By Kevin Guigou
Associate Pastor
The Bible can be described as a story of a Father and his family. The Christian life is designed to be an experience in the joy of belonging in family relationships.
Since the beginning, the Creator longed for sons and daughters who would share his love. On the sixth day of the Genesis account of creation, before God could call his finished work “very good” (1:31), he had to face the issue that “it was not good that man should be alone (2:18).”
IF YOU CAN PUT THIS SENTENCE IN A POP-OUT BOX, PLEASE DO – God’s answer to that finishing touch was family: the union between one man, one woman, and children. In their intimate earthly companionship, they would worship God together. Our Creator planted in each of us a need for companionship and belonging. His idea of family, both physical and spiritual, meets those needs.
For this reason I bow my knees before the Father,15from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named – Ephesians 3:14-15 ESV
The Bible overflows with a family vocabulary. For example, our brother Jesus’s favorite name for God was “Father.” Accepting Christ as lord is referred to as a birth into a family, with the Spirit as the seed. It’s also referred to as a permanent spiritual adoption. Fellow-brothers and sisters are referred to as children (and sons) of God, heirs, and as having family inheritance.
Across Scripture, we see overlapping storylines of God’s spiritual family and man’s physical family. The eternal Father planned for people to be born into an earthly family and to be born-again into a spiritual family. He always intended for physical and spiritual families to mirror each other in their love for Truth and in their care and devotion toward fellow-members.
We might say “I can do all things” or “it’s Christ in me,” but our individual salvation doesn’t mean that we’re called to stand alone. Instead, our spiritual childbirth was intended to deposit us into, not only Christ’s global family, but also some version of a local faith family. And our daily involvement in a local spiritual household should energize the blessing and health of our earthly families and homes.
… I want you to know how people who are members of God’s family must live. God’s family is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth. – I Timothy 3:15 GWT
Here, Paul reminded Timothy that the Family of God is the Church of God. His Church is his Family. That Church Family is not a building, but a devoted spiritual community. Paul wrote that the spiritual Church Family is the structural framework for the Truth in our lives, and that it’s God’s dwelling place today (Ephesians 2:21-22)!
The Family of God are the people who inhabit the Kingdom of God, called together as local spiritual assemblies (churches, ministries, house churches, etc.) God’s Family is also called to help stand in the gap for personal households which may be bruised or struggling.
Building Healthy Families
In Adam, every earthly family is deeply flawed, but in Christ, each can be a sacred environment of victory. All families have “battle scars,” but in Christ, no household is “broken.”
Each household is anointed to be healed by the power of radical forgiveness and mutual encouragement. Each has their unique stories of pushing through challenges. Each can picture Christ at the center of their nest. Each can be honored for the personal journeys and giftedness of their members.
God envisioned whole families when the gift of the Holy Spirit was first poured out “…the promise is unto you and to your children” (Acts 2:38-39). Peter went on to proclaim that “your sons and your daughters shall prophesy” (2:17). As we minister among families, we should expect the Spirit to work mightily in every member of the home, no matter their age or maturity.
Our Family Ministry
Since our beginning in 1996, Christian Family Fellowship Ministry has felt prophetically called to family. It starts with capturing God’s vision of his global spiritual Family. Then the heart of that family revelation extends into our cultivation of local faith communities.
On that foundation, we dedicate ourselves to ministering to singles, married folks, and to the personal families of all involved. We are focused on bringing healing and deliverance to every family member. Being set free, those households can discover more clearly their purposes and callings.
At first glance, our CFF logo shows a father, mother, daughter and son in its graphic imagery. But that group of figures also includes unmarried folks, a widow, a divorced dad, a single mom with kids, grandparents, grandchildren, those adopted, in foster care, orphans, prisoners, etc. We seek to serve family members of every age, circumstance and arrangement, no matter the unique composition of those households.
Our faith-community regularly gathers as a local church family in Tipp City, Ohio, but much of our efforts are also focused on supporting and encouraging a national and international network of individuals and families. We conduct national, regional and local events, for people of all ages, to help us all grow up in Christ.
The heart of Christian Family Fellowship Ministry is found in the words of its name. We are a Christian family, a family fellowship, and a fellowship ministry. Putting together the meaning of all four words, we “follow Christ as a family which partners together in service.”
Let’s actively dedicate ourselves to our Father, to our Big Brother, and to all the families in our lives… our global Body of Christ, our local fellowship family, and our personal households.
You are loved, and you belong!