God desires a people for His very own. ‭ ‬Throughout the Bible the formula is repeated,‭ ‬"I will be your God and you will be my people‭"‬.

BIBLICAL FOUNDATION

"And what one nation in the earth is like Your people Israel,‭ ‬whom God went to redeem to be His own people,‭ ‬to make You a name of greatness and terribleness,‭ ‬by driving out nations from before Your people whom You have redeemed out of Egypt‭? ‬And You have chosen Your people Israel for Yourself,‭ ‬for a people forever.‭ ‬And You,‭ ‬LORD,‭ ‬became their God‭."‭ (‬1‭ ‬Chronicles‭ ‬17:21,22‭)

"And I will take you to Me for a people,‭ ‬and I will be to you a God.‭ ‬ And you shall know that I am the LORD your God,‭ ‬who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians‭."‭ (‬Exodus‭ ‬6:7‭)

"But you are a chosen generation,‭ ‬a royal priesthood,‭ ‬a holy nation,‭ ‬a people for possession,‭ ‬so that you might speak of the praises of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light‭; ‬you who then were not a people,‭ ‬but now the people of God,‭ ‬those not pitied then‭,‭ ‬but now pitied‭."‭ (‬1‭ ‬Peter‭ ‬2:9‭)

Israel was first chosen but now a much more diverse people made up of all the nations of the world constitutes God's People.

COMMUNION WITH GOD‭ & ‬MAN

You cannot have the one without the other.
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"‬We love Him because He first loved us. ‭ ‬If anyone says,‭ ‬I love God,‭ ‬and hates his brother,‭ ‬he is a liar.‭ ‬For if he does not love his brother whom he has seen,‭ ‬how can he love God whom he has not seen‭?"‬ (1‭ ‬John‭ ‬4:20‭)

This fact dispels the false belief that I can be a believer on my own. ‭ ‬We‭ were saved into a family‭ ‬-‭ ‬into the body of Christ.

COMMUNITY IS DIFFICULT

People are difficult because we come from difficult situations.‭ ‬Life is not a bed of roses and most people have painful scars.‭ ‬It hurts to get close.‭ ‬Most people feel like they don't belong and the devil works on this one

R.I.‭ ‬Holmes says‭; "‬So what are the hallmarks of an orphan spirit‭? ‬-‭ ‬Inability to have lasting relationships‭ ‬-‭ ‬Hatred of authority,‭ ‬general distrust for leaders‭ ‬-‭ ‬General lack of direction for your life‭ ‬-‭ ‬Inability to make key,‭ ‬strategic decisions‭ ‬-‭ ‬Drawing near,‭ ‬then backing away from intimacy‭ ‬-‭ ‬A sense that they're just going to reject you anyway‭ ‬-‭ ‬A gnawing sense of failure,‭ ‬never quite good enough‭ ‬-‭ ‬An inexplicable drive to succeed,‭ ‬win,‭ ‬prove yourself."‭

Ras Robinson writes,‭ "‬Feeling like an orphan can be debilitating. ‭ ‬It has to do with sensing in your heart that you have no inheritance,‭ ‬no real heritage,‭ ‬no sense of security in feeling protected and that no one really cares about your destiny.‭ ‬Most people affected with feeling like an orphan also feel and fear abandonment‭."‬

Because of the hurts of the past it is difficult to trust relationship and love in the present and future.‭ ‬ But this is where the POWERFUL truth of I John‭ ‬4:20. ‭ ‬Because we know that He first loves us and died for us‭ ‬-‭ ‬we start to learn to love like He loves. ‭ ‬No matter what we do, His love never stops and we learn this POWERFUL process.‭ ‬ HE just keeps giving us love for our brokeness and we start doing the same for others.‭ ‬For their slap on the cheek we return love and a smile.

The church is family.‭  ‬It is the only family many people have and it is especially for these that we must make church/family work.

Family is not easy.‭ ‬We often live in each other's hair,‭ ‬get under each others skin.‭ ‬ BUT when it is done with the understanding of covenant there is no safer place to be. ‭ ‬The covenant of family says,‭ "‬I will be your brother in Christ until we die.‭ ‬There is nothing the forgiveness and blood of Christ cannot cover.‭ ‬I might not like you but the bonds of the Spirit are stronger than anything.‭ ‬I might not like you but I don't have a choice but to love you.‭ ‬ PS‭ ‬..‭ ‬like comes a little while later‭."

CHURCH IS AS GOOD AS ITS GATHERINGS

Church is gathering.‭ ‬ The Greek word‭ "‬Ekklesia‭" ‬was first used for political gatherings. ‭ ‬When we gather well‭ ‬-‭ ‬in the presence of the Spirit of Christ a healing happens in broken hearts.‭ ‬ This new family of God‭ ‬-‭ ‬with Him central‭ ‬-‭ ‬heals old painful wounds.