For those He came
To save
His glory's now
We sing
Who died and rose
On high
Who died eternal
Light to bring
Endless and
Every night
Round in the
Lord of Heaven
One with the Father
Lord
One with the Spirit
Through His gift
From yonder
Glorious role
To need the
Endless praise
For now
For else has died
Be thou
The Lord through endless
Days the Lord
And magnified
Amen
As the offering points are being passed around please from your Bible see Genesis chapter 25
Genesis chapter 25
Genesis 25 the Bible reads
Then again Abraham took a wife and her name was Keturah
And she bare him Zimram and Jokshan and Midan and Midian and Ishbak and Shewa
And Jokshan begat Sheba and Dedan and the sons of Dedan were Ashurim and Latushim and Lumim
And the sons of Midian Ephah and Ephir and Henoch and Abida and Eldea
All these were the children of Keturah
And Abraham gave all that he had unto Isaac but under the sons of the concubines which Abraham had
Abraham gave gifts and sent them away from Isaac his son while he had lived eastward under the east country
And these are the days of the years of Abraham's life which he lived
In a hundred threescorn fifteen years
Then Abraham gave up the ghost and died in a good old age an old man and full of years and was gathered to his people
And his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar
The Hittite which is before Mamre the feud which Abraham purchased of the sons of Heth
There was Abraham buried and Sarah his wife
And it came to pass after the death of Abraham that God blessed his son Isaac and Isaac dwelt by the well of Hyroi
Now these are the generations of Ishmael Abraham's son whom Hagar the Egyptian Sarah's handmaid bare unto Abraham
And these are the names of the sons of Ishmael by their names according to their generations
These are the first born of Ishmael Nebeljoth and Kidar and Abdel and Mipsam
And Mishma and Dumah and Massa, Hadar and Timah, Jetur, Nefesh and Kedemah
These are the sons of Ishmael and these are their names by their towns and by their castles
Twelve princes according to their nations
And these are the years of the life of Ishmael in a hundred and thirty and seven years
And he gave up the ghost and died and was gathered unto his people
And they dwelt from Havilah unto Shur that is before Egypt as thou goest toward Assyria
And he died in the presence of all his brethren
And these are the generations of Isaac Abraham's son
Abraham begat Isaac and Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah to wife
The daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padan Aram the sister to Laban the Syrian
And Isaac entreated the Lord for his wife because she was barren and the Lord was entreated of him
And Rebekah his wife conceived and the children struggled together within her
And she said if it be so why am I thus and she went to inquire of the Lord
And the Lord said unto her two nations are in thy womb
And two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels
And the one people shall be stronger than the other people
And the elder shall serve the younger
When her days to be delivered were fulfilled behold there were twins in her womb
And the first came out red all over like in hairy garment and they called his name Esau
And after that came his brother out and his hand took hold on Esau's heel
And his name was called Jacob and Isaac was three score years old when she bare them
And the boys grew and Esau was a cunning hunter a man of the field
And Jacob was a plain man dwelling in tents
And Isaac loved Esau because he did eat of his venison but Rebekah loved Jacob
And Jacob saw it pottage and Esau came from the field and he was faint
And Esau said to Jacob feed me I pray thee with that same red pottage for I am faint
Therefore was his name called Edom
And Jacob said tell me this day thy birthright
Esau said behold I am at the point to die and what profit shall this birthright do to me
And Jacob said swear to me this day and he swear unto him and he sold his birthright unto Jacob
Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentils and he did eat and drink and rose up and went his way
Thus Esau despised his birthright
Let's pray, do you Heavenly Father Lord thank you for Steadfast Baptist Church
Thank you for all the souls that were one today
I pray you would fill our pastor with your spirit help him preach boldly and help us apply the message to our lives
That we may better honor and glorify you and in Jesus name Amen
Amen
The title of my sermon this evening is mixed families mixed families
And I want to make it clear what I mean by that just so that people don't interpret this to be something different
But to me a mixed family it's really like the Brady Bunch
Where you basically just have two different groups of families that are intertwining through marriage or through adoption
Or it's really just people living together with someone that's not maybe their biological father or their biological mother
Or perhaps it's in connection with people who maybe were married and then they got divorced and remarried
Or maybe their spouse died and they got remarried
And then even in those situations there could be children that are brought along with those marriages
So a lot of people have a half sibling or they have a step dad or they have a step mom
Or they have I mean there's all kinds of crazy situations and scenarios
Sometimes people have this times like three or four where it's like they have like I have a half sibling with this person
And with this person and they're there my quarters it's just like all these weird hypotheticals and scenarios
And all kinds of crazy family situations
And sometimes we often forget that the Bible characters often find themselves in the exact same situations
You know a lot of these crazy scenarios that you would dream up and think it's only on daytime TV
They actually exist in the Bible too
Where you see a lot of mixed families
You see a lot of people who have these situations where they kind of have these half siblings
Or they have men that are married to different women throughout their lives
Or they have all these different scenarios
And so I just want to kind of go through the Bible and show you a few scenarios
And then just give you two points as far as how I view this particular situation
Now look at Genesis chapter 25 verse 1
Then again Abraham took a wife and her name was Keturah
And she bare him Zimran and Jokshin, Medan and Midian and Ishbaq and Shuah
Now if you go down this list a lot of different children verse 4 says these were the children of Keturah
Now when you think of Abraham you don't think about these people
But they were real people I mean they really were brothers to Ishmael and Isaac
And you already think about Ishmael
Now Ishmael is a result of sin because he ended up taking on Hagar
Which he shouldn't have taken on Hagar
He was already married to Sarah
That's basically them using their own wisdom and logic
In order to try and figure out how to have a seed or have a child
Whereas God had appointed Isaac to be born through Sarah
And you know a lot of times mixed families are a result of sin
But sometimes it's not necessarily even sin
It's just the spouse dies, the parent marries another person or whatever the situation is
And you end up having half siblings just as a consequence of one spouse dying or something like that happening
So just because someone is in a mixed family situation doesn't mean it's sinful
But often it is sinful
Now it's not sinful that they're in that situation
It was just the initial act that brought them into that relationship or that situation that was sinful
It's not like Isaac should look at Ishmael and say
Oh, you're my sinful brother, you know
Or you're a result of sin so therefore I can't be friendly to you
Or I can't be a brother to you or any of those type of situations
Look at verse 12
These are the generations of Ishmael, Abraham's son
So again, we have in one chapter
We have the children of Keturah
We have the children of Hagar
And then verse 19
So you have half siblings with Ishmael and Isaac
And all the children of Keturah
They're all this kind of interesting dynamic
This interesting situation where they have all these different siblings
Go to Genesis 29
I want to show you some more scenarios
So one could be a result of sin through adultery or divorce and remarriage
Another scenario like we have in here
Perhaps a spouse dies and then they end up remarrying
And then they have children through that relationship
And look, I've known plenty of people
Where they have a brother that was from
Basically their parent got remarried and brought a kid with them
So they have that half sibling
And then their new parents have a kid
And then that's a sibling
And then they get divorced and marry another
And then they have another half sibling on the other end of the spectrum
And so they just have all these different scenarios
And dynamics and situations
And there's all these people that are from all these crazy situations
Look at Genesis 29 verse 32
Now we have to think about it
Is Jacob is Israel, according to the Bible
He gets renamed, he's Israel
And his 12 sons
He has more than that because he has at least one daughter, Dinah
So he has at least 13 children
But his 12 sons are what's considered the 12 tribes of Israel
And what's so interesting about this when you think about it
Is it's a huge mixed family
I mean, because you've got children from Leah
Okay, you've got Reuben, you've got other children of Israel
The tribes that are coming from Leah
But then you also have them coming from the handmaids
Look at verse number, go to chapter 30 and look at verse 3
So Rachel was mad that Leah is getting pregnant and she's not
So she offers up her handmaid, Bilhah
Thinking, again, kind of the same logic that Sarah did
Well I have children by my handmaid
So then they end up getting children by the handmaid
Well then Leah ends up stop having kids
And so then Leah gives her handmaid unto Jacob
And so then he has children by the handmaid
Then Leah, Samel has children again
So then he has more children than Leah
And then eventually Rachel has children
And so you have this crazy scenario where you have all these different kids
Look at verse 9
So when you think about the children of Israel
You've got children from Leah, Bilhah, Ziphah and Rachel
And now the concubine children, they're kind of the worst of the children
When you think about it, when you think about all the children of Israel
It's like pretty much the worst ones are coming from the concubines
And that's typically how it is throughout the Bible
You've got Ishmael coming from the concubine
But not always, because sometimes you have situations where
God uses an interesting scenario to bring even his own lineage
Through sin and all kinds of crazy situations
Judah, who is one of the children of Israel
He ends up marrying, not marrying, I'm sorry
He ends up lying with his son's wife
His son marries, dies, and then Judah lays with his own daughter-in-law
Unbeknownst to him, he thought she was just a whore
Doesn't make it that much better
Then she gets pregnant and has twins
And when you think about the Bible, it's crazy
You'd think you'd be reading Kentucky Generation Archives or something
Or New Jersey or something
You're like, what is going on?
But that's the Bible
And it's not just the Bible, it's just life
Who in here says, I have a half-sibling
Or some kind of a weird situation like that?
Virtually, you know someone that has this situation
Or lots of people have this situation
And I'm not trying to shame anybody
Because at the end of the day, you can't really control that
And sometimes even the children of the concubine are better
I thought of Jephthah
Jephthah seems to be better than his own brethren
Even though he was rejected for having been the son of a concubine
The son of a harlot
It's like, how much better are they since their father had tons of different wives?
I mean, does it really make you that much better?
It's like, my mom was wife number 52
It's like, oh wow, that's so much better than the harlot
That's so much better than the concubine
What you have to realize is people are sinful
And the family dynamics and the family relationships that exist in this world
Are a lot of times a result of sin
But not even just sin, just life
People die, people get remarried
People sin, there's all these different dynamics
There's all these kind of relationships
You have people raising other people's kids at times
You think about Abraham when he leaves
Doesn't he take his nephew with him?
That's kind of weird, like why is the nephew going?
But that just means family situations are always going to be unique
People are going to see a lot of different unique family situations in this world
They're going to find themselves in unique situations
Go, if you would, to 1 Samuel chapter 1
I want to show you one more
I really am just trying to set the stage
For you to realize that mixed families is a very common thing
Where people are being raised by parents that are not biologically their parents
This could happen even through adoption
Or it could happen through adoption in various ways
Maybe a son dies or a daughter dies and their parents raise them
And people are raised by their grandparents
Maybe that's not an option so they're raised by an extended family
It could be a fellow sibling which would be an uncle or an aunt
Or a cousin
I've met a lot of people that say, hey my cousin raised me
Or my uncle raised me
Or my grandpa raised me
Or so and so raised me
I've even known people where literally they didn't even have family
They just had a friend
Like a friend of the family ended up taking them on
Or people that went through the literal process of adoption
They were legally adopted by someone
And someone took them on as their family
So there's all kinds of different scenarios
And in the Bible, one of the most common scenarios
Is that men would take multiple wives
Now, today you don't really have this in a formal sense
But you definitely still have the same result
You know, Antonio Cromartie, I'd already preached about him before
But he's like a wide receiver for the Jets for a long period of time
I think he played for a few other teams
But that's who he stuck in my mind as a Jets cornerback I believe
And this guy has like, it's crazy
It was like eight or ten kids with like all different women
So it's just like, so why he didn't marry all of them
He ended up having kids with all these different women
As if he had married all these different women
But in the Bible you just see, you know, guys end up just taking lots of different wives
You know, and if they lived back then
Cromartie probably would have just picked up tons of different wives
Because these celebrities and these high profile athletes and everything like that
Have lots of groupies as it were
Have lots of women at their disposal and so they just use them and abuse them
But there's a lot of people in this world that would find themselves in these situations
You know, it'd be called a bastard child
But you can't really do anything about that
It's not your fault
If that's the situation or scenario you find yourself in
And you know, if your parents made mistakes
Or even if they didn't make mistakes
You just happen to find yourself in these situations
You know what, that's just life
A lot of people fall in these situations
A lot
Look at 1st Samuel chapter 1 verse 1
Now there was a certain man of Ramathayim Zophim of Mount Ephraim
And his name was Elkanah, the son of Jehoram
The son of Elihu, the son of Tohu
The son of Zaph and Ephrathite
And he had two wives
The name of the one was Hannah
And the name of the other, Peninnah
And Peninnah had children but Hannah had no children
And this man went up out of his city yearly to worship
And to sacrifice under the Lord of hosts in Shiloh
And the two sons of Eli, Hophni, and Phinehas, the priests of the Lord were there
And when the time was that Elkanah offered, he gave to Peninnah his wife
And to all her sons and her daughters portions
But in Hannah he gave a worthy portion
For he loved Hannah but the Lord had shut up her womb
And her adversary also provoked her sore for to make her fret
Because the Lord had shut up her womb
Now this is, I went to this story for one specific reason, okay
And again this is talking about two women that are married to the same guy
So I guarantee you that probably no one in this room is in that exact scenario
But if you find yourself in a mixed family scenario
All the cases that I just gave you
Or even more that I didn't think of
What can often happen is there's a lot of fighting
There's a lot of disagreement between these people
There's a lot more adversity than just even normal siblings already have, okay
And in this situation you kind of have two women that are mad at each other
You can even see this in Leah and Rachel
Where they kind of get mad at each other or despise one another
Because why is Hannah being basically provoked by her adversary
Notice that this other woman is her adversary
Meaning this is her enemy, someone she does not like
Well because her husband likes her more
The Bible just plainly states
You know why did Joseph's brethren hate him?
Because his dad liked him more
And you know as a person, as a human
It's impossible to probably not have favorites
You're just going to sometimes gravitate more to another person
Even if it's all your own children
You know all of these sons of Jacob are his sons literally
But he just likes Joseph more
He just is pleased with Joseph more
Now obviously Joseph is the best son
He's the one that's following the commandments more
He's more godly, he's more righteous
He's easier to love
You know if you want your parents affection
Why don't you just be easier to love
Because I guarantee that has a lot to do with it
You know if you're a hard and difficult child to deal with
Often times your parents may not be as favorable towards you
And you say man my siblings always seem to
My parents are more pleased with them or they like them more or whatever
Well here's my admonition
Just be a better kid
You know try to do a better job
But even if you're not the favorite who cares
You know at the end of the day you can't necessarily control that either
Just realize it exists
But if someone else is the favorite
That doesn't give you license to then treat them bad
Or be mean to them or attack them
Or to be their adversary
You should still have a cordial relationship
Love them, treat them well
In the story I don't see where Hannah is mean to back
Or is retaliating
Or doing wrong unto Penina
It seems to be kind of a one way adversary
Kind of seems like Penina is attacking her
Because obviously Hannah is more loved of her husband
And because Hannah is struggling to have children
It gives Penina a reason to try and hold that over her head
Or make her feel bad
And this will often be what happens in these scenarios
You know let's say a family adopts a child
But then they actually have their own natural born children
It could be in a scenario where those siblings will basically give the other ones a hard time
They'll say oh well my parents love me more because I'm really their kid or something
You know that would be a wicked thing to say
That would be an evil thing to say to just try to provoke them
Or perhaps you know the kids are from a different relationship
You're from the current relationship so you think you're better than the other kids
Because you're not in that relationship
Or perhaps you're being raised by your grandparents
And so you're treating the other kids differently
Or whatever the scenario is
You know don't use the circumstances of your relationship to basically attack the other person
Treat the other person like dirt
Be mean to the other person
You know God doesn't like that
God's not pleased when you're attacking people that are your family
You know you should have love towards your family
Go to 2 Timothy chapter number 3
Now when it comes to just a normal situation
Which again there's a lot of people that are not in that situation
I think we'd all be surprised how many people are not
But even if you are
Let's say you lived with your parents and with your siblings
And you had nothing weird, nothing unusual
It was just exactly how you would expect it
There's something in the Bible described as natural affection
And what that just means is
When someone's just definitely your biological mom
Definitely your biological dad
Definitely your biological son
Your biological daughter
Your biological brother
Your biological sister
There's just something inside of you
That just naturally just says I want to like this person
I love this person
It's called natural affection
You just have a natural tendency to want
To have a relationship with your mom, with your dad, with your brothers, with your sister
I mean it's just inbuilt
It's just part of who you are
Now as time goes on
Those feelings can change
You know basically you can have them alter
Based on again their behavior
If they're mean, rude, a jerk or whatever
A bad parent, a bad sibling, a bad son, a bad daughter
Whatever that can shift the dynamic of the relationship
It can cause people to even fall out of love with their own family
But I would say that it's unnatural for you to not love
Your brother, sister, mom or dad
It would take some kind of an extreme situation
You know like them becoming a reprobate or something
For me to get to the place where I wouldn't love my brother
Or love my sister or love my parent
But look what it says in 2nd Timothy chapter 3 verse 1
This know also that in the last days perilous times shall come
For men shall be lovers of their own selves
Covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents
Unthankful, unholy, without natural affection
So the Bible says there's going to be a day
When people, they don't love their brother, their sister, their mom or their dad
That are their natural born parents
Natural born brothers and sisters
And not even for a good reason
They just don't
They just in their heart are full of hatred
And they're just angry and they hate God
They hate God's commandments
And by proxy they end up hating their parents
They hate their siblings
Unnatural
Because normally every person just loves their parents
They just love their mom
I mean even if you have a bad parent
You just like love them anyways
And you just want to be around them anyways
And you appreciate the time that you get to spend with them
There's just something inside of you that craves
To be around and have fellowship with your family
And there's a bond
You know there's certain cultures especially
Not that are American
That actually family bond is a big thing
I mean you talk about people from a Hispanic culture
Family is a big deal
I mean that's huge
You talk about Russians
It's a big deal
Okay
You know you talk about other cultures and other systems
Asian cultures often emphasize family
It's a big deal to people
If you're in the mafia the family is a really important thing
Okay
You know
You want to betray the family alright
Wrong to marry outside the family
Okay
That's a different sermon
But at the end of the day
You kind of just have it natural
Why am I saying this?
Because
When you find yourself in a mixed
Family situation
You have to realize that that love
Is not always going to be that automatic natural love
So what you have to end up doing
Is you have to end up choosing to love them
Here's my first advice
If you find yourself in a mixed family situation
You should choose to love
These other people
Whoever it is
Whether it's a half sibling
Whether it's a step parent
Or a step sibling
All manner of possible scenarios and situations
Look I'm in that situation
I mean my mom passed away
And my dad remarried
So I have a woman that's my dad's wife
That in a theory would be my stepmother
Even though I was fully raised
You know I lived on my own
I lived with my mom
I lived with my wife I'm sorry
I lived with my wife
Before my mom had actually passed
And my dad ended up remarrying
But I have this other person
That I didn't grow up with
She wasn't there
She didn't watch me skin my knee
She didn't sing me to sleep
Or anything like that
She was just married to my dad
You know what
I should still choose to love her
Even though it's not natural
You know
To me the first time I meet her
It's just meeting any normal stranger
You know there's no like special feeling
There was no special emotion
It wasn't fireworks
Or whatever
You know what I can do
Is I can say you know what
This is a person that's in my life now
So I can just choose to love that person
You know whenever your spouse
Whenever your siblings get married
Or your children get married
That's introducing a person
That's not blood
You didn't necessarily know before
And you should choose to love that person
Like they are your siblings
Or like your sibling
Or like your son
Or like your daughter
It's a new person in the family
And I believe the best way
Is to just treat them like family
And just choose to love them
But what I'm emphasizing
Is this main point
That it's not going to necessarily be automatic
It's not normal
To just love them right off the bat
You have to choose to love them
It takes daily action
And it takes work
Go to Romans chapter 5
Let me show you a couple more verses on this
Whenever you find yourself in this situation
Whoever it is
You should end up
Just choosing to love the person
Choose to love them
Don't hold grudges
And look
Even if it's a result of sin
Okay
Even if the person that's introduced in your life
Is because they got divorced and remarried
Or as a result of some other sinful situation
Fornication
You know
Children that are born
As a result of fornication
You know
I don't think that you should give the children
A hard time about that
Now if you want to tell the parents
Like that was wrong
You should get married
Or you know
Explain to them
What they did was sinful
Or try to encourage them to get it right
But at the end of the day
I'm not going to sit here and be like
Did you realize you're a result of sin
You know
And try to rub it in
Or make them feel bad
Or worse of a person
Like there's all kinds of situations like that
You know
And so
We should still choose to love that child
And still choose to love those people
Now
I'm all for having grace towards those people
And having mercy
But at the same time
I'm not to the extreme
Where I would only show grace and mercy in this situation
I think you should still call out the fornication
Okay
I think you should still tell people
What they're doing is wrong
So
People often come to me
Hey I have this family member
They're getting remarried
They invited me to the wedding
But it's divorce and remarriage
Here's my philosophy
I would just tell them
Look I don't think you should marry that person
And I don't support this getting remarried
It's against the bible
So I'm not going to come to your wedding
You know what
I'll still love the person
And I'll still be friendly to you guys
And if you still choose to do that
You know what
I'll still
You know
Basically love you the same
And I'll take them in as my family
And I'll love them
But you shouldn't do it
That's my philosophy
I'm not going to sit here
And then every time I see them be like
Adulter her
You know
Stand by thyself
Pray I'm holier than thou art
I'm not going to act like that
But at the same time you can still make it clear
What you believe
Say I don't want to be a part of the ceremony
Because I don't approve of the ceremony
But you know what
After the deed's done
You know
Hey
I'll treat you like family
I'll love you
And I'll do the best that I can
I don't think it's like a sin to hang out with them or something
Look I've had people literally ask me
Are we even allowed at your church
Because we've been divorced and remarried
I'm like really
Of course you are
You probably will leave during a sermon where I call out divorce and remarried
Obviously right
That's your fault
But I'm just again saying that
When you find yourself in these situations
You're not going to just automatically
Love the person
It's not just a natural thing
You have to choose it
Let me show you a verse that kind of emphasizes things like this
Romans chapter 5 verse 7
For scarcely for a righteous man will one die
Yet peradventure for a good man
Some would even dare to die
But God committed his love toward us
And that while we were yet sinners Christ died for
So it's saying here there's only a few people that love someone enough
That they would actually lay down their life
Meaning what?
Love is not a normal thing
It's not a natural thing
It's not an easy thing
Only a few people on this planet the Bible is saying
Would be willing to sacrifice their life for someone else
And in this case it's saying for someone they believe is good
But it's saying like someone that's not even a good person
Most people would not lay down their life
They would not love that person to that level of extremity
Where they'd be willing to sacrifice their own self
I mean it's like if I walked up to you and said
Hey will you be Joe Biden's secret security
Would you lay down your life for Joe Biden?
It's like no
I bet his secret security doesn't want to be asked that question
With a lie detector attached or whatever
You know maybe in their mind if they're convinced that Joe Biden's a good person they would
But I bet if someone broke through a lot of those
Those even security guys would be kind of like
Eh, you know
They'd lean out of the way of the bullet
You know
I'm just saying
But you know if you really thought your leader was a good guy
You really love him
You really appreciate him
You know it's possible that some people would take the bullet
They would step in front of danger
They would be willing
But what's the point that I'm trying to make
Or that the Bible's making here
It's that it's rare
And God's love is so much more infinite than ours
And the fact that he wouldn't even just die for good people
He died for bad people
He died for everyone
That's how incredible his love is
And what's our example
Is that we're supposed to love the good and the bad
Meaning what?
If I have a good sibling
It's going to be easier to love them
But what if I have a bad sibling?
You should still choose to love them
You should still choose
To appreciate them
And to do good unto them
And our example is God and Christ
Not what Joe Biden's secret
You know secret police or service would do
Okay
Go to 1 Timothy chapter 5
So I'm just giving you some thoughts
I'm just giving you some
Things to chew on
And to appreciate
You know if you find yourself in this situation
You have people in your life like this
You know maybe you can increase your love
Towards them
And try to be more friendly to them
Now again
Obviously we have to balance everything in the Bible
You know the Bible says
If a man hate not his father his mother
And it goes down the list
You know he cannot be my disciple
I'm not trying to say like
Go find the worst person
The scummiest person in your family
And go grab a beer with them
And go you know
Do wicked evil things with them
Obviously you're going to be a fundamental Baptist
Obviously you're going to preach the gospel
Obviously you're going to be separated from the world
But at the same time
You know when these situations arise
Where you can show love or be kind or gracious
To these family members
You should do it
Even if they rub you the wrong way
Even if you don't like their face
Even if they remind you of something bad
Like a sin that your parents committed
You know some people just don't like a sibling
Because it just reminds them
Of the fact that their parents got divorced
Or it reminds them of the fact that their parents aren't together
Or it reminds them of adultery
Or it reminds them of fornication or whatever
Don't take it out on the person
Don't take it out on the kid
Don't take it out
You know in those relationships
You should just try to be as loving kind and gracious
As you can to those people
Now when it comes to these dynamics
If you decide to marry someone
And they already are bringing kids
Into the situation
You should treat them like your own
And you have to provide for them now
Their party responsibility
Look at first let me chapter 5 verse 8
But if any provide not for his own
And especially for those of his own house
He hath denied the faith
And is worse than infidel
You know once you enter into that marriage contract
They're yours
And I believe this
If they're yours
They're yours forever
Like if you soil a child
In your wild oats
They're your child still
You're not allowed to just walk away
And pretend like they don't exist
You know even if the parent takes them away from you
You should still try to be in that child's life
As much as possible
As much as reasonable
You should make sure they're provided for
You know as a man
You're supposed to provide your family
You're supposed to take care of your family
No matter who it is
No matter what the situation
Or the dynamic
Go to Exodus 21
Let me prove this even further to you
Exodus 21 go in the Old Testament
And I'm going to show you some commandments there
But you should make sure
That all your responsibilities are taken care of
The same goes with a wife
You know if you end up finding yourself in this situation
You know home school those children
Love those children
Read the Bible to those children
Sing lullabies to them at night
Hold them when they're crying
You know don't just be like
Well he's not really my kid
You know and just embrace them as your child
Love them as your child
Treat them like your child
Exodus 21 look at verse 9
And if you have betrothed her unto his son
He shall deal with her after the manner of daughter
So notice the Bible gives a scenario
All the in-laws are supposed to be treated like
Natural born children
And one thing I can really appreciate about my parents
You know my parents aren't perfect
But they did a lot of good things
They really would treat
The kids that married their kids
Basically my wife
And my brother's wife
And my sister's husband
They did treat them like family
You know they treated them just like natural born children
And they tried to love them
And they tried to show them the same type of affection
Often times it would be frustrating
Because you'd feel like the parents would take their side over you
And you're like whose parent are you?
You know
Like what's going on here?
You know my parents they would give gifts out
And they would even try to make sure at Christmas
And at holidays and stuff
They would give the same level or quality of presents
To every kid
They didn't show favoritism to just theirs
They tried to embrace
The person that got married
And you know what
As an in-law
You should try to embrace
Your children's spouse
Whoever it is
Just view them as just a child that you had
As a new child into the family
And again
It's not natural
It's not like you're just going to instantly
Love them like you would your own flesh and blood
The kid that you change the diapers on
And the kid that you clean up all the spit up with
And the kid that you've gone to the games with
Went to church with
Raised them or whatever
That's easy
Ok
Loving the other person is the more difficult task
But you know what
The Bible teaches you should treat them that way
Verse 10
If you take them another wife
Her food arraignment and her duty of marriage
Are not diminished
You know
Again
Today's society in America
We don't really have people that have two wives
Per se
But
If you do have other relationships
You have to provide for both
You know
If you got divorced
And then remarried
I believe that the man should make sure that
Both women are provided for
Now you're only off the hook
Is if they get remarried
Ok
If they get remarried
Then that's that guy's problem
Ok
But you know what
If you married a woman
Divorce or marry another
Or go
You're with another woman
Or something like that
You should make sure that you're providing
For your original wife
And you're providing for the new wife
Or whatever
However many times that
Had happened
Ok
Hopefully it's not a lot
Because that gets expensive quick
Maybe that should discourage you from getting another wife
Ok
Gentlemen
It's stupid
Don't do it
But until
Until you know
She basically goes and joins up with another dude
I think you should take care of her
She's still technically even your wife
You know
From a biblical perspective
Because in Romans
It says it's adultery
Now if she wasn't your wife still
How could that even be adultery
It's adultery
Because you got married forever
Just because you signed a paperwork
With the United States government saying
I'm no longer married to this person
It doesn't matter
Ok
Obviously
That's kind of how divorce works
In a theory sense
But you know
If you've been married
No matter what paperwork you sign
If you marry another person
Or you lay with another person
While they're still alive
That's adultery
And so that's why it's important
You know
Just like your child
No matter what document I sign
I can't change who my dad is
That's already been established
That's already been settled
There's no amount of paperwork
That's gonna change that
Or fix that
Or alter it
I'm still gonna look like him
Gonna look like me
Still have blood
That's related
And that's just not gonna change
Go to Matthew chapter number 12
So when it comes to mixed family
Again
Point number one
Love them
Just love them
Just decide to love them
Treat them as you would
If they were flesh and blood
Treat them if they were your real parent
Treat them if they were your real brother or sister
Treat them if they were your real son or daughter
Treat them like your real cousin or whatever
I think when it comes to cousins
It doesn't really matter
At that point you don't really care
I mean there's half cousin
Quarter cousin
Double cousin
I don't even know how you
All these things are so confusing sometimes
In fact
Figuring out what they are
But you know what
You should love people in your life
That God has given you
And
Let's take this to a spiritual picture
For a second
Okay
Matthew chapter 12
Look at verse 46
While he had talked to the people
Behold his mother and his brethren
Stood without
Desiring to speak with him
Then one said to them
Behold my mother and my brother
Stand without
Desiring to speak with thee
But he answered and said unto him
That told him
Who is my mother
And who are my brethren
And he stretched forth his hand
Toward his disciples
And said
Behold
My mother and my brethren
For whosoever shall do the will of my father
Which is in heaven the same
Is my brother and sister and mother
Now look at Jesus Christ's attitude
And again
I believe that from a carnal perspective
You should love
Your family
But then Jesus
Basically takes the spiritual family
To such a level
And such an extremity
That he would rather
Fellowship with people that love the Lord
And are serving God
Than his own flesh and blood
Mother and brother
He's saying
Hey you want to know who my real brother is?
Right here
Meaning that
The carnal thing didn't even really matter that much
Because guess what?
Your carnal family doesn't matter
It really doesn't have that much of significance
And it's not very permanent
Your real permanent family status
Is if you're saved or not
And notice how Jesus Christ wants to spend more time
With his saved brethren
His saved family
And love them
And to treat them well
As opposed to his own flesh and blood wanting to talk to him
I mean that's pretty extreme
When you think about it
But again
What's the message?
It's mixed families
Did you realize that this church
We're a mixed family?
Virtually nobody in here is related physically
I mean you got small
Obviously your own family is potentially
But I'm saying like
We got very few people in here
That their actual flesh and blood
Want to be in the same church with them
I mean you got
If you have that
You should count yourself blessed
It's rare
We have some people in here
That have their brother or something
Or maybe another sibling
Or maybe another kind of relationship
But it's rare
Notice you don't see
Grandparents, children and grandchildren
In the same church very often do you?
Like ours
And in a lot of situations
Even a lot of other churches
Even if you go to the old IFB
You got the grandparents
And then it's like missing
It's like
Where are all their children?
And so it's important to realize
When it comes to a spiritual family
We're a mixed family
And let me say this
It's not natural to love one another
You have to choose to love one another
You have to choose to look
Some of the people in the room
You may not be like
I really want to love that guy
But you know what
You should choose to love them anyways
Because they're now your family
If you get saved
Every saved person is your family
Whether you like them or not
Whether they're nice or not
Whether they're as legitimate as you or not
You know we see in 1 Corinthians
People arguing about who's better
Based on basically like who they're of
You know like
I'm a Paul
It's like I got saved by Pastor Anderson
Who did you get saved by?
You know
And it's like it doesn't matter
If you got saved you're in the club
Just like
Well I'm the natural born child
I'm a Paul
You know it's like who cares
I'm of Apollos
You know it's not like the Apollos Christians
Are worse than the Paul Christians
Or if they got saved by Priscilla and Aquila
You know
Or if they got saved by Demas
You know
Wouldn't that be kind of like a bummer
If you're going to church
And they're like who got you saved
Demas
Oh that guy that quit
You're like yeah
The guy that quit church
That's the guy that got me saved
But does that matter?
It doesn't matter because you're in the family
We're all spiritual brothers and sisters
And you know what you should love them
And treat them the same
And not look down upon them
Like they're lesser or something
Or maybe they're newer to the family right?
I mean because
Maybe some of us know each other
From a longer period of time
We've had a deeper relationship
You have newer people coming in
Newer people getting saved
And it's just like someone gets married
Right
A child finally gets married
And now they're bringing in a whole new relationship
And so
It's not as easy to love that person
You don't have as many memories
You don't necessarily have all the same tastes
And preferences
You basically have to bring them in
Be nice to them
You don't have to drink their tea
Or eat their bean chili
But you know what
You still love them alright
So if you went to Luke 12
I want to show you another verse here
The Bible says
There is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother
You know you can actually have
Close relationships with someone
Or closer relationships with someone
That's not even flesh and blood
You can have friends
That you're actually closer to
Than a real brother
Than a real sister
Than a real parent
And you know what
There's nothing wrong with that
There's nothing even wrong with making
And having closer friendships
And relationships with people
That are not even physically related
You know you shouldn't even feel bad about it
If that's what happens
Especially if that person you've drawn close to
Is your spiritual
Brother, sister, mother, father, son, daughter
Anything like that
You know
The real relationship
The deep relationship
There are going to be spiritual relationships
Not the carnal ones
And you say why do you say that
Well look at Luke 12 verse 31
Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth
I tell you nay but rather division
From henceforth there shall be five and one else divided
Three against two and two against three
The father shall be divided against the son
And the son against the father
The mother against the daughter
And the daughter against the mother
The mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law
And the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law
Notice
That Jesus is saying
When I get entered in the situation
When I'm added to the equation
Oftentimes the carnal relationships are going to fall apart
There's going to be animosity
There's going to be envy
There's going to be the adversary
Remember Hannah and Penina
Adversary
Division
Problems
But
Be the Hannah of that relationship
Not the Penina
Notice Hannah
Or Hannah I'm sorry
Penina
Hannah is not attacking Penina
We don't see her being mean
It's a one way meanness
It's a one way hatred
It's a one way problem causing relationship
And look that's how I've always taught
And I believed it
Go to Matthew chapter 10
When it comes to your family relationships
You should try to love them to the best of your ability
And if they hate you
Despise you
Do evil
Let them be the only ones that fall
Now I'm not saying you have to hang out with them
I'm not saying you have to be around them
Sometimes you even have to separate from the physical family
1 Corinthians chapter 5
If they're saved
And they're a railer
A fornicator
A drunkard
Extortioner
The Bible says with such one
No not to eat
So there is going to be a time when you separate from that person
And you know
There's going to be plenty of times where you choose to not be around somebody
Because they're a negative influence on you
And serving Christ
Look at Matthew chapter 10
And look at verse number 34
Think not that I'm going to send peace on earth
I came not to send peace
But a sword
For I am come to set a man at variance against his father
And the daughter against her mother
And the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law
And man's foes shall be they of his own household
He that loveth father and mother more than me
Is not worthy of me
And he that loveth son or daughter more than me
Is not worthy of me
Look the Bible is really extreme in this category
If your dad says
I'm not going to have a relationship with you
I'm not going to hang out with you
I'm not going to give inheritance if you go to that church and you serve Christ
You know what you're supposed to do?
Well I'm serving Christ
And you're not supposed to love them over Christ
You're not supposed to choose them over Christ
And it could even get to a point
Look you're either going to love the one and hate the other
Or hold to the one and despise the other
You know when it comes to these type of relationships
You should end up despising or hating or loathing
A relationship that's going to take you away from Christ
Even if it was as close as a father relationship
Obviously that's not to say that you would dishonor your father
You know the Bible says to honor thy father and thy mother
But that doesn't mean you wouldn't be mean
That doesn't mean you should be rude to them
I'm not saying you should hate them like you would hate or reprobate
That's way different
Obviously the way I hate ranch is not the way that I hate pedophiles
In English vernacular you have to realize there's different connotations to that word
And sometimes you'll hate certain things
You might hate certain music
What does it mean to hate music?
It means you don't like it
It means you don't want to be around it
It bothers you
It irks you
It causes problems
And there could be a certain family relationship where it bothers you
It irks you
It vexes you
And you say I can't be around this person
Because it's dragging me down in the gutter with them
Because it's causing me to not go to church
Or not read my Bible
Or not think spiritually
And so I have to choose to reject that relationship
Not be around that person
And be separated into Christ
And to choose Christ
And to love Christ
And to want to be with Christ
You know you can't love everyone
I know that you constantly are told that
Love everyone
Why love everyone?
No you don't.
You're a liar
And you know the people that really scream this
They hate me
I'll tell you what
Boy they hate me
While they want to pontificate about how they love everyone
And they're just so much more loving than Christians today
But the reality is they hate everyone
Okay
They even hate themselves
I hope you would defer to me chapter 4
I'm going to give you a second point real quick
Point number one is this though
It's real simple
Love your mixed family
And you know what?
If you have to lose carnal family
Just embrace your spiritual family
Isn't that great?
That you still get a whole spiritual family
Even if you don't have a great carnal family
Because no one's guaranteed a great carnal family
You know what?
You're guaranteed a great spiritual family
When you believe in Jesus Christ
You're automatically brought into the fold
You know you get that spirit of adoption
Is what the Bible says
Now first Timothy chapter 4
Look at verse number 8
The Bible says
For bodily exercise profit a little
The godliness is provable in all things
Having promise of the life that now is
And of that which has come
I want to say this
When you find yourself as the outsider coming in
Is that going to happen?
You get married
You know what?
I have my family
And my wife's the outsider
And then she has her family
And I'm the outsider coming in
Right?
So I've already taught you
That you should love the outsider coming in
You should love the person that's not whatever
But here's the second part of that equation
When you're the outsider coming in
You should choose to love them back
You should embrace the foreign love
You know if your brother and sister
Half brother and sister want to love you
Love them back
If people are doing good on you
You have a new parent
You have a new whatever it is
New uncle, new aunt, new cousins, new anything
You should love them back
When they're showing love
And gratitude towards you
But when you love them back
And you realize that your dynamic has changed
Something that's interesting about this though
Is that who you are has not changed
I could be adopted
Let's say my parents died
When I was little
And I got adopted by a new family
They may even change my name
You know what?
Who I am hasn't changed
I've retained my identity
And even when it comes to spiritual things
And Christian things
Your identity continues
Think about this
He's saying that godliness
Has the promise of life that now is
And of that which is to come
Meaning your current godliness
Is going to carry with you into the next life
And is going to be part of your identity
In the next life
So whoever I was before my family dynamic changed
That's still there
I'm still Jonathan
I'm still me
Even if he changed my last name
Even if I have new parents
Or a new spouse
Or a new whatever
I'm still me
And I'm going to carry forward that identity
Go to Revelation chapter 7
This is an interesting thing to think about
And you know what?
I should still love
Those who are new to me
Or the new environment
Or the new situation
And not get disgruntled
About the fact that things have changed
Okay, the environment's changed
Made my name change
You know what?
You still get to retain you
And you still get to be you
Look at Revelation chapter 7 verse 9
So now think about what it's saying though
When you die
And you go to heaven
Okay
You're going to kind of actually experience
The adoption a little bit more
When you got saved
You were adopted into God's family
You became a child of God
But you probably didn't really feel the adoption process
It wasn't very practical to you
There wasn't necessarily anything that changed in a physical sense
You still go home to the same normal family
And you're still kind of in your same environment
But when you die and go to heaven
It's going to be a whole new environment, right?
And you're around all these people
But what's interesting is who you are didn't change
Notice that when they're looking in heaven
They still have people that are nations, kindreds, people and tongues
So your tongue is a part of your identity
Your nation is a part of your identity
You're still you
You still get to be you
Up in heaven
Obviously it's a lot better version of you
You might look a little better
But you know what?
It's still you somewhere down the side
You know, like, man, I didn't know you were that good looking
Or I thought you looked a little weird
Or whatever
Look at verse 4
Verse 4, same chapter
Look, they didn't lose their identity
Aren't they still of that tribe of Israel?
And the Bible even describes them as being virgins
Meaning that that part of their identity had stuck with them
Now, I use this phrase
They were still virgins
It makes it clear that they were virgins that he picks the 144,000
So all you Jehovah's Witnesses that are married are screwed, okay?
And if you're not a man, you're not going to make it, alright?
That's why it's so funny
When women Jehovah's Witnesses that are married come and talk to me
I'm just thinking like, you're not going to make it
I don't think you understand
On top of that, they're not of the children of Israel either, okay?
Nor is only the 144,000 going to heaven
Isn't it funny?
The 144,000 are only mentioned as coming to earth
The people going to heaven are not them
They're the other nations and tongues, right?
But if they retain the identity of their virginity
What other godliness attributes are retained with you when you enter into heaven?
Ah, it's fine
We're going to make it to heaven anyways
Just let's live however you want
You know, I want my identity when I get to heaven to be that I was godly
You know, well, now I'm in a new family
I don't even have the same parents anymore
So I'll just be however I want
Now, why don't you retain your integrity?
Why don't you retain who you are
And be a good child
Even though you're in a new environment
Hey, you're still you
Just because your environment changed
Doesn't give you a license to just be a bad person
Look, be a good person
Love the people that you're around
Choose to love them back
You know, we're a spiritual mixed family
But we get to keep our identity
Go to Ephesians chapter 1
And when you think about adoption
What is adoption?
Adoption is someone choosing to love someone that they don't have to
That's my definition
Adoption is choosing to love someone that you don't have to
Now, in some ways
This is, in my opinion, actually more special than being born
Because think about it
When you're born, your parents just kind of automatically love you
They kind of have to or whatever
Adoption is saying, I don't have to love you
You're not even mine
But you know what? I want to choose to love you in this
That should make you feel special
If someone is willing to take you on
That didn't have to
You should feel really special and honored that that person took you on
Adoption is a great thing
Now, look
I've preached against adoption in the past
But I want to make it clear
I only am against baby picking
Okay
I'm against where these people go
And they find someone that is giving birth
And they pay them a $10,000 bounty to basically steal their child away from them
That's not really adoption
That's baby picking in my opinion
Okay
I don't think you should do that
But you know what?
The parents that are just wicked and just hand their kids off to somebody
And someone just chooses to love them and take them on
That's great
That's wonderful
I'm not against that
That's really what God did with us
When you think about it
God didn't have to love you
He chose to love you
God was not obligated to love you
He chose to love you
You didn't start off a child of God
You became a child of God
Through God choosing you
God chose you and God loved you
And He wanted to adopt you into His family
Ephesians chapter 1 verse 3
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ
Who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in how many places in Christ
According to Him that has chosen us and Him before the foundation of the world
That we should be holy and without blame before Him in love
Having predestinated us under the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself
According to the good pleasure of His will
To the praise of the glory of His grace
Where He hath made us accepted and indeed beloved
So again modern day adoption
They let fags and trannies just take kids and put them into sex trafficking
And abuse them and molest them
And a lot of these rich celebrities instead of having kids themselves
They just baby pick from all these different countries
So the virtue signal about how they're not racist
They go to Africa and get their little token African baby
To just pontificate and showcase how they're so spiritual
And look even Baptist churches do this
Where they basically have us for no more
And then they glorify the fact that they adopted some kid in Africa or something
But it's not really that they just love that child and wanted to choose that child
It's that they want a virtue signal about how much more righteous they are than everybody else
And the mom wants to be skinny so she doesn't want to have any more kids and ruin her body anymore
So she's on birth control killing her own children
And then pontificating how she rescued some kid from Haiti or rescued some kid from Africa or whatever
Look I'm against that
You know what? Just because I'm against that doesn't mean that adoption is bad
Adoption is wonderful
Adoption is great
Because you know what? That's what God did to us
And God's not trying to virtue signal
God's not just trying to have us as a showcase
We're not even a showcase anyways
There's nothing to brag about us anyways
God just genuinely loves you
And that's what adoption should be
Adoption should be a child that's just chosen to be loved and to take on
And the parents just want them
And they're willing to take on that burden
And look children are a burden
We were a burden
There was a cost associated with it
Jesus had to pay a pretty big penalty
A pretty big fine, a pretty big bounty
A pretty big ransom as the Bible describes it for us
Go to Romans chapter 8
I'm almost finished this evening
Point number one
We should choose to love those who have been adopted in our family
But number two
If you've been adopted you should choose to love them back
And you know that's the beauty of the gospel
That you can be saved and not even love God back
You know what? You should
If you love me keep my commandments
But here's the thing
You don't have to love Jesus Christ back to get saved
All you have to do is accept the free gift of adoption
And now that you're in the family, you're in the family period
You know what? As a new adopted child of God
You should choose to love God back
And you know what? You should choose to love your brothers and sisters
That you just made
All the family that you're in
And at the end of the day
We're all adopted kids
So we can't give anybody
No one was a natural born child
No one's
Only Jesus
And you know what? Thank God that Jesus
Isn't going to rub our nose in it
He's going to say hey we're joy heirs
He's going to be such a great sibling isn't he?
Isn't he a great brother?
I mean you already have the greatest brother ever
And you know what? We shouldn't be mean to our other brothers and sisters in Christ
Look at Romans chapter number 8
Look at verse 14
For as many as are led by the Spirit of God
They are the sons of God
For you have not received the Spirit of bondage again to fear
That you receive the Spirit of adoption
Whereby we cry
Abba Father
Now this is really special when we think about it
And I liken this into the carnal illustration too
You get adopted by someone that's not your dad
But then what's the Spirit of adoption?
Call him dad
And you know what? God wasn't our father in a sense
But then when we became the children of God
Now he's father
And that's what we should call him
He's our heavenly father
We now have the Spirit of adoption where we cry
Abba Father
We don't look at God the father as a stepfather
We don't say heavenly stepfather
We say heavenly father because he's now our father
And we embrace the new relationship
We choose to love him back
We don't look at it as a second rate relationship
We look at it as a first rate relationship
And we say Abba Father
There's your Hebrew in the Bible
There's your one Abba
Verse 16
The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit
That we are the children of God
And if children then heirs of God
And joint heirs with Christ
If so be that we suffer with them
That we may be also glorified together
Look if God's going to treat me like a natural born son
If Jesus is going to treat me like a natural born brother
And I literally am because I'm a joint heir
I mean the relationship I've given full status
Then I should look back and I should say
Well then you're my full status father
And you're my full status brother
And you know what if you've done to the least of these my brethren
You've done it unto me
You should treat your brothers and sisters in Christ the same way
Your whole family
Go to Proverbs 29 last place of return
1 John chapter 3
Beloved now are we the sons of God
And it does not yet appear what we shall be
We know that when he shall appear we shall be like him
For we shall see him as he is
Look we are the sons of God
We don't know exactly what it's going to look like
You know we're not in our glorified state
We don't have those things but
Point number one
To mixed families
You should just choose to love your mixed family
And number two when you are entered into a new mixed family
And people are showing you love you should love them back
You should embrace the new relationship
You should embrace that situation
Because at the end of the day we're all adopted
We're all adopted
And you say well how can someone not be part of the family
And become part of the family
Well look what it says in Proverbs 29 verse 21
He that delicately bringeth up his servant from a child
To have him become his son
At the link
Notice the relationship changed
Because he showed him love
And you know what you should love him back
And then you become his son
Look don't get so fixated on all the realistic natural sibling relationship
Who cares about that stuff
The Bible is full of crazy scenarios
You know everybody should be on Jerry Springer in the Bible basically
Okay
He's not the father he is the father you know he is the brother
And look from a spiritual sense we're all it's a mixed family
You shouldn't
If you're in a mixed family
Great because you're all in a mixed family spiritually no matter what
Oh I'm in a natural family
Oh well that doesn't matter
You're not better than anybody else
No that doesn't make you more special
God doesn't love you a little extra
And you know what whoever you find in your life
Whether it be carnal or spiritual family
You should just love them and love them back
Let's close in prayer
Thank you Heavenly Father for adopting us
That we can be children of God
I pray that we would look at the example you set
Of how you embrace children that were not yours
You adopt children that are not yours
That you treat them like your son
You treat them you know as part of the family
And that the example of your son
That he's were joint heirs with him
And the love that he has for us and his brethren and his sisters
He's not even ashamed to call us brethren
Even though of all the shameful acts we did
We sent him to the cross and he's not ashamed to call us brethren
He loved us and he's washed us in his blood to present us back to you
And he's excited for us to all be united as one big family
I pray that we would just get that spirit of adoption
Deep in our hearts
We cry Abba Father
In Jesus name we pray
Amen
Amen with that let's go ahead and sing one more song
Before we head out tonight
Go ahead and take out your hymnals
To song number 56
When we all get to heaven
Great reminder where we're all going
Amen
Song number 56
When we all get to heaven
Sing the wondrous love of Jesus
Sing his mercy and his grace
In the mansions bright and blessed
He'll prepare for us a place
When we all get to heaven
What a day of rejoicing that will be
When we all see Jesus
We'll sing and shout the victory
While we walk the pilgrim path
When clouds will always spread the sky
But when traveling days are over
Not a shadow, not a sign
When we all get to heaven
What a day of rejoicing that will be
When we all see Jesus
We'll sing and shout the victory
Let us then be true and faithful
Trusting, serving every day
Just one glimpse of him in glory
Will the tours of life repay
When we all get to heaven
What a day of rejoicing that will be
When we all see Jesus
We'll sing and shout the victory
Onward to the prize before us
Soon his beauty will behold
Soon the pearly gates will open
We shall tread the streets of gold
When we all get to heaven
What a day of rejoicing that will be
When we all see Jesus
We'll sing and shout the victory
When we all get to heaven
What a day of rejoicing that will be
When we all get to heaven
What a day of rejoicing that will be
When we all get to heaven