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Core Values: The Church Is a FamilyIn the same way that everyone is born into a natural family, every Christian isborn into God’s spiritual family. God is the Father of all believers. The local churchwe are part of is a local manifestation of God’s family (the universal church). In ourlocal church, we have fathers, mothers, older and younger siblings, and new babiesbeing born in our spiritual family. We receive benefits as family members, but wealso have responsibilities.At New Hope International Church, one of our core values is that the church isthe family of God. This influences our priorities and how we treat one another. Wehave the same regard and commitment and love for our spiritual families as we dofor our natural families. We don’t just want to meet together once a week—we wantto commit our lives to one another.What are the characteristics of the church family?
1. The church family is committed to Jesus and to one another
Natural families must have commitment among members. When a husbandcommits to the wife, she feels that her home is safe. In the same way, when thewife commits herself to her husband, he feels supported and ready to go and do hisbest. When the father and mother are committed to one another, the children feelprotected and safe. Commitment means “I am going to pursue your best interestsnot because I feel like it, but because I make a decision to.” None of us feel likegetting up in the morning to go to work or school, but we decide to do it because of our family. Sometimes my wife and I get into arguments so that it doesn’t feel like Ilove her, but I decide to act according to commitment, not feelings.Commitment is necessary for deep relationships where we can mature andgrow. Members of the church family need to commit to one another if we want tomature and grow spiritually. We all need to commit ourselves to Jesus first, and thenbased on that commitment, we commit ourselves to our brothers and sisters. Youmay not feel like going to caregroup because everyone is boring and the group isstudying lessons about basic Christianity. But you go because you are committed toyour brothers and sisters. Remember what commitment means: “I am going topursue your best interests not because I feel like it, but because I make a decisionto.” Commitment in the church means we are willing to sacrifice for the benefit of our brothers and sisters.God demonstrated His commitment for us by sending His Son Jesus to die forour sins on the cross. Because of this, John says we ought to love one another withthe same type of unselfish love.
1 John 4:9-11
This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into theworld that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, sinceGod so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
 
When we have this type of commitment in the church, it creates anenvironment where we are all in the boat together. We enjoy good times togetherand thank God, but we also stick with each other during difficult times. In fact, if there are never difficult times, then we can never know if we are committed or not."The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort andconvenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy." - Dr.Martin Luther King Jr.
1 Chronicles 11:10-19
10 These are the leaders of David’s mighty warriors. Together with all Israel, they decided to make David their king, just as the Lord had promised concerning Israel.11 Here is the record of David’s mightiest warriors: The first was Jashobeam theHacmonite, who was leader of the Three—the mightiest warriors among David’smen. He once used his spear to kill 300 enemy warriors in a single battle.12 Next in rank among the Three was Eleazar son of Dodai, a descendant of Ahoah.13 He was with David in the battle against the Philistines at Pas-dammim. Thebattle took place in a field full of barley, and the Israelite army fled. 14 But Eleazar and David held their ground in the middle of the field and beat back the Philistines.So the Lord saved them by giving them a great victory.15 Once when David was at the rock near the cave of Adullam, the Philistine army was camped in the valley of Rephaim. The Three (who were among the Thirty—anelite group among David’s fighting men) went down to meet him there. 16 David was staying in the stronghold at the time, and a Philistine detachment had occupied the town of Bethlehem.17 David remarked longingly to his men, “Oh, how I would love some of that good water from the well by the gate in Bethlehem.” 18 So the Three broke through thePhilistine lines, drew some water from the well by the gate in Bethlehem, and brought it back to David. But David refused to drink it. Instead, he poured it out asan offering to the Lord. 19 “God forbid that I should drink this!” he exclaimed. “Thiswater is as precious as the blood of these men who risked their lives to bring it tome.” So David did not drink it. These are examples of the exploits of the Three.
Because of the commitment of David and his men to one another, they wereable to accomplish great feats together during the times of challenge and difficulty. Ibelieve that because our church is committed to one another, we will be able tosucceed in coming difficulties. There will be difficulties involved with pushingforward the Kingdom of God in Seattle and around the world. There will bedifficulties as we work together to launch a new worship center. Let’s rememberthat, as we go through difficulties, these are the times where we demonstratecommitment.
 
2 . The church family is a place of nurturing and maturing
Everyone is born into a family. God instituted the family structure so thatpeople would be taken care of and become mature. The church is where we gettrained and built up for our Christian life.God gave the “five-fold gifts” to the church to prepare and train people to doGod’s work, and to help the church overall reach maturity. These leadership rolesare for the universal church: apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers.Pastors are especially given to the local church to provide parental care forus, in a spiritual sense. They provide us with spiritual nourishment, challenge us andhelp us develop our God-given gifts, and help us to develop a strong relationshipwith God.I want to read a few scriptures that show how Paul expressed his parentalconcern to local church congregations:
•
1 Thessalonians 2:6-12
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Galatians 4:19-20
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2 Corinthians 11:27-28
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1 Corinthians 4:15-16We need people like this in the church. We need people who have a strongdesire to see their brothers and sisters in the church built up, to lift them up and seethem succeed in their Christian lives.Because the Bible describes pastors as having parental concern, we don’t runadvertisements for pastors in the newspaper. We don’t believe the qualifications fora pastor are a Bible-school degree. Instead, our church believes God calls men andwomen who are faithful, love God, and show the fruit of their relationship with Godin their lives. These people are called by God to fulfill a pastoral role
before
theyreceive a formal title in the church. In fact, a title of pastor doesn’t make you apastor. What counts is whether you
are
a pastor—whether they call you that or notdoesn’t matter.I believe God has called many people in our church to fulfill a pastoral role insome capacity. In fact, anyone in our church who helps to care for others is at leastto some extent fulfilling the role of a pastor. If you have been delegated somepastoral responsibility, such as mentoring or leading a caregroup, please recognizethat this is an extremely sacred calling. God has bought these people with His ownblood. Each one is precious to Him. You must give an account to God, your Chief Shepherd who will reward you.
3. Members of the church family have responsibilities
Parents have ultimate responsibility for their families, but the children havesome responsibility as well. In the same way, everyone in the church should havesome level of responsibility, whether it is serving in the church on Sunday in somecapacity, taking care of people, or contributing to caregroup activities. Even the
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