Bella Vista Church of Christ
LIFELINES
July 18, 2001 Richard Rogers
What Is Family?
WARMTH... when the world is cold.
SAFETY... when the world is hostile.
A PLACE OF LOVE... in a world of hate.
A PLACE OF LIGHT... in the midst of darkness.
This is family. A family is many things. It is love around the table or in front of a fireplace. It is devotion sitting in the pew together. Family is a mother singing as she goes about preparing supper. Family is father happily playing with laughing children. A family is a yell squad when victory is won.... A place of understanding, forgiveness and starting over when defeat must be endured. It is a very private organization only bona fide members are allowed in. As a poet said, Family is where... all of us are we... and everyone else is they.
The family is held together with the glue of love and the cement of mutual respect. The family is a shelter from the storm... A safe and friendly port when the waves of life become too wild. No person is ever alone if he is a member of a family.
The smile of a mother, the robust laughter of a father, the giggle of daughters, the shouts of sons... That's family. They may taunt each other. They may have serious disagreements, but when trouble threatens from outside forces, instantly ranks close and troops unite against the common foe.
A family is all these things... But, most of all, a family is a group of human beings working together to build something beautiful and lasting. A family is a colony of heavenly bliss... Right here on earth!!
Now... Relate all this to Paul's statement in First Timothy three which says
that the church is THE FAMILY OF GOD.
I pray that you are a part of a family... Twice!!
RICHARD ROGERS
